Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: To Whom It May Concern,

My name is Ian Jonson and I am appealing to drop History 211 and History 341 (Winter, 2015) though the due date has passed. I intended to submit my appeal approximately three weeks ago but communication issues regarding my documentation prevented me from doing so.
Beginning in 2013 I began to experience anxiety and panic related mental health issues. The intensity and frequency of my experiences varied prior to my third year at Queen¿¿s (2014-2015) but have previously only been minor obstacles. They have certainly always affected my academics but never to the degree that I have experienced over the past few months. Depression has also played a significant role in my decision to withdraw from the semester, but not to the same degree as anxiety. I have never witnessed or experienced anxiety to this degree. In the past outside of Queen¿¿s I have sought medical and therapeutic help over brief time periods to address these issues. Beginning around November I had a resurgence of anxiety that was manifesting itself as a response to school work. I had experienced these kinds of school-related panic attacks before but never to the point where I was avoiding attending class, ignoring academic responsibilities, and ultimately dropping courses (half of my course load has already been dropped) in an attempt to prevent nervous breakdowns. I have reached a point where the gravity of my episodes is so drastic that completing schoolwork is not remotely worth it and as a result it is not getting done. A relationship developed between me attempting to complete schoolwork and massive nervous breakdowns to the point where it was a daily affair. This year for the first time I have also noticed physiological effects of poor mental health such as frequent unprovoked violent vomiting, drastic fluctuation in body weight, awful sleep patterns, and depressive episodes that last much longer than what I had been used to. My performance in school throughout the year has suffered as a result of my extreme lack of desire to confront academic challenges due to the panic episodes that would ensue.
It brought me to the point where I realized that completing assignments was not worth the toll they were taking on my mental health. I have felt extremely embarrassed throughout this whole process, but unfortunately I do not have another option. I¿¿ve proven to myself that I am completely unable to do schoolwork at the moment and efforts to do so seem to do more harm to my mental health than good for my academic standing. I have already begun counseling with and outside of Queen¿¿s mental health services and intend to continue doing so until my issues are resolved. I have an appointment set up shortly to see a psychiatrist to get a proper diagnostic to see if medical treatment is necessary for my condition. I have returned home to address and overcome these issues so that by September I am in good mental condition to do schoolwork successfully. I had a strong suspicion in December that it was a bad idea to return to Queen¿¿s for the winter semester but I stubbornly ignored my intuition and paid dearly for my mistake. Throughout January I tried and failed to cope with these issues and in late February I made the decision that I had to leave to address these issues prior to continuing with academics. I would have submitted this appeal prior to leaving but it took several weeks for the Queen¿¿s Mental Health services to send me documentation due to issues in communication.
Since accepting the fact that I am dealing with mental health factors beyond my control and addressing them as such, I have already made significant progress. If my request to drop these courses is allowed, I am confident that a combination of therapy and a break from school will allow me to continue this progress and return in the fall with a new attitude.

Sincerely,
Ian Jonson.

P.S. If a password is needed to access the pdf containing my documentation from Dr. Michael Condra it is as follows: I2015j