Petition Letter
To Whom It May Concern,
I am writing to you in regards to a Credit Standing request for my COMM 324 course grade. It is currently a C+. I had an A going into the exam.
The extraneous circumstances are related to my mental health.
There are a series of events that led me to be unable to perform to the best of my ability on January 20th ¿¿ the day I wrote my COMM 324 final exam.
Up until August 2019 I was on an antidepressant (SSRI) by the name of Escitalopram. I had been taking Escitalopram since March of 2018. I switched abruptly from Escitalopram to Paroxetine in August 2019 upon entering my fourth-year at Queen¿¿s. The reason for the switch was that I felt that Escitalopram was not doing anything for my social anxiety.
Paroxetine induced suicidal ideation and extreme depression. On October 5th of 2019 I had a bad evening where I threatened to take my own life. My parents came down from Peterborough, Ontario in an emergency to be by my side. After this date I was placed into Intensive Transition Therapy at the Kingston General Hospital and I dropped two (2) courses: COMM 323 and COMM 311. I was also set to see a psychiatrist at KGH.
The psychiatrist, Dr. Maren, removed Paroxetine from my medication dosage and placed me on 25 mg of Lamotrigine with the intention of being put on 100 mg eventually. Lamotrigine is a mood stabilizer.
At this point I was diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder II as well as a severe anxiety disorder.
With Lamotrigine on the rise and Paroxetine on the fall I began to experience severe intrusive thoughts ¿¿ indications of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder. On November 10th my situation was negatively exacerbated once more and I was forced to leave campus.
Between November 10th till now I have suffered the darkest (I hope) point in my mental health trials. As the Lamotrigine was increased, my intrusive thoughts got worse in frequency and intensity. The raw fear I suffered from these thoughts led me to develop panic attacks. Panic attacks led me to have to go to the emergency sector of the Peterborough hospital on five occasions.
I felt like I was losing my mind. The intrusive thoughts kept getting worse and the suicidal ideation began to creep up once again.
At this point, after being seen by multiple psychiatrists, I was put on Olanzapine, an anti-psychotic, to help with the Lamotrigine. After nine days I stopped taking Olanzapine because of the dissociative ¿¿foggy¿ feeling it induced. I was then placed on Abilify.
At this point it was exam time. I had accommodations for my exam schedule which made things a little easier. The only exam that I could properly study for was my ECON 445 exam. I ended the course with an A. Studying for ECON 423 and COMM 324 was extremely difficult with constant panic attacks and horrid intrusive thoughts that bogged me down.
To my fortune, my ECON 423 professor, Professor Frank Milne, made the final exam accommodating to me and that allowed me to finish the course with the grade I managed to maintain throughout the whole semester, an A+.
COMM 324 was set to be written in the new year.
I could not study for COMM 324 appropriately. I was also in Chile for the December break and that was not a pleasant vacation for me neither. The OCD (intrusive thoughts) got worse, the panic attacks more severe and I began to be medicated with Lorazepam. Lorazepam helped in easing the worse moments but it induced short-term memory loss which made it extremely difficult to study.
Abilify, the second anti-psychotic I was put on, induced dissociation and restlessness.
Studying was incredibly hard to do. I could not focus, I felt dissociated and restless, and I was burdened by thoughts that made me want to fall apart. Lorazepam was my only saving grace but it hindered my memory.
As of right now I have stopped taking both Abilify and Lamotrigine. I attributed the commencement of the intrusive thoughts with the Lamotrigine. I am still actively tapering off the Lamotrigine but since I have begun decreasing the dosage I have sensed the intrusive thoughts diminish in frequency and intensity. With the Abilify gone I have also felt less dissociated and restless no more.
All of this is to say that I think my performance in the final exam (starting with an A and then finishing with a C+) is not indicative of my capacities as a student and learner.
I was hindered by my own health and I tried my very hardest to make it work.
I am asking to change my C+ in COMM 324 to a Credit Standing status so that I do not have to suffer the burden of a dark time of mine for the rest of my academic and professional career.
Thank you.
All the best,
Jeffrey
I am writing to you in regards to a Credit Standing request for my COMM 324 course grade. It is currently a C+. I had an A going into the exam.
The extraneous circumstances are related to my mental health.
There are a series of events that led me to be unable to perform to the best of my ability on January 20th ¿¿ the day I wrote my COMM 324 final exam.
Up until August 2019 I was on an antidepressant (SSRI) by the name of Escitalopram. I had been taking Escitalopram since March of 2018. I switched abruptly from Escitalopram to Paroxetine in August 2019 upon entering my fourth-year at Queen¿¿s. The reason for the switch was that I felt that Escitalopram was not doing anything for my social anxiety.
Paroxetine induced suicidal ideation and extreme depression. On October 5th of 2019 I had a bad evening where I threatened to take my own life. My parents came down from Peterborough, Ontario in an emergency to be by my side. After this date I was placed into Intensive Transition Therapy at the Kingston General Hospital and I dropped two (2) courses: COMM 323 and COMM 311. I was also set to see a psychiatrist at KGH.
The psychiatrist, Dr. Maren, removed Paroxetine from my medication dosage and placed me on 25 mg of Lamotrigine with the intention of being put on 100 mg eventually. Lamotrigine is a mood stabilizer.
At this point I was diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder II as well as a severe anxiety disorder.
With Lamotrigine on the rise and Paroxetine on the fall I began to experience severe intrusive thoughts ¿¿ indications of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder. On November 10th my situation was negatively exacerbated once more and I was forced to leave campus.
Between November 10th till now I have suffered the darkest (I hope) point in my mental health trials. As the Lamotrigine was increased, my intrusive thoughts got worse in frequency and intensity. The raw fear I suffered from these thoughts led me to develop panic attacks. Panic attacks led me to have to go to the emergency sector of the Peterborough hospital on five occasions.
I felt like I was losing my mind. The intrusive thoughts kept getting worse and the suicidal ideation began to creep up once again.
At this point, after being seen by multiple psychiatrists, I was put on Olanzapine, an anti-psychotic, to help with the Lamotrigine. After nine days I stopped taking Olanzapine because of the dissociative ¿¿foggy¿ feeling it induced. I was then placed on Abilify.
At this point it was exam time. I had accommodations for my exam schedule which made things a little easier. The only exam that I could properly study for was my ECON 445 exam. I ended the course with an A. Studying for ECON 423 and COMM 324 was extremely difficult with constant panic attacks and horrid intrusive thoughts that bogged me down.
To my fortune, my ECON 423 professor, Professor Frank Milne, made the final exam accommodating to me and that allowed me to finish the course with the grade I managed to maintain throughout the whole semester, an A+.
COMM 324 was set to be written in the new year.
I could not study for COMM 324 appropriately. I was also in Chile for the December break and that was not a pleasant vacation for me neither. The OCD (intrusive thoughts) got worse, the panic attacks more severe and I began to be medicated with Lorazepam. Lorazepam helped in easing the worse moments but it induced short-term memory loss which made it extremely difficult to study.
Abilify, the second anti-psychotic I was put on, induced dissociation and restlessness.
Studying was incredibly hard to do. I could not focus, I felt dissociated and restless, and I was burdened by thoughts that made me want to fall apart. Lorazepam was my only saving grace but it hindered my memory.
As of right now I have stopped taking both Abilify and Lamotrigine. I attributed the commencement of the intrusive thoughts with the Lamotrigine. I am still actively tapering off the Lamotrigine but since I have begun decreasing the dosage I have sensed the intrusive thoughts diminish in frequency and intensity. With the Abilify gone I have also felt less dissociated and restless no more.
All of this is to say that I think my performance in the final exam (starting with an A and then finishing with a C+) is not indicative of my capacities as a student and learner.
I was hindered by my own health and I tried my very hardest to make it work.
I am asking to change my C+ in COMM 324 to a Credit Standing status so that I do not have to suffer the burden of a dark time of mine for the rest of my academic and professional career.
Thank you.
All the best,
Jeffrey