Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: During the fall term at Queen's I was suffering from insomnia, depression and anxiety that are all related to PTSD which I suffer from. I had been seeing 2 psychiatrists bi-weekly in Toronto, however when I got to Queen's I felt too embarrassed to seek help and see an academic adviser or therapist and I was very reclusive and this amplified the effects of my psychological problems. I reverted to alcohol for sleep, and likely devastated my immune system, and I ended up getting pneumonia twice in one month (end of September and then end of October - Doctors notes could be found if necessary). Pneumonia actually has a direct link to depression and mental illness so aside from missing weeks of class, I was worse off psychologically. Part-way through the semester I registered myself with the DOS, but I didn't seek out any therapy or academic advising so I continued to struggle in all aspects of school and life. I simply didn't have the motivation or mental/psychological capacity to perform to the best of my abilities. I believe my psychological and physical health struggles to be the extenuating circumstances that caused me to end up with a failing grade in this course and would request that the failing grade not show up on my transcript and perhaps receive a partial tuition refund, as I was unfit to attend the majority of the class.