No energy or motivation whatsoever...what to do?

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MonteCristo

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Greetings, friends!

I am a university student and have recently been feeling extremely lethargic and down. I have always done extremely well in academics, but my classes have gotten significantly harder (I am studying to be admitted into med school) and I am not doing as well as I would hope. I currently have straight “B’s”, and am on the verge of going lower. I am on a week long break at the moment, and have not touched one of my assignments yet!

Becoming a doctor used to be so important to me; I have studied hard for years and it has paid off. Yet, right now, I find myself thinking “What’s the point, you’ll never make it anyway.” I am happy with everything else in my life, yet I feel a bit depressed when thinking about school.

I feel so blessed to be in a position where I am able to study all of God’s glory as it appears in science! I pray every single night for the Lord to help me once again reach motivation. The next morning, though, the feelings of self doubt come back to me. I don’t even want to think about school, because I feel like a total failure and it seems so pointless. The material is extremely hard, and I feel very alone in this journey.

Any advice for an individual lacking confidence and haunted by self doubt? I would love if I could get a few prayers! Thank you and may the good God bless you all! 🙂

EDIT: Just checked out the forum rules. This is not a post seeking medical advice; just wanted general help! Thanks!
 
Hi MonteCristo,

Have you considered that you are depressed (in the medical/psychological sense)? Perhaps you should go see a doctor and discuss this. At the very least you could rule this out as a concern, or you may need to explore what can be done to help with your lack of energy and motivation. Diet and exercise for example could be suboptimal. Or you may need to consider other treatment options if it is or becomes more serious.

Have you considered that a career in medicine is just not the right path for you? Perhaps it is time to review this goal and whether a different career may suit you better. Your lack of motivation as the work gets harder suggests that perhaps your goal is not as important to you as it was previously and that you should review things rather than just persist.

Prayers and best wishes.
 
Thank you for the reply!

In regards to medicine not being the career for me, there is literally nothing else I can picture myself in. I love the idea of becoming a doctor and have always liked challenging subjects in school. Recently, though, I just do not feel as if I have the chops to do it. Everyone else seems so smart, and I feel like no amount of studying will ever bring me to that level.

Thanks, again! 🙂
 
MonteCristo said:
In regards to medicine not being the career for me, there is literally nothing else I can picture myself in.
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Unfortunately, you may need to start picturing yourself in other careers. ie If Plan A is not going so well, what is Plan B?
MonteCristo said:
Everyone else seems so smart, and I feel like no amount of studying will ever bring me to that level.
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Well, medicine is one of the most competitive fields of study and it’s likely that everyone is extremely smart. That can be intimidating of course. The question you need to consider is whether you are merely *feeling *a bit overwhelmed right now or (sorry if this sounds harsh) whether the level of study has got a bit beyond you now. There is no shame in deciding to change paths now, even if it can hurt the pride a little to do so.
 
I would start by getting a complete medical physical with comprehensive labs done. Any variety of reasons, including depression and anxiety, could be causing you to have low energy.

Once/If a concrete medical condition is ruled out, you can then address other reasons that may be causing your issues, which you seem to allude may very well be anxiety. I remember college as being an extremely anxiety-ridden time in my life as well so this would not be uncommon. I do think, as has previously been stated, you need a Plan B for your path in life in case med school is not part of God’s calling on your life.

I know many that have gone into advanced nursing such as a Nurse Anesthetist or Nurse Practioner. Those positions generally have higher salaries than a B.S. in Nursing. My cousin went into nursing and then advanced her certification to become a specialized wound care nurse and in our city (which is a metropolitan area), she was only one of two that had that speciality, meaning her salary has always been topnotch.

Good luck and God bless!
 
Maybe you just need a break? I mean doing anything great-guns for too long can lead to burn-out. Especially if you’re not a competitive type. You might also be feeling a bit down because the reality of what you’re up against is different than what you pictured. It can be pretty easy to fade to black when you’ve psyched yourself that you’ve got something licked only to find it slowly unravels around you. You’ve got promise. And ambition. But maybe you just need to let yourself accept that you’re not the wizard you thought you were. Sometimes accepting that where you’re at is Ok can take off the mental stress that’s pulling you down all over. Sometimes that lets the pressure off. And that can let you get back in the saddle.

I’m guessing your subconscious is figuring you’re on the edge. It doesn’t want to keep going there. So there’s some pull-back.

My advice? Get more fresh air. Get lots of sleep. And eat a lot of protein and vegetables. Your brain’s exhausted. You’ve just got to give it a power boost. Give it a try. Move around more. You’ll find your brain will think better. And that sure couldn’t hurt.

No matter what you decide to do.

Peace. And good luck.

-Trident
 
Trident_H said:
Maybe you just need a break? I mean doing anything great-guns for too long can lead to burn-out. Especially if you’re not a competitive type. You might also be feeling a bit down because the reality of what you’re up against is different than what you pictured. It can be pretty easy to fade to black when you’ve psyched yourself that you’ve got something licked only to find it slowly unravels around you. You’ve got promise. And ambition. But maybe you just need to let yourself accept that you’re not the wizard you thought you were. .Sometimes accepting that where you’re at is Ok can take off the mental stress that’s pulling you down all over. Sometimes that lets the pressure off. And that can let you get back in the saddle.

I’m guessing your subconscious is figuring you’re on the edge. It doesn’t want to keep going there. So there’s some pull-back.

My advice? Get more fresh air. Get lots of sleep. And eat a lot of protein and vegetables. Your brain’s exhausted. You’ve just got to give it a power boost. Give it a try. Move around more. You’ll find your brain will think better. And that sure couldn’t hurt.

No matter what you decide to do.

Peace. And good luck.

-Trident
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Trident,

I don’t think I have ever read anything truer to myself than what you wrote, especially what I bolded. I guess I AM doing okay at school, and I will have to accept the fact that I can’t always be at “the top.” I appreciate you taking the time to reply to my post; your words are exactly what I needed to hear. I will be trying your advice on sleep and protein and just being less anxious in general, lol. Thank you, my friend! 👍

Also, thanks to everyone else who replied! I appreciate the advice and support! Have a good night!
 
I would seek out a good academic counselor or two. The question is: Is medicine/science the field for you?
 
Concur that you may need to be screened for depression, and that you should have or acquire a plan B, in the event of your current dream not bearing fruit.

GOD Bless and ICXC NIKA
 
Congratulations on achieving such an amazing thing (med school and all the study that it takes to get there is no small feat!). I think there definitely could be some low mood/depression happening due to high expectations. At the end of the day B is still a fantastic mark especially in anything medical and scientific. Secondly even if you drop to C that is still a pass. At the end of it all you need is a pass! The world needs more doctors like you who do have faith as well and science and medicine and can allow them to compliment each other (as opposed to those doctors who perhaps see only the medical and scientific side and turn their backs on the fact that it was and is God who is the greatest doctor and scientist of them all- he created it after all!).
Don’t be afraid to relax a little, don’t let doubt hold you down (think of it like it could be God’s will for you to be a doctor and accomplish great things so perhaps it is God’s enemy who is putting doubt in to your mind to try and interfere with that plan) and keep at it! I wish you all the best 👍
 
I don’t know if there is a correct, scientific name for what I am about to describe, but I’ve a few close friends who studied Medicine and we tend to call it, “Brainy-fear!”

It happens to people who have always worked hard and are of high intelligence and have a track record of passing everything with flying colours. Eventually though, unless you are a super-genius, you will come up against a particular topic, or a number of topics, where your brain really does struggle and it can feel like a huge shock!

You have to take a deep breath and remind yourself that just because you don’t ‘get it’ immediately, it doesn’t mean you’re not capable of understanding a topic, or even becoming rather good at it. I know a few friends (and me too, because I did arts A-levels and got straight As with lots of hard work in the revision department, but the understanding part came easily to me. I then did a science degree and really started to panic because it took me several attempt to understand and retain infromation about some of the more mathematical elements!)

If you’ve been one of the ‘brainy ones’ right through school and college, it can be a shock and pretty depressing to suddenly find yourself ‘not quite up there’. It can start to alter the way you view yourself too, if being ‘the brainy one’ has always been part of your identity.

Added to that, are there any additional changes in lifestyle? Are you drinking more? Are you eating a healthy diet, or fitting in whatever is cheap, quick and available around all the study? It’s amazing how much of an effect this has on performance.

Have you got a good circle of friends at Med School who you can confide in? Have you spoken to your Tutor about your performance? If the grades are awarded on percentiles, then it is inevitable not everyone will get As and as people have said before, Bs and Cs are still passes! It’s not necessarily the doctors with the 1st Class degrees that actually make the best doctors. Some universities have actually resorted to bringing in actors to teach medical students how to talk to patients and really listen to them - that’s a massively important skill to have and it isn’t at all grade-dependent!

😉 I’m speaking from experience here. I was always the girl with the top grades and I really agonised over picking a science degree because I suspected I might not breeze through it, but it would get me to the sort of job I wanted. I’m pretty sure, had I chosen a different subject, I’d have breezed through that, but when I still remember my first lecture on Valuation and feeling an overwhelming sense of fear and doom because I just didn’t understand how the lecturer got from one line of his calculations to the next.

For the next year, looking back, 90% of my battle with that pesky topic was because as soon as I saw the ‘V’ word, I practically stopped breathing 😃 In my head, not understanding at 1st reading = stupid, so that is how I saw myself :o

It took a while, but after some looking around me and some more thinking, I saw that there were people in the world who struggled on until they understood and didn’t let it get them down - amazing, eh? I realised it was fine to get a B or even a C if I had given it my best shot and none of my friends judged me any less favourably because of it.

Slowly, my grades began to climb again, but I still think I would have done better had I just stopped worrying that I was ‘a bit rubbish’ at the whole thing and also made more effort to put myself in a place where I was physically fit and clear-headed enough to give my brain chance to work. I have since realised that my tolerance to alcohol is minimal and even more than 1 glass of wine will make me feel seriously depressed and low the next day.

:rolleyes: I bet you’re not the only one feeling like you do on your course! If you just approach people and openly say, “You know what, I found X really hard to fathom today. Did anyone else figure it out?” I bet you’d get offers of help from those that did and make a whole lot of other students feel much less silly too.

Hang in there! Don’t drop out because you have absolutely no reason to. There are no records of any patients waking up mid-operation and saying, “hang on, mate! Did you get an ‘A’ in this?”
 
You’re all absolotuely amazing. :):)🙂

Thank you so much for the replies; it helps to see I’m not alone! May God be with you during your success and struggles as well!!!
 
Are you getting proper nutrition? A lack of certain vitamins can decrease energy levels, particularly vitamin D. A visit to the doctor and some blood work may be in order. A friend of mine was suffering from lack of energy and found that her vitamin D levels were low. She started taking a prescription supplement and felt the results immediately.
 
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