nathang Posted May 14, 2020 Share Posted May 14, 2020 Hi all, I have a long history with mental illness. I've struggled with ADHD my entire life (diagnosed when I was 7). This ADHD has caused me to be insecure about my academic ability in high school and early college. I then started having issues with depression in high school--which required (voluntary) hospitalization my freshman year of college after a nasty break up with my high school girlfriend. This severe depressive episode caused me to get poor grades freshman year--all C's first semester, 2 C's second semester. However, after receiving the right treatment and becoming stable, I've completely turned things around, and have got all A's and B's since then. I've overcome my mental illnesses and have be able to perform very well academically despite them, which has dramatically improved my confidence in myself and led me to choose the challenging path of becoming a PA. My question is, should I talk about this in my PS? On the one hand, it explains my poor academic performance early and college and it shows I've overcome difficulties to be where I am now. On the other hand, I don't want colleges to think my mental illnesses make me a weaker candidate and that I wouldn't be able to succeed--as I am in a much better place now and have much more effective coping skills. Thoughts? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dukkulisur Posted May 27, 2020 Share Posted May 27, 2020 I think a personal statement that discusses overcoming mental illness could be quite compelling, especially if you're able to relate the experience to your desire to become a PA and how it might make you a better provider. It would provide a unique perspective compared to other applicants. I would just make sure to clearly articulate how you've learned to manage these issues for success in future academic and professional settings, as we all know PA school and healthcare settings in general can be quite stressful. Good luck! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mmtaylor Posted June 2, 2020 Share Posted June 2, 2020 On 5/14/2020 at 3:29 PM, nathang said: My question is, should I talk about this in my PS? On the one hand, it explains my poor academic performance early and college and it shows I've overcome difficulties to be where I am now. On the other hand, I don't want colleges to think my mental illnesses make me a weaker candidate and that I wouldn't be able to succeed- I have the same question! I hope we get more responses on this thread, because I think it is more common than people know. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
angelinal25 Posted June 9, 2020 Share Posted June 9, 2020 nathang I tried to overcome the ADHD without taking medicine but things were getting more worst so that concerned to my doctor and tell the whole condition he advised me to do it slowly and recommend me a medicine with diluted dosage, the medicine was Ritalin seriously it helped me a lot check it out hope it will also help you Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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