Do you feel overwhelmed by the crippling pressure to succeed in life? Do you take that pressure and pour all your waking minutes into schoolwork so you can succeed? If this describes you or someone you know, you may be suffering from trying too hard in school.
Trying too hard in school, AKA try hard disorder, is a debilitating condition that affects one in three students. Some of the symptoms prevent recognition of the condition, as the disease consumes your attention and prevents conscious thought on anything other than studies, leaving little to no room for self awareness.
Here is a guide to the symptoms that may point to trying too hard in school. If you recognize these symptoms for yourself or a friend, it may be time to intervene and seek help.
Insomnia
Insomnia is a symptom associated with the later stages of the condition, but it takes a great toll on many suffering students. It also may be hard to recognize because lack of sleep can be a sign of many other mental conditions. Either way, if you are experiencing insomnia, you can seek help from a therapist or a bottle of melatonin.
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If you lie in bed at night staring at the ceiling thinking about homework or exams, this is definitely a sign that you are trying too hard in school. At the extreme end, your head will never touch a pillow, and you will stay at a desk all night doing homework that you’ve already finished “just to make sure you fully understand it.”
If left untreated, insomnia associated with trying too hard in school can result in pure delusion and blindness.
Stench
If you stink, take a shower, please. This is one of the most outwardly apparent symptoms of trying too hard in school. Oftentimes people suffering from the condition will go weeks or even months without bathing. They will justify it by saying that they will shower once they are past midterm season, but midterm season never ends for these people.
Some will become numb to their stench and even come to enjoy it. So if you don’t think you stink, think again. Take a look around you at your next lecture. If there is at least a 10-seat radius around you, you likely reek.
Nobody will want to do homework or group projects with you. Just for the love of all things holy, take a shower and wear deodorant.
You have an intimate relationship with your professor/TA
This is one of the most drastic symptoms of trying too hard in school. Some will justify this by arguing it’s not actually trying but in fact avoiding school work. But don’t get confused. Trying too hard in school doesn’t come from an obsession to finish school work. Rather, it is motivated by an unrelenting desire to get the best grades possible.
If you have an intimate relationship with your professor or TA with an age difference of more than five years, that relationship is for grades, not for love. The only time this is acceptable is if it’s true love, you are similar in age and you report the relationship to the university to avoid any HR nightmares. Otherwise, you are spending way too much time and resources (literally your body) to get a good grade.
If you have a friend that is in this scenario, it might be time to call the police.
Your mom calls you a nerd
We’ve all been there. Freshman year, moving out of the house. First, the calls occur daily. Then, you stop answering. You stop calling back. Next thing you know you’re talking to your parents only about once a month. Your parents assume you’ve met new friends. They think you go out partying. But when they come to visit you, they find out that you stink, you don’t sleep and your only friend is the professor you are dating.
They see right through your façade. They know you are no partier. They know you spend late-night hours reading textbooks. They are ashamed that you can’t even bother to call them when you just sit at a desk all day long. You don’t even have the time to take them out to dinner. Your mom is upset. She calls you a major nerd, then slams the door and runs away crying. Your roommate looks at you funny. They shrug and say, “I told you so.”
If something along those lines has happened to you, take it as a wakeup call. Even your mom thinks you’re a nerd. Your parents want you to succeed too, but they think you should put the pen down, close the laptop and go meet some people.
Your mom could have called you any number of things, it all points to the fact you’re trying too hard in school. Other acceptable epithets include dork, geek, Megatron, poindexter, goober, computer science major, teacher’s pet, dweeb, techie or the hardest-hitting of them all “not my child.”
Treatment
If any of these symptoms apply to you, you are likely suffering from try hard disorder. There’s good news, however — it’s not too late for you. Unless you’re in your final semester, you still have time to not make your entire college career a boring dredge, so you can go out to the world and be more than a wet towel.
The first step is recognition. Now that you have read this handy guide to diagnosing your condition, you can start to change. The next step is to take a shower and get some sleep. From there it will be easier to make friends, go to a party, make amends with your mom and finally get your first-ever B (nobody is gonna care after you graduate). If school is still stressing you out, consult a therapist or a bottle of cheap vodka.
