Posted by PhoenixGirl on September 10, 2004, at 22:37:43
In reply to A video in class today, posted by deirdrehbrt on September 10, 2004, at 21:37:28
Dee, you are well within your rights to request the professor tell you in advance of upsetting things like that movie. The professor is there to serve the students, and the whole point of class is to benefit students. You are probably even paying for the class. Also, you would be taking care of your health. You're worth it. A lot of us with mental health problems have a hard time standing up for ourselves and taking care of ourselves. Talking to your professor is a chance to practive assertiveness and get used to the feeling of taking care of yourself. Each time you practice something like this, the next time you need to stand up for yourself will be easier. You'll be laying the groundwork for a self-respecting life.
When you talk to the professor, you can word it your own way, if you would like to maintain your privacy about your mental health. You could just say that you don't like to see things like that, so you'd like the professor to tell you ahead of time if material like that will be brought into the classroom again. Whatever works for you and makes you feel comfortable. (((Dee)))> I was thinking about posting in 'students', but there seems very little activity there.
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> Today, in psych class, the instructor played a scene from "The Dead Poets Society". It was the scene where a student commits suicide after his father disapproves of his acting in a play, tells him that he will go to a military school, and then study medicine.
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> I didn't know right away if the scene would upset me, but I had an idea it might. It did, and it's been a bit of a chore keeping thoughts out of my head. I took my meds, and I'm waititng to go to sleep. I might take some more Seroquel if I can't.
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> Do you think it would be unreasonable, or would I seem wimpy if I asked the instructor to tell me if that sort of thing is coming up? I would feel stupid leaving a class for that sort of thing, but suicide scenes are a big trigger for me.
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> Thanks for your help guys,
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> Dee.
poster:PhoenixGirl
thread:389432
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/social/20040907/msgs/389461.html