Chronic illness

Dealing with chronic illness

If you suffer from a chronic illness, studying may be more difficult for you than for a student who is not chronically ill. You may not always be physically present due to your illness, or once you return home you may lack the energy to work on study assignments or prepare for exams. You may also need facilities to be able to complete an exam or study assignment.
What is it?

There are many different types of illnesses that can impact on your ability to study as a student. On the one hand, there is often already a loss of energy due to studying which often makes it challenging to strike a good balance between illness, study and rest. On the other hand, you may have to regularly miss classes due to doctor's appointments. You may also (especially with non-apparent illnesses) sometimes feel misunderstood. All this makes studying with a chronic illness quite a task.

Ambience photo Fontys
What can you do yourself? 

It is important to keep a good balance for yourself. Check what you can handle in a day and where you can take your breaks. Discuss matters with your student coach and student dean. Together with you, they can see what adjustments and/or extra support is possible. Think for instance about the possibility of an adapted study programme, but also about getting permission to leave the examination room to visit the toilet. 

 

Also think carefully about what you might want to share with classmates or project colleagues. You do not have to share specific things about your illness if you do not want to, but sometimes it helps if your fellow students know that you cannot always be present because of your illness. You can then make arrangements, for example, that you do more at home. (Some degree of) openness often creates understanding and your fellow students are often willing to think along with you about solutions and possibilities.