How medical petitions fail us

It was Summer semester, and I was failing a class. My depression left me bedridden and constantly crying. I couldn’t do my work, let alone attend class. It was unexpected. I didn’t know what to do.

UF doesn’t advertise the medical petition well, so I didn’t know it existed. Then when I found it, I still struggled with it.

Medical petitions are there for “unexpected situations,” like a death or health problem that interfere with your academics. Students can either submit them retroactively or currently and drop certain classes or all of them.

For students with mental health issues, the process is far too hard.

Here’s why:

Your teachers need to know

Professors are jaded from excuses. Many professors won’t give extensions because “then I’d have to give one to everyone.” When you start missing or failing assignments, your teachers’ first reactions won’t be sympathetic. They’ll probably think you’re just another easy-A chaser.

When my depression resurfaced, I only hinted at its existence. My professor initially said I just wasn’t managing my time well and that students with similar workloads were doing fine. He eventually wrote a favorable letter for my petition after an unexpected change of heart.

You may not even know how to explain the situation. It’s hard enough to tell loved ones, much less someone who doesn’t know your name. You’ll have to decide: phone, email or in-person? Then, how emotional or stone-faced should you be? It’s a hard line to toe.

You need a therapist

The Counseling and Wellness Center put 6 percent of students on a waitlist to see a counselor in the 2016-17 school year. Those deemed dangerous to themselves or others get first dibs. The rest must loiter in the abyss. When I spoke with a counselor in 2015, she suggested group therapy for my social anxiety. (Spoiler alert: I was too anxious to go.)

My triage appointment last semester was my third attempt at getting help. The counselor told me to find a long-term therapist off-campus. She provided a few names, and one accepted me. After three appointments, I felt worse. Then, during my last session, I learned I had $45 in backpay. I stopped going.

Finding a good therapist when you have no money or time is a nightmarish endeavor, but without it your words are just hot air. You can’t diagnose yourself, even if you know fantasizing about getting cancer isn’t normal.

You’re judged on paperwork

Having to convince a board of strangers of your honesty is both insulting and disingenuous. Anyone can pretend to be suicidal for a therapist. People can be fooled by great actors, or they can overlook a real problem because it wasn’t written well enough.

You must provide the board with an essay in chunks of questions about your adverse experience. I worried I was writing either too dramatically or too logically. In any case, something was wrong because my petition was denied. I guess I wasn’t really depressed. But how would they know? They’ve never met me.

Being judged solely on paperwork is not a common practice after college. Even in job applications, you usually get an in-person interview. The medical petition process implements no human contact, and that is unfair.

Medical petitions are far from perfect in their current state. I would ask that universities reconsider the process to better accommodate struggling students without letting liars get a free pass. In-person interviews should be conducted, and students shouldn’t be punished for not having a counselor’s letter. Students with broken legs shouldn’t be made to jump through hoops.

Sarah Stanley is a UF journalism senior.