I've experienced an issue similar to yours. While I was sick, I always made straight A's, kept my room conspicuously clean. However, when I began to self-medicate with cannabis, I began to experience a decline in motivation to keep my grades and clean room, and slipped into A and B patterns and let my laundry stack up.
I noticed my discomfort being lackadaisical too late. Do not let this happen to you. This being said, there is a flip side to this.
Do not let your sickness control you. Ever. There may be "positive" aspects to being sick, and they may be more difficult to attain while treating yourself, but that does not justify letting yourself get sick again. There are ways to treat yourself and be happy, as well as putt the grades you are use to. There are simple ways to overcome this. You've already taken the first step, in recognizing that your grades are in issue for you enough that you would like to make a change. You've also recognized that letting yourself get sick again probably isn't a viable option (hint:
IT ISN'T.). So you are choosing the "harder" option when it comes to improving your grades, but as we all know but usually ignore, the harder path is often the right one. You have recognized that you are not trying in your classes. This is your cure. You already know you are feeling less motivation, because you are feeling less anxious. Now, even if you don't FEEL the motivation, you have to "fake it," per se. You now have to try harder at being a good student, and this is your "cure". Doing all your homework and actually trying at classwork doesn't come naturally anymore, and that sucks. There is no way to get around this but to
force yourself to try. Think back to habits you kept when you experienced your high anxiety. Did you do your homework as soon as you got home? Did you slave over textbooks and flashcards for days prior to an exam? Fun fact:
your anxiety did not get you good grades. The habits you developed when you were anxious got you good grades. Some of these habits may not necessarily be healthy (i.e., staying up all night before an exam studying, etcetera) and you'll need to adjust them accordingly. But, you need to reinstate your time management skills, continue to study as hard as you did under healthier circumstances, fight procrastination, etcetera. I expect procrastination is becoming a nasty habit for you. If so, please refer to this short but powerful article on
common causes and cures of procrastination. This article has great tips and tricks for how to get yourself back in the groove, regardless of procrastination. I know how hard this is. I realized my issue when it was too late. But getting sick again just to pull good grades for a while is a huge flaw in the modern education system, and is NOT an option. Stay healthy, stay strong, and I promise you can do this! Best of luck. xxx
