The clock is six in the morning, the alarm tells me that I need to get up and off to class. But I just can\u2019t. Once again I\u2019ve had a bad night and I wake up with back pain, feeling disheartened and tired to the bone. I\u2019m behind in school, about 250 pages, and I haven\u2019t even read the pages for today. At the same time I feel like all the others from my class are best buddies, have it all under control and think that I\u2019m some lazy, unpredictable loner.<\/p>\n
This is how an ordinary day sounds like in my life as a student with a sickness. In the past four years I\u2019ve suffered from stress, anxiety and depression, and my life has nearly stalled. I finally feel like it\u2019s about to loosen it\u2019s grip on me, but I still have tough times where nothing makes sense and it\u2019s easier and safest to stay in bed. In these four years I\u2019ve had daily back pain, but the doctors didn\u2019t help me. I fell as a child and hit my tailbone badly, and the pain developed and really took off when I started working after finishing gymnasium (high school).<\/p>\n
I\u2019ve moved a lot the past three years and had many different doctors, but they downplayed my problems \u2013 maybe because of my young age. In 2011 my doctor and I agreed (I thought) to get me a scan, but nothing happened, and suddenly my depression came which almost paralyzed me. <\/p>\n
At that time I had been a student of linguistics at Lund University in Sweden for about three months. I lived at my boyfriend\u2019s temporarily, and although I was in good spirits from the start, I had to throw in the towel. I really tried to get out of bed, but no matter what I did, I met some kind of problem. I couldn\u2019t find any flat of my own, no job and I had no income because of some problems at SU \u2013 and of course, it was a new country, new language. <\/p>\n
Despite this, I managed to read a lot of my homework and one day when we were about to have some group work I wrote a text message to a girl in the class, I had been talking to. I thought it was the most natural thing that we were going to be a group, but she had already found someone else. Right then and there, it was clear to me that I was quite alone and of course she didn\u2019t wait for or wanted to group with someone who\u2019s never there. <\/p>\n
I have a hard time concentrating, and I have to read the sentences slowly again and again.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
I moved back to Denmark and got a job where they showed understanding for my condition. A half year later, in 2012 I then tried teacher training, but after a half year I also quitted that and got a job.<\/p>\n
No more social life<\/h2>\n
In 2013 I felt ready to try again and became a student of linguistics at the University of Copenhagen, and I\u2019ve been there since. It still felt right after the first half year, and I\u2019m doing really great despite the fact that it\u2019s still very hard for me to get off to school. The 30 pages we\u2019re supposed to read to every class, often seem impossible to me and I feel a clear difference between me and my fellow students at that point. If we are to make a presentation besides the reading, I can\u2019t handle it.<\/p>\n
Now I really feel the side effects of a depression, because I have a hard time concentrating, and I have to read the sentences slowly again and again. Moreover I have back problems which make my legs hurt when I\u2019m sitting, and it doesn\u2019t help lying or standing, because I also have problems with knees and feet which I can\u2019t get any help for either. It\u2019s especially tough to sit on hard wooden chairs in class for three or four hours. It\u2019s not possible to change position to lying or standing \u2013 at least not without people staring, I guess. <\/p>\n
My social life has really suffered from the depression and it\u2019s almost not existing anymore. I don\u2019t have the energy although I would like to hang out, and I think a lot of people don\u2019t understand it. When they have heard a ‘no’ enough times, they just stop asking you and there\u2019s loneliness for you.<\/p>\n
You ‘have no disability’<\/h2>\n
In 2014 I finally got a doctor who sent to me off to scan, and it showed two slipped discs pressing the nerves to my legs. I was relieved that the 15 years of back pain suddenly made sense, but angry about all the doctors who didn\u2019t care about my pain. Now I have an insurance claim and a complaint at something called Patientombuddet, and it\u2019s unbelievably stressful. They keep telling me that my case is too old, and it\u2019s so frustrating when it\u2019s not my fault, but the doctors\u2019 fault.<\/p>\n
A friend of mine suggested applying for a disability allowance from SU to help me finance all the treatments and different aids. But that seemed to be more difficult than I thought, because if you work five-six hours a week you are not, as a starting point, allowed to get the financial help. As if it makes you healthy if you\u2019re able to work six hours. I\u2019m lucky I have a part-time job that works perfectly with my study, but it\u2019s really not that much it pays when I\u2019m only able to work about six hours a week. A healthy young student probably works 15 hours a week and full-time in holidays. In holidays I can work maximum 12 hours before I get stress symptoms like dizziness, nausea and shortness of breath. <\/p>\n
“When I hear about reforms, any reforms, I\u2019m always scared that it will effect me in a way that prevents me from showing what I\u2019m capable of.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Despite of this, I got a rejection on my application for disability allowance, and their argument is that I\u2019m able to work the six hours. What puzzles me is that the allowance is over DKK 8,000 every month, and my pay gives me about DKK 1,500 DKK when I\u2019ve paid taxes.<\/p>\n
Don’t mention the reforms<\/h2>\n
Chronic pain makes you both physically and mentally tired, and with an insurance claim too, it makes it so hard to focus on the study. I feel powerless when it\u2019s so difficult and stressful to ask for help and not be sure to get any at all. <\/p>\n
Society, and government with its reforms and paragraphs, believes that young people aren\u2019t sick. Only old people are. It\u2019s hard for anyone to get sick. But there\u2019s an extra difficulty for young people, because it is now that we\u2019re supposed to be taking our education as a foundation for future life. <\/p>\n
When I hear about reforms, any reforms, I\u2019m always scared that it will effect me in a way that prevents me from showing what I\u2019m capable of and getting my degree. <\/p>\n
Just unlucky<\/h2>\n
I don\u2019t always show up to class, but I\u2019m a good student and this summer I got an ‘A’. That makes me proud. But it\u2019s not fair that I have to struggle so much to get help when I really just want to be focusing on my study like everyone else.<\/p>\n
You don\u2019t choose to be sick, you\u2019re just unlucky.<\/p>\n
universitypost@adm.ku.dk<\/p>\n
Do you have a good story? We would like to hear from you<\/a>. In the meantime, like us on Facebook <\/a> for features, guides and tips on upcoming events and follow us on Twitter<\/a> for links to other Copenhagen academia news stories.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Young people aren\u2019t sick. Only old people are. That is what our government seems to think. But Signe is young, yet she is sick. This is her story<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":4847,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[47],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4846","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-opinion","expression-news_article"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"yoast_head":"\n
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Only old people are. That is what our government seems to think. But Signe is young, yet she is sick. This is her story","use_post_excerpt":false},{"acf_fc_layout":"Byline","is_author":false,"contributors":[{"use_registered_user":false,"user":false,"contributor_name":"Signe Eur\u00e9n Mortensen","contributor_title":" ","contributor_image":false}]},{"acf_fc_layout":"Content","content":"<p>The clock is six in the morning, the alarm tells me that I need to get up and off to class. But I just can\u2019t. Once again I\u2019ve had a bad night and I wake up with back pain, feeling disheartened and tired to the bone. I\u2019m behind in school, about 250 pages, and I haven\u2019t even read the pages for today. At the same time I feel like all the others from my class are best buddies, have it all under control and think that I\u2019m some lazy, unpredictable loner.<\/p>\n<p>This is how an ordinary day sounds like in my life as a student with a sickness. In the past four years I\u2019ve suffered from stress, anxiety and depression, and my life has nearly stalled. I finally feel like it\u2019s about to loosen it\u2019s grip on me, but I still have tough times where nothing makes sense and it\u2019s easier and safest to stay in bed. In these four years I\u2019ve had daily back pain, but the doctors didn\u2019t help me. I fell as a child and hit my tailbone badly, and the pain developed and really took off when I started working after finishing gymnasium (high school).<\/p>\n<p>I\u2019ve moved a lot the past three years and had many different doctors, but they downplayed my problems \u2013 maybe because of my young age. In 2011 my doctor and I agreed (I thought) to get me a scan, but nothing happened, and suddenly my depression came which almost paralyzed me. <\/p>\n<h2>The girl who is not there<\/h2>\n<p>At that time I had been a student of linguistics at Lund University in Sweden for about three months. I lived at my boyfriend\u2019s temporarily, and although I was in good spirits from the start, I had to throw in the towel. I really tried to get out of bed, but no matter what I did, I met some kind of problem. I couldn\u2019t find any flat of my own, no job and I had no income because of some problems at SU \u2013 and of course, it was a new country, new language. <\/p>\n<p>Despite this, I managed to read a lot of my homework and one day when we were about to have some group work I wrote a text message to a girl in the class, I had been talking to. I thought it was the most natural thing that we were going to be a group, but she had already found someone else. Right then and there, it was clear to me that I was quite alone and of course she didn\u2019t wait for or wanted to group with someone who\u2019s never there. <\/p>\n<blockquote><p>I have a hard time concentrating, and I have to read the sentences slowly again and again.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>I moved back to Denmark and got a job where they showed understanding for my condition. A half year later, in 2012 I then tried teacher training, but after a half year I also quitted that and got a job.<\/p>\n<h2>No more social life<\/h2>\n<p>In 2013 I felt ready to try again and became a student of linguistics at the University of Copenhagen, and I\u2019ve been there since. It still felt right after the first half year, and I\u2019m doing really great despite the fact that it\u2019s still very hard for me to get off to school. The 30 pages we\u2019re supposed to read to every class, often seem impossible to me and I feel a clear difference between me and my fellow students at that point. If we are to make a presentation besides the reading, I can\u2019t handle it.<\/p>\n<p>Now I really feel the side effects of a depression, because I have a hard time concentrating, and I have to read the sentences slowly again and again. Moreover I have back problems which make my legs hurt when I\u2019m sitting, and it doesn\u2019t help lying or standing, because I also have problems with knees and feet which I can\u2019t get any help for either. It\u2019s especially tough to sit on hard wooden chairs in class for three or four hours. It\u2019s not possible to change position to lying or standing \u2013 at least not without people staring, I guess. <\/p>\n<p>My social life has really suffered from the depression and it\u2019s almost not existing anymore. I don\u2019t have the energy although I would like to hang out, and I think a lot of people don\u2019t understand it. When they have heard a ‘no’ enough times, they just stop asking you and there\u2019s loneliness for you.<\/p>\n<h2>You ‘have no disability’<\/h2>\n<p>In 2014 I finally got a doctor who sent to me off to scan, and it showed two slipped discs pressing the nerves to my legs. I was relieved that the 15 years of back pain suddenly made sense, but angry about all the doctors who didn\u2019t care about my pain. Now I have an insurance claim and a complaint at something called Patientombuddet, and it\u2019s unbelievably stressful. They keep telling me that my case is too old, and it\u2019s so frustrating when it\u2019s not my fault, but the doctors\u2019 fault.<\/p>\n<p>A friend of mine suggested applying for a disability allowance from SU to help me finance all the treatments and different aids. But that seemed to be more difficult than I thought, because if you work five-six hours a week you are not, as a starting point, allowed to get the financial help. As if it makes you healthy if you\u2019re able to work six hours. I\u2019m lucky I have a part-time job that works perfectly with my study, but it\u2019s really not that much it pays when I\u2019m only able to work about six hours a week. A healthy young student probably works 15 hours a week and full-time in holidays. In holidays I can work maximum 12 hours before I get stress symptoms like dizziness, nausea and shortness of breath. <\/p>\n<blockquote><p>“When I hear about reforms, any reforms, I\u2019m always scared that it will effect me in a way that prevents me from showing what I\u2019m capable of.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Despite of this, I got a rejection on my application for disability allowance, and their argument is that I\u2019m able to work the six hours. What puzzles me is that the allowance is over DKK 8,000 every month, and my pay gives me about DKK 1,500 DKK when I\u2019ve paid taxes.<\/p>\n<h2>Don’t mention the reforms<\/h2>\n<p>Chronic pain makes you both physically and mentally tired, and with an insurance claim too, it makes it so hard to focus on the study. I feel powerless when it\u2019s so difficult and stressful to ask for help and not be sure to get any at all. <\/p>\n<p>Society, and government with its reforms and paragraphs, believes that young people aren\u2019t sick. Only old people are. It\u2019s hard for anyone to get sick. But there\u2019s an extra difficulty for young people, because it is now that we\u2019re supposed to be taking our education as a foundation for future life. <\/p>\n<p>When I hear about reforms, any reforms, I\u2019m always scared that it will effect me in a way that prevents me from showing what I\u2019m capable of and getting my degree. <\/p>\n<h2>Just unlucky<\/h2>\n<p>I don\u2019t always show up to class, but I\u2019m a good student and this summer I got an ‘A’. That makes me proud. But it\u2019s not fair that I have to struggle so much to get help when I really just want to be focusing on my study like everyone else.<\/p>\n<p>You don\u2019t choose to be sick, you\u2019re just unlucky.<\/p>\n<p>universitypost@adm.ku.dk<\/p>\n<p><em>Do you have a good story? We would like to <a href=\"http:\/\/universitypost.dk\/article\/how-share-stories-university-post\" target=\"_blank\">hear from you<\/a>. In the meantime, like us on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/UniversityPost\" target=\"_blank\"> Facebook <\/a> for features, guides and tips on upcoming events and follow us on <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/UniversityPost\" target=\"_blank\"> Twitter<\/a> for links to other Copenhagen academia news stories.<\/em><\/p>\n"},{"acf_fc_layout":"ArticleEnd"},{"acf_fc_layout":"OtherStories","headline":"","hand_picked_posts":false,"references":false,"category":false,"theme":false,"number_of_posts":"4","style":"default"}]},"taxonomyData":{"category":[{"term_id":47,"name":"Opinion","slug":"opinion","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":47,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":0,"count":333,"filter":"raw"}],"post_tag":[],"post_format":[],"expression":[{"term_id":15,"name":"News Article","slug":"news_article","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":15,"taxonomy":"expression","description":"","parent":0,"count":11488,"filter":"raw"}],"translation_priority":[]},"featured_media_url":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/signeeurenmortensen.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4846","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4846"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4846\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":31967,"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4846\/revisions\/31967"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4847"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4846"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4846"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4846"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}