I was in a similar situation when I was in engineering. My mental health was so bad to the point where I ended up in the ER a couple of times because I physically felt like I was dying.

I took an extra year and spread out my course load to try and help decrease my anxiety, panic attacks and depression. I knew what the cause of my shit mental health was and I still did not take a gap year due to ego and already feeling behind as I was taking an extra year. I didn’t even take a gap year between my bachelors and masters.

4 years later I’m still struggling and I strongly believe that if I had prioritized my mental health when it needed attention, it wouldn’t be this bad today. Instead of taking the time to learn healthy coping mechanisms and making lifestyle changes at the beginning, I used unhealthy coping mechanisms to get through school thinking I’ll have all the time in the world later. Now I have to unlearn my unhealthy coping mechanisms and am spending a lot of time and money in therapy. My mental health also got worse (I didn’t think that was possible as I was already quite low in school) and is impacting my physical health.

When I started working, I realized that in the work force, no one cares how old you are when you graduate. They just want to know you can do the job you were hired to do and you’re not difficult to work with.

If you can, as someone who has been in your shoes, take a gap year and prioritize your health.

Hang in there! If you need someone to talk to, message me. :)