[SmilinEyesMs305]

As many of you know, I am attending grad school part time. Although I am not working, I am taking a class that is like an internship. I spend 12 hours a week in a preschool classroom for kids with special needs. (3 days 4 hours a day per drs instructions). This class/internship and my other class require a lot of writing/computer time. The internship was one of the few classes I have left to complete my degree, so I didn't really have a choice to put it off.

I'm feel very overwhelmed. My professors and the classroom teacher have been wonderful and understanding and allow me to turn things in as I finish them, take breaks as needed etc.

The problem is that friends and family assume since I'm back in the classroom, I'm must be almost better. However, my brain and body are struggling to adjust to the increased demands. I have seen a huge spike in symptoms. The days I am in the classroom, I come home and completely crash out. Which leaves the other 4 days of the week filled with computer time and homework.

It seems everyone assumes I should be able to keep all with all the added responsibility AND all that I had been doing before, such as taking care of the house, spending time with friends and family, etc.

This is really hard for me because I've always been one to take care of others before myself. It took a LONG time to accept that this couldn't be the case during my recovery. But now that people think I'm "better" (despite my increase in symptoms!), I feel guilty that I am not able to do all those things and keep up with my new responsibilities.

How do you tell people that increased responsibilities, may mean you are able to do less (at least for a while), than you had previously been doing? No one seems to understand this. And it hurts, because it makes me feel like people think I stopped caring about them. That's not case. I just can't be superwoman.... how do I get people to undertand this?