Homework Withdrawal: A Bizarre Sensation

Today I'm going to write about the weirdest sensation plaguing students this time of year, homework withdrawal.

I think you all know what I'm talking about.

H.W.W. plagues students every May as they attempt to cope with the dramatic life change that accompanies the final day of class.

Planking may occur in severe cases of H.W.W. If a student
you love resorts to planking as a result of H.W.W., please go
out and purchase a coloring book or jigsaw puzzle for them.

Symptoms include:

• sudden panic attacks over imaginary missed due dates
• chronically sensing that one is forgetting something
• boredom and excessive sleeping
• renewed interest in random old hobbies
• leaping out of bed at 9:15 before remembering you don't have class
• forgetting what day of the week it is

Other symptoms may also occur. (Feel free to comment additional symptoms below.)

I think what makes H.W.W. so severe in some instances is the abundance of studying, assignments and final projects leading up and throughout to finals week. During these final days of a semester the student's life is often utterly consumed with school. All-nighters are not uncommon, which lower the student's ability to retain long term memories. These elements combine to leave the student in a generally confused and disoriented state on the final day of class. This mode of existence sometimes takes weeks to recover from allowing the effects of H.W.W. to occur. 

Things that help with H.W.W.:

• vacation-leaving the setting associated with school work will help the student cope with the sudden change.
• spending time with someone who is not a student-This helps because that person can usually remind the student what day it is and help them feel some sense of normalcy about life.
• swimming, eating snow cones, and other summer activities-These activities help the student reconnect with reality outside of school.

This is not an exhaustive list of cures by any means. (This is another opportunity for you to include suggestions in the comments section.)

I would like to include that although H.W.W. is a bizarre sensation, it is not altogether unpleasant. Certainly the chronic feeling of paranoia about forgetting an assignment is uncomfortable, but it is not more uncomfortable than homework itself. The cure for H.W.W. is certainly more pleasant than doing homework, which is generally the cure for having homework.

If you suffer from H.W.W., remember you are not alone.