I am about to fail a required course due to difficulties caused by mental health issues. How can I save my degree? So I expect to finish my master degree next August, and I was supposed to pass one undergraduate course to fulfill my degree requirements. I took this course last year and I failed it, so I had to retake it one more time.
I have been struggling with severe depression and anxiety for the last two years, and adding to it the uncertainty of the pandemic, my mental health got worse and I literally felt broken all the time, and therefore I didn't do well in the course (yes for the second time!). In order to pass the course, I need 65/100, and it seems my final grade will be something between 58 and 62 (all assignments have been completed).
The thing is that failing this course means I will have to leave the program, which will be so painful after all that I went through. Therefore, I was thinking of reaching out to my professor by email and explaining to him all what I was going through and asking him if it is possible that he gives me some work to do or something to pass the course. I feel like a failure for asking such thing and it is really pathetic, but I honestly have nothing in my hands. I just spend all day crying and self loathing.
Do you think professors in general can offer this kind of help? Is there a good way to approach the professor? Is there another way to save the situation? It is just that it was beyond me.
First, the most important thing is to improve your mental health. Without taking the time to recover from this illness, these sorts of professional problems are likely to recur, even if you overcome this current situation. So, two suggestions:

Begin (or continue) working with a mental health professional. In addition to the obvious medical benefits, this will give you some firm documentation of the problem, which could be helpful academically.
Talk to your someone within your program -- either the graduate director or another trusted professor or someone in the school's counseling center. They can help you assess your academic options -- for example, the option of taking a leave of absence while you recover.


Therefore, I was thinking of reaching out to my professor by email and explaining to him all what I was going through and asking him if it is possible that he gives me some work to do or something to pass the course.

I do not recommend this. I received these sort of requests at the end of every class I taught, and my response was always along the lines of &quot;Too late, the course is over. It wouldn't be fair to the other students if I changed the grading scheme at this late time.&quot; While some instructors might be less hard-hearted than me, I think very few would be willing to give extra points for no reason, or to allow &quot;extra credit&quot; for one student only.
That said, there is still some hope -- if a student missed a passing mark by just a few percent, I would occasionally &quot;round up&quot; and award the passing grade. I would do this for every class, regardless of whether the students had e-mailed me with supplications.

Is there another way to save the situation?

I would approach this from the other side -- see my second bullet above. The graduate director, or your school's mental health office, might be able to arrange for an exception, or a leave of absence, or some other work around.