Young people

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Eeep! When study is overwhelming! - Tips, ideas and coping strategies

replies: 51

Hi! Just thought I’d make a post with some tips for study. I know this is something we can all struggle with. These are all suggestions so feel free to take them or leave them! Hope they help! If you only remember one thing, let it be this: You are important. Your grades don’t define you. (support) Studying can feel isolating but know you’re not alone! Reach out – and find or make friends that can support you along the way. If you’re having trouble finding some friends, join some local communities or clubs! They have lots at Uni’s and even stuff like open days are great ways to meet new people and find out what’s happening. Study groups can also be a great way to meet people and stay motivated. Also remind yourself why you’re doing this; inspirational wallpapers or quotes can be super inspiring. Remember the saying about the oxygen mask? If you can’t take care of yourself first studying will be harder. You are important. You know the drill - water, food, exercise, sleep. Try to stay calm. Stuff that might be able to help include mindfulness, breathing exercises, colouring in, going for walks, journaling, listening to music… If you’re struggling – reach out. See a therapist. Talk to your student counsellor. If you need help, don’t be afraid to ask for it. Also lots of Universities and TAFE offer disability services – which includes conditions like Depression and Anxiety. (study) Find the right study space for you. Maybe that’s in your room, or a coffee shop, or the library. Some people find that noise helps; other people not so much. If you like particular kinds of noise, you can find ‘coffee shop’ noise or ‘rain sounds’ to help concentrate. Make a plan. It helps to do it often so it becomes a habit. Anytime you get a due date, write it down. Maybe you could use a diary, planner, bullet journal or an app. I find the 30/30 App helpful - study for a bit and then break for a bit. You can also get add-on’s for your computer to block sites like Facebook if you find them too distracting. Find out what study technique works for you. Do you like cue cards? Mind maps? Colour coding? Does highlighting stuff help you remember? Charts, maps, diagrams? Recorded lectures? Goals! These are so important – not just writing down deadlines but rewarding yourself for meeting them. Even making smaller goals like ‘read two pages from a textbook’ can help. Break it down into bite size pieces, and don’t forget to reward yourself after!

NEW TO THIS FORUM? Please read this first

replies: 0

The Young People space is a sub-forum within the wider Beyond Blue forum community. 1. Its purpose is to provide members aged 25 and under a space to discuss anxiety, depression and other related life issues. If you are aged over 25, please be mindful that this forum is a space for younger people to connect and provide peer support for each other. 2. Content from this sub-forum is displayed on both the beyondblue and youthbeyondblue websites. 3. Please bear in mind that some members find content relating to suicide and/or self-harm distressing or triggering. If you would like to post on these topics, please do so in our Suicidal Thoughts and Self Harm section. Please see also our guidelines for making posts on this topic. Posts made here in the Young People sub-forum containing content relating to suicide and/or self-harm will be moved. 4. These forums are moderated, so your posts may not appear straightaway. Information on how our system works can be found here. Being familiar with our community rules can help ensure that your posts appear online as quickly as possible. 5. This is a peer support community, and to get the best out of being here we recommend that you 'give support to receive support'. More on how that works here.

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ADF medical appeal for depressive anxiety disorder

replies: 1

G’day guys, just seeking some advice on my medical appeal for the ADF (Army Medic). When I was 16 I had been diagnosed with “depressive anxiety disorder” and prescribed with anti depressant medication. There was lots going on in my life at the time and I was very aggravated with the world. My Mum took me to a paediatrician and I ended up with this diagnosis. The medication never seemed to make me feel any better, I was never reviewed and just kept getting advised to take this tablet. Now, I am 21 years old and stopped taking the tablet in January. I feel better than ever. I started exercising whilst also working full time, I’ve been studying at university since 2023 trying to become a paramedic. I have previously been knocked back from the army twice. I have applied again and of course, been knocked again. I constantly kick myself for ever agreeing to go to the paed as this situation would never have been an issue. I have made the decision to appeal and have seen a psychologist. She says that I shouldn’t have ever been put on medication especially at 16 y/o and that the certain type of antidepressant is not approved for anyone under 18 y/o. (Australia) my main questions are: - what are my chances of a successful appeal - what is some strong evidence to chuck into my appeal Thankyou for taking the time to read my post. Kade.

Please help

replies: 1

Please help. My son recently attempted to take his own life (I know that's not the right terminology and for that I'm sorry). It was just days ago. His pain isn't something that will change. He's grieving the loss of his step father, his girlfriend and him are having issues, his dad and his relationship is strained. I can't change these things and his pain became unbearable. He has done every kind of talk therapy for 5 years about these things and he can't talk about them any more. He says that talking about things makes it worse, they can't be fixed but the pain is clearly crushing him. I have taken leave at work so I can be with him but this is a temporary thing. I can't follow him around forever and just keeping him alive while he's being crushed by pain isn't the answer. Where do we go from here? We've talked to doctors who say more counselling but how if that makes him feel worse??

No purpose in life

replies: 1

i’m 18 years old. i have no friends. my family acts like they can’t stand me. i’ve graduated high school and struggling to find a job due do my anxiety (not that i want one anyway). i rarely get out of bed unless i have to. i do nothing all day and i genuinely have no direction in life. i feel like collapsing when i see any type of friendships online. i miss having a friend group and i feel like i’m missing out on everything, like life is passing me by. i’m mourning a life that doesn’t exist. i wish i was never born. how is that fair? why do i have to deal with such suffocating thoughts and feelings when i don’t even want to be alive. i’m full of hatred and anger about my past. i’ll never get over it. what’s the point of continuing?

Freaking out about maths

replies: 1

I’m currently in year 11 and I’m doing maths methods. My first test wasn’t great, but my second was 88% which is really really great in my class. My next test however was 17%I think the reason I scored so low is because there’s nothing I hate more in the world than maths methods. Every moment in that classroom feels like hell. I literally dread sitting down to do my maths homework. I think to myself, maybe maths just isn’t for me? But then I also wonder that maybe the reason I’m doing so badly is because I’m not putting the effort in. It’s true, I could be studying a lot more, but I cannot bring myself to do it.I am resitting the test I got 17% on this week and I have a SAC on the same topic too. I’ve fallen so behind I wonder if it’s even worth studying because there’s no way I’m going to pass either of them. I’m feeling so anxious and I don’t know what to do or how to study for it. I don’t know if my teacher would be very pleased with me if I come up to her and tell her there’s no point in my resitting the test I failed because I’m not going to do any better.

My 16 year old struggles

replies: 2

I’m not really sure what i’m meant to write, this is my first time going to a place like this and talking about it, but it seems to help everyone else. Im in year 11, which has a lot of work and exams and stress… which doesn’t help anything! But i’m finding that i have been struggling alot, i just feel tired, i feel drained, i’ve had enough, i’m sitting at lunch while everyone is laughing and just don’t have it in me to join them.. i’m not sure what’s going on but i’m not hungry and i just want to sleep. My step grandma is fighting with cancer and only have about a week left, which has a huge toll on everyone.. but my actual grandma died of cancer when i was 8, so it’s flushing everything back. I’m just not sure what to do or how to deal with it, I also got kicked out of my friend group which is now bullying me at school, my new friend group is still settling in with me and it’s really hard. As well as loosing my boyfriend of almost a year who was so special to meAt home my parents are split, so there is some fighting and it always a-bit eh, but lately it seems everyone is yelling at me and everything is my fault, so i want to get away. but at school i have tons of work and i just can’t find a place.I don’t really have anyone to talk to… I told my parent about how i’m feeling and they simply said i don’t know.Its hard to describe how i feel, i may have a good day and then the next i'm just really horrible. this has gone on for about 2 weeks, everything is just dull. It’s like someone just vacuumed everything out and i’m just empty. I had a huge cry over the tiniest thing the other day which i thought would help. i hope some one understand what i’m feeling.. i don’t know how to finish this but i’m just tierd.

I have suddenly lost all of my motivation and most of my emotions.

replies: 3

Hello, (this is my first post) recently i have just suddenly lost all of my motivation. I have 3 critical assesments due very soon and i just cant bring myself to do them. i could easily finish one of them in about 2 hours but i just cant do it. im going to fail them but im not stressed at all? i have always been stressed when im doing assesments but recently i just lost my stress. I have hereditary anxiety but i have been on a 50mg a day dose of antidepressant/SSRI for the past 2 years and it has been working great until now. Without antidepressant/SSRI im extremely irratable (i used to get in a fight if a kid called me a name more than twice) and i cant control impulsive thoughts that enter my head, i also self harmed but i dont do that anymore. Im thinking i should go to a therapist or something but im not sure. Sorry if this is a bit all over the place but as you might of gathered, im not in the best of mental spaces.

friends and school

replies: 1

ok so basically i have a friend (lets call her v) she is my best friend of like 4 years now. initially we were a trio with this other girl, but she moved schools recently. it hit us both rlly hard, but her especially. since then, i've joined a group of ppl that im friends with and she followed suit. these ppl are rlly kind, friendly and like us both a lot. thing is there a lot closer to me than her. recently my friend broke down saying she felt rlly alone since our old friend left and since i'm hanging out with these ppl more than her. she doesn't rlly have other friends. she told me she was gonna try and find some other friends (since she doesnt rlly like my friends a lot) but so far there's been no success. and look, she means more to me than those other friends but i like them a lot too and i dont wanna leave them. i told them about how she was feeling (she told me i could) and they were like 'tbh we like her but we've rlly only tolerated her this long cause she's your friend' (v doesnt know about this btw) v has since said she wont be sitting with us and it sucks, since without her i'll always feel like a bit of an outsider compared to them, and since shes my best friend. and look ive supported her a lot but in all honesty i think shes being dramatic, although i understand i dont own her and she can sit with whoever she likes. anyways, i wanted to ask if there's anything i should do? or should i just let her leave? idk someone help pls.

im 13 and i am so close to just ending it bc of school

replies: 1

i am in the 8th grade and i already just want to leave i have changed schools and everything and i really just want to leave. I am constantly skipping class, skipping school, injuring myself on purpose to get out of school ect. I am constantly begging my dad to let me homeschool. The 2 week holidays are almost over and i don't want to go back considering the fact that i had the most embarrassing thing of my life happened right on the last week of term one. A girl got on my friends nerves and her and my friend got in a fight, i went to separate them and the girl who is infamously weird dislocated my knee and i have not been back since so i am soooo scared.

Moving interstate at 17

replies: 1

Hi, I’ve been searching and trying to figure out if it is legal or if there was restrictions on a person under 17 being able to move interstate alone without parental consent or knowledge. I already have a plan on getting money and a way to move, I j... View more

Giving up when life doesn’t get better

replies: 2

Hi everyone! I’m not sure what compelled me to start writing this post. Maybe I’m hoping someone would validate my feelings or relate to my situation. For context, I am 22 years old. I am in the final year of my university studies. I used to have more friends and went out more. Now I only have a few close friends, whom I try to see at least once a week. The same goes for my boyfriend. He lives an hour away by car (or an hour and a half commute), and we try to see each other at least once a week. I live with my strict parents and still have a curfew despite my age. Sleepovers are forbidden. I am often made to feel guilty when I go out at night or past dinner time. I was recently unemployed and my parents don’t want me to work while I finish my studies. I know I am blessed that they want to support me, but I continue to struggle with feelings of uncertainty about my job prospects. I spoke to them about wanting to work casual hours waitressing or doing odd jobs like I used to, but they said no. Since I lost my full-time job, I don’t know if I even want to continue in the same field as my degree. I am diagnosed with CPTSD and often think about how it affects my ability to cope. I'm not sure where my depression and anxiety stem from or if it’s from a singular event. I get support from my mental health nurse, GP, counsellor, psychologist, and headspace worker. Until recently, I even had a social worker and a financial advisor. Despite utilising all this free support, my mental health does not seem to be improving. I find myself struggling more with self-doubt, anxiety, depression and I’m more prone to feeling extreme emotional distress. Recently, I have slept a lot to run away from my problems. As soon as I wake up, I go back to sleep. I slept twice trying to finish this post. I hate mornings. I want to study and do my assessments, but I never do. I want to be active and eat well, but I can’t. I hate being stuck at home. I want to make new friends and have fun. But I feel awkward and lonely even when I'm around others. I want to leave my partner because it's so hard to see him, especially because my family is moving farther away. I have too much baggage and I feel scared he will leave me. I hate how my life has turned out. I’m not sure I will ever be able to be financially stable enough to move out. I want to give up on everything and sleep forever. I apologise if anyone feels triggered reading this rant. I hope life gets better for you.

Eeep! When study is overwhelming! - Tips, ideas and coping strategies replies: 51

NEW TO THIS FORUM? Please read this first replies: 0

ADF medical appeal for depressive anxiety disorder replies: 1

Please help replies: 1

No purpose in life replies: 1

Freaking out about maths replies: 1

My 16 year old struggles replies: 2

I have suddenly lost all of my motivation and most of my emotions. replies: 3

friends and school replies: 1

im 13 and i am so close to just ending it bc of school replies: 1

Moving interstate at 17 replies: 1

Giving up when life doesn’t get better replies: 2