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Young people

A space for people aged 12-25 to discuss life. If you’re over 25, please be mindful that this is a space for younger people to connect.

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romantic_thi3f 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 i... View more

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!

Sophie_M 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 mindfu... View more

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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T-Fae I have no friends
  • replies: 1

Ever since school finished my old friends all got jobs and started uni and it's hard to hang out with all our conflicting schedules. No one has posted on the group chat in months, and I really tried to make friends at uni but I feel like whenever I'm... View more

Ever since school finished my old friends all got jobs and started uni and it's hard to hang out with all our conflicting schedules. No one has posted on the group chat in months, and I really tried to make friends at uni but I feel like whenever I'm in public I completely shut down and can't function. Whenever people try talk to me the most I can do is smile and fake laugh a bit and it's completely ruining my life. I always made friends through my one childhood friend, but now she's doing a different course and we never speak. I've been shy my whole life but since the beginning of the year I've just been freaking out every time I'm near another human. At uni I eat lunch in the bathroom because I can't sit around people without getting scared. I'm so isolated and lonely, I feel like I have nothing to look forward to and no one cares about me. I can barely sleep at night because I get so frustrated at myself. How do I stop panicking around people??? Help??

UpShipCreek I just need to talk.
  • replies: 3

Hi, I don’t have any friends left and I need to talk but I have no one who will listen. I’m 25 and My life sucks. friends: I had 2 friends. One friend doesn’t care about me so I haven’t talked to her in a while because she makes me feel bad about mys... View more

Hi, I don’t have any friends left and I need to talk but I have no one who will listen. I’m 25 and My life sucks. friends: I had 2 friends. One friend doesn’t care about me so I haven’t talked to her in a while because she makes me feel bad about myself. Everything is about how everything’s worse for her and I tried to cancel plans with her because my grandad was in icu and she said to me ‘okay, but I’m not happy with you’ this was a week after my second friend hurt me badly because I’m ‘too poor’ to go have coffee with him... after he is always busy and I’m always a second thought to him. work: my job sucks. It’s low paying and I can’t afford anything. I got a written warning the other day because apparently I’m not happy enough. I’m not happy to be here anymore as it set my anxiety off.. home: i live with my mum and brother and they’re always mean to me. They both smoke in the house and I quit a year ago but they don’t help and my brother just says it’s 2 against one and my mum always takes his side in things and yells at me for everything even when it’s okay for my brother to do.. if I clean the house I get in troubled for not doing something else and vise versa. I’m always getting in trouble for things and I don’t understand why.. I don’t want people telling me to move out of home because I can’t afford it. I don’t want people saying change jobs because I’m trying and no one will hire me right now. I try to talk to people and they throw it back in my face. My mother her even told me I don’t have a right to feel the way I do. I just want everything to stop.

iminpain struggling to stay at school
  • replies: 3

everyday when i get home from school i feel worse and worse i get terrible marks on almost everything i do i try hard in class really hard but when it comes to assignments and exams i think i am trying hard but then i just get bad marks i feel bad ab... View more

everyday when i get home from school i feel worse and worse i get terrible marks on almost everything i do i try hard in class really hard but when it comes to assignments and exams i think i am trying hard but then i just get bad marks i feel bad about those marks and people make fun of me for these marks and think of me as being stupid ive been at 5 different schools all over Australia and 1 in Malaysia and i never have felt like i have had any good friends at any of these schools and i feel sad everyday beacause i feel as though i have no good freinds. no one ever invited me to social events or to the movies and it really hurts when i see people who i thought were my freinds all hanging out without me. I feel like im going to fail everything and life just feels too hard i really hate school and i feel like it is slowly tearing my mental capacity apart. most days i wonder whats the point of living

Idkidkidk Giving up
  • replies: 2

I feel so pathetic and ashamed to be myself. I have basically no friends. The only people I really have are a few family members. Everyone else basically tolerates me. I cry so much. I’m miserable at work and at home. I can’t escape from myself and m... View more

I feel so pathetic and ashamed to be myself. I have basically no friends. The only people I really have are a few family members. Everyone else basically tolerates me. I cry so much. I’m miserable at work and at home. I can’t escape from myself and my thoughts consume me. Sometimes I think it would be better if I never woke up in the morning. I’m paranoid about everything and worrying constantly despite people’s effort to try and calm me down. I have panic attacks a lot . I’m always bitter and can be really cold. My mood goes up and down which is exhausting. I can’t keep relationships (friends, etc) going for very long before they see how I am and get bored... I just can’t stand who I am, I’m always making mistakes and looking like an idiot. I’m at the point of giving up on having a social life, I was probably just meant to die alone anyway so what is it worth? I try talking to people and they just look at me like I’m freak. I don’t want to be me, I hate me

footy1679 My 14yr old best friend is getting worse
  • replies: 3

Hi, this is my first time posting and I’m not sure how to explain, there’s a girl in my soccer team who is 14 and came to me at the start of the season which was roughly Start of March. She has been hurting herself and she’s getting worse. I told her... View more

Hi, this is my first time posting and I’m not sure how to explain, there’s a girl in my soccer team who is 14 and came to me at the start of the season which was roughly Start of March. She has been hurting herself and she’s getting worse. I told her Aunty and that’s when I realised how bad her home life is because her dad, mum and step mum just told her she was doing it for attention and that she’s ungrateful. I’m 17 and when I was her age I was doing similar things (self-harming). I don’t know if I’m even helping her or doing the right thing by her as all I’m doing is just listening. I’m not sure what to do because I am kind of the only support she has. Talking to her about why I used to hurt myself has brought some stuff up, such as my family and school issues and I’m now at that stage of not knowing what to do. I feel like I’m being dramatic but sometimes I think she is giving up and is suicidal but then I just think I’m overthinking. Other girls in the soccer team (it’s an open ages team so there are older girls) they only half know what’s going on because the first one everyone found out nothing really changed. I feel like I’m the only one who wants her to get better. I feel like I should get help too because idk if this is too much just for me because I don’t want to be dramatic. sorry if this doesn’t completely make sense

Quercus Why are we still too ashamed to talk to our teens about sex!?!
  • replies: 10

Right. No idea if a thread like this is allowed but right now I feel it is desperately needed. Recently I spoke to a friend's teen who was her school's newest victim of sexual images being shared without consent. It was an eye opening discussion. Mad... View more

Right. No idea if a thread like this is allowed but right now I feel it is desperately needed. Recently I spoke to a friend's teen who was her school's newest victim of sexual images being shared without consent. It was an eye opening discussion. Made me wonder why in 2019 are we still repeating the same old mistakes? Yep. The technology is changing. Teens today are dealing with totally different risks than even ten years ago. But the lack of education stays the same decade after decade! I asked this young woman why was she embarrassed to talk and ask for help? Ok she messed up. But did she really think her Mum or myself hadn't messed up just as badly at her age? News flash to any young adults reading... Technology has changed. Sex hasn't. Your parents, grandparents, teachers you name it all went through the horrible misery that is puberty, developing sexuality, experimentation and all the cringeworthy mistakes that go along with it. What has changed significantly is the consequences and shame that now exist. Years ago a few girls skinnydipped at a girlfriend's house. My mate decided she would show the blokes in my year a photo she'd taken of me (thankfully a cleavage pic with most of the top still on). It was a nice photo and she wanted to help me to be noticed... but my goodness I was horrified. The difference was I got to walk up to the boys, tear up the photo and threaten my friend till she gave me the negative. I shared that trying to show her we all go through similar crap in life. It feels good to have someone say you are beautiful or sexy and sometimes we go looking for people to make us feel ok about ourselves instead of looking at why we have low self esteem. But then I realised this young woman didn't have the luxury of control over her photos. Or of forgetting silly mistakes fueled by hormones and youth and wanting to feel good. So why the hell aren't we talking about it? I wouldn't go back to being a young adult for anything. It was hard enough before the internet. I feel like we are failing our kids. If you could go back and tell your teenage self something about sexuality what would you want them to know? Nat

Taylah_H Financial stress HSC major works
  • replies: 1

Hi all, I have two major works due in less than 10 weeks and both are heavily practical based and require me to be buying so many materials that are extremely out of my budget and I am stressing more and more everyday about how I will pay for it all.... View more

Hi all, I have two major works due in less than 10 weeks and both are heavily practical based and require me to be buying so many materials that are extremely out of my budget and I am stressing more and more everyday about how I will pay for it all. The closer the date becomes the more anxious I have become because my parents kind of are not going to be expecting to help me pay all this money because they aren’t really involved in my HSC journey. Is there any ways in which you all suggest I can gather some money within the next three weeks to get started. I do have a casual job although I only work one day a week and am struggling to even save to buy a car as my birthday is coming up. I was hoping anyone knows of organisations that help fund students who do major works for their HSC especially as I am doing two. This is really stressing me out and we have been back at school for two days only. Please help if you know of any financial assistance for HSC students or if you have any suggestions as to how I can bring this up with my parents who I don’t have a close relationship with without the whole big shock and it causing extra stress at home. thankyou all for your support

llamalover23 How will I make it through next semester?
  • replies: 7

Hi everyone. i start my second year of uni at the end of feb and I am terrified. Last year during the semester my depression got really bad. It would take me 5-6 hours to fall asleep at night, up to an hour to eat a piece of toast, 4-6 hours to get r... View more

Hi everyone. i start my second year of uni at the end of feb and I am terrified. Last year during the semester my depression got really bad. It would take me 5-6 hours to fall asleep at night, up to an hour to eat a piece of toast, 4-6 hours to get ready to go out. I didn’t shower for weeks, ate terribley, didn’t brush my teeth etc etc... I woke up each day in utter misery, wanting to sleep everytime I opened my eyes. I honestly do not think it could have got more severe, I nearly got hospitalised. i tried everything I possibly could to improve my mood. Increasing pleasurable activities, exercising, doing things for others, changing my diet, meditation, breathing exercises, journaling, art etc etc. i filled out dozens of worksheets, read books, downloaded all the apps, used all the e-therapies. None of it has made any changes to my mood, even after implementing these techniques for the better part of a year. i visited my local GP a few times, he prescribed a medication that did not work for me. I went back after a month because I was at a crisis point, he upped my dosage and told me to ‘take a walk in the sunshine’. Didn’t work. i visited my university counselling service 4 times, but I could only get an appointment once a month. I deteriorated so much during this time I was essentially told to leave because I was so bad and I needed more treatment than they could provide. i visited a university gp, but he didn’t really have any suggestions apart from taking a different medication. I would like to note that any physical cause of my depression has been ruled out through multiple blood tests. I struggled to find a good match for a local psychologist so I am now using the betterhelp app. I like my counsellor however as it is with online chat, progress is very slow and she hasn’t really made any new suggestions. i live in a beautiful house with a loving family, and I have little to no obligations or outside stresses, so that’s not the problem. please, I need some help. I’m not an idiot, if I don’t change SOMETHING, I’ll go back to the stress of uni and become a human slug again, or worse if you catch what I’m saying. Unfortunately I can’t do my degree online or part-time so that isn’t an option. Thanks

LDW I feel like I'm being destroyed and I don't know what to do
  • replies: 1

So, I guess I should explain myself. I'm a teenager, not going to specify how old, and I am recently finding everything overwhelming. I live with anxiety - in many forms, depression, PTSD, insomnia and an eating disorder than I am unsure the name of.... View more

So, I guess I should explain myself. I'm a teenager, not going to specify how old, and I am recently finding everything overwhelming. I live with anxiety - in many forms, depression, PTSD, insomnia and an eating disorder than I am unsure the name of. So, I'm the baby of the family. I have no siblings and am the youngest cousin, and I'm always told that I act older than I am. I find this anxiety enducing because I'm expected to act older than I am, and I'm hardly allowed to be my own age, and this is purely because I was forced to grow up far too fast. I'm unsure of my sexuality, and that causes more anxiety because I have absolutely no clue how my family or friends would react to me being anything but straight - but they aren't homophobic, some of them are part of the LGBTIQ+ community themselves. And my friend recently started talking to me about her own concerns, doubts, worries, thoughts and such and I want to be there for her, I really do, but my thoughts are getting to me and it feels like I'm drowning while everyone around me is breathing. But I can't turn my friend away, because she pretty much only trusts me, and I don't know what she would do if I told her that I needed space. She is such a kind girl and she doesn't deserve any of what she is going through and I would take it all if it meant she could be happy, but I can't, and it is that realization that destroys me most. Could I get some opinions, or maybe some advice for anxiety? Am I thinking about this too deeply? Should I suck it up, or turn my friend away? Should I try and find a way to block out the thoughts?

Mousey22 I keep changing my mind constantly, how do I fix this
  • replies: 2

This happens all of the time and it drives me nuts at times. I will have a different idea of what I want to do with my life and how to act in the morning, and then it will change in the afternoon or evening. Like, in regards to serious things such as... View more

This happens all of the time and it drives me nuts at times. I will have a different idea of what I want to do with my life and how to act in the morning, and then it will change in the afternoon or evening. Like, in regards to serious things such as what I want to do for a career, which sport I want to play, who I want to associate with, what my own personal interests are, etc. I can't figure out why I keep changing my mind about things and why I can't just stay focused on doing one or two things and keeping it that way. Do you have any advice on how to stop jumping from one extreme to the other?