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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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Brooke__ how do I stop feeling so anxious?
  • replies: 2

I always feel anxious and I'm scared of the future, instead of being excited for it. I ruin everything by being scared and I hate it. everything is so daunting to me, people know I am a cautious person, but they don't know the extreme thoughts and th... View more

I always feel anxious and I'm scared of the future, instead of being excited for it. I ruin everything by being scared and I hate it. everything is so daunting to me, people know I am a cautious person, but they don't know the extreme thoughts and the worry I think everyday and night. I just want to think positive for once, but how?

nevergiveup245 Anxiety when doing my work everyday
  • replies: 7

Hi everyone, I have struggled with anxiety and intrusive thoughts for many years. I am doing Uni at the moment and the pace is really fast at uni, so there’s a lot of work to do everyday. Because of my anxiety and fear of failure, of making mistakes,... View more

Hi everyone, I have struggled with anxiety and intrusive thoughts for many years. I am doing Uni at the moment and the pace is really fast at uni, so there’s a lot of work to do everyday. Because of my anxiety and fear of failure, of making mistakes, of getting things wrong, I procrastinate a lot and to the point I can’t do anything or have a mental breakdown sometimes... I see my psychologist about monthly, so have to cope in between. Everyday I struggle between fighting my negative thoughts to continue my day/life VS succumbing to what my mind tells me which is to avoid my work as much as possible. The latter usually leads to deep depression.. So am trying to avoid that as much as possible. i have been off meds for a few years, but have been thinking of going on them again. But also am thinking if exercising would help. anyone found exercising help anxiety? I am not sure how to cope with anxiety everyday. Any suggestions are appreciated.

emily2 Scared i am losing my boyfriend to mental illness
  • replies: 4

About 2 months ago my boyfriend started experiencing psychotic episodes abruptly ever since its been a rollercoaster of him going to somewhat stable to relapsing. he is on medication i am not sure if they just arent the right does he has a dr appoint... View more

About 2 months ago my boyfriend started experiencing psychotic episodes abruptly ever since its been a rollercoaster of him going to somewhat stable to relapsing. he is on medication i am not sure if they just arent the right does he has a dr appointment Tuesday but anyways i am struggling immensly. This is the person i love most in my life he is my bestfriend and at times he seems completely insane. I understand schizophrenia though he hasnt been properly diagnosed he has pretty much every symptom. I am just at a dead end i want my best friend back i have been trying so hard i am basically his carer now but some of things he does says during an acute episode are scary. This isnt the person i know. I feel so lost im not suicidal but this makes life so unbearable. The hard part is that he doesnt even have any insight into his condition which i think will make it extremely hard for him to recover. He has had about 4 psychotic episodes now i am so scared that if this keeps happening i am just going to lose him all together to this illness. I am not expecting and real help to come out of this i am just venting i am so lost, I feel lost in myself i dont even know who i am anymore i just feel like my life is consumed by my boyfriends illness but i cant leave this is the person i love who i wanted to marry eventually and start a family with. I just dont understand why this has happened to him and i were so happy before this. Please if anyone with a partner thats going through this/ been throgh this let me know how things panned out.

BBUser25 I don’t know what to do anymore.
  • replies: 5

As a school student, I’m constantly pressured by studies, grades etc. But my problem is, I’m absorbing myself into everyone else’s problems. What I mean is: If someone is having a rough time, I’ll offer support, but it’s gotten to the point, where I ... View more

As a school student, I’m constantly pressured by studies, grades etc. But my problem is, I’m absorbing myself into everyone else’s problems. What I mean is: If someone is having a rough time, I’ll offer support, but it’s gotten to the point, where I am being everyone else’s emotional anchor... It’s taking its toll on me, because I have problems of my own, but automatically I throw myself into everyone else’s feelings. According to relatives, I’m empathetic. I don’t know how to handle all this, I’m stuck in a constant limbo, because I can’t bring myself to say “No” instead, I be the “strong one.” I put on a mask to appear happy, and to try and manage a happy atmosphere. It feels like there’s a gaping hole in my chest, I emotionally attach to one person, I devote my everything to this person... Yet they still leave. I understand why the first victim of this attaching left; it may be because I would sit at his fence 30 minutes before we would walk to school. To this day, I’ve attached to 6 people, all but one has left me, because this one is my newest person I’ve attached to. I’m constantly being accused of being gay, (Now before you think I have anything against any of the sexualities, I don’t, infact I believe that a person has the right to love WHOEVER they love.) now the reason why being called gay is something I get offended by is because I’m getting called something that I’m not. My best friends father has left her household, and so I’m trying to be her emotional anchor, people have left her side because she’s gotten depression and anger issues, this has made her feel isolated. This is my problem, and I’m sorry for rambling.

finchh self hate
  • replies: 5

ive been through a lot in my life, stuff way to depressing and messed up to explain on this forum. anyway its led me to have a lot of issues with self esteem and self hate, to an extreme point were I have great difficulty loving myself for who I am a... View more

ive been through a lot in my life, stuff way to depressing and messed up to explain on this forum. anyway its led me to have a lot of issues with self esteem and self hate, to an extreme point were I have great difficulty loving myself for who I am and not consistently trying to change myself. I was wondering if anyone else experiences such extreme self hate in relation to their mental illnesses and how they have learnt to cope with it and counteract it. xx

flow_boy I feel like I don't have any real friends
  • replies: 2

Hi, this is my first time posting. I am 17 and currently in year 12. I would say I'm an introverted person who gets anxious when meeting new people but I have been able to develop a group of friends over my time at high school. However, for the past ... View more

Hi, this is my first time posting. I am 17 and currently in year 12. I would say I'm an introverted person who gets anxious when meeting new people but I have been able to develop a group of friends over my time at high school. However, for the past couple of years I feel like my group of friends have started to shift away from me. They still act like they include me but they tend not care how I feel even though in my opinion I have been a good friend. Not that I am constantly checking social media to see what people are doing but often I see my 'friends' out together doing something and they do not even consider to invite me. I know this because they will tell me about their outing while I'm on the train with them the next day going to school and they seem not to care. I feel like I am losing my friends and I don't know if it's me or I should try to find new friends but I find it difficult to make lasting friendships. I am in multiple sports teams and get on well with those people but besides training and games I do hang out with them. I feel lonely a lot of the time and don't know if it is my fault or not. I often question what I am doing and if I need to change. I feel invisible.

Just_some_weird_chick Social phobia - do I really need a diagnosis to get better? :/
  • replies: 5

Hi, Warning; migraine induced rant. I've never spoken about my feelings with anyone before, so this is a little bit hard for me. I hope it all makes sense. A friend shared a SAD link on Facebook last week and almost everything in the article related ... View more

Hi, Warning; migraine induced rant. I've never spoken about my feelings with anyone before, so this is a little bit hard for me. I hope it all makes sense. A friend shared a SAD link on Facebook last week and almost everything in the article related to me. I did a bit of research and I'm pretty sure I've had SAD my whole life. Every article I've read has suggested getting a diagnosis. I want to listen to this advice, but I've spent three days worrying about how and why to get a diagnosis and now I've given myself a migraine over it. I'm an unemployed uni student so I can't afford to go to a psychologist. I live in a small town, too, so I'd be worried someone would see my car parked there. I don't know if a GP is the right person to go to, either. I keep worrying that they'll tell me I don't have SAD and to just live with it, or that I need to see a psychologist for a diagnosis, or I won't even be able to speak to the doctor once I get in there; that has happened before. The website for the GP doesn't say which docs are bulk billing and which aren't, so I'll have to call to make an appointment. I tried to call today, but couldn't make myself do it. I'm not entirely sure I have SAD. I avoid situations where I'll be invited to social events (if that makes sense), but if I'm invited to an event I almost always go with only a little anxiety beforehand - although I always regret it as soon as I'm there and lose sleep over it for at least a week afterwards. I have never been able to have a normal conversation with anyone except my mum and one particular friend (my only friend). I can get really anxious about things I do all the time, like going to the shops or gym, but I can make myself go 98% of the time. I can answer the phone, but that's because the fear of answering isn't as great as the fear of calling them back. I know a lot of people with SAD have the same dilemma and I'm not alone (although it feels like I am). But do I really need a diagnosis to start 'getting better'? Now that I'm (pretty) sure I have it, can't I just deal with it and fix it alone? I'm tired of living like this, but just can't make myself get help.

Parmigiana Feel like I don't know myself and who I am changes
  • replies: 2

I feel like who I was last night and this morning isn't someone who I recognize. The memories don't feel like mine, or at least they feel like a dream, only they did happen. I've had dreams feel like real memories before, but never something that fee... View more

I feel like who I was last night and this morning isn't someone who I recognize. The memories don't feel like mine, or at least they feel like a dream, only they did happen. I've had dreams feel like real memories before, but never something that feels for all intents and purposes like a dream, only for the fact that I know it happened, the people involved know it happened and the effects of it have resonated throughout my day. I feel different now, but still not myself, and I find it hard to recall myself through the fog in my brain. This comes from(before last night) knowing who I was with almost certainty, and having confidence in myself as a human being.

Em7 Why do I let the fear of failure get to me so much?
  • replies: 1

Hi, I'm in my first year of my degree and I love what im studying (I'm studying nutrition). My problems is that I have a habit of not doing things or leaving them to the last minute simply because i'll spend most of the time thinking 'what's the poin... View more

Hi, I'm in my first year of my degree and I love what im studying (I'm studying nutrition). My problems is that I have a habit of not doing things or leaving them to the last minute simply because i'll spend most of the time thinking 'what's the point, I'll never succeed or get anywhere'. My highschool years were not great. I felt so unintelligent compared to all the other girls, my struggles were always right there on my shoulders weighing down any potential I had. I embraced my bad grades and at one point became proud of them, taking them as jokes and laughing with others about it. That is until one day i realised that that's not who i wanted to be. As organised as I can be in uni, I go through these funks where it will take me a week to actually start something. I go through so much self pity that I become so depressed. I don't have friends at uni (my class consists of mainly people I have little in common with, fake people). I never used to be insecure and now all my insecurities are coming out and I honestly don't know how to handle them. I feel as though I'm missing out on my life by not enjoying it. I have already failed two units and I'm afraid that I'll fail more this trimester. Its my own fault, I hardly attended any classes because my motivation was at zero. I'm afraid that I wont ever do anything with my life and I know it's up to me to change but I'm lost and confused. Thank you for reading this much needed vent.

Amy23 New
  • replies: 10

Hi, I'm new on here and I want to be able to talk to someone (I am not giving away personal thing)

Hi, I'm new on here and I want to be able to talk to someone (I am not giving away personal thing)