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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I'm new (Rant)

replies: 5

Hi I'm new, my name is Bobby I'm 16 was born in Melbourne and moved to Sunshine Coast a few years ago. My first panic attack was in 2015 at school when we were discussing different illnesses I didn't know what going on but I saw a physiologist and found out it was a panic attack, I only had a few in 2015. Then since July 2016 I started having regular panic attacks every time I would go to play sport, I had no idea what to do but my body wouldn't let me go in any open spaces. This went on for a few months till I was diagnosed with agoraphobia, social anxiety disorder, GAD & OCD. On the 25th of November I was put in hospital for nearly seven weeks to gain weights which was supposed to make the anxiety go away but the when I left the hospital I had a really bad panic attack. And for the last 8 months or so my anxiety hasn't improved at all in fact I suspect it got worse being in a closed space for 7 weeks. I'm sick of making excuses at school as to why I can't play sport. I used to play a few sports but now because of my anxiety and because of all the weight I gained I can't be bothered playing again and have lost motivation to enjoy sport. I've seen so many physiologicals, they all the same thing: try deep breathing and ground yourself I do that every time and it NEVERS improves the anxiety. I'm on lots of medication which is supposed to help with my OCD but it's so bad, every time I hear lyrics of a song I count the syallbes it's so annoying. I'm also very anti social, always have been I guess I started at a new school this year and I have zero friends. I'm not sure whether this is depression related but I have no motivation to get up in the mornings, do any work at school or at home and sometimes I cry for hours non stop. To make matters worse I'm an only child so I spend almost all of my free time on the internet. Can anyone help?

Was wondering if anyone could give me some tips on what to do with my situation

replies: 5

for a long time now I have been struggling with life, I have been having a hard time in school with work and people , I have a lot of family issues to deal with, feeling down ( most of the time for no reason) and I miss my best friend who moved houses and schools. I really don't know what to do because I have problems talking to literally anyone face to face, I feel that I may say something wrong or they may not care or understand

I wasn't snooping but I wasnt happy with what I saw

replies: 5

Hey, I'm a 19 year old female in a relationship of 4 months, My boyfriend and I are very close and have no trust issues whatsoever but we always discuss if something is making us jealous or unhappy, so its pretty good communication so far, they only thing I'm slightly confused about is when we were scrolling through Facebook together, we went to search for something on there and I seen in his history he had been searching other females profiles, that he hasn't really got anything to do with as well as searching for "Girls Advice 18+" pages, I dont want to be weary of them just because I have no reason to but it was just really weird, and I dont know how to bring it up to him.. has anyone else been in this situation and what happened?

I want answers to my life questions i cant find them!! Will i ever find the answers?

replies: 2

I am fustrated at the moment because i want answers. I want to know if im on the right path. If i am going the right pace. Why is my life so boring. I just have so many answers and it doesnt matter how quiet i am or how much i ask myself i come up blank. i have no idea what the answers are and it is fustrating because no one can tell me and i cant tell myself. I am 20 and i seriously get things take time but i am so sick of people telling me that and for myself to say - Give time, time. I HATE IT. Im sick of waiting for life to get better. I WANT ANSWERS. What do i do when i just want to get clarity and i cant get it from myself

School vs chores

replies: 3

Hi everyone, I'm currently in year 11. I'm a good student and I work really hard to achieve my best. I'm also aiming to get a university scholarship at the end of year 12, so I'm also involved in a few competitions and extra-curriculars that I enjoy, but also to increase my scholarship chances. There's also a casual job on top of this. So I have a lot on my plate and can barely manage with all the homework I have as well. My parents are divorced, and I spend most of my time with my mum. I have no siblings, and she's currently not seeing anyone, so it's just the two of us. I'm expected to do many chores around the house, which I try to do, but I find it really hard to help in the weeks when I'm really busy. Sometimes my mum understands, but the other day we had a huge argument where she said I needed to pull my weight in this house, and that she can't do everything alone. I feel really guilty for not helping more, but I find it hard to fit into my busy schedule. She believes chores should come before school, which I strongly disagree with. But the fact there's no one else to help her means a lot of it falls on me. We've had this same argument many times, and I feel we've reached a breaking point. I've tried making to-do lists to organise my time better but I end up curled up on the couch not wanting to do anything because I can't cope. I really value my schooling but I also want to help my mum. Does anyone have any advice on what I should do?

Living with a parent with Mental Illness affects and coping strategies

replies: 5

I am a mother of a 19 year old, my mental illness has affected his life detrimentally. I'm posting here, sorry if I shouldn't, but I would like to know how other young people cope with their parents condition and the craziness it causes in your young, precious lives. I'm guilt ridden because of it, my son is my world and I love him more than anything. Knowing I have caused him emotional turmoil due to my condition breaks my heart. Incidentally, both my parents had MI although undiagnosed, as do my siblings. That's how I know the damage it does, I'm an adult product of it. I'm working my way through it all now and hope to be free from my childhood traumas and at the same time, I'd like to help my son so he doesn't end up scarred too. Any advice would be so appreciated and I can also offer support and advice having now been on both sides, as a parental figure to young people here suffering. Thank you

Feeling very discouraged and intimidated

replies: 1

For once this isnt about my mental issues, but more of something that is causing me to feel discouraged and intimidated. So I want to get out into the Country Music scene by releasing a single and a music video to go with, but when i look at the costs for doing one i feel like yelling the word Greedy even though the costs are civil, then i think about all the work put in, from the idea, to the song being made, to getting it distributed digitally and physicly, etc and i feel very discouraged, and when I see other relatively new artists on the Country scene they get a pretty decent fanbase and i feel intimidated because i feel like i wont be able to make it as sucessfully in Country Music, and i end up questioning whether if i should just not go chasing my passion or chase it for all the wear and tear it's worth. I will note i cant play any instruments, so the sad reality is i have to spend money to make music. I swear it doesnt take much to make me feel discouraged or intimidated, and i just don't feel all that confident in my own limited abilities(fyi i am a good Country singer), like whether is ankiety or stress i'm honestly not too sure, or if its just the gravity of the reality of it all thats getting me.

Im depressed, no moitvation, have no idea how to get back up from this down fall - please help

replies: 3

So a few weeks ago i started getting really depressed. Im on medication - i think it made things worse because my anxiety feels worse and my depression is worse. I lost all my motivation and it doesn't matter how much i try to do small goals, it doesn't make me feel better or want to improve my situation. I have no idea how to make it better. I think i became more depressed because i had been trying multiple things to become happier. There has been a lot of things thats happened in my life that has made me negative. So was trying to make life better. I have tried hobbies., getting out of my comfort zone, putting effort in everything i do, exercising, therapy, being more social. Just a load of different things to increase my life. Unfortunately everything ive tried has not worked. I am reading a book though on the happiness trap because i feel i am trying to push happiness. I guess im just worried - will i ever be happy and be able to move forward with my life. I just feel like im going in circles and im not getting any better. im just getting more and more frustrated as im seeing the same results. Im trying to be more satisfied in life and find joy in the little things but everything just makes me so unhappy. where i am in life. what im doing. it just sucks. I am (working on my goals to be in a career i love while working to get money for it)

Scared of war, apocalypse, doomsday, death...

replies: 13

Hi everyone, I'm new here. I'm 18/19 and have had depression, anxiety & OCD for a few years now, but for the past year or two I've been doing quite well... up until recently. When all the news about the North Korea situation started surfacing a month or so ago I found a video basically simulating and explaining what would happen to the world if nuclear war broke out (including the 'nuclear winter' theory) and from then on I was terrified of nuclear war/WW3 breaking out. Every time I thought about it or saw the latest news headlines relating to it I would get very anxious, scared and would cry. This continued on and off for a few weeks and then progressed to thinking up scenarios of other disasters such as an apocalypse/doomsday, economic breakdown, worldwide disease outbreak etc and a general fear of dying, the afterlife (or lack thereof), being in a crisis without my parents or boyfriend with me and dying without them...the list goes on. The smallest things seem to trigger my fear/anxiety and I find it difficult to 'not think about it'. Sometimes I can think logically and tell myself that certain things won't happen for certain reasons, but then my anxiety kicks in and says 'but what if it did?' or 'but what if this happened?' and I get upset again. When I'm not scared, I just feel depressed and have the feeling of impending doom. It's very difficult to go about my daily chores and carry out my home business duties and I have been avoiding social activities at the fear of having a breakdown in front of people. It's very hard to get to sleep at night and have spent a lot of nights sharing the bed with my mum for company/comfort when my boyfriend is unable to come over due to work. I am booked in to see a psychiatrist next week and my mum and I are looking into doing some meditation/yoga together, but I recently discovered NLP and am wondering if this is something I should look at getting as well. I have considered going back on medication but would prefer not to rely on medication, although I am starting to think I may need it. Is anyone else here struggling or has struggled with similar fears/anxiety? Is there a name for these feeling & fears? What have you found to help? Could anyone offer some wisdom on the subjects concerning me? It took a lot of courage for me to post this so publicly (even if anonymously) and I would greatly appreciate any replies. Thankyou

Managing my mental health and caring for my girlfriend's

replies: 2

I'm in my early 20s and live with my girlfriend who is a year younger than me. I went through very difficult/dark time in my life leading up to when we met, but had my life turned around by her. I finally got a few therapy sessions and learnt a lot about myself, I've felt like myself again in recent times .It hasn't been an easy past few weeks, with the news of Linkin Park's lead singer Chester Bennington passing away i've been in a bit of an emotionally sensitive place and still finding it hard to come to terms with, especially as it reminds me of what it would like to lose the ones I love to depression. My girlfriend has been living with depression most of her years since her early teens, she used to self harm.. She stopped 3 years before I met her, and hasn't relapsed since.. Which I am so proud of her for.. It's been really hard for her recently.. Her workplace is negative and really drains her, they keep expecting way too much of her for little pay and it's grating at her. Everthing is stressing her out, she has no motivation to leave the house and get groceries after work even we're running out on a day i'm working a night shift, or look for a new job. The smallest things can really affect her and i'm trying to be more sensitive to it as we go on. For example there was a scribble on our kitchen whiteboard I did when i was drunk one night "you're my happy place when i don't feel alright".. I had some negative associations with it because It reminded me of a bad headspace, I tried to rub it out a month or so ago and she said no please don't and that she liked it. Then yesterday I rubbed it off cause it was getting smudged and I wanted to clean it up nicely.. But she saw and started balling her eyes out... I didn't realise how much sentimental value it had to her.. I just thought she thought it was cute. She then hid under her blankets and wouldn't pay attention to me at all, it took about 20mins before we properly talked about it. It happens often, we're about to go out and do something that isn't fun like shopping or laundry and she kind of breaks down and can't deal with anything.. Usually this is at a point where dinner becomes really late if we don't go and do the shopping straight away. I wanna help support her more....

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

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

I'm new (Rant) replies: 5

Was wondering if anyone could give me some tips on what to do with my situation replies: 5

I wasn't snooping but I wasnt happy with what I saw replies: 5

I want answers to my life questions i cant find them!! Will i ever find the answers? replies: 2

School vs chores replies: 3

Living with a parent with Mental Illness affects and coping strategies replies: 5

Feeling very discouraged and intimidated replies: 1

Im depressed, no moitvation, have no idea how to get back up from this down fall - please help replies: 3

Scared of war, apocalypse, doomsday, death... replies: 13

Managing my mental health and caring for my girlfriend's replies: 2