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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noone understands

replies: 4

Lately I have been feeling so isolated and the worst part is I have been doing it to myself. I feel like no matter how hard I explain how I feel no one understands, and why should they? I cant even fully comprehend what I'm feeling inside let alone explain it to someone else. I have tried to explain it to my boyfriend as my depression is taking a toll on our relationship but I can tell that it is beginning to feel like a burden everytime i feel 'upset'. My depression has been at an all time high with me not wanting to go to work, see my friends and family or even leave my room. I used to have the closest relationship with my mum and see her all the time but now I feel that I need to lie to her because it kills her seeing me like this and she thinks its her fault, then when I lie to her I feel even worse (terrible cycle). I have tried talking to a professional about my situation but I just feel like no one understands where I am coming from and they are judging me... and thats what lead me here. I need to hear from other people in my same situation how to help fix this, I just feel so broken all the time. Please help me get back to myself.

I'm so scared and anxious about deciding to move school, and I'm stuck.

replies: 2

I started year 7 at a private, catholic girls school. And it was okay. The facilities were amazing, the use of technology was astounding and the environment was great. The community feeling was helpful too. But I took all of that for granted, and moved to a public school where most of my friends from primary school had gone to. This public school excelled in their music and arts, which is what I loved about it, and had a musical stage program thing (which I did this year.) But since I moved, I became depressed. I have to take meds. I see a doctor. My anxiety sky-rocketed. Everyone is so fake at the public school and I only have two friends to talk to. I miss my old school. I miss my friends from there. I took it all for granted. But I'm so scared of going back. My anxiety kills. And I'm worried I'll regret the move once I'm there, and I'm worried my friends won't like me anymore and I'm worried they've changed. Its been two years since I was at that school. A lot can change in two years. I miss them. I miss the support. I can't stand this public school anymore. I know moving back sounds like the right thing to do, but I'm so terribly anxious that I'll regret it or something. I'm scared and I'm stuck and I know this probably isn't what this forum is for but I need help on deciding. I'm 15 and in year 9.

Anxiety and Depression involving human extinction.

replies: 2

Hi everyone, A little over a year ago, I started to have nervous quarrels with myself over human mass extinction and the destruction of our planet. It was a dark time for me, my grandmother had been diagnosed with cancer recently, so the anxiety gradually got worse as she got more sick. When she passed, I felt better for a while while and I got back into the groove of school life. Now, a year later these worries are starting to come back. I constantly have very dark thoughts, which make me feel very uncomfortable and I am always feeling exhausted from constant panic attacks which seem to come randomly in the middle of class. My friends are great people, and I want to stay friends with them but they are at the roots of the problem, since they talk about nuclear war, climate change and viruses wiping out the earth in the next 10/20 years. I have tried talking to them about stopping this talk but in doing so I always get caught up in an argument with them about the subject, which makes me more depressed in the long run. I have been to doctors and Physciatrists about this. They always tell me to "accept I cant change the future" which to be honest, doesn't help at all. I cant stop thinkning about the death of the me and the people I love and accepting that that is going to happen only makes me think about it more. My anxiety has become a white noise, something I cant get out of my head like TV static. I've talked to my family, who are very supportive but its an uncomfortable area to talk about to people so close. Ive been told this is natural, and that all pubescent boys feel this way. Looking over personal stories, what I am experiencing seems very different to most. It's constant, tiring and frustrating and I want to be done with it so I can continue enjoying my life. Thanks guys.

Anxiety attack or just being paranoid?

replies: 1

the other day i had what i want to call a panic attack, but i'm not even sure if that's what it was. (long rant, sorry) I never like answering the door, i'm afraid of the awkward small talk whether it's someone i know or don't know, recently i've thought i may have anxiety & i want to see someone, but every time i try to i get to, i get too nervous and cancel the appointment. Anyway, the other day someone came to the door and i freaked out massively. I didn't know them, but it's this person who goes around our area around a few times a year to sell his amateur paintings, so i knew it wasn't like an axe murderer or something. But for some reason after he'd left (i didn't answer the door so he gave up and went to the next house) I started freaking out and kept thinking that people we're coming to get me and he was just the first person and that more we're coming and that all these people were after me. I ran upstairs and was trying to find somewhere to hide and was crying for ages, i kept trying to look out of the windows to see where they were, if they'd found me. For about an hour i was really freaking out and thinking all these people were after me. That they were outside watching. I wasn't hallucinating, i didn't actually see people outside or anything, i just for whatever reason thought that some people we're after me and i was terrified. Nothing like this has ever happened before, but his sort of thing is happening more often. The other night i had this feeling that there was someone in my room. I didn't see anyone, there was no one in there, but for about two hours i lay in my bed terrified to move because the man at the end of my bed was going to kill me. I lay in the most uncomfortable position, really needed to pee, but couldn't move because I was so scared the man would kill me if i moved. The other day i was walking home and i had this thought that people were following me. It's not uncommon for girls to feel like that walking home at night, so i dismissed it. But when i thought about it later, i was way more scared than usual i kept looking around and i was hyperventilating and at one point i started running because i thought there were people around, watching me, when no one was there. So basically, i know it's not normal, I'm not stupid. But i haven't been sleeping, or eating well. I've been quite stressed so i don't know if this is just because of that, or something else and i don't know what to do, i kinda feel like i'm going mental.

Just wondering

replies: 2

Hey so I was just wondering if it is normal for me to always be surrounded by people but still feel lonely and lost? I often find myself fake smiling more than I should and lately I just feel like I don't belong.

Seeing GP for anxiety, advice on possible treatments?

replies: 1

Hi all, I've never seen my GP about anxiety before but it's been so horrible lately with the end of my uni degree in 4 weeks and many sleepless nights. Been putting off an appointment for weeks so going to bite the bullet next week and just do it! First of all, I'm not 100% how to bring it up and what to say? I think I might have depresssion to but I don't want to self diagnose. I also am worried that he will refer me to a psychologist/psychiatrist and I hate the idea of that - I talked to a psychologist once when I was 14 and hated it, she didn't help me at all and I felt like it made me more upset. I'm just not sure about the treatment options apart from that and medication that he can help with? I'm happy to be put on meds as long as it helps but I feel like that wont be the first option right?

The finer points of life that people usually aviod(and some school exam troubles)

replies: 3

Why hello there. i'm new here and I have an unsolvable problem How do I prevent myself from taking a path I desire to take. essentially, I think about everything, truth, life, death, my mind works a million miles an hour yet its hindering me and lowering my emotion. Here is a sample of what I think about. Please, I warn you if you fear lack of purpose and meaningless then stop reading now. I am on a path for truth. so far my conclusion is that there is no truth within this world apart from absolutes which are created from unabsloutes. lets say we have a piece of iron, 100% iron with no other particles of anything in it. we can truly say that is iron. because that's the truth right? now if you see a desk can you say it is a desk? no because what exactaly makes a desk? if I remove a leg is it still a desk? if I destroy it is it still a desk? its viewed different to each person. so therefore it cannot be truthfully called a desk. its our perception of a desk. Things like beauty, ugly, good, bad, none of that exists. its all just opinions, different to each and every single person alive. What you think is bad I might think is good. Our opinions are our ideas, our perception is our way we see things creating our opinions which can in turn create our perception. and both of our opinion and perception combine and create our behaviours, our actions. I also think about words and how they are just sounds we make that we give meaning to. Take away that meaning and what do you have? There is no truth in words and it goes so much further. yes there all all the basics like why do we exist and what is our purpose and truth be told there is no given purpose or reason we exist. so I created my own. For fun. Okay, so these thoughts might be what others consider bad for me but I consider them to be eye opening and insightful into the future. but what I want to know is how to stop them from flooding my mind consistently without removing them for good or distracting myself with something else which is what I have been doing yet now I need to focus on school work because I have my year 12 exams in less than a week. any help is appreciated yet please try not to be too daft. I'm not an idiot or someone who can be simply persuaded and encouraged by the usual helping techniques. I have too much knowledge for that(yes I sound cocky... all well). I would love people who understand to be able to help. if you don't understand you can try anyway. Thanks

I am fighting a losing battle.

replies: 2

If anyone does happen to read this, i would firstly like to introduce myself - I'm 17 years old, I work 30-35 hours a week and I have very recently dropped out of high school (Year 11). Before year 9 i was what teachers would call an exceptional student. I stick by my decision of dropping out of school, I was not learning anything, I was constantly getting in trouble for sleeping in class, teachers would accuse my of cheating if my work was well done. I often felt as if the people around me didn't care about me at all. I would often find myself sitting alone with my headphones in reflecting on the little things & the big things. I have been seeing counselors my whole life, that's no exaggeration, when I was younger it would be for anger management, which progressed into stress, which progressed into anxiety, which progressed into depression (I was diagnosed in January). In year 8 I think it was my counselor suggested that I talk to my parents about my problems. My Dad replied with "Get a job, then tell me about stress", and my Mum said "Welcome to the club". I have been told my Mum also struggles from depression, and my dad is a hard worker, which i respect him for, I understand that they do not know how to approach the matter. I haven't been to school for 7 weeks and I only really see one of my friends he comes over after school 80% of the time, he is the source of my sanity, my other friends I only see once a fortnight if I am lucky. I think my Mum thinks I love their Mums more, which isn't true. There is only one other friend that I would ever talk to, but he goes to school 5 days a week, he is on like 2 different basketball teams, and he is madly devoted to his girlfriend of one year, I am happy with how well his life is going, but I wish I could talk to him more. I am growing to hate my job, which right now is my only outlet, i feel the employees there that are my age have a problem with me. At the start of the year 9 I started writing songs, because I'm pretty good with words, it was also therapeutic and I got really good at it. It's now my only REAL career option, but lately I have been getting writers block like crazy. I'm really sorry about the length I was trying to direct, but I guess in conclusion, I feel incredibly alone, I hate failure and I feel that no matter where I go failure will follow and I'm so over these fireballs life just keeps throwing at me. Thank you if you got this far.

One year later, starting to feel depressed again

replies: 3

So it was around this time last year that I started to feel depressed and lonely. I fear it might be coming back..... I hate myself and feel I don't have any good qualities that people would love. I plan routes whenever I go for walks to avoid locati... View more

Depression, Anxiety or just Overreacting

replies: 2

Hi guys, I'm 14 years old and Female. so for the past year or so I've been feeling down and worrying more my grandfather passed away last October and that's when everything started to seem different. I didn't notice much last year but this year I've been worrying more. I found out my dad has been smoking behind my back after he said to me he would quit, (he got pneumonia). I've been having terrible dreams about family member being killed or my dad is in a coma or has cancer. I wake up sweating and sometimes before I go to sleep I get horrific thoughts in my head about the dreams I had the night before. I sometimes have panick attacks due to the dreams. Or I have them when something doesn't go right most of the time it's random and unexpected. i have wanted to tell my mum that I'm feeling this way but she has always been very blunt and if I told her about this what would I say I get so shy and embarrassed when I even think of telling her. I feel like if I tell her and have to go to a GP to get diagnosed and medication and therapy it will be too much of a burden on her. I don't want to make her spend more money. if anyone has tips or ideas on how to talk to her about it I would love to hear. But I'm scared she will think I'm just lieing... thanks ~ B

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

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

noone understands replies: 4

I'm so scared and anxious about deciding to move school, and I'm stuck. replies: 2

Anxiety and Depression involving human extinction. replies: 2

Anxiety attack or just being paranoid? replies: 1

Just wondering replies: 2

Seeing GP for anxiety, advice on possible treatments? replies: 1

The finer points of life that people usually aviod(and some school exam troubles) replies: 3

I am fighting a losing battle. replies: 2

One year later, starting to feel depressed again replies: 3

Depression, Anxiety or just Overreacting replies: 2