Young people

Pinned discussions

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.

All discussions

Sorted by:

Start a discussion

finding it hard

replies: 2

Hello, I have posted once before about dealing with something that happened around 9 months ago, on my own. I have been having nightmares a lot, I haven't really been getting any sleep, so it's started to stress me out and I am now being sick during the day making things even worse. The people around me are starting to notice a little more and it's really worrying me. I have been thinking about ending my life. It's really horrible thinking about ending my own life. I am 17 at the moment so I'm living at home and I'm finding it really hard to be around my family. There are other issues going on so they are little distracted which makes it easier, I feel bad though because I've been getting really short and angry with them for no reason. I honestly hate myself so much and i don't see a future for myself at all. I just can' t cope with these thoughts and not sleeping or eating properly anymore, and I'm worried I might do something I will regret. But I' m too scared and nervous to get help and tell my doctor or anyone about what's been going on. Does anyone have any tips on how they have dealt with talking about something for the first time, or even just doing something you really don't want to do?beyondblue's clinically-trained moderators often work offline (invisible to you) on issues relating to suicide or self-harm. At the same time, general supportive comments from the community are encouraged. If you have concerns around suicide or self-harm, please phone our support service on 1300 22 4636.

I need some advice

replies: 22

Okay, so I don't know where to start but I'm just going to get straight to the point.. I've been struggling for about 6 months now and it's getting to the point where I know this isn't just a phase. Everything has gotten so much worse lately and I honestly think I have depression. My grades have dropped tremendously, I've shut off from everyone and pushed them away, I've lost so much weight, I keep waking up at around 2-3am every morning, I do have thoughts about serious things. My birthdate isn't real and I am under 18. I'm not attention seeking. I really, really need help. But I don't think anyone will take me seriously if my birthdate was real. I honestly think I have depression. I know what I'm feeling and this isn't right and this isn't just a phase. I cannot tell my parents, I'm not saying this because I don't want to. It's because I CANT. I've tried explaining it to my mum and she gets really angry and says "I'm going to shut down your world if you continue with this silly behavior." I NEED HELP. My grandmother died 10 months ago and we had a really close bond, I'm not sure if that has anything to do with it. And my dad has had depression for 7 years now. I'm not sure if it has anything to do with genetics either but I REALLY NEED SOME ADVICE. I can't keep doing this, I think I have depression and I don't want to do this anymore, please, I'm begging for advice.beyondblue's clinically-trained moderators often work offline (invisible to you) on issues relating to suicide or self-harm. At the same time, general supportive comments from the community are encouraged. If you have concerns around suicide or self-harm, please phone our support service on 1300 22 4636.

Help, Am I Depressed?

replies: 5

Hi, um just to get started I'm amber and I'm 17 and I'm not sure if I'm depressed or not. So in my life I've gone through quite a bit when I was young my mum used to hit me well abuse i guess, it wasn't constant but yeah then my mum ended up going to rehab because she was an alcoholic and I now live with my dad and a lot of other stuff happened etc. When I was around 15 I started feeling sad quite a lot, like crying myself to sleep almost every night etc a big thing did happen at that time though, me and my best-friend of 9 years broke off our friendship which was really devastating, then it went away for awhile and I thought I was okay, then when I was 16 I became very sad to the point where I started self-harming and I've had suicidal thoughts and things, but it comes and goes, like one week I'll be fine and the next I'm an emotional wreck. Currently at the moment I am 3 months free of self-harm but I'm really struggling. I get thoughts that none of my friends like me, that no one cares about me, that I'm a failure and I won't succeed in life, I'm very negative towards myself, I feel very angry and irritated and I lash out at people, I'm finding it very hard to want to put effort into my school work and haven't had a great sleeping pattern but I haven't lost interest in stuff I like to do, well I have a little and I still like to hang out with my friends. I just constantly never feel properly happy. It may be partially because I'm in year 12 and school is very stressful and that isn't helpful but yeah. I'm tired all the time and sometimes I feel really empty like I just don't feel like crying or anything even when I'm really sad, and I feel like I can't tell anyone. 2 of my friends and my boyfriend know I have self-harmed but I really don't want to put my problems on them. I did the test before and got in the high zone and I wasn't over the top with my answers. Would anyone please just be able to tell me if they think I have depression, your opinions would be appreciated greatly

New to this…my first post

replies: 3

Hi, I don't really know how to begin. I am new to this online forum. The last few months have been basically terrible. My therapist believes my depression has been "hiding" or not as prominent over the last couple of years, until the last few months. All i know is i think back to when i was a young teen (i'm now 24), and i was so happy, full of life, bubbly, outgoing, confident, and just loved life in general. Now i think - who the hell am i anymore? I don't even recognise myself. I went from being 60 something kilos to 120 kilos, then back down to 85kg, and now back up to 120kg in the space of 2 years. I feel like this post itself makes no sense. I am lying in bed just feeling alone and like i want to talk to someone, but i also just want to go to sleep. I've been on antidepressants for about 3 months now, and see a psychologist every 2 weeks. I've only seen her three times so far as my doctor put me on a "mental health care plan". I have days where i feel positive (and by positive i mean, i can pull myself out of bed and put a smile on at work for most of the day), but i have been mostly having days where i just feel numb and despite not crying constantly like i did before the antidepressants, i still feel empty. I have no motivation to exercise. I've begun hibernating, and just want to stay at home, watch movies, sleep and eat. I go to work yet i feel no energy, and i don't want to talk to anyone. My anxiety has been bad lately too. I avoid going out in public unless i'm with someone i'm comfortable with like my mum or my dad or brother or a close friend. If i have to stop in somewhere on the way home from work, i calculate in my head which shop will be the most quiet, to avoid as many people as possible. I just don't understand it. I want to find the light at the end of the tunnel. I just don't know how long that'll take. I want to start my career, lose weight, meet someone, have a family, get a house, i want to do all of these things. Yet i think to myself - when will i get through this? When will my life begin again and when will i be happy? I'm so scared i'm not making enough progress. I don't know where i should be after 3 months of medication. I don't know what to expect. When people find out i'm on antidepressants, people that have known me for years, they laugh at me. They think i'm kidding. Yet they have no clue how i feel on the inside every day. Like i want to run away and start over. They have no clue.

How do you know that you're doing enough?

replies: 2

I'm always struggling with this question. I never quite feel like I've done enough during the day, or to help myself in general. I'm living at home with my parents again, so I'm not doing as much as previously (I got through a single semester of university a few months ago). I've been doing things like looking for jobs, regular exercise, driving in order to get my license, etc., but these things never quite feel like enough. I discovered with my therapist yesterday that I'm a bit of a black and white thinker. I feel heavily guilty and ashamed if I make a mistake, or get sidetracked from my to-do list, and I start berating myself. On top of that, I feel like I'm not doing enough to heal my depression/anxiety: I keep thinking that I "should be getting somewhere by now," or I "should know that," or "be working on that," etc. There's always steps that I feel I need to be taking, and I become afraid that I'm slacking off. Sometimes I wonder how much of my worries are just me being a black-and-white perfectionist and how much are telling me that I actually do need to do more. How would I know for sure when I genuinely need to move forward or when I'm just being hard on myself? Does anyone else feel similar? Do you guys have any ways of knowing that you're doing enough?

personal feelingss.

replies: 2

hey, so um. i dont really know what to do anymore, with school. I just cant learn and focus, i dont know why but its really getting to me. and i just feel like all of the teachers hate me and every time i walk through the school gates i feel so alone... View more

Hey

replies: 2

Hey Everyone, My name is Jackson and i am currently 20. I am finding that i am starting to struggle more and more with day to day events. I seem to think negatively about most situations, I feel guilty/sad for no reason and recently out of the blue felt like collapsing to the floor and just bursting into tears. I find my biggest issue is that i feel empty inside, I hold no emotion and feel like most of my actions are forced/acted. I often feel my actions are impulsive and i regret a lot of my decisions and think very negatively about myself because of this. I had a pretty rough childhood and feel that is where a lot of my issues originate from. I have been in a relationship for close to 15 months and have reached a point where i struggle to return "I love you's". It feels stupid to say so, I am just struggling and feel nothing. She has a beautiful heart and I am finding that i am beginning to have no patience for her and most my thoughts are just negative. I have started to consider it might be time to move on, at the same time i know that i am struggling more and more with these sensations. I assume it is Depression and I don't want to make the wrong decisions, it's apart of life and I understand that... The point of this thread is... I don't know what to do or where to go. I am unsure of the right/wrong choice and where to begin. This is my first time reaching out for help, i am just over struggling. If anybody could recommend the right choices and where to take the first step forward, your help would be more than appreciated. Thank you for your time.

Going through this alone

replies: 8

Hello, I'm new to this so I'm not sure how to start this. Around 9 months ago I was sexually assaulted, and I didn't tell anyone around me what happened. I still have no idea what to do, I try my hardest to go to work and pretend to be happy at home. But its really exhausting. I havent been sleeping much because I have nightmares when i do. They are really horrifying i wake up and i cant move. When I'm awake I feel nervous, and try to stay away from everyone. I hate feeling alone but I don't want to be around anyone. I'm to scared to talk about what happened because it's so embarrassing and horrible to talk about and I hate admitting that it happened. I was angry for so long, but now I'm just sad and confused and tired. I don't want to go to work any more or do anything with friends or family. I really don't want to feel scared any more, I have changed so much and i hate myself so much. I want to be happy again, but I have no idea how to start. So does anyone have any tips on dealing with these types of things on your own?

Physical

replies: 5

Does anyone know why depression hurts so much physically? It hurts to smile in front of customers, my body aches and in conjunction my IBS is much worse and now I have developed a food phobia for the second time

Empty inside

replies: 3

Hey everyone, Im 17 years old and currently studying year 12 at school. I have suffered from depression and anxiety since i was 8. I have been on medication and had therapy. Lately i feel like everything is starting to consume me again, i can hardly get through a day without my depression getting the better of me. I used to self harm and i am trying my hardest not to come to this again. I feel like i have no one to support me, none of my friends or my boyfriend understands. Im really just after some support, friends, or just some words to help get me through the day. Thankyou all.

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

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

finding it hard replies: 2

I need some advice replies: 22

Help, Am I Depressed? replies: 5

New to this…my first post replies: 3

How do you know that you're doing enough? replies: 2

personal feelingss. replies: 2

Hey replies: 2

Going through this alone replies: 8

Physical replies: 5

Empty inside replies: 3