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 don't understand

replies: 7

I'm 25 years old and I don't know what's wrong with me. I am in my last semester of uni and I have no motivation at all to complete anything and when I do, it's a struggle. It's really scary. Previously to this semester, I was doing quite well academically and prided myself on my strong writing abilities, but now it seems I have forgotten everything. I am even struggling writing this post and thinking clearly. I feel numb and helpless. I was taking medication for anxiety a few months ago and told my doctor that I didn't need them anymore, but now I feel I have depression. I feel if I were to see my GP again and possible get counselling help, it would take too much time out of my degree and I'm not sure if I can afford it. What should I do? I don't wanna ruin my life. I just wanna be happy and motivated again.

found, but lost

replies: 2

Hello, My name is Emily, I am sixteen years old and Australian. Approximately two years ago I started to develop symptoms of depression. My life had turned miserable, my dad was gambling all our money away which made my mum cry all the time, my sisters were crying because they were hearing the fights, and I was just there. So I hid away in my room, by myself with no one too talk too. I didnt know how too cope with what was happening at home, or the usual teenage drama. I was beginning to not associate with anyone, and make up excuses so i didnt have to do anything or leave my dark, and lonely room. I dont think the fact that I had low self esteem and hated myself helped the depression get worse and worse. But the biggest regret of my life was October, the 16th. This was the day that I lost control of my emotions and I harmed myself. For the first time at 15 years of age, I self harmed. Psychologically, it helps release the emotional pain through physical pain. When I finished I was horrified. I didnt know how I could have sunk so low, and worse, that it felt so so good. I hated myself and so I started harming everytime I lost a battle with myself. There are scars up my arm, and I could tell you what happened that caused every single one. Another year had past and I was worse than ever. By this point I was ready to die. I had given up so badly on everyone, and everything that made me happy. The only time I went out was to get drunk with my friends so I could forget abot everything and the pain would go away. But that only seemed to last for the night. I also did a few stupid things with a few boys that I wish I could take back. Having no self respect meant that I didnt care if anyone else respected me. It was a shit day at school and I came home too the house, that was empty. I was alone, and it seemed perfect. This was a way out! I could end this pain that was bottled up inside me. Beforehand I wrote out notes to every member of my family. I was almost unconscious until my mother came home. She saved me, even though at the time I didnt want to be saved. I'll keep writing about the next year some other time, but thats why I am here, and still alive.

What's wrong with me?

replies: 1

I'm in year 12, I play high-level basketball and at the moment it looks like I'll get the ATAR I need to do Biomedical Engineering on the other side of Australia at uni next year. I feel like I'm never good enough and I'm always letting everyone down. I constantly try to improve myself. I'm not perfect enough for my parents, my teachers, or my friends. I can't sleep, I can't stop over-thinking every detail of what I've done or what I want to do, I get weird moments where I get really hot but start shivering and my chest gets tight when I think too much about it in public, I've been sick with the flu for 2 months and I've gone from having heaps and heaps of friends to even my best friend texting me this morning saying "Our friendship=over. I'm sick of you and all your problems.". I'm bad to my friends and I can't tell I'm doing it anymore. I can't keep living like this. Please help me understand what's going on.

Searching for advice from anxiety sufferers

replies: 1

Hey everyone! Can I get anyone's opinion? I suffer from severe anxiety and I feel as though it just paralyses me. I'm currently in my third attempt at completing year 11.. through distance education. I can't go to mainstream school because it terrifies me. Being at home for school, I rarely leave the house and I spend majority of my time sleeping, all to avoid anxiety. Will I ever be successful in life? I feel as though I will never be able to go to university or be in a relationship or get a good job because of this stupid anxiety!!!!!!! Is there anyone out there who feels the same? Is anyone remotely successful despite their anxiety?

Just a vent, not sure where to go next

replies: 5

Hey guys, I'm new here. I'm a female, nearly 20 and just feel like my life is going no where. I have no energy anymore and don't see the point in life. Really I don't like thinking about the future at all, just living life day by day, struggling to get to the next. The reason I'm here is because while I feel like I have depression/anxiety for a while (haven't been to a GP/psych just yet), the last few weeks things have made a turn for the worst and my symptoms have escalated quite severely. All I can think about is ending my life. I have been planning to go overseas in q few months with my partner for a while now, but I'm not even sure I can make it that far. I feel completely useless. I can't talk to family/ friends because I don't want to stress them out or make them worry about me, especially because most of them have similar mental issues. I can't talk to my partner because his father committed suicide and I don't want to bring up anything that's going to hurt him. Right now I would like to get some help. My family, partner, pets, and the trip overseas are the only thing keeping me alive at the moment. If they weren't around I would have ended things a long time ago. The thing is one of my biggest anxieties is going to the doctors and talking to people deeply about my feelings. How should I go about getting help? I feel like I am at the end if my tether. Any replies are much appreciated. beej x

I feel like i'm not liked and accepted in my school at all.

replies: 5

Everyone runs away from me. In my group, everyone runs away and then the others follow leaving me alone. Our group had split apart due to unexplained reasons and no one treats me fairly. I'm nice to everyone and all I get is crap. There is also this girl I like, I asked someone who knows the girl I like to find out who she actually likes. That person came back to me and said that the girl I like likes someone else. Yet she still shows me signs of liking me which are: Yet when I saw the girl I like she calls me by a nickname which her and her friend came up with. I had asked out a girl previously and this girl found out. One of the girls in my class asked me how my girlfriend was and I said I didn't have a girlfriend. After this, the girl I like started calling me by the nickname she came up with again (She stopped calling me by the nickname after finding out I asked out a girl) and also saying Awwwwwww [nickname] after seeing my school photo. (she extended the length of my nickname instead of just saying it normally) I said something that wasn't funny and she laughed and said LOL Should I trust the person I asked to find out who the girl I like likes?, Could it be that the girl I like lied so that it doesn't pass around the school and that I might get scared off? I'm not happy at all given that I feel i'm not accepted in my school. I just want to find someone who I can talk to and trust with my feelings who I can also help and be with because I like them. Could me being Indian also contribute to all this happening to me?

I just don't want to exist

replies: 4

I seem to be a cheerful teenager, I guess I have perfected that mask long ago. Nobody really knows what is happening in my head. Every word someone says to me, whether it be calling me beautiful, smart or just general conversation, every word has a hidden meaning in my mind. Telling me I am not worth it, or I shouldn't be here. No one knows my sexual orinentation, they all think I am just not wanting a relationship. Nobody knows that I am always scared of them, always on edge and that I trust no one. Every time something bad happens, whether it be within my social group or outside of it, I feel as if it is my fault. I have no empathy. I look in the mirror, and I want that person dead. I have PCOS, making me infertile and making me feel ugly and horrid. There are days I just want to roll over and die, and others where I just want to hurt myself. Being who I am, having my life is what I would find to be the equivalent of hell on Earth. How can people accept me for who I am when I can barely accept myself? I need help, I know I do, because I don't want to hurt others with my carelessness, even if I don't trust them. But, the overall fact is, I wish I wasn't born. That I didn't exist.

Stressing over everything and anything :(

replies: 1

Hi there, I am a 20 year old male from Sydney region. My girlfriend and I have recently moved to my dads place to study the HSC and we are struggling to cope with things going on in our lives and feel as if it is affecting our studying. The relationship between my mum and I isn't very good. As she is from Indonesia she has a strong belief in Muslim religion and she constantly tries to force it onto me and I choose not to be religious. I have talked with her many times before and she never seems to understand that since I was born in Australia that I don't have to be Muslim. When I met my girlfriend last year (April), I felt the best I had felt in ages as I had recently grieved for my past girlfriend who passed away in the December (2011). We started dating in December (2012), one year later and I loved it. My mum, didn't. It was because she wasn't an Indonesian girl, she wasn't pretty or rich and because she liked to have a drink every once in a while. Meanwhile, my mum is drinking and smoking and other things and at the same time, telling me and my girlfriend (we're both 20) what we can and can't do (including drinking/smoking). She didn't want me to have a live-in girlfriend before I was married, but that's religion for her, not me. So, at first, I moved into her house and we went to TAFE together every day and we were doing really well but she has issues with her mum and her sister and they were always fighting and it started to hurt us both really bad. My mum hated that I lived with her and used to call me and my dad and abuse us because she claimed to be scared to sleep on her own. She's in her 40s.. Later on she decided my girlfriend should stay at our place once in a while, but she went to far by reading our private Facebook messages to each other and other people. She did it constantly, invading our privacy. My girlfriend stayed the first time and we fell asleep on the floor in the living room after watching a movie. When we woke up, mum was yelling at me because I had fallen asleep next to her. The second time she stayed there, we did the same. Again, mum was angry and said my girlfriend couldn't stay there anymore. Then we transferred down to my dad's house in Wollongong region to be away from my mum as my parents are separated. But unfortunately we had to travel home every weekend because my mum decided to come down and be friendly with dad and ordered my girlfriend not to be there and I refused to make her go home alone. So my mum started to get even more angry and decided to have her family visit from Indonesia and have them stay at my dads house instead of her own. So my girlfriend couldn't be there for 3 weeks because it is a sin for me to have a girlfriend? My mum then developed a habit of going though my bedroom and moving/throwing out personal belongings and my girlfriend now refuses to leave any of her stuff here and this is her home too. So we carry all our bags/stuff every weekend to and from the hosue because of mum. After that we started TAFE there and she still kept coming on weekends which forces us to travel every weekend and it is stressful with trackwork. Now she has started staying there on Sunday nights too which means we have to travel all day Monday (still with bags) to get home and we are missing imporant classes. Besides being stressed from being behind in classes and having to attend tutorial support and do extra homework.. we also have to do a massive clean up of the house from top to bottom every friday and no one helps its mainly me doing all the work and luckily my girlfriend helps here and there but ITS NEVER GOOD ENOUGH for mum. She trashes my room with clean/dirty clothes and leaves notes saying "IM NOT YOUR HOUSE KEEPER" everywhere.. I never asked her to be. I clean up everything in the house and I don't understand how much cleaner it needs to be or how much cleaner she thinks she is making it but it never looks any different when I get back. It has been months since I last spoke to mum and now I just feel her every movement is trying to break us up so she can have me back. And she has a place to live (with her friends), a car to get around.. and may I say my girlfriend spends her whole pay on her phone bill and travelling to and from every weekend.. i am lucky to get $50 each weekend and thats supposed to last me a week, but how? My dad is self employed and doesn't support me very much, I mean, I had a job but I couldn't hold it and study at the same time, it made my marks even worse. I just want to focus, you know? I have goals too! ..anyway, she has a house, a car and her whole paycheck goes home to indonesia. She gets all the money she wants from dad and I get jackshit. How does that help me? Especially when I am looking after two people. And I mean, why is dad even helping her if they are separated. So my mum keeps telling dad that she is going back to Indonesia for a holiday this month, and never leaves. But apparently she is coming to live with dad for a while first which means me and my girlfriend either have to stay at her place and miss all of tafe or stay in a hotel somewhere near tafe which we cant afford and I don't know how dad will if he is so broke from giving mum money. All of this is just so stressful not to mention my girlfriend is trying to grieve for her dad, we don't have friends of such that we can rely on or support us or anything like that. And we don't go out, like ever, or see any of our friends because we cant afford it let alone afford to go to and from sydney every weekend and go to tafe every day during the week. What do we do? our friends are really starting to treat us like dirt because we dont have time or money for them anymore. It's really bringing us down. That's about all I can think of at the moment but since theres so much going on I don't actually remember if there's anything else I need to say. As for my girlfriends mum/sister, basically I think her sister gets most/all of the attention and everytime my girlfriend tries to talk to her mum she gets shut down because her mum is to busy with her sister who's 17 and should be able to look after herself but she won't go out or stay home alone so my girlfriend never gets time with her mum one on one. So I think she feels as though she has no one to talk to about personal things. Like, I have my dad, although he's never really good with advice.. LOL. But she feels like she has no one at all. So.. yeah. Please help, we are so stressed and before any of you ask, yes we are ready for a relationship and yes we want to be together. It's the only thing that seems right here. I love her, she loves me. End of story.

Voices

replies: 2

I suppose I'm here because i need to tell the truth to people who are not close to me, so here goes. I have had clinical depression for the past 5 years, and have been on medication for it. It effected my education and my HSC results and was probably one of the hardest times of my life so far (i am 21). Even though that happened i had an alright time over the past year and a half, as normal as any other person, working, hanging out with friends and just living. About six weeks ago, after a family event, on the drive home by myself i thought i heard someone talk to me. I looked around for who it was and thought that maybe it was someone outside of the car when i was stopped at the lights and didn't really think any more about it. When i got home however, i was watching something on TV and once again heard someone say "Hello" to me. Once again i looked around for the person who was speaking to me, but could not find anyone. By this time, i was starting to freak the hell out. Suddenly someone started yelling a young woman starting yelling "NOO" over and over again and it was then that i realized that this yelling was not from someone who was real. Over and over again for about 3 hours was this voice of a young woman yelling NOO. I didn't know what the hell was going on as nothing like this has ever happened to me before so i went and lay in my bed sobbing pounding on the side of my head with my hand. That was the first time i started hearing voices, although now that i think about it its probably the first time i realized that this voice was not real. I was scared shitless so i confided in a friend who then said that i should go and talk with a doctor, which i did, and he referred me to a psychiatrist. For the past week and a half i have been ringing this doctor trying to make an appointment but just get the answering machine every time and i have left 4 messages. As i said it has been about 6 and a half weeks since i starting hearing her, and she talks to me at different times about different things. The majority of the time they are nothing bad, but none the less, can be scary and quite confusing hearing someone who does not exist. On Friday night she was saying extremely bad things about me, which drove me to think about killing myself. I broke down and was sobbing at home, and considered going to the hospital but went to sleep for the night (which gets rid of her). I'm trying to live my day to day life as if nothing is wrong, but it is, and i can't take it anymore. More and more often i think about the simplicity of ending it, but then think about the hurt that it would cause to people in my life. I've tried seeking help but it has not come through and i don't know what to do anymore.

My Feelings and Story.

replies: 2

Hi everyone, I'm cameron. I'm currently 19 years old and think i'm depressed/emotionally dead. i have felt this way since i was 12 at least. I'm not to sure if i belong here but obviously i felt something when i saw the menstherapy youtube ad and decided to look into it some more. which feels like a warning sign to me. The main reason why i'm not sure if i'm depressed is because this is how i have always felt for as long as i can remember... What comes to follow is a short summary of the events that have led me to where i am today. This will most likely turn out to be rather long as this spans over a couple of years. During My last year of highschool i was in a emotionally unhealthy relationship with a slightly older girl. This relationship only went on for a few months and the feelings in the relationship were mostly from me. she ended up cheating on me and we broke up. However she was my first and what to me feels like love i think is just that special connection of her being my first. given how it has died for the most part by now. Over the 3 years since then each year we have had a more than friends, less than lovers period lasting a few months each time. I feel this is part of the reason why i have lingering feelings despite knowing they won't be returned. The main reason for me liking her is that we are mentally alike and have the same interests. we also have the same way of thinking which is something i have not found with anyone else. To this day i still spend time with her/talk to her. I have been stuck in the same job for 4-5 years which is a dead-end job disguised as an opportunity for expansion in the company. Some of the signs i have read online and on mental health tests are ones i do have. I take over an hour to fall asleep and even then i rarely sleep for more than 6-7 hours, I feel no joy from hobbies and activities i used to love, I have mentally classified my self as A-sexual due to my lack of interest in sex and in relationships it being only for her. I do not enjoy spending time with friends and family, I spend most of my time alone except for work. My eating habits have changed recently to me only eating one large meal a day. I always feel exhausted and never feel motivated to do anything. One thing i have found out about myself over the past year is that i DO like being social and spending time with friends. The problem for me is i dislike 99% of people and find them fun to spend time with for half an hour at most. I have one friend who i spend time with and even that has become dull now. I do not drink or do drugs which is one thing in my favor however. I also do think about my death a few times a week. not in a suicide way but more of a how would i like to die/best way to do. For example i decided if i was going to die in a car crash and i was with a girlfriend,family member or friend i'd like to die in their place - protecting them. Thinking of your death is usually a red flag but i feel this is slightly different as there are no ill thoughts in it. I'm almost sure i have left out some events that would of led me to where i am today and my stories have many more details and are much more complex however for now i think this will do... I guess this is just me looking for someone to tell me yes i am depressed and to seek professional help or to say no i'm not. Thankyou for listening, and for any advice that i receive. I will most likely post more of my story in nights to come. To me a story half told cannot be reviewed properly. I think all details regarding my situation should be given before any judgements of me should be made. However there are no more up sides in it, things only go down.

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

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

I don't understand replies: 7

found, but lost replies: 2

What's wrong with me? replies: 1

Searching for advice from anxiety sufferers replies: 1

Just a vent, not sure where to go next replies: 5

I feel like i'm not liked and accepted in my school at all. replies: 5

I just don't want to exist replies: 4

Stressing over everything and anything :( replies: 1

Voices replies: 2

My Feelings and Story. replies: 2