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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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Worriedboy Help with a Friend?
  • replies: 2

Hi there, I made friends with a group of girls who all go to the same school about 3-4 months ago now, and have slowly been incorporated into the group. These girls are all around 15-16 years of age, and I'm a 16 year old guy. They're nice, but all h... View more

Hi there, I made friends with a group of girls who all go to the same school about 3-4 months ago now, and have slowly been incorporated into the group. These girls are all around 15-16 years of age, and I'm a 16 year old guy. They're nice, but all have a culture of low self esteem, self loathing, depression and self harm. The girl who I would consider my best friend in the world, she has hurt herself before - scars on her arms and scars in the shape of words like: "loser" and "fat" on her legs - and consistently is feeling bad/down about something. She constantly misses days off school, her parents are divorced and her mother isn't very assistive or kind. She isn't the smartest around, and doesn't have a good history with schoolwork or academia. The sort of things she talks about are generally why schoolwork is getting her down, whether her "friends" will talk to her, etc. She hasn't hurt herself for a while now (2-3 months) but still talks about it.... I was wondering what I can do to encourage her out of her rut, and get her self-esteem and self-belief up. She's an amazing person, I know it, but she can't see it. All she ever says about herself is that she is "so ugly" and "stupid" and is almost permanently sorry for something. Any advice would be useful... I am stuck and yeah Thanks!

Lil_Britz Feeling alone but have everything...
  • replies: 4

I'm only 21 so most people thing I'm too young to have real issues, but little do people know that I grew up with an alcoholic mum who died at the age of 32, my step mum hates me....my mother in law tells me how ugly I am and dad speaks to me only wh... View more

I'm only 21 so most people thing I'm too young to have real issues, but little do people know that I grew up with an alcoholic mum who died at the age of 32, my step mum hates me....my mother in law tells me how ugly I am and dad speaks to me only when I call him. I have a perfect boyfriend whom I bought a home with a year ago. He is everything to me and yet I'm still not happy....I still need to tell myself everyday that I'm happy and I should be happy. I'm young and happy... Right? No I'm not I'm lonely because he is the only one who cares about me out of so many people that could. What did I ever do wrong to deserve this really? I don't have anybody else to tell but all of you. How sad am I.

Amynena Looking for help
  • replies: 1

Hi, I am looking for some advice/assurance etc about how I am feeling. I'm 21 years old and commenced at university this year and for most of the first semester I had been doing great. Towards the last few weeks I hit a wall and lost all motivation a... View more

Hi, I am looking for some advice/assurance etc about how I am feeling. I'm 21 years old and commenced at university this year and for most of the first semester I had been doing great. Towards the last few weeks I hit a wall and lost all motivation and now this has carried over into my second semester. I feel down, lost and disinterested in it all. I am finding I am getting teary and missing my family a fair bit at the moment. have hardly been sleeping (2-3 hours a night) and when I manage to sleep it is very restless and broken. It has been ongoing for awhile now and am wondering if this is all part of being a uni student or is it something more? If anyone could give me some guidance/help that would be great.

Catlady My story/Knowing where to get help.
  • replies: 2

Hi guys, I am new to Beyond Blue and have decided to try and get my head around everything and try and get help. I think the main thing for me is having other people around me who understand what is going on and may be willing to help. I have a wonde... View more

Hi guys, I am new to Beyond Blue and have decided to try and get my head around everything and try and get help. I think the main thing for me is having other people around me who understand what is going on and may be willing to help. I have a wonderful support network around me but I don't think they understand completely what is going on in my head. Well, here goes. I'm in my mid-20s and a uni graduate who has been diagnosed with generalised anxiety disorder, depression and panic disorder. To sum me up, my personality is strong willed, quite sociable and bold but inside I feel weak, have low self confidence, am emotionally depressed and numb, feel worthless and feel like I'm in such emotional pain all the time. I feel anxious and on edge pretty much all the time.I started feeling depressed early in life but nothing was ever done up till recently to help me out. I was relentlessly bullied all throughout my school life and never sought any help for this despite all the pain, rejection and my tarnished self-confidence. I cried a lot during school and there were a few occasions where I self harmed and decided I didn't want to live anymore. Thankfully I got through my turbulent school years without ever getting help from a trained professional. I decided to study an area in human services because I wanted to help others who had been bullied. Things seemed to fall into place after a while when I went to university and started to have a new found confidence. This was because I was doing very well at university - gaining new friends, socialising, getting good grades. I had a great boyfriend for a few years who was very kind and supportive. After a while though, I burnt myself out with my thesis and ended up not spending enough time with him. On his side though, he was unemployed and didn't seem to be showing any signs of getting his act together. We broke up and I was depressed and devastated. This is where cracks were starting to appear in my apparent new found happiness. Eventually I graduated with an honours degree and decided to go on a long awaited holiday. Unfortunately, the holiday was caught short when I was caught up in a natural disaster overseas. I had to leave all the friends I found overseas because of this traumatic event and never got the chance to come to terms with my losses. I have moved on with my life now but still feel a sense of loss or grief when I think of it. This is when my anxiety and panic started to spiral out of control. I always had gotten the feeling that something was wrong with me but I was never diagnosed and couldn't put my finger on it. The world felt like a miserable and out of control place and I resented and still do resent the lack of control I have. I then came back to Australia after 4 months overseas and decided to get on with it and find a new job. I found a job within 3 weeks of returning and never got to work through my trauma and grief. The job I had seemed good at first but then I realised that it was incredibly stressful and that the workplace was cliquey, judgemental and blaming when something went wrong. This was the kind of workplace where everything that can go wrong in a day does. Because I'm a perfectionist, I didn't cope with this work environment too well but continued on until I started to lose motivation and eventually my sanity. I quit after less than a year and I was close to wanting to go out and commit suicide but it was only the belief of my family and my new boyfriend that kept me going. I decided to seek professional help. This was a big step for me - someone very stubborn who never liked admitting weakness and seeking out help. But I did it, and felt better for a while. I got myself a job I loved and started to see the beauty of life again. Then sadly, I got laid off after 5 months. I took it very badly and again wanted to die. Again, I went to see a psychologist and then went for another trip overseas to escape from everything, including myself. It was a lonely and isolating experience being overseas without my boyfriend and family. It wasn't all bad and I had some amazing experiences but I just wanted to go home. I am now in a new job which is very rewarding (although a bit stressful) but I just had my hours cut last week to almost nothing (one shift a week) and I am again confronting feelings of not being good enough, low self confidence, poor motivation and rejection. I love this job and things seemed to be getting on track again till I had an anxiety issue at work. I decided to inform my supervisor so I could stamp out these problems early on and nip them in the bud. Unfortunately, I think this changed her behaviour towards me and she now treats me as though I'm weak. I think she cut my hours because of these issues even though they aren't affecting my work performance. I am so upset and feel betrayed. I am in a financially bad situation and soon won't be able to afford to pay my rent. I feel a real sense of dejection and have zero motivation to even go out and get a new job and get my life on track. In the past at university, I was a highly motivated student and although I epxerienced anxiety and being down from time to time, nothing ever stopped me from wanting to live my life to the full and have a fulfilling life. Now I am just a totally different person - I have lost the will to care, to plan for the future and have really lost the will to live. This makes me feel guilty because I have an amazing partner and family but they don't understand what I'm going through. I am severely depressed but they just seem to think I'll "come right". "You'll come right", they say - I'm in such a bad frame of mind that I will not come right on my own and need help. I need professional help to overcome my personal demons and my poor sense of self worth and try and make myself feel like a normal person again. I think I need some really deep work which will look into my issues of the past and deconstruct a lot of my negative personal beliefs. But I need a good psychologist for that, one that really does understand my past and where I need to go. Where does one start in this journey? I eat well, exercise well and get out and have exciting hobbies but it still doesn't cure my debilitating anxiety and depression. I need guidance, support and someone who really understands where I am coming from. What do I do now? I feel helpless and need to know where to start. Thanks for listening.

Mr_J "come get pissed" at midday on a saturday..... No thanks
  • replies: 1

Hi, New person here. So for the last 2 years i've been drifting away from my old friends because they're all addicted to getting drunk and going out. These guys do nothing but party and drink on weekend nights. I can tolerate small amounts of time wi... View more

Hi, New person here. So for the last 2 years i've been drifting away from my old friends because they're all addicted to getting drunk and going out. These guys do nothing but party and drink on weekend nights. I can tolerate small amounts of time with them, but the only time i really see them now is when i feel i want to have a drink (once a month or so) The point of that ^ is that i decided to move. I'm moving countries, don't know where yet. I'll decide on the day. Friends think i'm going on a holiday, family knows and supports the idea. So when you're friends aren't working and things aren't right, go do something you really want to do. I want to travel and meet people with ambition and talent, not drunks and party goers, well i do but not every weekend I'll party if it's your 21st and it's a great party. I know someone will read this and say, "hey, my friends all do that and i'm getting damn bored". Dw i know so many of my friends say it, but the constant drinking problem in Australia is so bad. It's just dumb. But i was friends with them at school and it's now hard for me to meet people outside of that in my area. Moral of the story. Be true to yourself, enjoy your time on this blue planet. I love being alone sometimes, i listen to soundtracks from movies and smile or cry, whichever happens i feel happier after. Find time to love yourself, being alone isn't that bad, you get time to reflect on all the amazing things that have happened throughout your life. And if you're finding it hard to find amazing things to remember, than it's time to get off your butt and start making some J

Helenl How do I help my daughter who is very down
  • replies: 4

We have a 19 Year old daughter at Uni in the city. She is very lonely and does not like Uni. She lives in a block of flats where no one talks to each other. Lately she has become even more withdrawn and negative. She went to see a doctor for help abo... View more

We have a 19 Year old daughter at Uni in the city. She is very lonely and does not like Uni. She lives in a block of flats where no one talks to each other. Lately she has become even more withdrawn and negative. She went to see a doctor for help about four weeks ago. He suggested meds or a counsellor. She has seen the counsellor three times but has not liked him much. The third visit was on Thursday did not go well. She won't give details of why but she does not like breathing exercises etc. she sounds very low to us and is not responding to our texts and talking in monosyllables when we ring. Please what do we do. She sees little point in anything.

cristalm too long.
  • replies: 2

my name is Cristal ive been battling depression since I was 19 im now 25. From the ages of 18 to 21 I was in quite an abusive relationship he would lock me out of the house or throw my clothes in the front yard for me to pick up, this was just the be... View more

my name is Cristal ive been battling depression since I was 19 im now 25. From the ages of 18 to 21 I was in quite an abusive relationship he would lock me out of the house or throw my clothes in the front yard for me to pick up, this was just the beginning. As the relationship went on he started to get physical the occasional shove and even sometimes the odd slap. Things progressed from a slap to punch which coming from a male to quite a petite female would show no matter how hard I tried to hide it. I would go home from spending the weekend with him with a fat lip all because I wanted to do something not just stay home in a dingy smelly house. My mental health was spiralling out of control. I once was this carefree girl who was always smiling and full of confidence to this bare emotionless stranger, I had no idea who I had turned into. Since I ended it I have never been able to trust anyone, gender doesn't matter I just cant trust! I have sabotaged two relationships with a male who treated me nothing like my x did. But how can I get over it all? I have been seeing a psychologist for 12 months now and been taking anti depressents for 4 years and still nothing. is it something im doing wrong? im really at the end of it now and cant take much more.

jadeblack I really don't know where to put this or who to ask.
  • replies: 4

Hi, I'm jade. 19yo, I have many problems that I can't work out, the internet hasn't helped me in the slightest. The crux of this all, is that I have no idea whats wrong with me, I'm struggling with testosterone poisoning and in perpetual terror that ... View more

Hi, I'm jade. 19yo, I have many problems that I can't work out, the internet hasn't helped me in the slightest. The crux of this all, is that I have no idea whats wrong with me, I'm struggling with testosterone poisoning and in perpetual terror that my centerlink support is going to drop out from under me. I will sleep, 10 or twelve hours and my partner cannot get me up when I fall asleep; I miss a lot of school this way. I spend my every moment either incredibly upset at something for little reason or simply morose about my lot in life. People talking to me can even set it off. The rest of the time I'm worried about some facet of my life, most often Centrelink or school... Which having started on the 15th of the 7th I've been to one lesson of a 5 day p/week course, having left at the end of the first lesson, having broken into a cold sweat 5 minutes in, yet managed to stay for it, at least. I'm seriously struggling with body dysphoria, intertwined with the need to mutilate myself, but I've been stopped by the presence of my partner, mostly. Out of fear of retribution. I'm having immense problems absorbing new information; people explain how to do things to me and It's as if I can't process the words properly. I listen to every thing they say carefully, but forget even the most simple of new tasks. I'm always moody and slightly upset with my partner, shes never done anything wrong to me. But I simply can't help it. I have no motivational ability, I need food, clean clothes, to call people on the phone... but I can't, I put off eating for days sometimes, just because it would mean going out to buy food, which, is currently the only thing I enjoy, leaving bed is even a chore now. The idea of simply picking up the telephone to talk to someone, fills me with anxiety, I put it off for months when I can, I've gone without power for 8 days just to avoid talking to the power company, until my fish started to die off and my partner did it for me. I have constant sexual desire, not always erect, but I am constantly fantasizing. Trying to relieve this makes my sadness so much worse, often triggering a want to commit suicide. it may have some inception in that; I last for very much less then a minute during intercourse. I used to adore video games, but now I play them not because they're fun, they make me feel worse but, if I don't log in and sit at my desk for people to speak with me, that I'm totally worthless, don't deserve anything, that I'm not getting anything done and that I'm hurting the people I talk to there. I try to quit, but I have panic attacks that I'm letting everyone I know there down by my picture not being in the chat channels. I can't bring myself to clean often, when I can it's for afew minutes before I'm out of breath, angry and in a cold sweat. This means that my floor is covered in a mess of dirty clothes, papers and bottles. I don't need to be happy, I don't need to fix everything wrong its not worth me doing it but I need to be stable so I can try, but I don't know how to do that. I can't even pick up a phone to begin to ask people for help. Please help me.

amy41319 youth member of beyondblue
  • replies: 5

I'm Amy, 16 years old and I am struggling with depression, general anxiety disorder and a little bit of social anxiety. Each of those were beginning to surface at about 10 or 11 years old, so for about 6 or so years now I've been having problems. I e... View more

I'm Amy, 16 years old and I am struggling with depression, general anxiety disorder and a little bit of social anxiety. Each of those were beginning to surface at about 10 or 11 years old, so for about 6 or so years now I've been having problems. I enjoy watching tv shows, I watch far too many to name them all but my two favourites right now are Sherlock and Castle. After I finish high school I plan on studying to be a midwife, then later down the track I definitely would like to have a family of my own. My social anxiety isn't too bad, but some days are more worse than others. I wouldn't mind getting to know some people on here and share my experiences, as physically there aren't any people around me who quite understand.

apr123 Stressed
  • replies: 1

I'm 22 y.o. male, I am currently in my final semester of my final year of university. I have some history of what I was told was anxiety and I lack confidence. For the past 2 years I've been dealing with it whilst studying. This year I transferred to... View more

I'm 22 y.o. male, I am currently in my final semester of my final year of university. I have some history of what I was told was anxiety and I lack confidence. For the past 2 years I've been dealing with it whilst studying. This year I transferred to another degree not because I didn't like the one I was doing, but simply to avoid an aspect of it which I knew was going to cause me some anxiety. As a result I am now studying something I hate, but I feel pressure to complete it from both myself and others and I worry about what people will think of me if I do chuck it in. It is extremely frustrating for me, I feel like I am in a 'stuffed if I do, stuffed if I don't' type situation. I'm overwhemled by the pressures (whether they're real or perceived) to find a career, move out of home etc. Over the past few years I've stopped doing several things that I previously loved such as playing sport and I believe anxiety is at the core of it. Its held me back in the past and I'm worried it will continue to for the rest of my life and I will never achieve anything because of it. All I really want is to be happy! Welcome any advice.