Young people

Pinned discussions

New to this Forum? Please read this first!

replies: 0

Hey there! Welcome to the Young People section of the Beyond Blue Forums. The purpose of this section is to provide members aged 25 and under a space to discuss life issues, tricky situations and the difficult emotions and feelings that come with those. If you are aged over 25, please be mindful that this is a space for younger people to connect and provide support for each other. These forums are moderated, so your posts may not appear straight away. Information on moderation on the Forums can be found here. Being familiar with our Community Guidelines can help ensure that your posts appear online as quickly as possible. If we have concerns about your wellbeing, one of our friendly moderators will check in with you privately to make sure you get the support you need. If you need more immediate support, we recommend reaching out to the following: Beyond Blue Support Service – any time, chat online to a counsellor or call 1300 22 4636 Headspace – between 9am and 1am (AEST), chat online to a mental health clinician or call 1800 650 890 Kids Helpline – any time, chat online to a counsellor or call 1800 55 1800 Thank you for being here. We’re glad you’ve found us here and hope this can be a supportive space for you Beyond Blue

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!

All discussions

Sorted by:

Start a discussion

Anxiety is ruining an important relationship

replies: 3

Recently my anxiety had been getting worse. I have a friend who is really important to me, and because of my worsening anxiety I've said somethings that have upset them. I've been worried that I might lose them or that they find me annoying or they are losing interest in talking to me, their friendship means a lot to me and they've helped me through a lot and i don't know what i am going to do if i do lose them. Since they live over 30 minutes away there aren't many chances for us to meet up so our main form of communication is through text, I've sent an apology to them, which explains to them my worsening anxiety (which they already knew about}, but i haven't gotten a response from them. I need help on how i can fix this, i really don't want to lose them and i don't think i could handle screwing up this relationship.

issues with friends

replies: 1

Just recently two of my friends have gotten into alcohol (they are 15 btw), and stealing from stores. Also one of my friends has gotten into drugs. In the past we have kinda had a falling out but i’m the one who was the strong one a sucked it up. A couple weeks ago we had a end of season break up for sport with those same friends, who most of the time bragged about how they drink and do drugs. Anyway i had a shit night and to top it all off on the way home i had a fight with my mum, she ended up locking me outside to “think about stuff”. i ended up thinking too much (as i would cause of my anxiety) so i decided to turn my phone off and walk it out at 11 o’clock at night fully having an anxiety attack. mum ended up nearly calling the police. but this night was actually a break through because i just fully opened up to my parents about all the shit that is happening in my life. my mum ended up being really good about it but organised for me to speak with the school councillor. which i don’t really want so i am completely over thinking about everything that can go wrong. To top all this shit off it was my birthday today and i had organised to see one of my other friends but she ended up surprising me with my two alcoholic friends who surprised me with an anxiety attack for a present when they stole stuff from a store. ended up pulling a i am about to pee my pants situation and ran off before i broke down anyway i just need some advice it’s not like i can make new friends because my sporting and social life is all linked and i would not cope trying to find new ones

I don't know if it's something or normal

replies: 2

Hi, I am 22 next month, i moved to Australia couple of years ago, wanted to escape My egoistic small society and country. The fast pace city life and Altogether to get a better life for myself as I thought this country Had some bright minded people and I do have found them to be But sydney is all about pace,if you are not clever or fast or good with making Connections to people,you get left out and all alone. My parents are back home,they support me but I wanna grow As an individual. Now the main point is I'm lost on what to make of myself

I need advice

replies: 5

So I’ve wrote on here before when I was deep in depression. It is different now though. It feels like I have no emotions anymore. Maybe I am crazy or maybe this is how everyone feels and I am overthinking but it seems like everything is so dull. Sometimes I feel sad but not that often anymore. I can’t feel anything. I almost want to go back to how I used to be - crying every night ect. - because atleast at that point I could feel. My brother who lives away came home for the weekend and I should have been happy/excited but I didn’t feel anything. I’ve been considering going to a psychologist again but I’m not sure. I don’t want to go if I am just making something out of nothing. Btw I am 15 and it also makes going to school very hard because I understand why I have to go but I don’t care and I can’t make myself care about getting good grades.

I go through phases too quickly.

replies: 5

I don't know whether everyone will be able to relate to this because I've tried talking to people but they don't really understand, but here goes... Basically, I go through phases. Not "I liked princesses for a year and now I'm emo", but "I spent a month obsessing over this and now I don't like it and have completely moved on". It means for a specific expanse of time (ranging from a month to a whole year), I can be obsessed with something and edit my life to accommodate for my new interests, often to a drastic extent. Last year I was utterly enthralled in astronomy. I loved Doctor Who so much, spending hundreds of dollars on merch. I also desperately wanted to be an astronaut, and started studying advanced physics and learning Russian (I wasn't up to learn physics in school). My life completely revolved around this future career, and I signed up for programs, paid for online classes and planned out my future after graduating high school; I would get a maths degree, join the Air Force for a year then travel to USA to train to become an astronaut. Then it all changed. At the start of this year I...just stopped. I stopped trying desperately and moved on to another dream. Problem is I had paid all that money and spent all that time for nothing. I haven't touched a Doctor Who episode since. I began to become obsessed with something else: Acting. Marvel was my favourite thing in the universe, I watched all the movies religiously and once again, spent hundreds on merch. I had giant goals to become an actor, and it became the one thing I wanted to do, forget about plan B. I followed casting websites, saved up money to pay for acting tuition and basically planned my future out again, never mind the fact that a career in the arts is nearly impossible. Right now, I have just "exited" that phase. Sure, I still would like to be an actor but not desperately, I have become entangled into kpop and even though I'm the incorrect ethnicity and can't dance or sing, becoming an idol is a dream. I know all these dreams are near impossible and would take so much work, and I pretend to be committed, but I'm not. So, I've fallen into a depressed state where I know I shouldn't commit to any dreams because I'll move on eventually and wreck my life for the umpteenth time. All my goals are so high and it breaks my heart every time I fall down to reality, realising that I'll never be so successful. I am not trying anymore and this is horrible. I don't know what to do. Please help.

feeling paranoid???

replies: 4

I just made an account and don't know where to put this so hopefully this is the right spot. I don't know if I'm just being dramatic but lately i have really been struggling with the fear of someone breaking into my house at night and murdering my family and then me. Maybe it is just because i am young (16) but ever since i was little i thought someone was going to get me while i slept so i would sleep with a stick under my bed and make traps with my toys (so i would have time to escape an murderer) as little as i can remember. At night i make up horrible scenarios in my head of different ways people could get into my house and the ways they would kill me and non stop thinking of places i could hide and can't shut it off. The past few months i have been having trouble sleeping because of it and have had to do strange things to be less afraid like i have to sleep with only the sound of my air conditioner and nothing else like no relaxing phone apps because I'm scared someone will hear and know I'm in my room. I think any noise is someone coming upstairs to kill me and i just freeze and my heartbeats very quickly. I have locked my door while i sleep ever since i moved to my new house with a lock and always have it locked even in the day. But i am not really scared when I'm with other people. I also have also always had an issue with someone possibly dying in my family (even though i know i shouldn't worry about the inevitable) and whenever I'm with them i try to take lots of videos and pictures just in case they die soon. I dread them dying all the time and it causes me quite a lot of stress and anxiety. I hate feeling this way and i just don't know what to do at this point or who to talk to since i never have spoken to anyone about these things and don't want to go to a professional. I just seem to be happy one moment and then extremely sad and imagine my family dead the next. Maybe this is normal but i would love some advice or some ways i could help myself. Thank you.

How can I help my mum?

replies: 4

My mum has been dealing with anxiety for most of her life, and its an anxiety that limits her to the bone. she can't go out otherwise she has panic attacks, All my life I've been sensitive about not being able to do the things you want to in your life, and seeing my mum (unlike like other women) not being able to go out or do stuff she as a child dreamed of, really hurts to think about. I want to help her but I really am unsure how to. I try my hardest to take the pressure off her all the time, but there is always something new to be concerned about (bills, stress) I don't know what I can do anymore? I am losing my mind. I am losing all of my options.

fear of failure going into year 11 and 12

replies: 1

Hi everyone, I'm a year 10 student from Queensland. It's the end of term 3 now, so it's approaching the time where we have to pick our senior subjects and make a plan for what we want to do for the next 2 years and how that will contribute to our future career plans. 2019 so far has been the worst year of my life. I've been pretty much forced to attend school via distance education (which I like a lot better, so far). Autism and depression make it very hard to get through the day and complete assessment at a mainstream school. For whatever reason, I was managing (barely, lol) at the mainstream school until year 10, when it all came crashing down and I had a big mental health crisis. So basically I'm scared of that happening again and 'ruining' my year 11 and 12 results (aka the results that actually matter, probably). Distance education has been a big help, but I feel the depression creeping up again. I'm scared that I will lose all motivation entirely; not that I have much anyways. It doesn't help that depression has took away what interests and purpose I had in life. This makes it very hard to choose subjects and start mapping out what I might want to do with my career. Sorry this post is long, I kind of just needed to vent.

It's just too much

replies: 2

The last 2 years have been a lot, you know when you feel it snowballing and you just can't get out. I've always struggled with it but life seems to be getting bigger and worse. At 21 years old my mum has just moved back overseas, which has left me feeling alone. I had to let her go so she could get better for herself, so she could get through her depression after a sexual assault. But it's pushed me into my own depression now, which I can't tell her about or she'll want to come home. I haven't spoken to my dad in years, since she's left i've been revisiting the idea of opening communication back up, but he's hurt me too much, they say forgive and forget but that must run out at some point right? I just feel like an orphan. I'm in a loving relationship which I am so grateful for. He is my rock, the love of my life, but he doesn't always understand which isn't his fault. I've lost my dog this year and have been made redundant from a job I love. I'm unemployed and just left with my thoughts all day long, there's only so much netflix a girl can watch. Lots of good things have also happened the last couple of years too, but there not pushing me through like they usually would. To add onto it all, a couple weeks ago I found out I had an early miscarriage which I didn't think upset me at the time. But since then a close friend has lost her brother, and her loss is making me think of my own. I'm not quiet sure if it's the miscarriage or the idea of losing something that could've potentially made me happy, or just having something else in my life be taken from me. I thought I had been through enough during my childhood, and thought the universe would be kind to me later on, it's now later on and my luck won't change. But I know we make our own luck in this world, I'm hoping each heart break makes me stronger, each tear makes me happier and each loss makes love harder. I hope anyone reading this can understand i'm in a bad place right now, i'm needing to vent, and just wanting someone to listen.

I feel I've lost the steering wheel

replies: 1

I seem to have a terrible procrastination problem, which is badly interfering with my exams/assignments (I am in year 11). I feel that all the life plans I have made for the future are dissolving under my own eyes as I bodge more and more ATAR points. I constantly catch myself going off task when working, try going back on task to find myself unable, and feel like banging my head on a brick wall. I do not know if my late diagnosis of ADHD (circa. age 11) is the cause of this, or if it's an issue that rooted from being raised in a particular way. I realise that it's wrong to shift the blame on psychologists or parents, but my scientific mindset tells me that all problems have a source, and I can't figure out where this crippling issue came from, how I can fix it or why it's happening. I've never been diagnosed with depression, anxiety or others, so I don't think that's the issue. This issue is stopping me from doing the things I enjoy (gaming, hanging out with friends), as I sit down to try do work but don't actually ever get to it, so I have to come back the next morning to sit down at the same spot, procrastinate more, repeat. I'm sick of not being able to work, and I can almost see my life falling apart in front of me, please help.

New to this Forum? Please read this first! replies: 0

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

Anxiety is ruining an important relationship replies: 3

issues with friends replies: 1

I don't know if it's something or normal replies: 2

I need advice replies: 5

I go through phases too quickly. replies: 5

feeling paranoid??? replies: 4

How can I help my mum? replies: 4

fear of failure going into year 11 and 12 replies: 1

It's just too much replies: 2

I feel I've lost the steering wheel replies: 1