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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Exam Stress

replies: 6

Hey! So, I feel like I can't talk to anyone about this because when I do they tell me that I'm being dramatic, or that it will be fine so I've come here as a last resort. Even writing this I feel like I am wasting some poor person's time and that they could be doing other interesting things than hearing me whine and if that's you just wanted to apologise - ill try and be quick here. Anyway, that's me! Continuing on, I have exams next week, four essays on two different classes and a really tough math one, all of which are separately under two hours long. I don't know why I'm worried so much, it doesn't matter in the big scheme of things but nevertheless, I find myself here at this very moment with tears falling from my eyes and a racing heartbeat trying to calm myself down. I don't know how to though, I keep telling myself OVER AND OVER again that it doesn't matter but I can stop worrying. I worry that I'm going to try my absolute hardest and get terrible results, or that I haven't studied enough or that even I'm going to fail all my classes and won't be able to graduate in year 11. I know what you're most likely thinking is - well if you study hard enough then you'll be fine but that's just the thing, for the past couple of days that's all I've been doing, so then why doesn't it feel enough? Why am I sitting here in tears feeling like the world is going to end? That may be a little over dramatic but this is honestly what it feels like to be inside my own head. I feel like I'm in this alone. no one understands what it's like to be me. God, I'm so over dramatic, I'm sorry for wasting your time, I do hope whoever reads this has a lovely day and doesn't end up stressed out of their mind like me. Seriously, I hope your day is well, genuinely. Thank you, from a lonely teenager.

How does someone find a career path ?

replies: 13

Hello, I am really struggling to figure out what job I want in the future. I am in university at the moment but hate it. I really cannot envision myself being a successful person in any field, because there aren't any jobs that appeal to me/ or have major drawbacks. Does anyone who was in a similar situation have any advice? Might help me and others feeling the same way thanks

How to get out of a toxic situation

replies: 4

I am currently 22 , and still living with my extremely toxic and verbally abusive mother. I really want to move out but I have no idea where to start, I’ve looked at places online but I can’t find anywhere that is suitable for me and my cat that is both easy for me to get to and in my price range. I don’t have a license which makes things harder as I can’t just live out of my car nor do i have any friends or family that would take me in. can someone please give me advice on how to get out of this situation?

I feel like my parents don’t understand

replies: 8

This is just a bit of a rant. I came out of my room to see my mum and watch some tv with her. Almost instantly she tells me I need to shower. I’m aware of that. I haven’t showered in ages, I physically cannot. Then I ask if there’s any popcorn left. She tells me I need to eat something healthy because I had cereal for dinner. It was nutrograin (idk how to spell it.) no, it’s not particularly healthy but it’s not as bad as coco puffs or something like that. I really struggle with eating due to PDA, and she know that when I can eat, I do. When I can eat, I eat a safe food. But when I can eat, she tells me to eat healthier. I know I don’t eat healthy. I know I don’t eat often and I know she’s trying to help but whenever I tell her that it makes it worse, she gets mad at me. When I walked back to my room tonight, she said angrily, “great, just great.” My dad is similar. He says things like “you need to cut down on junk food,” when I’m having a small bowl of ice cream. He eats SO much junk food. Every night. We bought a box of ice creams (on sticks) the other day. They come in 6 packs. The next night I went to get one and there were none left. My mum and sister only had one each. That means he had four, in one night. I’m so sick and tired of them telling me not to do things that 1, I’m not doing and 2, they do. Thanks for reading and sorry for the long post Bee

I feel so numb

replies: 3

One of my very good friends just said he liked me and really wanted to let me know so that the friendship doesn't whittle down for any unexplained reasons. I'm very happy that he's said this because he's still choosing to be my friend and i expressed that I am so thankful for that and that's what he wants too. I am actually so happy to have him in my life and im so happy that we can talk everyday and just maintain the level of pleasure we have when we're around each other. However it was very hard to turn him down after reading that. I have a crush on him too but decided not to date him because he's my brother's friend. I was asking on advice before all this happened on whether or not I pursue him but my Dad advised that I don't because of the weird tie. My mum found it normal and that I can date him if I wanted to. I initially thought not because I thought it was weird at first...but then my feelings became stronger. After he expressed how he felt and how I felt, I feel so numb. But I guess I know this is a good decision (I think) even though when I'm high on my feelings, I want to date him so bad. But when I'm not high on feelings, I still tell myself to turn him down. I just hope we can still be exactly how we are after this. I really like being around him so much and he's helped me so much. We've been friends for 2 years but he's known me since I was little. I just feel so hurt that I had to do that.

Difficulty coping

replies: 7

Hey, I’m Ly. I’m in year eleven, and am currently struggling to manage a depressive episode. My doctor has upped my prescription, but until it kicks in, I need to figure out a way to cope. The fatigue and exhaustion is so prevalent that it’s sometimes hard to move my body. I feel sluggish and slow, and the brain fog makes it difficult to do school work. I have assignments coming up and I struggle even starting them. When I’m mentally well I excel academically, but right now things are hard. My hygiene’s been slipping too. I often find it difficult to shower or wash my hair. Any advice?

I’ve lost all motivation in my final year of school

replies: 4

Hi, I’m a bit new here so please bear with me in this. I am in my final year of high school and i’ve been suffering with a loss of motivation. i’ve been heavily debating by what to do with it and i decided to try reach out for some help/advice on what to do. i have tried to reach out a few times for help from the school councillor but i’ve really struggled, few reasons being that i have trouble expressing myself in how i feel, i tend to be someone who tries to rationalise my emotions and my i tend to struggle with recollecting my emotions and experiences. it’s also quite hard for me to open up with my emotions at home with my fears of it being used against me or causing a fight. what’s one of the worst things for me is the fact that i go to an academic school and a whole lot of people have high expectations of me but i think i’m struggling so much that i’ll disappoint everyone and humiliate myself. i’m no longer good at what i once thought i was good and am have come to realise that i’ve never really been talented but just either extremely lucky in some circumstances, or in other times just motivated by fear or other external factors. i feel so burnt out but guilty for feeling this way, but at the end of the day i still end up doing nothing but doing useless things to avoid my duties. then at the end of the day i either go to sleep crying or intentionally going on my phone to forget this anxiousness then this cycle of guilt and being lazy just persists. ill be honest i don’t really know what i wanted from saying this, but i guess i just wanted to let out how i feel in a way that would be easier for me than physically consulting someone without feeling as embarrassed or like a fool/attention seeker as i would if i expressed this out loud to someone. would there be a way for me to cope with these feelings? what should i do? i feel like i’m struggling to validate how i’m truly feeling because i feel like im not actually struggling with motivation but intentionally being lazy just to feel like some sort of a victim. i apologise if this is really hard to understand and just feels like a rant. it’s my first time on this site so i’m not too sure if i’ve done this right or whether this is something i’m allowed to post and please feel free to give me any opinions (even if it’s blunt) or judgement for anything i’ve said. thanks.

Working with worries

replies: 10

Hello, this my second post. i am currently in a math class and I can't find motivation for the life of me. I have been falling behind in most classes because of anxiety and clinical depression. what should i do to get some ideas and start catching up... View more

Depression Impacting My Life

replies: 2

Hi, Im a 17 year old in year 12 and im struggling with depression. I've been struggling with depression for about 2 years and I'm seeing a psychologist to help and I'm finding a psychiatrist to get medication to help. But recently, the depression and having to deal with (supposed) fibromyalgia at a young age has made my life really difficult and I feel really alone. I have had 23 days off school this semester so far and i have missed out on so much work I cant even begin to explain it. My biggest problem is not how much ive missed, but the fact that i cant find the motivation to do any school work whatsover and when i actually want to do work, my brain wont let me. Concentration has gone completely out of the window and sometimes i cant even speak or write sentences properly its super frustrating. It's like the parts of my brain that I need to function have been taped off with 'restricted area' tape and i cant get passed it. I feel like a pen (you know when the ink gets dry or stuck and it wont come out?) and no matter how hard i scribble or draw nothing, comes out. Ive had to apply for so many extensions on assignments i feel embarrassed and that my teachers think i am lazy. They know about my physical health issues and my mental health ones but they still ask a million questions, and give useless advice. I never hand in a completed draft for any of my assignments anymore. I find it overwhelming to respond or write emails to my teachers because i have to re-explain my mental and physical health situations over and over again because of the policies that the school has with having excuses for not doing work. Ive tried to explain to my parents how i feel and that nothing is working but they only tell me to keep going and 'just do it' but that doesn't work for me. Ive tried the 'do it for 5 mins' trick, and the reward trick, i get rid of as many distractions as i can but somehow even my own reflection distracts me. I know that lack of interest and motivation in things is a common symptom of depression but i feel like it's so severe at the moment to the point where i feel like my life is spiraling out of control and im a ghost who physically cant grasp the wheel. I recently told my parents some difficult things i have been thinking and feeling about life and we talked about maybe going to the hospital which I feel like i do need but I have no idea what it's like there, nor do i have anyone i can talk to about what its like for a young person like me there.

Weird stuff has been going on and I dont think I'm ok I need help please whats going on

replies: 4

2 weeks ago i started hearing voices in my head. Sometimes they sound different in terms of tone and pitch, sometimes they're the same or very similar to mine. I keep feeling like everything is imaginary and fake, and I'm having trouble on concentrating on lots of things. I keep zoning out way more than I usually do. I have been diagnosed with AD/HD so it feels weird, I zone out and see things happening and hear them, but it all seems unclear and far away and unimportant. The voices I keep hearing seem to come and go, but whenever I zone out, they're always there and they seem more noticeably different then than other times. I keep getting dizzy randomly, and I keep forgetting things, even if they've just happened, like I listen to somebody say something and then realise that I don't know any of what they said, or (This is something that happened to me this morning) Waking up, and immediately finding a stickynote on my bedroom door with a message on it (I don't want to say it here). The door was locked (from the inside) and It wasn't locked when I went to sleep, so I'm nervous because I don't sleepwalk or anything. At school earlier today, somebody came up to me and greeted me, saying we had talked before. I do have really bad memory, but I don't think it was memory this time because he greeted me with a different name and got confused when I said that it wasn't my name. This sort of thing has been happening to me alot for the past 2 weeks. Also, a few times I've felt like I'm moving without trying, and at those times when I do try to move voluntarily then I can't, or only very slightly, like twitching my fingers and that's it. I don't even feel like me sometimes, and when I look in the mirror I have trouble recognizing myself as myself. Does anybody know what this is?? Please Helppp

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

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

Exam Stress replies: 6

How does someone find a career path ? replies: 13

How to get out of a toxic situation replies: 4

I feel like my parents don’t understand replies: 8

I feel so numb replies: 3

Difficulty coping replies: 7

I’ve lost all motivation in my final year of school replies: 4

Working with worries replies: 10

Depression Impacting My Life replies: 2

Weird stuff has been going on and I dont think I'm ok I need help please whats going on replies: 4