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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Introduction/podcast

replies: 1

Hello everyone! I thought I would introduce myself for my first forum post. I am a 22 year old Student and health professional who is passionate about mental health. I have suffered for many years with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. I have recently started a podcast which covers many issues, some episodes are more light hearted and humorous and others delve a little bit deeper. My most recent is on my struggles with OCD. This is the first time I have spoken publicly or in this magnitude about my condition however I believe it is absolutely vital for awareness and more conversations to be ignited surrounding this highly misunderstood and stigmatised condition. If I had something like this to listen to when I was 13 and first diagnosed I think I would have felt a lot more heard and less alone. I am sending so much love and strength to everyone in this community and I’m looking forward to this journey! much love to all

I'm too tired to care anymore.

replies: 18

To be honest, I just couldn't care less about anything anymore. I've got 2 assignment due tomorrow, and I don't even care about the repercussions if I don't hand them in. There's just no point, I'm going to live, work, work, work, work and die. There's no happy ending for me and, if i'm being honest, I don't even deserve one anyway. I'm a terrible person, and there's nothing any of you could say to make me change my opinion. I've ruined my parents marriage and have just made life more miserable, without even trying. My dad is dying cancer, and he can't afford treatment. That is my fault. A couple of weeks before it was diagnosed, I was visiting him, and while we were playing, he slipped and broke his arm. He hasn't been able to work since, and hasn't been able to earn money. If I hadn't played with him, he would have enough money to afford treatment. I've cried for too long, I think i've got no more tears left. I just don't even care anymore. I'm too lazy to even think of attempting suicide, and I've got nothing to wake up to. Everyone hates me, and I hate myself too. I've tried to change my mindset, and even working out, but there's no point if i'm going to die eventually. The only reason I'm even writing on this is because I promised my old therapist.

Don't know how to feel like myself again

replies: 4

Hi, I'm not sure how to begin, but I feel like life has become so painful in the past few months. During the second lockdown in Melbourne, I feel like my mental health has really plummeted. I didn't go out at all after we started remote learning due to my family being extra cautious, so now I don't have the courage to go out anymore. I feel really paranoid due to the stuff I read on social media or see in the news (although I don't really look at either of those things now). I've been really struggling with not assuming that every stranger hates me and everyone is out to hurt me. I've tried talking to the school counsellor recently and she's helpful, though I feel like I'm getting nowhere and just feel a bit hopeless. I haven't talked to my therapist for a while because I feel like she doesn't really help me learn to cope independently. I used to be quite confident and independent, but now I'm always scared and on the verge of panicking. I really don't want to continue like this. My parents say that things will improve heaps after my exams and I really hope so, but thinking about starting at Uni just makes me so anxious. Has anyone been in a similar situation? If so, could you please share how you rediscovered yourself again?

Uni help

replies: 2

Hi so I've always never settled on what i actually i wanted to do but every career ive wanted to do involve helping people or being with kids. Anyway the year after graduating I sat a social work course but dropped out quickly as I wasn't interested and I had alot of personal things going on. I tried to go back mid term and sat social science instead and I finished the term with a 6 GPA and made deans merit that year. i went back this year but dropped out half way through the term I became very stressed because of online learning and I felt like i lost interest in my course I tried a business course mid term dropped immediately it was so boring. Since being out of uni its always been in the back of my head? Right now im very confused on what to do but I feel like returning to my social science course as I liked it before I went online learning. Help? Is it worth going back? .^ to add onto this i was thinking of just doing less units and working less days. Like I think if I go back hopefully I'll fall back in love with my degree?

Job issues

replies: 3

Hi everyone, I've started a casual job around 8-10 hours each weekend as a high school student around a month and a half ago, however, I'm not exactly enjoying it. Every time before I go into work, I feel sick to my stomach and I cannot concentrate on anything else because the thought of work makes me anxious. I've only had 17 shifts there but I have decided I'm going to quit. However, I feel like by quitting I'm just overreacting and being stupid. Here are some reasons that have added up to why I don't enjoy it 1. one of the girls there is kind of rude to me. She doesn't outright call me names, but when she speaks to me to correct me it is in a condescending tone and she looks and sounds like she is judging me. This makes me feel stupid and like I shouldn't be still making mistakes 2. When she told me she was going to clean the floors she told me if I spilt anything on the floor she was going to rage at me. She also always tells me to go faster, which makes me more stressed out, and no one else there makes those comments to me 3. Not many people there talk to me, and it seems like a cliquey environment. I don't want to approach them because they could all be like the other girl or she may put them off 4. The summer holidays have just started, and while schoolwork won't be an issue now, it will be next year when I start year 12 so I would have to leave anyway 5. The manager told me not to call in sick half an hour before work the week after I called in sick- however, I actually gave him two hours of notice 6. According to some other people who work there he got annoyed when one of the girls asked for less hours during her year 12 ATAR exams- and I have a four day holiday in a few months that I would need to ask time off for 7. The work is a juice store, so it's a fast-paced environment which is fine, but combined with all these other little things it doesn't make me feel great. I'm also dealing with some minor mental health issues on the side which I don't think my job is helping 8. When I quit I can go work at my mum's store for four hours a week and while that isn't as much, it'll be ok while I look for another job My gut is telling me to leave because I don't want to feel constantly anxious and sick about work and have it affect my focus and concentration. But I can't shake the feeling that I'm just being stupid, dumb or that I'm a failure for not being able to handle it well, though everyone around me says I'm not. What do you guys think?

I feel lonely

replies: 3

Hi i’m 19 and i’m not really good at opening up when it comes to mental health. My experiences when reaching out have never gone very well. i think I just need a space to share because I feel isolated and alone. Most of my friends struggle with a mental illness making it hard for me to work through mine and reach out to them, when i’m trying to be there for them. It makes me feel exhausted and I just feel tired, it makes me feel like a bad friend. Some days I don’t eat and and I really struggle with my image as when I was 13 I was diagnosed with severe scoliosis. Romantic relationships don’t last very long, so some days I just feel unwanted and over a month ago I got in to argument with two of my closest friends and we haven’t talked since. Making me feel unwanted and unloved. I feel like something is wrong with me since I can’t keep people around. It feels incredible lonely and i’m Terrified to reach out to my family as they see me as their happy daughter i just needed a place to talk and I don’t want to feel alone anymore

Seeking help with an unaccepting family

replies: 3

Hi everyone, So I guess to start off just with just a bit of a background on me- I'm 16 in Year 12 (finishing school in 3 weeks yay!) and I'm actually going pretty great at the moment! The last few months for me have been pretty good as far as my mental health goes. But I have had a bad few years recently, I've struggled with an eating disorder, self harmed and ive had a lot of suicidal thoughts. And at the moment I do feel good but I don't think I'm 'healed' (I can't think of a better word but you get where im going?). Like at times I do feel myself slipping back into the headspace I've had in the past and I think id like to see professional help- just to be able to discuss my issues, and feel a bit more secure in my ability to stay on this functioning level I'm at now? (Wording things is -clearly- not my skill but hopefully you get my gist). I guess my main issue in the past while I was in the thick of my mental health struggle (beyond my mindset that I didn't deserve help) was that my mum doesn't 'believe' in mental health. I think she has a fairly toxic mindset r.e. mental health- at one point I tried to see my school counselor and she told me that depression is a mindset, I just needed to grow up and suck it up- things along that sort of line. Unfortunately I wasn't able to just 'suck it up' and there was genuinely a point last year where I was just a minute or two away from taking my life and I'm scared to sink back into that place. So yes I'd like to seek professional help because although I'm on a roll just now I don't actually have any coping strategies for when I am in a bad patch. But I don't really know how to go about that without my mum's consent? I'm still 16 so I cant drive or get myself to a GP, etc and I really don't feel safe or comfortable trying to approach her about this- anytime I've tried has honestly been more damaging than benefitical. I've had friends who have gotten help for themselves over the years so I think I get the basic- see a GP, get a mental health plan- there's a questionnaire involved? But yeah I'm not really sure how to get there without parental aid? So if anyone has any advice on how to go about this/has similar experiences please let me know? Thank you all in advance and hope you're having a great day Cam

i dont know whats my purpose

replies: 3

hello, this is my first post. Recently i have been feeling very depressed. I have this mindset in my head telling me 'im a fat, no life, pathetic loser'. I dont have any friends in school and no girls like me. I have no one to talk to but myself and on the weekends i always find myself sitting alone in my room, i look at my phone and see that everyone is having so much fun with their friends. I have no purpose and a waste of space

the emptiness never seems to leave/ i wish i could love myself fully

replies: 8

Hi everyone so I just wanted to get some feelings off my chest. So I am in high school right now and lead a pretty average life. I have a good portion of friends that I enjoy spending time with and am a good student and yet, I get this weird kinda emptiness that just surrounds my life. The intensity changes with how my day is going but sometimes I wonder if it's actually always there but it is only when I am distracted that I don't notice. It's like everything just feels so meh. I feel unfilled in my life, and super lonely sometimes despite having friends. Apart of me feels like I don't completely belong/ fit-in and I keep thinking people don't actually like me even though I know its probably just my overthinking and insecure mind. Sometimes it all just feels like such an appearance where everyone just pretends to be perfectly content with their lives. Like I'm just doing things because I have to and I know that if I want to be a happier person I need to start actively looking for happiness / find it in myself but I never seem to able to because honestly, I don't know-how and often stop myself from doing things I want to because I care too much about what other people think of me. It just sucks having 1 good day in two/ three weeks because even if its a really great day, the time in between can sometimes be so mind-numbingly empty. To be honest, although I love the girls in my friend group, I don't feel that strong sense of closeness I desire. I have it with one other person outside my group but I am constantly double-guessing if she feels the same (my fault not hers). Sometimes I just wonder how many things in my life I have convinced myself I'm content with. I know there are better ways to lead my life than this, especially because I feel a lot of my issues come from myself because of my insecurities, the fact I don't really know myself and because I struggle with putting my happiness first ( I am quite a nurturing person, the care-taker and the emotional support so I not used to that role). I just spend so much of time overthinking this stuff, my actions and life in general. Lowkey this is just word vomit but I wonder if anyone has any suggestions about anything I mentioned. I want to stop feeling so empty all the time and just be able to be happier. I wish I could just learn to love and trust myself. Thanks for reading and I hope you all stay safe during covid!!

Struggling this year (like many others)

replies: 5

At the start of this year I was super motivated and happy to be able to start uni and put my high school days behind me. Although now, in the 10th month of the year I have never felt worse. I cannot get out of my bed, I cannot attend my lectures online, my sleep schedule is all over the place, I can barely make it to the shower, I can't keep up with assessments, I have gained so much weight in such a short amount of time and eat at strange hours, I have isolated myself from friends and family out of pure embarrassment. My grandmother messaged me the other day to say she had noticed I gained a lot of weight and she was worried about my health. I realise that I have but the problem is I have absolutely no motivation left in me to possibly change even if I want to so badly. I beat myself up because I cannot even do daily simple tasks to look after myself and I feel like I am wasting people's time and my money by being at uni and not being able to keep up with everything. I feel like I have completely lost myself this year. I loved going out, seeing people, meeting new people, I am super extroverted, I was passionate about my course at uni and now all I do is nothing but sit around like a numb blob, wasting space. I moved to Australia 3 years ago from South Africa and for a while I was doing great but once it set in that I had left such important family behind it has broken me. I have a constant debate with myself that I am just being lazy and need to get my shit together but then think about how I can't even make it to the shower and realise there is a much bigger issue going on. I recently missed an assessment and this was the point where I messaged the uni counselor to ask to speak to her. We have scheduled a time to speak but until then I don't even k ow if I can get through the week and do assessments and attend lectures. I feel like such a lost cause and would really like to hear from others

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

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

Introduction/podcast replies: 1

I'm too tired to care anymore. replies: 18

Don't know how to feel like myself again replies: 4

Uni help replies: 2

Job issues replies: 3

I feel lonely replies: 3

Seeking help with an unaccepting family replies: 3

i dont know whats my purpose replies: 3

the emptiness never seems to leave/ i wish i could love myself fully replies: 8

Struggling this year (like many others) replies: 5