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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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What is even happening.

replies: 18

Hi, Im 18 and I have struggled for a long time with something i never know how to talk about or explain. If this is confusing im sorry im not great with words. The issue with explaining it is its constantly evolving and changing; from one moment to the next my explanation whether written or spoken becomes alien to me, and i cannot empathise with myself through it at all. Its as if my past self is not me at all - and not simply in the natural sense but in a far more heightened sense. To give examples- out of the five people I have attempted to explain it to one was my old therapist. I had a few sessions with him and while I clearly remember what I said, its seems so foreign to me. In fact through my 10 or so years of struggling with this thing the only constant has been the knowledge that it will become foreign to me within seconds. The issue is I feel that I cant trust my knowledge about myself- i cannot say Im feeling a certain way because Im not sure if I am or if Im just making it up. Im a fairly imaginative person, I can create emotion and reactions in myself in fake scenarios I devise (for writing) so how can I trust the emotions and reactions in me enough to describe them to someone else. I also struggle with remembering anything after its done, my memories of myself are all but dissapeared. The worst part of this is I can go months without experiencing anything and then all of a sudden this thing is just there and i cant seem to even understand what it is. And a quick clarification- I cannot even begin to comprehend it, ive tried. During these months its easy to convince myself that Im making it up, maybe for attention - but again that doesnt make sense as I dont tell people. I am mostly a very stable person with a very stable background, other than this thing (that Im not even sure exists) Im pretty much one of the most grounded people I know in the most humble way possible. I dont have issues with stress or anger - even the opposite, I quite literally have never felt actual anger at anyone before. In normal life I am the last person to have anything like this. And yet I have memories of self-harm. I have memories of sobbing for hours, of gasping and heaving and aching with this pressure bursting from me. This absolute fear of smth inside me. And yet it still means nothing to me. Im sorry cuse this is way too long. And a bit stupid. Im completely fine rn, but maybe im not idk.

Is it only me with this kind of OCD????

replies: 2

So i was diagnosed with OCD when i was in year 12 but i think i've had it since i was in year 4. It makes me feel disgusting and I hate living with it. During my lowest point, there was even an instance where i had to be admitted to a mental health facility because of my OCD along with my depression and anxiety. I just want to know if anyone else feels the same as me? My OCD prevents me from wearing tight clothes like jeans because i hate the way it feels on my skin. It just feels cold and tight and when i get changed, i have to make sure theres no hair on my clothes or my body and i have to tie my hair up into a bun or something to prevent hair from falling out. I don't like the thought of their being hair in my clothes. Another thing is that I get really conscious about books (like textbooks, etc) because i feel like there is dust or hair in between the pages. Even putting a book on the shelf makes me clench my toes and fists because i feel like dust on the shelf is getting pushed into the books. My obsessive routine would be flipping through the pages and fanning through the pages upside down (if that makes any sense) to let the dust fall out. i need help please. i cant find anything to help. Im a student and its winter so both these forms of my OCD is torturous

I can't go to school because I'm too anxious but not going is ruining my life, please help.

replies: 4

My term 4 of year 12 started today, I'm nearly 18 and I've don't nothing but cry, over sleep/ not sleep at all and panic for the past 2 months. I've always had anxiety and this year I finally received actually attempts at help from my school and the local hospital, but ever since this I've just felt worse and worse and now I can't even handle going to school, putting on my uniform makes me panic and all I can do is strip and cry in bed. I really want to go to uni because I enjoy learning and I want to be able to help people, but the actual act of going to school for 7hrs and talking to people and being looked at and being seen as lazy or undeserving of my marks or even to be taught by my teachers for being away all the time have just been making going impossible. I'm really not sure what to do I'm just so overwhelmed.

i need some love

replies: 3

i don't think i have ever felt so down and sad and depressed in my entire life. i feel like a complete failure of a person and that everything i do is wrong. i'll get in an argument with my sister and then she'll get mad at me and call me names but instead of getting upset with her i get SO angry with myself and don't understand why i am such a failure. i am literally the definition of talentless troll and i have no idea what the purpose of my life is. i am not good at anything and i don't know how to cope with all this self hatred.

NEW TO THIS - I think I'm slipping back into depression?

replies: 1

Hi, I'm new to this forum. I'm 22 years old, so a bit on the older side.. A bit of backstory as to why I'm here; I am a lesbian, I grew up catholic & even though I was never really made to be ashamed of myself, I always felt it. Last year I was in a bad breakup with my first partner ever, a female. It was her first time with a female, but not first relationship. Long story short, after 9 months, she said she never pictured her future with a female & left, so of course, my heart was broken for the first time. I slipped into a deep state of depression. The breakup, combined with my lack of confidence in my family being ok with my sexuality, & a traumatic injury during football (which happened conveniently at the same time) caused me serious hopelessness & doubt about life & living. I was grateful to have the support from my best friend who encouraged me to seek help with the Uni Counsellor, to which he was pivotal in my recovery. After 4 months, I felt reborn, I was finally doing things for myself, by myself, I got an internship related to my study & I was playing football again. I also have met another wonderful girl who is gorgeous & authentic in every way possible, & she shares some interests that I do. We have been dating for 7 months. Here is where it feels pear shaped - I was working full time internship over summer & found that my job isn't nearly as exciting as it originally was (esp not 3 hrs transit everyday). I started to feel a bit overwhelmed, not knowing what I will do as what I thought I would like, I didn't. I was actually relieved when covid resulted in me temporarily not working, so I didn't have to go to work. Since isolation, however, I've noticed I've become more irritable, with my family and esp my partner. I feel like I have become a bit of an a**hole. I've felt dread when thinking about what I will do after I graduate. I haven't been sleeping well at all, I feel tired all the time, I feel extreme guilt about the uni work I have to do but have no motivation nor the energy to do it, and it's always on my mind. Other times I feel extremely restless & hopeless b/c I can no longer be bothered to do the fun things I used to do. My distant friend, unexpectedly committed suicide back in October & as a result, sometimes I feel a bit of guilt that he's not here, yet I am. Uni is over an hour away, I don't have the money for a psych, & I don't really want to tell anyone else about it bc I don't want to worry them...so where can I go from here?

Falling through the cracks

replies: 2

Hello I feel like i'm falling through the cracks ATM With things starting to pick up again & people raising from this crisis, I feel nothing has changed for me. I tired to keep busy during the lockdown by signing up to a TAFE course that i could fly through & I've just done that. But the thing is really, when it comes to your own words or answering short answer questions i just get stress. I've got poor spelling or grammar & lying to myself that an employer would want to hire a failed person. I've been suffering Anxiety for years & seeing a GP & psychologist but feel they haven't done anything by reaching out to other services in helping me get better with life - I've got strategies. Sometimes they work & other times they don't. I just feel these days, i'm falling through the cracks

STRUGGLING WITH BREAKUP

replies: 2

I recently broke up with my first boyfriend. We were together 15 months. It was not a healthy relationship and I know I made the right decision but I am struggling. With restrictions I am stuck at home and I am struggling. I feel so alone and miss him so much. I am just looking for some support to help me get through this. I already struggle with anxiety and depression. I just feel so lost.

I have never felt so unutterable alone

replies: 2

I’m completely new to these forums so please mind that. I just want someone to listen. I’m a 15 year old girl and for the most part I’ve lived a normal life but everyday It gets worse and worse. I’ll start from the beginning. Since The start of high school I’ve always had my best friend. I loved her very and I wish I could have been more supportive and shown her my admiration. It was July of last year I got into a relationship. For the next 3 months I was the happiest I’ve ever been, I loved him to the core but he did do drugs. Im really against drugs so I explained to him that maybe he could stop because I cared about his health and education and he said he would. no matter what he still did them and that eventually led us to break up. I was fine for the time but it was towards the end of last year it went downhill. My best friend and my other close friends were still friends with my ex-boyfriend, which I was totally fine with but they started leaving to talk to him more and more at lunch time and I really didn’t wanna hang out with them just cause I wasn’t comftable and He and I had some post breakup fights so it was best if we didn’t talk again. So one day they vanished to hang out with him, I was miserable but I still had 2 other close friends I guess so I was fine but I still felt betrayed, my best friend told my ex everything that I had said about him. i evenly found out recently she did LSD with him and I cried my eyes out and I don’t know why. We still are friends and we talk regularly on a groupchat but she’s funnier and prettier and easy to talk to so I feel drowned, I’m shy and I try to hard to please my friends but it’s like they prefer her. I try to join into their conversations but I get laughed at because I have different taste in guys. I have no one, it’s the emptiness that hurts the most. No matter how hard I think, nothing makes me happy, I have no redeemable qualities that would make me big in this world. I have no one to talk to anymore, everyone I talk to thinks im annoying and that I should get over it but I can’t. the littlest things make me start crying. I feel like I can’t fit in, I feel like I’m annoying. I’m never gonna go anywhere in my life. I wasted my teenage years being a prune. I’ll have no friends. She’s having the best time of her life while I can’t stop crying, I don’t know what to do anymore. Everything inside of me is slowish breaking apart.

new on here, need advice.

replies: 2

hello there, my whole life i've been feeling a constant sickness, it's so hard to get out of bed in the morning, i can't keep up with schoolwork. everything is too overwhelming. i can't remember the last time i went into the public and didn't feel like people were judging me. school was my only escape, although no one there even wants me around, it's so much better than home. whenever i hear the door open and know my mother is home, i panic. now i'm stuck with that never-ending worry of when she will return due to quarantine. i have to make sure that the entire house is clean everyday, if not she takes away my phone and yells at me. i can't get a break. nothing is there to distract me and i'm stuck with my thoughts, the loud voices mocking me for whatever i do. i just want some peace and quiet for once. it feels like the world is caving in and i just want to crawl into a ball and sob away my emotions, i want to feel like all the normal people at school. i'm so gross.

feeling really out of place

replies: 8

Hey I guess I just wanted to post here about how I've noticed recently that I've started to worry a lot about my future. Growing up, I've been forced to be responsible all the time and it's shaped my personality to not be as fun as I'd like. I can't really help it even though I want it to change. I feel as if I've missed out on so many fun things as I've already passed my teenage years. I haven't lost my virginity, I haven't gone overseas, I haven't gone anywhere nice with just my friends, I haven't really had a chance to go out at all. I've also felt trapped since I've been in a 7 month relationship and I've gotten hardly anything from it sexually speaking. It's stressing me out and I don't know how to cope. This coronavirus situation makes it worse too which kinda sucks

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

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

What is even happening. replies: 18

Is it only me with this kind of OCD???? replies: 2

I can't go to school because I'm too anxious but not going is ruining my life, please help. replies: 4

i need some love replies: 3

NEW TO THIS - I think I'm slipping back into depression? replies: 1

Falling through the cracks replies: 2

STRUGGLING WITH BREAKUP replies: 2

I have never felt so unutterable alone replies: 2

new on here, need advice. replies: 2

feeling really out of place replies: 8