dealing with depression, anxiety disorders and the HSC. (1 Viewer)

[CampbellBain]

sup!


I'm sure there are a lot of you who are already dealing with anxiety and depressive disorders and I want to know how you are planning to make it through this next year of high stress levels! I'm not really talking about people who just get stressed out about exams or upset with bad results, but I don't want to exclude anyone either.

Personally, I've been diagnosed with generalized anxiety disorder with panic attacks and clinical depression, am currently on medication for these, and according to my doctor will continue to be for the next year at least. These aren't because of school, but can make school a little difficult at times and excess stress sort of exacerbates them! These have sort of made the last few years pretty unpleasant and I missed out on at least two solid months of the prelim year as well as staying home about one day a week for the rest of the time, but I've been doing pretty well with year twelve so far.

my general coping stratagies are

- remember its just school and it wont matter after this year
- see my psychologist regularly
- notice when stress is getting too high and take a day off (usually one when i only have one or two periods at school) to study at my own pace at home
- try not to push myself to the point where i can feel myself panicking. take breaks and do enjoyable things to stop this happening.
- get assessments done early by working on them a little at a time
- cut off old friendships that aren't positive and surround myself with people who promote the best in me

a little bit lame at the end there, but its what works for me! I've just made it through my first two assessment tasks without freaking out at all so i'm hopeful for the next year.

What about you! Do you have any coping stratagies or experiences you'd like to share? How are you planning to make it through the next year?

 

[enoilgam]

my general coping stratagies are

- remember its just school and it wont matter after this year
- see my psychologist regularly
- notice when stress is getting too high and take a day off (usually one when i only have one or two periods at school) to study at my own pace at home
- try not to push myself to the point where i can feel myself panicking. take breaks and do enjoyable things to stop this happening.
- get assessments done early by working on them a little at a time
- cut off old friendships that aren't positive and surround myself with people who promote the best in me

These strategies sound great and I think thats the best way to handle it really. Even if you dont have a disorder, the HSC year has the ability to be very stressful and consuming if you have high aims. Obviously, people stress way too much over the HSC, but it's easy to say that with the gift of hindsight - when you are actually doing the HSC, it can feel worse than what it actually is. People should always ensure that they keep themselves healthy both mentally and emotionally - you shouldnt sacrifice this for anything.

 

[CampbellBain]

Exactly! I feel like that is a great guide for anyone sitting the HSC - its not worth sacrificing your physical, mental and emotional health.

 

[Drifting95]

Good guide, I'm sure this would be helpful for most of us on here in general.

 

[CaffeineMotor]

Those strategies aren't lame at all! They're applicable for all of us as it means you'll stay on track thus reducing overall stress.

Personally strategies I'm using (I'm prone to stress now that I finally want to aim for the top, I've always been sitting in the middle throughout high school).

- Look at the HSC with a healthy attitude, as a learning experience that many thousands before us have taken before and have survived.
- By managing my time, the HSC does not have to be a big overcomplicated pile of stress if everything is well organised and planned ahead. (Going to use the xmas holidays to get all my notes done and do heaps of practise of everything so by the time next year comes around I'll be good to go).

- Maintain exercise and sleep, in the long run you end up working far more efficiently and produce better quality work and learn better.

Side Note: There are multiple ways into uni!

 

[madden1010]

I think another important think to do is find something that relaxes you or helps you to clear your head. My mum always tells me to go for a walk or to do something where I don't have to think about whatever is making you anxious as much since I'll have something else to concentrate on. But I find that having a long, hot shower or bath and using something scented while bathing (bath bombs, shower gels, etc.) usually calms me down very well and distracts me. Also if you have a casual job, that's a very good way of stopping you from feeling anxious and helps you to calm down long enough to make a plan of how you'll approach school work, study, work and free time.

 

[Michelle Lin]

For me a big thing that helped was breaks. Lots and lots of them. When I felt overwhelmed at school I would just take a breather and walk around or if I was studying I would lie down with a dog. During days I felt like I was going to breakdown I would text my friend and ask them to come help me stay grounded. I'm friends with a few people who also have their own problems and we have a system where we support (texts, calls, meeting up) each other even (and especially) during exams/school.

I think having a good support network and allowing yourself time to gather your strength is all you can do without taking medication.

I used take anti-depressants for a long time during highschool and I'm off them now but a good tip for anyone with a diagnosable mental disorder and is considering going onto medication: start taking them way before the HSC trials and HSC because not all medications work for a person and there may be side effects and etc that may affect your performance. You'll have time to switch medications or stop entirely.
If you do have a serious mental or mood disorder you should see a GP or counsellor/psychologist. The right medication may smooth things out for you (It did a lot for me) and with documentation from your school and doctors you could apply for special provisions which can make a huge difference.

 

[Smileandshine]

For me a big thing that helped was breaks. Lots and lots of them. When I felt overwhelmed at school I would just take a breather and walk around or if I was studying I would lie down with a dog. During days I felt like I was going to breakdown I would text my friend and ask them to come help me stay grounded. I'm friends with a few people who also have their own problems and we have a system where we support (texts, calls, meeting up) each other even (and especially) during exams/school.

I think having a good support network and allowing yourself time to gather your strength is all you can do without taking medication.

I used take anti-depressants for a long time during highschool and I'm off them now but a good tip for anyone with a diagnosable mental disorder and is considering going onto medication: start taking them way before the HSC trials and HSC because not all medications work for a person and there may be side effects and etc that may affect your performance. You'll have time to switch medications or stop entirely.
If you do have a serious mental or mood disorder you should see a GP or counsellor/psychologist. The right medication may smooth things out for you (It did a lot for me) and with documentation from your school and doctors you could apply for special provisions which can make a huge difference.

Yes! Any medication can cause side effects, I was put on them for a heart condition (they work more then depression who knew?) and I reacted terrible. I didn't eat much for about two months (extreme nausea and vomiting) and lost about 6kgs. Also I wouldn't recommend going off medications during HSC year either.

 

[Bored_of_HSC]

Those actually sound good

I guess some others are:
- Get a hobby, just something to distract you and make you happy (i'd go on long bike rides lol)
- Have a solid support network (say people closer than a psychologist who you can talk to more conveniently) to simply let all the problems you're feeling out of your chest. THIS is probably one of the best ways of reducing stress/anxiety in my experience. They don't even have to be particularly smart/engage in solutions. Simply being able to talk to someone is kewl in itself