[Simmy22]

I am a uni student , i want to study but i can;t, i m getting more and more frustrated and am even getting suicidal thoughts. I was diagnosed with depression at age 19, however i started noticing that I get depressed when exams are nearby, because i can;t study. my psychiatrist doesn t want to give me an add diagnosis yet, but i know i have it. Don't know what to do. My finals are in 2 months. pls help

[Travelinglady]

Hi, Simmy. I know we met earlier. I believe I might have asked you if you could talk to a uni counselor. I know some schools have them.

In order to get a diagnosis of ADHD, you will have to go through a more extensive session or so. Is there a therapist you can talk to?

That said, even if you do have ADHD, that doesn't mean you can't be successful in school, so something else might be going on. What do you mean by saying you can't study? Is it that you can't settle down or concentrate? Is that true of all tests?

It is true that depression can affect concentration......Is your doc giving you meds for that?

I suggest, regardless, that you meet with a therapist, too.

[Rainbow123]

Cram for the finals, don't go to class, just study and take the tests. That should allow you to pass if you do the whole textbook skimming thing. It may not be the best thing to do but at least you'll get by.

[Perna]

I had trouble studying the way I "should" so I worked to find ways that got me learning the material for myself. If you like surfing the web, think of questions about the material and surf the web learning as you go and finding things that keep your interest. If you can swamp your mind, live and breathe the material in an interesting way, enough of it will stick so you will be able to do fine on the test, even figure out stuff you didn't know you could figure out.

If you like to read, read fiction and biography about the time and people and try to get yourself in that mindset, as if you are one of them. Then studying the material you will be able to follow along better and it will be more interesting to you because you will know what it means to the original discoverers. It's much more interesting studying physics, for example, knowing the story of the apple hitting Newton's head but even more interesting knowing what he was doing under the tree and what else was going on in his life. The people whose principles we study had lives like ours, problems like ours, etc. and putting ourselves in their shoes helps me and has the added benefit of taking my mind off my own problems of the moment.

I'm also a 19 y/o university student and I pretty much feel the same way as you. My main problem is that I hate my major, so next semester I'm transferring to a major that I actually enjoy. Perhaps the reason for your frustration is that you have no passion for what you're studying.

I have to continue with my major this semester but I dropped two physics courses because I couldn't cope. I'm left with one physics course and I understand how it feels to be anxious around exam time. My advice is to get a study buddy, someone who's not necessarily a close friend but who is smart enough and nice enough to spend time with you answering your questions and helping you study. That's what I'm doing and it's making my situation more bearable.

Good luck