• Life Advice & Visual Arts Welcome Guest
    Posting Rules Bluelight Rules
    🌌 Share Your Dreams! 🌌
    📸 15 Years of Photo Contests 📸
  • LAVA Moderator: Shinji Ikari

MEGA - Studying, Exams, Stress, and coping with them

Im in the same boat as u where i cant focus. The reason that for this that i came up with is that im not motivated enough to do school work. Because of the lack of motivation u tend to look for other things in class to entertain urself with such as talking with peers, drawing in ur book, guessing wots for dinner tonight etc. How to solve this problem? Well im still trying to figure this out for myself. Perhaps if u set urself a goal / target related to school work such as getting into university and committing urself to it u may be able to concerntrate better.
 
I used to be the same.

It got a lot better when I got to college, took the subjects I wanted to. Also, my tutors are pretty funny people, so I find it a lot easier to listen.
 
i think excerise is an essential part of being able to focus. I found when i run the next class i go to i am much more aware.. Diet is really important too.. Just try to eat foods full of nutriton. Hope thats helps
 
You should see if you you can get it prescribed first. After a period of time ritalin and adderall cause depression and anxiety in my experience. It does help, but If I were you I would be very cautious of forming a habit. The same attention span and discipline you need to perform in school will be needed one you have a career. If you don't mind taking ritalin the rest of your life, then go ahead and take it. Otherwise, I would just take it occasionally to get past any points where you're severly struggling.

Are you dedicated to your studies? Maybe the problem isn't your attention span but that you chose the wrong major or are lacking motivation. Think about how bad you want that major and hot it applies to your long-term goals. If you want it bad enough you can make it happen, with or without add meds.
 
I agree with many of the posters above.

1. Work your ass off. If you know you are easily distracted, do your work in the library, unplug your internet connection, or unplug your TV. Set some regular time aside when you focus all of your efforts on studying and then you'll feel better about relaxing at other times.

2. See a doctor and see what he or she recommends. Almost everybody I know thinks homework is boring, but a doctor should be able to give you specific advice and or medication that may be able to help if you really need it.

3. If you do end up using medications, try using them sparingly and they will work much better than taking them daily. Also try taking them at lower doses than recommended. Higher doses will feel better, but they may also take you past your optimal stimulation level, where you end up distracted by the effects. Keeping the doses low also reduces side effects and tolerance.

4. Exercise. It will help you sleep well. It will help you focus. It will help you relax.

5. Even if you try medications or any other techniques, you will still need to work your ass off.

I hope this helps,
 
Sounds like you go to some college or school that offers alot. If this is true, they probably offer great free or affordable counseling. I bet they offer ways to treat and manage ADHD. They could probably diagnose you, see if you have ADHD or not, because either you are extremly unmotivated/lazy/burnt out....i dunno. Even if they can't help you with ADD or you were not diagnosed with ADD, I bet there are great resources you can use to help you focus.

Some guidence and a new environment can do wonders........
 
why dont you get a doctors advice on the pills? you should aquire them legally if your in school.
 
Dude, i know exactly how you feel.
i suffer the exact same problems.
In Australia it is called ADHD(Inattentive type) or DAMP.. (i cant remember what this abbreviation means... its on my medical paper work somewhere, ill look it up later).
See a Clinical Psyc. these are the people who deal with this.
i would write more, but it is diffucult due to the problem mentioned above, and i am yet to take my dose of Dexamphetamine for the day....... it really does help.
If you describe your problem honestly to the psyc, the should prescribe some kind of stimulant medication to help with it.


Good luck in your studies, and remember this is a medical problem, nothing else. it is also quite commen, so dont be ashamed of it.
Pm me if you need any futher info.
 
well, i can relate man, being called lazy might sum it up but not fix a thing..

ive been coasting on 1 adderall 25mg a day for a couple of weeks and i feel great.. no real longings or downtime, just the occasional sweaty day in the 90 million degree texas weather. as for long term use, i'd probably go along with the other people here saying you should get it checked out if you're planning a 5-6 month spree because.. in my neck of woods, adderall isnt that easily found anymore and prolonged use for that long might cause damage when self-medicating

but if you're interested in random weeks of intense focus (you have to make yourself study still*) go for it.. i usually try to start doing something and right when i feel my interest slipping, i re-up and then on track for a good while

other than that... evlove really seems to have a good list there.




*i once took 60mg and got ready to write my highschool exit essay and instead reorganized my entire mp3 collection complete with comments, album art, release dates, tracks, and anything else available. to this day my mp3's are incredibly well managed and that paper happened to get turned in a few weeks later.
 
Adderall has my utmost respect

If 10mg of adderall can make me learn organic chemistry in 10 hours, I think that's one hell of a powerful and useful drug. It has a "polluted" feeling on the comedown, but nothing a little weed and some antioxidants can't fix. I wouldn't want to make a frequent habit of this shit, cause I bet it loses its shine real fast. But every month or so at midterm or finals season -- or to work an insane number of hours over a short time to cover a big check you wrote -- I have to admit it does get the job done, and the results are real even when sober.
 
I like Concerta (extended release Ritalin) more because, especially with more artsy sciences (bio, psych, linguisitcs) and for arts classes, it helps you recognize more subtlety in the information---but for a hard sci memorizing class like Organic, adderall is probably better (it just makes me want to smoke too many cigs, like regular ritalin too)
 
I wish it had that effect on me. I have to take it just so I can steer my mind in the same lane, otherwise I am all over the damn road. Even if you dont have ADHD sympathomimetic stimulants will heighten your ability to concentrate. Thats what they do for us with ADHD, only it keeps us functioning normally. Personally I hate it, and wish that I could control my impulses, and steer my mind correctly, it is an amazing medication especially in the XR version.
Best of luck to you in your endeavors with Organic Chemistry, the basis upon which all of us come to Bluelight for. Information related to harm reduction, in relation to the ingestation of substances based upon the carbon molecule.
 
Amen.

I really try to do things without it, and for the most part I have avoided using it for anything besides a difficult midterm or final.

It may sound unbelievable but I had a 3 month period where I completely cracked myself out on it. I just hate how I feel intellectually useless without it after getting used to using it and those relatively shitty comedowns.

I have to get up tomorrow at 5:30 and prepare for a final at 8:30. Needless to say, tomorrow morning will be one of those instances where I am so grateful for this substance!
 
I've found careful usage of amphetamine can be an excellent aid to getting through a lot of work when you need to in a short amount of time. Like Venus says, it's important not to get dependant on that property and then not feel like you can acheive much work if you aren't using it. Given I end up unable to sleep for a whole night after using it at 9am, I don't do it often, but more as an emergency method should I have to.

Unfortunately more and more of my material is the kind where you need slow gradual work, and not "If I really concentrate, I can do it" like it used to :(
 
Unfortunately more and more of my material is the kind where you need slow gradual work, and not "If I really concentrate, I can do it" like it used to
Click to expand...
Same here....I'm so much better with my stuff if I have a glass of wine, as the problems lie with having to step back away from current work and look at the bigger picture and incorporate things. I find that it's almost impossible for me to do when I'm even all caffeined up, but if I'm chilled out a bit that helps.
 
I totally agree that adderall is an amazing study aid. The problem for me is that access to adderall inevitably leads to meth use...which is baaaaaad..

so yeah, I can only take adderall if I don't have access to a large supply :\
 
depressed at college

I'm 18, barely a Sophomore and just recently transferred to a University and have only been here a little over a week but already feel overwhelmed..

I'm having trouble adjusting to just about everything.. to give a few examples: dorm life, food, the HUGE campus, jus living in general-- often times I have trouble sleeping at night because so much noise throughout the hallway and the guy who lives next to me has his TV ridiculously loud.. ( i'm a very light sleeper)

on top of that i'm taking a full load of classes and am kind of intimidated, feeling that I won't be able to hold it down academically.. and the pressure of knowing how much money is being spent on me being here kind of scares me.

I do have an introverted personality and don't open up to people easily, that along with the fact that most people here already have their cliques while i'm just moving in knowing nobody for winter semester has made me feel like a loner thus far..

I really haven't had an urge to go out and meet people, the people who live on my floor have been friendly, but I haven't been spending time with them, after my days I jus feel so emotionally drained that I wanna lay in bed and sleep..

although i'm obviously gonna give it some more time, i'm starting to think that maybe i'd just be happier commuting to a university close to home and then get an apartment once I get my degree.. at least i'd have my friends and I'd probably do better in school due to not being so depressed.. I dunno.. hopefully this is just because this is all so new to me and in time I will feel better.. right now though it just feels like highschool to me-- and I HATED highschool.. the only difference though is that i'm living there..

can anyone relate to these feelings?? any advice would be appreciated..

thanks.
 
Last edited:
I can definatly relate man. I started as a freshman last fall at Uni. Within the first few days everyone had their cliques. Its stupid. In a lot of ways it is like high school (which I found to be less than enjoyable).

The halls are always loud. I got put in the "quiet hall", and wouldn't you know it, its adjacent to a bread distribution factory with noisy trucks going through all day and night long. It was hard for me to sleep comfortably for awhile. Your body should adapt.

I'm the same way, real introverted hermit type. I stopped worrying about it though and enjoy my own time. Theres a few people I like to chill with but for the most part it seems like eveyone else is just the same as in high school, excect a lot of the kids are rich snobs, and they're living away from momy and daddy for the first time. Kind of a disappointment. But cool people are always around. I hate to say it but the quickest way to meet people around school is smoking cigs or weed. If theres any activities your into (besides BL, that doesn't count), go do them. Try to stay busy, and not do schoolwork all the time. Just go walk around if you need to.

Ultimatly its up to you to change your situation. No ones gonna come beat down your door and demand you be friends with them. Stick it out. Focus on your schoolwork, sounds like you got a good load. Good luck man and feel free to PM me, I definatly know where you're coming from.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top