Online help
There is a whole range of online support services where you can go to find information or get help on issues that might be affecting you. Reachout.com is one, but there’s a list of others below that offer different types of help.
While online help is not for everyone and not for every issue, it can be really useful, especially as a first step.
Online help ranges from:
- basic information
- contact details for face to face services
- online forums and discussion groups
- email advice on different problems and issues
- self-guided problem solving online counselling
Available services
Childline.ie – provides a range of support services online including a live chat service between 6 and 10pm daily.
Drugs.ie – offers drug and alcohol information and support including a ‘live helper ‘service that lets you chat to a staff member online.
Bodywhys – offers online support for eating disorder issues, including an online group counselling service.
Samaritans Ireland – provides emotional support for people in crisis and you can now email jo@samaritans.org or log on to Samaritans Ireland.
Aware – provides a range of support for people experiencing depression, including online discussion forums, support groups and a private email support service.
Console – offers online information and emotional support around suicide and bereavement, including a counselling service and helpline.
helplink.ie – offers a range of services including confidential online or phone counselling and an online directory
This isn’t a full list of services, but they deal with a wide range of issues. As new services come on board and online counselling services are further developed, we’ll feature them here. If you’re unsure about the quality or safety of an online support service just email the details to us and we will check it out for you – support@inspireireland.ie
Hi Emer,
We said in our reply to you that we would ask our expert on anxiety if he had any tips for you. Here is the reply from our expert, Mark:
Hi Emer,
Thanks so much for taking the time to write us. First of all I can say with absolute certainty that you are not the only person feeling like this at the moment and an increase in stress and anxiety are two of the most common emotional responses to the prospect of sitting the leaving cert. The physical symptoms of anxiety and stress are sometimes inter-changeable (tense muscles, headaches, increased heart-beat, shortness of breath).
I wonder why is it that you are struggling to cope with the prospect of the Leaving Cert at the moment prior to 6th year? Do you have realistic aims for what you hope to achieve in the Leaving Cert / are you feeling the pressure of expectation from teachers or family? Lots of young people put so much of their time, energies and life into study the forget one of the most important things to help prepare for a stressful event like the Leaving Cert – work / life balance ie looking after yourself.
Things that can help you to reduce both your stress and anxiety levels are to:
• Look at your routine, are you spending more time studying and leaving out things like meeting friends, exercising, taking part in hobbies etc?
• Making sure that you get 8-10 hours sleep per night and are eating regularly
• Talking with your friends about what it like for them, how are they experiencing the anxiety and stress, how are they managing it? Knowing that you are not the only one feeling like this is important.
Sometimes to help our mental health and emotional well-being we need to make sure that we are looking after ourselves physically too.
Do you have a study plan that breaks down the work you need to complete into realistic and manageable chunks? If you don’t have one perhaps your year head could help you to devise one.
On a broader level, although it does feel like your whole world is wasting away, and as much as it feels like the Leaving Cert is the most important thing in the world, there really is so much more to life. The Leaving Cert is important, but as a stepping stone to other avenues in your life. Now might be a good time to find someone that you can sit down with and talk about all of your worries and stresses and help you to prepare for sixth year. What I find is that it is better to learn to manage stress and anxiety at times where it is not too overwhelming. Your guidance counsellor or family GP should be able to direct you to local counselling services. In the mean-time support websites such as ReachOut.com have invaluable information to help you to guide you in managing study based stress, see their exam section.
It is a difficult and busy time but you can also re-assure yourself that one of the best things about the Leaving Cert is that it has an end point and you are almost 50% of the way there.
Mark
Hi Emer,
The Leaving Cert can be really stressful – but unfortunately it’s something most of us have to go through. You say you’re in 5th year now and we think this is a great time to learn how to cope with the stresses of the Leaving Cert and learn things you can do to relax so that when it comes to 6th year and the exams themselves, you’ll be well prepared!
Many of us when we look back wonder what we stressed about. We all want to do our best and we know you need good points to get into a course you want to do but there are so many options that even if we don’t get the points we want, you can still end up doing something you love doing. What we’re trying to say is that it’s not worth a huge amount of stress. Here are two stories people have sent in to us about the Leaving Cert – they put it better than us! Looking back on the Leaving Cert and Life after the Leaving Cert
It’s hard to deal with feelings of stress, so if you find yourself getting stressed or anxious, maybe try this breathing exercise.
Getting enough exercise, getting enough sleep and eating properly can all reduce feelings of stress and anxiety so it’s worth making sure you exercise, get enough sleep and eat a healthy diet. Taking time out to do the things you enjoy is really important – so don’t give up playing or listening to music or going for walks or reading books for enjoyment rather than studying. These things can help get us through – so never feel guilty about taking some time off from studying – it will help you in the long term.
Talking things through with friends or family members or a teacher can help as well.
It might be worth checking out our anxiety and stress factsheets to get some tips for managing stress.
We’ve also sent your comment to an anxiety expert we work with and we’ll get back if they have some extra tips and suggestions for you.
Take care Emer,
Fenella
Hi Peter,
It sounds like you’ve got a lot going on right now. You’re right to ask for some support with this as it can be tough trying to deal with things on our own.
Relationships aren’t always easy and when there’s a baby involved, things can get tougher. We know it’s not easy, but having good communication between you and your girlfriend is really important. Being able to talk to each other and explain your feelings without getting into a row can be difficult, but it can be done. See here for some tips.
We can all feel overwhelmed from time-to-time and the urge we get to cut or to hurt ourselves can be a way to try to deal with or control those overwhelming feelings. You’re not alone in getting these feelings. Self-harm isn’t an effective way to deal with our feelings though and talking to someone like your GP or a counsellor can help you to come up with healthy and effective ways of coping during tough times. You might want to check out our self-harm factsheet for more information on this. The most important thing is to keep yourself safe and talking to your GP and/or a counsellor about how you’re feeling can help you to develop coping skills to help keep yourself safe. Sometimes just talking things through with someone can help. It's ok to ask for some support with this - you don't have to do it alone.
Your GP can help by giving information and advice and can recommend a counsellor for you or you can find a counsellor yourself by visiting www.counsellingdirectory.ie. Read up here about the benefits of talking to someone.
If you ever don’t trust yourself to keep safe, or think you might hurt yourself, do call your girlfriend or another friend or family member and talk to them about how you’re feeling. You can also contact Samaritans by calling 1850 60 90 90 24 hours a day or by emailing jo@samaritans.org.
We’ve sent your comment to one of our experts and we’ll get back to you if they have any further thoughts and suggestions as soon as possible.
Take care,
Fenella
Hi my name is Emer ,I'm 17 and in 5th year. Lately i have been feeling extremely stressed about the leaving cert and i find myself getting bad anxiety. I feel like my whole world is wasting away and i dont know what to do about it.
please help,
Emer.