Agony Aunt

I have had to come out of retirement just to answer your cry for help My advice? Ease up on the whiskey, it might stop the flashing images in front of your eyes the next morning

hi Noor I'm glad to see you realise just how important your school work is and I think it is amazing that you want to do your best! I can understand how much the change of school timetable has thrown you. It is a huge change you have had to make. Making a timetable for your home time is a great idea..make sure you write down exactly what you need to do and when it needs to be done...try prioratising as well....maybe mark things in red that are urgent You also need to make sure you are getting plenty of sleep. Until you get used to this new routine maybe you can set yourself a bed time...and stick to it even on days when you dont have school the next day. This will get your body used to waking up at the right time. Try to ensure you always have a proper breakfast. Your brain and body will not start working properly without one! Above all give yourself time to adjust. And if you feel you are struggling at school, then talk to your parents or your teachers. I know they will do all they can to help you Take care Agony Aunt xx

Hi Glow This sounds like something you have been worrying over for a while now. Unfortunately no one is able to tell you which course you should do, that is a decision only you can make. The only piece of advice I can really give you here is to try to learn more about the economnics and advertising courses. Find out exactly what work you would be doing in your course, because as you said, it has to be something you are interested in or you will struggle with the work. Also find out what sort of jobs would be open to you with the qualifications these course give you and decide if they are the type of jobs you would be interested in. Maybe even try and talk to people who are already taking these courses. for more information. Sorry I havent been able to offer you more advice Best Wishes Agony Aunt xx

This is a really hard one. A kasijab has already said, some people just dont like sport and no matter what you say or do nothing will change that. I know you are tying to help your friend do better for herself, but sometime constant negative criticism can be a form of bullying, even though I know this is not intentional. Your friend may feel like nothing she does is good enough, and may even be thinking, why bother? Imagine how you would feel if you were in her shoes and everone was on your case and telling you that you should do this, and do that! Maybe you should try postitive praise, find something she is good at and praise her for it...even if its just the way she dresses, singing, anything really. When she is doing sports, and she does the slightest thing well, tell her, or even if it goes wrong, tell her good try. Same with her course work, find some part of it that is good, even if its just handwriting, art, anything really and praise her up on it. The more praise she gets the harder she will want to work. Friends find ways to help each other, without criticizing each other. Take care Agony Aunt xx

You should be proud of the person you are. Being true to yourself is one of the most important lessons you have to learn in life. Unfortunately there are so many sterotypes around as to what boys and girls should do and what they shouldnt do, it is really hard to stand up for what you want. You said in the title that your friends are making fun of you, well if they were true friends then they wouldnt make fun of you, it would not make any difference as to what you collected! One part that made me wonder, is when you mentioned about a girl you like giving you a hug for helping her with her sticker collection. That is great, as long as that is not the reason you are doing this. Be who you are, and be proud, you are a truley wonderful person Take care Agony Aunt xx

Hi Tromo3 Your brother is vey young, and his attitude is normal for his age. There will come a time when he is older that he will realise all you have done for him when you were growing up. And I bet your Mum already appreciates you, and everything you do to help out. Could you try talking to your Mum, tell her how you are feeling? Explain that you are happy to help out, but you are feeling that your Brother is taking you for granted and is being ungrateful. The worse thing you can do is argue with him, even though it is hard not to. Maybe just walk away from him ,even if you just lock youself in the bathroom for 5 minutes while you count ot 10, it really can work! Take care Agony Aunt

Hello Chiaretta Low self esteem is a lot more common than you think. This is totally different to lack of confidence. When you suffer with low self esteem you start to beieve you are not good enough no matter how many peole tell you this is not true. The only way you can get over this is to teach yourself to think differently. One way of doing this is Cognitive Behavioural Therapy. This teaches you to change the way you think and how you deal with these thoughts. It is very effective. Could you talk to your doctor and see if this would be suitable for you? or even read up on it on line and see if there are any techniques you could try at home Talk to your friends and family. Tell them exactly how you are feeling, why you are feeling that way, and what they could do to help. Maybe find a self help group, it is always easier to talk to people who understand exactly what you are going through. This is a good website Building self esteem it will give you many good tips. Try joining an online forum for people with low self esteem/ anxiety This is just one of many just talking to people who have come through the other side can be a huge help I hope this has been some help to you, and I'm sure you will get many more opinions here now Best wishes Agony Aunt xx