Young people

A space for people aged 12-25 to discuss life. If you’re over 25, please be mindful that this is a space for younger people to connect.

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romantic_thi3f Eeep! When study is overwhelming! - Tips, ideas and coping strategies
  • replies: 51

Hi! Just thought I’d make a post with some tips for study. I know this is something we can all struggle with. These are all suggestions so feel free to take them or leave them! Hope they help! If you only remember one thing, let it be this: You are i... View more

Hi! Just thought I’d make a post with some tips for study. I know this is something we can all struggle with. These are all suggestions so feel free to take them or leave them! Hope they help! If you only remember one thing, let it be this: You are important. Your grades don’t define you. (support) Studying can feel isolating but know you’re not alone! Reach out – and find or make friends that can support you along the way. If you’re having trouble finding some friends, join some local communities or clubs! They have lots at Uni’s and even stuff like open days are great ways to meet new people and find out what’s happening. Study groups can also be a great way to meet people and stay motivated. Also remind yourself why you’re doing this; inspirational wallpapers or quotes can be super inspiring. Remember the saying about the oxygen mask? If you can’t take care of yourself first studying will be harder. You are important. You know the drill - water, food, exercise, sleep. Try to stay calm. Stuff that might be able to help include mindfulness, breathing exercises, colouring in, going for walks, journaling, listening to music… If you’re struggling – reach out. See a therapist. Talk to your student counsellor. If you need help, don’t be afraid to ask for it. Also lots of Universities and TAFE offer disability services – which includes conditions like Depression and Anxiety. (study) Find the right study space for you. Maybe that’s in your room, or a coffee shop, or the library. Some people find that noise helps; other people not so much. If you like particular kinds of noise, you can find ‘coffee shop’ noise or ‘rain sounds’ to help concentrate. Make a plan. It helps to do it often so it becomes a habit. Anytime you get a due date, write it down. Maybe you could use a diary, planner, bullet journal or an app. I find the 30/30 App helpful - study for a bit and then break for a bit. You can also get add-on’s for your computer to block sites like Facebook if you find them too distracting. Find out what study technique works for you. Do you like cue cards? Mind maps? Colour coding? Does highlighting stuff help you remember? Charts, maps, diagrams? Recorded lectures? Goals! These are so important – not just writing down deadlines but rewarding yourself for meeting them. Even making smaller goals like ‘read two pages from a textbook’ can help. Break it down into bite size pieces, and don’t forget to reward yourself after!

Sophie_M NEW TO THIS FORUM? Please read this first
  • replies: 0

The Young People space is a sub-forum within the wider Beyond Blue forum community. 1. Its purpose is to provide members aged 25 and under a space to discuss anxiety, depression and other related life issues. If you are aged over 25, please be mindfu... View more

The Young People space is a sub-forum within the wider Beyond Blue forum community. 1. Its purpose is to provide members aged 25 and under a space to discuss anxiety, depression and other related life issues. If you are aged over 25, please be mindful that this forum is a space for younger people to connect and provide peer support for each other. 2. Content from this sub-forum is displayed on both the beyondblue and youthbeyondblue websites. 3. Please bear in mind that some members find content relating to suicide and/or self-harm distressing or triggering. If you would like to post on these topics, please do so in our Suicidal Thoughts and Self Harm section. Please see also our guidelines for making posts on this topic. Posts made here in the Young People sub-forum containing content relating to suicide and/or self-harm will be moved. 4. These forums are moderated, so your posts may not appear straightaway. Information on how our system works can be found here. Being familiar with our community rules can help ensure that your posts appear online as quickly as possible. 5. This is a peer support community, and to get the best out of being here we recommend that you 'give support to receive support'. More on how that works here.

All discussions

TBear5879 giving up
  • replies: 4

Hi, I'm just here to vent. I have autism and ADHD and would like to be tested for depression so yeah, not a great start to life for me. As well as the fact that I don't really want a life anymore. I don't necessarily want to die I just want the pain ... View more

Hi, I'm just here to vent. I have autism and ADHD and would like to be tested for depression so yeah, not a great start to life for me. As well as the fact that I don't really want a life anymore. I don't necessarily want to die I just want the pain to go away. I feel like during the day I can be so happy and everyone says I'm doing great and that I'm always so happy but I know it's a fake smile even though I really wish it wasn't. Then at night I just get hit with a wave of sadness but sometimes it's not even sadness it's just numb I feel so emotionless in the worst way possible. my whole life I've been taught to understand and know my emotions but this, this is just a lost, sad, angry... Numbness. I don't know what to do anymore I want to be happy, I really do but I can't. I tell all my friends and family that I'm happy. That I'm okay, but I just feel like I'm dying inside. Everything is just so hard. My whole body aches. Every mucel in my brain is telling to give up, begging me to give up. My mouth is screaming at me to stop smiling. The ocean of tears is threatening to pore out from behind my eyes. I just want to give up. Make the pain go away. I don't know... At this point I just don't know, I don't know what to do. I don't know who I am, I don't know how to be happy. I just don't know. Please if anyone feels like this please tell me I want to know I'm not alone. If you feel like this know that I will listen to you and not just listen I will actually hear you. I'm here for you. You're amazing! You've got this!

Guest_1663 Is it possible to get high grades in school whilst doing a cert at Tafe and working two days a week?
  • replies: 1

Hello Idk where else to ask this but I am wondering if it’s possible to get high grades in school whilst doing a cert at Tafe and whilst also working two days a week?

Hello Idk where else to ask this but I am wondering if it’s possible to get high grades in school whilst doing a cert at Tafe and whilst also working two days a week?

a13xx Is this normal?
  • replies: 6

Hi, I’m 17 and currently working full time at a restaurant..i dropped out of school and all i really do is sleep all day. Any free time I get I just sleep through it..I hate living like this but im constantly tired and I can’t help it. It doesn’t mat... View more

Hi, I’m 17 and currently working full time at a restaurant..i dropped out of school and all i really do is sleep all day. Any free time I get I just sleep through it..I hate living like this but im constantly tired and I can’t help it. It doesn’t matter how much sleep I get, im always tired.I have hobbies and things I could do like art, read or practice bass but I’m too tired for that too. I want to get up and do things, my dad thinks it’s just cause im a teenager but idk i wanna have more energy

CHCH02 Struggling with parents understanding
  • replies: 2

Hi, I've recently been having some struggles with my parents, as a full time uni student I can find it difficult to get them to understand that a semester can be overwhelming and exhausting. My parents however want me to get another job but I find it... View more

Hi, I've recently been having some struggles with my parents, as a full time uni student I can find it difficult to get them to understand that a semester can be overwhelming and exhausting. My parents however want me to get another job but I find it difficult because the current job I have has flexible working hours and have a great relationship with my manager that allows me to make adjustment to my roster when uni is on. They just seem to think that I'm not getting enough hours but when I'm not at work I am doing uni work or trying to look after myself do things that fill my cup, it feels like my happiness or contentment is never enough but having to work full time, or in the industry I am studying will make me enough. It gives me a lot of stress and feels like anything I do is hopeless. When we get into arguments about it they don't understand the difficulty I face and how hard it is to find a job in the industry without any academic qualifications or they are casual work without any guarantee hours. Even when I say I'll try and I'll look they say that's not good enough which confuses me. This isn't the first time they do this and they go in cycles for when it seems okay to when its not, so I am constantly on edge and hoping they don't bring it up. I don't know how to make them understand why I won't get a new job, why volunteering is good option and why I need to do things that fill my cup.

Guest_9340 Given up
  • replies: 6

I have given up on life . Nothing matters anymore . 

I have given up on life . Nothing matters anymore . 

SleepingUgly Too ugly to be loved
  • replies: 13

Hi everyone, I am just here to vent, I don't have anyone to talk to in real life but I need to put it out there. I am too ugly to be loved. I have gone my whole life (I am 20) without a single guy ever caring about me. It is one of the most simple th... View more

Hi everyone, I am just here to vent, I don't have anyone to talk to in real life but I need to put it out there. I am too ugly to be loved. I have gone my whole life (I am 20) without a single guy ever caring about me. It is one of the most simple things in life, something the average 14 year old has: a relationship. But I am too ugly for any man to accept, I will never be good enough. It is just so hard because I didn't choose my appearance, I cry every day because it is so unfair that I am missing out on the joys of life because of it. I will never know love and will never get to be a mother. All because of something I didn't choose: my face. What makes it even harder is that one of my best friends who I live with is beautiful. She always has guys wanting her, she has had more boyfriends than I can count. It's not fair. The only guy in my life who has ever come close to loving me wanted her more, he just had to settle for me because she wasn't single. Before we started dating he would tell me he didn't want a relationship with me, but that my friend was so beautiful and amazing and he wished she was single. After 6 months of this I had enough and said I can't keep up the friends-with-benefits relationship we had and he settled for me. He was too embarrassed to hold my hand in public though, or even to tell anyone we were dating. He also cheated on me regularly. I stayed with him because I thought if I broke up with him, who else would want me? No one. Which turned out to be true after we broke up a year ago. Nobody wants me. I need some tips on how to keep going through life without love. How else can I be happy?

meg_is_sad i'm failing and my life is being ruined
  • replies: 6

I'm a Year 12 student right now, and I'd say I'm a pretty good student in most of my subjects. I've always gotten As and Bs. But this year in mathematical methods, I've never been more miserable. I've failed (D and D+) two tests, and I just took anot... View more

I'm a Year 12 student right now, and I'd say I'm a pretty good student in most of my subjects. I've always gotten As and Bs. But this year in mathematical methods, I've never been more miserable. I've failed (D and D+) two tests, and I just took another one yesterday that really broke me. I think I failed it. I cried all day, I understood the work so well but the test was nothing like ANY of the questions we have studied up until now. I feel cheated and stupid and I don't understand why I'm failing when I have never had trouble before. I have also a C and B grade for the other two tests, and all the tests are. worth 10%. I handed in a folio draft worth 20%, and I need an A on it to have any hope of passing. I've tried everything, I've even got a tutor. I don't have any time for myself because I'm always studying now, and I think I understand until I get to. a test and inevitably fail it. I have one test left, and an exam worth 30% that I am POSITIVE i will fail. I'm crushed. all ive ever wanted is to go to university. but i cant unless i pass this year and get my certificate. im trying so hard, harder than anyone else, but im not succeeding. i dont know what to do. ever since yesteray ive felt empty, i feel like i dont deserve to exist. i dont deserve the love my family gives me or the food they make. i dont deserve my friends. if i can't go to unversity, i dont know what ill do with my life. it is worth nothing to me if i cant take it where i want it to go. all i need to do is pass but thats starting to look impossible. i cant feel anything but anxiety and pain. if my life cant be the one i imagined, and the one i know i deserve, i dont want it. i deserve. better than. this. i feel like im being punished for something. please help me, i just want to know what. happiness is again. i have to pass. i refuse to fail, i will hate myself if i do and nobody will love me anymore. because i deserve nothing. i cant even be excited for when the year ends bvecause my future feels fake. i only see the pain i feel now. i can never be a person. i will love if i dont pass.

lister22 Youth Employment
  • replies: 2

Hi, I'm just reaching out to see if anyone is struggling to get employed and what use might think the factors to this may be. If you do struggle to get employed how does this make you feel?

Hi, I'm just reaching out to see if anyone is struggling to get employed and what use might think the factors to this may be. If you do struggle to get employed how does this make you feel?

stokes06 School and Hypocrisy
  • replies: 1

Hi all,End of year has come around and as many school students know the workload from teachers increases. This year is by far the worst i've had. Im in year 11 and have spent the past 2.5 weeks jacked up with schoolwork and have had 0 time to do any ... View more

Hi all,End of year has come around and as many school students know the workload from teachers increases. This year is by far the worst i've had. Im in year 11 and have spent the past 2.5 weeks jacked up with schoolwork and have had 0 time to do any sort of extracurricular activities. This past week I reckon i've averaged 3 hours of sleep, staying up as late as 4:00am to get my schoolwork done. Whilst I can accept part of this is how school rolls, the part I can't wrap my head around is the absolute hypocrisy my school indulges in. Since 2020 they have flicked a switch and have had an extreme focus on well-being. Twice a week we get sessions on topics ranging from study support and personal wellbeing to mental illness. Around a month ago they brought in a sleep expert who told everyone about how "you must get eight hours of sleep", and "your bedtime shouldn't be past 12:00am" and all that stuff. I cannot fathom why they would bring in a sleep expert and then dump work on students that requires them to stay up until ridiculous hours of the morning to complete. And it's also not like they're oblivious to it, they run surveys as they are "so interested in the students wellbeing" but upon seeing responses like this, the response is always "you need to stop messing around in class" and "your time management must be terrible". Can anyone provide me with some suggestions for the next week as I am torn between getting my schoolwork done and struggling to stay awake and feel good, or prioritise my well-being and fail assignments, with disciplinary action from the school.

rocker12341234 i dont know what to do anymore.
  • replies: 1

ive always struggled with my social development partially cause of constant bullying throughout middle and high school and partially cause my parents have always belittled, degraded and otherwise called me a "worthless pos thatll never amount to anyt... View more

ive always struggled with my social development partially cause of constant bullying throughout middle and high school and partially cause my parents have always belittled, degraded and otherwise called me a "worthless pos thatll never amount to anything" whenever they arent blaming me for everything wrong with thier lives. not to mention daily miscellaneous verbal abuse and occasional physical abuse from my parents over trivial stuff. so i have next to no confidence or trust in people. every time i try to break free and do something to get my life together it seems they find a way to screw it up. i even tried running away years ago before the end of highschool and lived with relatives that werent so toxic for a while but when it came to trying to find employment my parents found out and pretty much made the employment agency i was with find me work near them so id be forced to move back in. fast forward to now, everything hit the fan a couple days ago, cops were involved but since it was father on son and my mother brushing it off as "they just get hot headed" nothing got done. im at my breaking point, and my father despising that he finally messed with the wrong people and almost got dragged away by cops has given me a week. i have no money, no id outside of a bankcard and very outdated student id, no local friends (all live interstate or overseas) and dont know what i can do. part of me is heavily debating running and just taking the homeless plunge cause its gotta be better than here suffering this constant bs but i understand how risky that can be. i just need to get out of the situation and start new but everywhere i look it just looks like a constant state of "you need money to make money"