Young people

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BeyondBlue New to this Forum? Please read this first!
  • replies: 0

Hey there! Welcome to the Young People section of the Beyond Blue Forums. The purpose of this section is to provide members aged 25 and under a space to discuss life issues, tricky situations and the difficult emotions and feelings that come with tho... View more

Hey there! Welcome to the Young People section of the Beyond Blue Forums. The purpose of this section is to provide members aged 25 and under a space to discuss life issues, tricky situations and the difficult emotions and feelings that come with those. If you are aged over 25, please be mindful that this is a space for younger people to connect and provide support for each other. These forums are moderated, so your posts may not appear straight away. Information on moderation on the Forums can be found here. Being familiar with our Community Guidelines can help ensure that your posts appear online as quickly as possible. If we have concerns about your wellbeing, one of our friendly moderators will check in with you privately to make sure you get the support you need. If you need more immediate support, we recommend reaching out to the following: Beyond Blue Support Service – any time, chat online to a counsellor or call 1300 22 4636 Headspace – between 9am and 1am (AEST), chat online to a mental health clinician or call 1800 650 890 Kids Helpline – any time, chat online to a counsellor or call 1800 55 1800 Thank you for being here. We’re glad you’ve found us here and hope this can be a supportive space for you Beyond Blue

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bc97 Sleep anxiety
  • replies: 6

Hi everyone, this is my first time posting in a beyond blue forum so I'm a little apprehensive about it all, but for the last week or so I've been having a lot of trouble sleeping. I get so worked up about getting enough sleep and being able to funct... View more

Hi everyone, this is my first time posting in a beyond blue forum so I'm a little apprehensive about it all, but for the last week or so I've been having a lot of trouble sleeping. I get so worked up about getting enough sleep and being able to function properly the next day that I end up becoming incredibly anxious, which in turn prevents me from falling and staying asleep in the process, leaving me exhausted and miserable the next day. I've also been feeling quite depressed for a few months now and these feelings seem to be exacerbated by my sleep deprivation, and I feel like it's forming a really bad cycle. I've also noticed that when I'm trying to fall asleep I do this thing where I'm hyper conscious of my thoughts and I try to control them in order to fall asleep. I have began to monitor my thoughts meticulously throughout the day now and am conscious of everything I do as well, so much so that I don't even know how I normally think anymore. It's almost like I've lost the ability to go into auto-pilot mode and I am somehow too aware of being conscious if that makes sense. I just feel like lately everything has been getting on top of me to the point where I don't even feel like myself anymore. I tried organising an appointment to see a counsellor at uni and have been unable to get in until the 18th of May, so in the meantime I'm really just not sure what I can do...

Guest421 Do I need help or am I just sad about my ex?
  • replies: 3

We broke up a couple of months ago and immediately after I felt relieved for the possibility of still being friends, I had only lost feelings. I was and still am really confidant in my feelings that I am not romantically attracted to this person at a... View more

We broke up a couple of months ago and immediately after I felt relieved for the possibility of still being friends, I had only lost feelings. I was and still am really confidant in my feelings that I am not romantically attracted to this person at all. I felt way too overwhelmed in the relationship and felt like a counselor almost, always taking in negative thoughts but never able to express my own feelings mutually or without the same respect. We were weak in communication but strong in trust, building our relationship on pure emotions and physical attraction, which was pretty unhealthy looking back. This changed a week later after a confrontation that the 'messy' breakup was my fault. Having it said to your face that you're the reason for someone's unhappiness was bad and even though I knew it wasn't 100% my fault I still beat myself over it. My friends and mum told be not to bother and worry but I was very determined to rekindle the friendship. I gave them space for a couple of weeks until I got worried and texted again and things got worse. I've tried a few times to apologize but they've just made me feel worse about myself until it turned into self hate rather than feeling sorry. The trigger is the ex but it's never really about the ex when I get lost in my own thoughts. A month ago I gave up trying and my life started to get better. I didn't think about it as often as I did before. It was only when they texted me recently wanting to give me trash they didn't want, it came back. It somehow felt worse, as I had tried so hard to get this person to be my friend again but after all this time I just felt used. They gave me the trash and I drew the line from there. I felt relieved. For once I thought I was over it and my supposed depression(?). But I still feel sad right now, even though I don't care about my ex anymore. Depressive episodes come and go but I get distracted and unmotivated everyday, barely finishing things I need to do at home. I've talked to a few friends but I really don't want to bother them and bog them down like how I felt with the ex. Quizzes about depression help but how do I know its not basic hormonal teenage emotions? It just feels like my default emotion is blank+sad.

shavon please help...
  • replies: 2

Okay. I’m this desperate and have no one to talk to about this so please be kind... I am 17 and am pretty independent now in the sense that I don’t live with my parents anymore. However I need a lot of support at the moment and am NOT the kind to go ... View more

Okay. I’m this desperate and have no one to talk to about this so please be kind... I am 17 and am pretty independent now in the sense that I don’t live with my parents anymore. However I need a lot of support at the moment and am NOT the kind to go out and get the right help unfortunately Here goes nothing, I tried smoking ice for the first time in 2017 (I’m not proud of it) Someone who I trusted and shouldn’t have given it to me did but anyway didn’t touch it after that, fast forward to January I met a man who was a few years older than me and he was addicted to ice and for some stupid reason I packed a bag and told my dad I was at my friends. (I have no idea why I did this) I was usually not like this but I packed a bag went with him and smoked crack with him for what felt like weeks because I didn’t sleep for 6 days. I have never been more disappointed in myself in my life! I was a mess. Dry reaching because I wasn’t eating, seeing things that weren’t there because I needed sleep and what felt like my rock bottom. He ended up telling me he liked me right? I was like oh no no no, and said I can’t be with him because of the drugs. He then said he’d get off them to be with me. He did. I was his reason to go back to his old self and go back home and work and do the right thing. He was clean for 3 months cold turkey. Then it was here and there on weekends as he works. Sadly I’d also be in on that. my point is now I’m sitting here at 5am balling my eyes out feeling suicidal as hell. Because I am worried now I’ve either damaged my mental health worse that it already is, or am starting to get addicted I don’t have it every day or even once a week but when it’s there I can’t say no. please help me I don’t want to be like this

Jayne20 Feeling alone
  • replies: 1

Hello, I’m quite sure how ti start one of these our really sure how my words will turn out as this is the first step I’ve ever taken to speak out. I have recently discovered I have anxiety which wasn’t really a shock as I have thought I might be for ... View more

Hello, I’m quite sure how ti start one of these our really sure how my words will turn out as this is the first step I’ve ever taken to speak out. I have recently discovered I have anxiety which wasn’t really a shock as I have thought I might be for quite some time. I’m an 18 year old who’s just finished my first year of uni and I can’t help but shake the feeling that I’m all alone I made friends through this year but they started telling other things about me that won’t and true and would put me down when I didn’t do what they wanted me too, I went to find help and I’m doing so discovered who much these people I called friends were actually hurting me and that’s why I’ve turn to this page because even though I should be happy I feel empty and I was hoping to find someone who to might be like me some who’s described as the happiest and bubbliest person in the room but on the inside feels very alone and closed of from others.

Eddie19 Just asked for my first job.
  • replies: 4

Hi all, I don't really know what help I need right now, but I want to write this down to get it out of my head. I'm a university student and just finished my second year. I've always been a good student, getting good grades. But I hate the uni studen... View more

Hi all, I don't really know what help I need right now, but I want to write this down to get it out of my head. I'm a university student and just finished my second year. I've always been a good student, getting good grades. But I hate the uni student lifestyle, and the party lifestyle, and desperately want to start doing something where I feel useful and satisfied. I enjoyed manual arts in school, topped one of the classes in my final year and was on good terms with all the teachers in the department. I was well ahead in the course content and was one of the students they would go to for side projects and help with errands. I want to feel useful like that again, but any opportunities in university assume knowledge or people skills, and I have zero confidence in my ability to find even a basic job. On the other side of it, I have the skills and ability to be a good student and get myself into university to study science, and don't feel like I can ask for or make good use of any support programs for mental health/entering the workforce (Asperger's, anxiety and depression, can't remember which psychologists diagnosed what or how many years ago. Long story). In other words, I have 'potential' and people assume that I'm doing well. I managed to ask for one job at a small bike store (friendly people, technical work and I rely on a bike to get everywhere myself), was told they're full up and to leave a resume. And that's... wonderful, but I feel crushed even though that interaction went well. I feel like a failure. I feel like I'm slipping through the cracks, and I feel really alone.

cripjay15 life is just getting too much
  • replies: 18

i am just really struggling at the moment. the past 18 months have been hell. i feel like i can’t escape the constant voice in the back of my head telling me to feel how to feel. exams aren’t even what i am anxious about it’s my “friends” who make me... View more

i am just really struggling at the moment. the past 18 months have been hell. i feel like i can’t escape the constant voice in the back of my head telling me to feel how to feel. exams aren’t even what i am anxious about it’s my “friends” who make me feel like this. classes are the easy part. happiness just seems to be getting further and further away. i just can’t find a way to get out of the darkness. i want and need help but i just don’t know how to get to it.

asianaussie Hating still being single and unpopular at 22
  • replies: 5

In financial and professional terms, I am doing well and succeeding. I am currently working a part-time job and own a Freelance Massage/Beauty business. I have recently been accepted to study Massage Therapy at a high-level institution. Despite strug... View more

In financial and professional terms, I am doing well and succeeding. I am currently working a part-time job and own a Freelance Massage/Beauty business. I have recently been accepted to study Massage Therapy at a high-level institution. Despite struggles, I have worked hard and persevered to achieve these successes. Yet my social life is lacking. Already being unpopular since school, I have struggled to make friends, and been rejected by many guys I liked. Many of my ex and current classmates are already dating, married, having kids, getting to travel to countries, succeeding at careers/businesses and it looks like life is just perfect for them and many people like them. Looking at social media makes me jealous and depressed, like why is this happening to me? Why am I still a virgin? Why haven't I been in proper relationships/dates at 22? Why am I so incompetent with 'connecting' with people and feel drained/alienated instead? At this stage, I've barely been seeing anyone outside my family/work, due to feeling disconnected. On top of that I've had to deal with disgruntled clients, work conflicts, and negative reviews about my work performance/customer service. As if I already need to keep being reminded how shitty I am as a person. Currently, I have a crush on a guy who I know at my current workplace. We get along well together and he is typically nice. As a result, I started having feelings obviously. I started inviting him out for dinners post-work, which he kept refusing. Eventually, he told me that he was dating someone else and that I was being too forceful and forward. It really broke me. I've tried reading 'dating advice' and it seems that I fit most of the things that would repel people away, not attract them. Now things are awkward between us and he's tried to avoid talking with me aside from work orders. It sounds so vain I know, but right now I feel so lonely and insecure. I know there's many things I should be grateful for and I am. Yet with peers my age, I lack social competency. Having grown up being bullied and outcasted in school, it just doesn't feel right that I'm still struggling with this at 22. That I still feel conflicted and unhappy that I'm like this. That I can't seem to interest or attract anyone, that whatever successes I have is barely celebrated or comparable to others successes. I don't really know what I can offer. Would appreciate opinions, support, advice no matter how honest it is.

Ceras Goofed big time, overwhelmed. Got advice for a uni intern?
  • replies: 1

Hi all! I've done a silly. I made some, really terrible decisions. I'm a 2nd yr Advanced Science student. I've been doing an a lab internship lab at uni - 140 hr requirement which I started at beginning of the year. I have 40 hrs left. I need to get ... View more

Hi all! I've done a silly. I made some, really terrible decisions. I'm a 2nd yr Advanced Science student. I've been doing an a lab internship lab at uni - 140 hr requirement which I started at beginning of the year. I have 40 hrs left. I need to get a move on - my progress has been so slow and people need the data soon. In July I was allowed to take part in an extra project on limpets with a PhD student I know. Since the initial meeting I have done practically nothing. Like, had the meetings, went in for a couple hours work. The whole time I struggled to prioritise. I was caught between my finances, family pressure, low confidence, university courses and my internship. I had enough time during the semester. I got so caught in a fog of these different things that I was paralysed, and I allowed myself to make excuses because I just couldn't prioritise. I knew that. But I told myself I didn't have time to step back and organise my sh** due to my university courses. Realistically, I could have. I didn't. Now, that failure is eating me up. I feel I need to apologise because even if I was going to do that (agree, then not work on it for months) I should have at least communicated. This is a huge opportunity and I've let it go ass up due to my lack of decisionmaking. Now anxiety and fear of re-introducing myself to this project and finding my way forward after dropping off the face of the Earth is stopping me from going into the lab to do work, even a week after finishing final exams. I need to get past this and make amends, even if I'm booted from the project. But I don't know how. It'll be out of the blue, not knowing anymore where I stand, and not knowing how it'll go or how much I can do. I want to talk to the PhD student in person to apologise, but I'm honestly terrible at this stuff - wording, and the bit where you don't cry in your kind-of-workplace filled with people who could make or break your career if they chose. I haven't spoken to my actual supervisor since February due to his busy-ness, and the fact that I never actually got to know or work with him - I was handed off to PhD students and then to the other big name in the department. I will need to, I should, but I frankly just don't know how. Communication with him disappeared nearly as quickly as it started. I feel like I'm just floating around in this whole situation and environment and I can't grab onto anything to reassure myself about what I need to do and how. And it's still paralysing me.

Tuilop How do you stand up for yourself?
  • replies: 6

Hey everyone, So I have been having this issue for a while; whenever someone is arguing with me or they try to fight me I end up running away from the situation, even if they discriminate me or just make fun of me... Even the guy who tries to argue w... View more

Hey everyone, So I have been having this issue for a while; whenever someone is arguing with me or they try to fight me I end up running away from the situation, even if they discriminate me or just make fun of me... Even the guy who tries to argue with me he just confronts me that I don't fight for myself. I just don't want to be involved in any arguments at school it bothers me that I can't fight for myself when people make fun of me I just don't want to create drama I have told them to stop but of course saying stop doesn't do anything. Hopefully this can get resolved soon because it really bothers me, Tuilop.

Thebluepineapple Bulimic,Bi & all alone
  • replies: 8

Trying to adjust to a new school in senior year, been there for a week and i have found no like minded people. Suggestions?

Trying to adjust to a new school in senior year, been there for a week and i have found no like minded people. Suggestions?