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Sophie_M How are you feeling about the social media restrictions in Australia for under 16s?
  • replies: 14

Hey everyone With the upcoming Australian social media restriction for under 16-year-olds coming up we want to know what this means for you and maybe even the young people in your life. This conversation is a place for all of us to share how we are f... View more

Hey everyone With the upcoming Australian social media restriction for under 16-year-olds coming up we want to know what this means for you and maybe even the young people in your life. This conversation is a place for all of us to share how we are feeling and what we think the challenges and benefits might be for you or the wonderful young people in our community. Have you thought about how to stay connected with friends you’ve met online? Are you focused mostly on the positives, or the negatives? What do your parents think, and what could they do to support you? Importantly the Beyond Blue Forums are not impacted by these restrictions, we're here for anyone under 16. In short, from December 10 Social Media companies will need to ensure that only people over 16 actively engage with their platforms. There is a lot of information out there which can make it tricky to know what to expect on when it comes into effect. To learn more we think these are a helpful place to start eSafety commissioner + Headspace FAQs. We know this change will impact some more than others, QLife provide anonymous and free LGBTIQ+ support and 13YARN are here for all Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander people. We want to hear your thoughts on how this might impact the mental health of under 16s in both a positive and negative way. The Beyond Blue Forums are a place for constructive and helpful conversation and the regular moderation rules apply which means we look forward to a kind and understanding discussion. Thank you for sharing your thoughts and feelings Sophie M

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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Bee1998 21 And Addicted To Alcohol
  • replies: 3

I am 21 and addicted to alcohol. I guess it’s my way of coping with day to day stress, but I can see that it’s becoming an issue. I am spending around $100 a week on drinks, so financially it’s not great for me. As soon as I’ve finished work for the ... View more

I am 21 and addicted to alcohol. I guess it’s my way of coping with day to day stress, but I can see that it’s becoming an issue. I am spending around $100 a week on drinks, so financially it’s not great for me. As soon as I’ve finished work for the day, my first reaction is to buy drinks and come home and get drunk. The worst part is, I don’t want to stop. When I feel this buzz from drinking, it’s the only time I ever feel happy. I know most people say it’s a temporary fix, but for me, it genuinely makes me forget about all the crap in my life , and I really do feel happy. I guess the main reason why I feel bad about drinking is because my partner doesn’t drink at all. And I feel like I’m letting him down every time I have a drink. I also feel like I’m the only person my age who has an alcohol addiction... Is there anyone else my age who is going through the same struggle??

Grace04 Too depressed for school
  • replies: 2

I’m 15 and in year 9. This year I have really struggled with depression, suicidal thoughts, anxiety, and eating disorders (binge eating and anorexia). I’m so depressed that going to school feels impossible right now and I have no idea what to do. I d... View more

I’m 15 and in year 9. This year I have really struggled with depression, suicidal thoughts, anxiety, and eating disorders (binge eating and anorexia). I’m so depressed that going to school feels impossible right now and I have no idea what to do. I don’t want to miss out on learning and at the same time I really don’t want to go to school. My eating habits are terrible, I can’t eat anything without feeling guilty and the second I do it makes me binge eat.

Betriouffift Most difficult chapter in my life.
  • replies: 4

Hey, I'm new here, so this will be my first post, I'm trying this out to receive certain feedback, advice and suggestions on my current situation in my life. I am 16, and I haven't been living with my parents for almost a year now, although I managed... View more

Hey, I'm new here, so this will be my first post, I'm trying this out to receive certain feedback, advice and suggestions on my current situation in my life. I am 16, and I haven't been living with my parents for almost a year now, although I managed to escape from a toxic environment with my parents, including my siblings, I still somehow managed to carry the weight of that toxicity on my shoulders to when I moved out. I moved in with a friend, who was kind enough to inform his parents about my situation, they allowed me to live with them since I had nowhere to go, immediately, I was much more happy, everyone was very accepting and natural about it, they helped me move my belongings in and supplied me with all the essentials to live. They then vowed to assist me in bettering my life, to help with my learning to drive, getting a job, and living more independently. Which was amazing, I was much happier there and learned so many things that I still carry on for today, obviously, some issues arose during my time there, I would have arguments with my friend but we would manage to sort it out after some conversation. But after a couple of months there, things started to go downhill, although it wasn't to my attention, I hadn't gotten a job yet, and that wasn't too impressive to my friend's parents, I was also having performance issues while driving and let my anxiety get the better of me, after further time there, my relationship with my friend began to degrade, I became more distance from them as they attempted to better themselves after problems they were experiencing, which is fine, but it did make it harder on me. Then after 7 months of living there, I was given the news that they were no longer comfortable with me living there, I found a sharehouse online and with the money I was receiving, I moved out, with their help. I quickly became more isolated and financially concerned, and started experiencing issues with a much older tenant who has little consideration for others when smoking and using public areas. My problems with this tenant were ignored by the landlord and I was brushed off because of my age, and that sort of leads up until now, where that tenant may be moving soon, but I'm not too sure yet, I work now, but I'm sorting out issues with my roster as I still attend school, but they sometimes have me work late on weekdays which isn't desirable. Its mentally draining and I get stressed easily, advice is also hard to come by currently.

AnotherWebDude 17 and the realisation that I completely wasted my life away and have no foreseeable future.
  • replies: 5

To be honest with you guys, this is sorta my first time ever coming on to a site like this, can't say I'm entirely sure if I'm really doing this right or if anyone is going to even see this thread, but it's better than sitting around and twiddling my... View more

To be honest with you guys, this is sorta my first time ever coming on to a site like this, can't say I'm entirely sure if I'm really doing this right or if anyone is going to even see this thread, but it's better than sitting around and twiddling my thumbs about y'know? I always thought that if were to dawdle my way into a forum or two about this kinda stuff, I thought I'd be the guy on the other end of line, giving some poor guy in need a piece of advice. Well I guess I'm that guy right now. I guess it's time to quit with the dumb mellow-dramatic spiel and get to the whole point of this thread before anyone reading leaves out of boredom but I'd like to give a bit of context to the whole situation before I get to the deep stuff, just try and bear with me a bit. You ever get to that point in life where you're all hunky-dory chilling out in your room watching YouTube, hanging out with your friends, not doing homework, all that kind of stuff. And I know that everyone was like this at one point in their life, we've all been young stupid teenagers at some point in our lives, but that's the point. Well, it all came crashing down on me basically. The ultimate reality check came in the form of my year 11 yearly examinations, or moreso the quality of which I have attempted my yearly exams. It's that time already, and I feel like garbage. The final term of my year 11 livelihood before my departure off into the realm of year 12 and then it's off to the real world, and I have absolutely no plans nor knowhow on how to actually be 'independent'. And then it all starts to set in about all these facts about yourself that you'd just nonchalantly shrugged off; that you're an actual moron, you have practically no redeeming traits or skills about yourself, you're lazy, you've wasted away how many years playing video games or watching dumb videos and how you've accomplished absolutely nothing worthwhile within your entire existence. Then you start looking at your friends who already have jobs, meaningful relations, brains that'll get them whatever diploma that they so wish for. I'm the textbook loser, a joke, a complete waste of space with no future. And I know this all sounds petty, whiny and stupid as hell compared to people with legitimate mental problems. Just that I've been in a real iffy headspace for quite a while and could use some advice or someone who knows about this kind of stuff for an opinion. Regardless though if you got this far thanks for hearing me out.

Jamzies Post-exam disappoint, loss of esteem and motivation
  • replies: 1

There is no doubt that over the last few weeks that I've felt a flurry of emotions over the post-exam period. Having all my previous exams handed back, I could not find a moment where I felt satisfaction. Such exams started about a month ago, just a ... View more

There is no doubt that over the last few weeks that I've felt a flurry of emotions over the post-exam period. Having all my previous exams handed back, I could not find a moment where I felt satisfaction. Such exams started about a month ago, just a week before I had my camp and the rest of the holidays. There is a possibility that I may not have studied well enough, but one issue that does stand out, again and again, is leaving questions unanswered. A tiny chunk of these were ones I didn't understand, but most were slightly easier to grasp the meaning of. Where slightly more were left unanswered, I felt worse when I looked at others' scores (and no, I didn't disclose my score). While being marked down to C isn't something so major to worry about for the first exam, the problem is fixating on others' results. Unlike a normal grade marking scheme, they're based on the year-level cohort's results. After taking a look, this put me slightly below average, which has always been rare. I've had a little chat with parents, yet there's still something that stirs within me to be felt again as a flashback. Having one again today made me feel I couldn't turn a blind eye, hence the writing of this thread. I've also had similar feelings from occasional tests before the exam. After repeating the process of disappointment over and over again by realising, yet no action done, I feel my motivation is slowly leeching off and my mood swinging a bit more. Any suggestions?

Ray216 "Addicted" to a friendship, please help
  • replies: 3

For 4 years since starting uni I haven't had normal mental health for various reasons ranging from social loneliness to death anxiety. But currently I'm stuck in a very weird problem and my mentality is honestly malfunctioning. So essentially, for 3 ... View more

For 4 years since starting uni I haven't had normal mental health for various reasons ranging from social loneliness to death anxiety. But currently I'm stuck in a very weird problem and my mentality is honestly malfunctioning. So essentially, for 3 years at uni I totally struggled to make any friendships, I got terrible depression and my grades went to ruin. Last year things turned around, I started doing good in studies again and met my current best friend. For a socially-incapable ASD person like me, surprisingly her and I had a lot in common and we really connected. She and I became quite close and life was good for some time. I did end up falling in love, and was turned down, and that hurt a lot, but currently it's a somewhat separate issue. Mostly I asked her out because I genuinely liked her, but a part of it was a desperate gambit to keep her around a bit longer. It's the first real friendship I experienced in ages and I am terrified to lose it. This year we have many of the same courses, and next year, not so much, and it's actually influencing my choice of electives because I desperately want more chances to be with her. But I am certain my concerns with our friendship has become obsessive and unhealthy. I would frequently check Facebook to see if she said anything to me. I would get frustrated when I get messages from other people because I thought the notification was her. When she doesn't come to uni I feel like shit, and as even as I write this I'm literally looking out the window to see if she'll come to class today. I know this is weird and wrong. If she knew she'd probably be somewhat freaked out. But I don't know, my brain seems broken right now. Help.

Bee1998 Society Sucks In 2019..
  • replies: 3

I don’t know about anyone else, but one of the main reasons I am depressed/anxious, is because of the way our society is/acts today. I have a history of sexual abuse from when I was very young, and have been cheated on by several previous partners, w... View more

I don’t know about anyone else, but one of the main reasons I am depressed/anxious, is because of the way our society is/acts today. I have a history of sexual abuse from when I was very young, and have been cheated on by several previous partners, which doesn’t help with the paranoid thoughts that come into my head on a daily basis. My biggest concern is the women of our generation. It seems as though everyone’s trying to look like a Kardashian these days, and it’s just pathetic and sad. It makes it hard for me to have a healthy relationship.. It also makes me sick , the amount of sexualised content there is on the internet, and how easily accessible it is. How can anyone feel safe in a relationship these days? The excuse is always, “If I wanted to be with someone like that, I would.” But how is looking another female up , not wanting that?... I just feel so hopeless all of the time, because I don’t feel safe in my relationship, in the sense that my partner is going to leave me for another girl, since it’s so tempting for guys to cheat these days, due to the content online and the way girls act and look nowadays. Can anyway relate??

RuneCat17464 Anxiety after opening up about domestic violence
  • replies: 1

About four months ago, I opened up to an adult about my past for the first time (domestic violence as a child, and toxic home environment (senior in high school). I've had a history of anxiety and depression since three years ago (officially) and usu... View more

About four months ago, I opened up to an adult about my past for the first time (domestic violence as a child, and toxic home environment (senior in high school). I've had a history of anxiety and depression since three years ago (officially) and usually I'm extremely careful about who I talk to about what and as I result I have not told anyone in any great detail apart from this person, who I initially did not intend on telling. I think I was just in a really bad place (its a lot, lot better now, much better at coping and I no longer suddenly 're-experience' those past traumas) and I just broke down in front of them. Though they were extremely supportive, I felt immensely guilty and ashamed of telling them (I didn't know them very well at the time). When I'm not occupied my mind is constantly occupied with the person I told and it really makes me upset that I can't stop worrying about what they think about me. I really am not sure what to do, any advice would be appreciated!

Jarkara Young mother who is alone.
  • replies: 2

I am 23 years old, one son who is almost one and a half who is also a handful and I am alone. My partner joined the army and is away doing his training and I have no family to help and I feel completely overwhelmed and angry because nothing is going ... View more

I am 23 years old, one son who is almost one and a half who is also a handful and I am alone. My partner joined the army and is away doing his training and I have no family to help and I feel completely overwhelmed and angry because nothing is going right and everything is falling apart since my partner left. I was diagnosed with PND when my son was born and it left me feeling detached from him, like there was no love there. I was put on medication and it helped and it went away but now that I am pregnant again I feel the same way about both babies, just complete detachment and I don't want to feel that way. I have made an appointment to see my doctor and there is nothing else I can do but wait and I guess I was just looking for someone who understood what it is like to be completely alone with a difficult baby feeling disconnected from everyone and everything.

anon2005 Nothing is helping
  • replies: 1

Hi, I'm 14 and I think I might have depression, but my psychologist, who is good in all other ways, refuses to use the 'd-word' and instead refers to it as a 'mood thing', which isn't helping at all. I don't want to kill myself or wish myself dead, b... View more

Hi, I'm 14 and I think I might have depression, but my psychologist, who is good in all other ways, refuses to use the 'd-word' and instead refers to it as a 'mood thing', which isn't helping at all. I don't want to kill myself or wish myself dead, but I quite often wish that I just didn't exist. I've lost interest in most things that I used to enjoy, and the feeling of everyone hating me has come true because someone who was supposed to be my best friend accused me of something I didn't even do and talked to all my other friends about it, so they are all ignoring me and giving me the cold shoulder. Because of this, I've lashed out and just made the situation worse. I don't know what to do can someone please help?