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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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iminpain struggling to stay at school
  • replies: 3

everyday when i get home from school i feel worse and worse i get terrible marks on almost everything i do i try hard in class really hard but when it comes to assignments and exams i think i am trying hard but then i just get bad marks i feel bad ab... View more

everyday when i get home from school i feel worse and worse i get terrible marks on almost everything i do i try hard in class really hard but when it comes to assignments and exams i think i am trying hard but then i just get bad marks i feel bad about those marks and people make fun of me for these marks and think of me as being stupid ive been at 5 different schools all over Australia and 1 in Malaysia and i never have felt like i have had any good friends at any of these schools and i feel sad everyday beacause i feel as though i have no good freinds. no one ever invited me to social events or to the movies and it really hurts when i see people who i thought were my freinds all hanging out without me. I feel like im going to fail everything and life just feels too hard i really hate school and i feel like it is slowly tearing my mental capacity apart. most days i wonder whats the point of living

Idkidkidk Giving up
  • replies: 2

I feel so pathetic and ashamed to be myself. I have basically no friends. The only people I really have are a few family members. Everyone else basically tolerates me. I cry so much. I’m miserable at work and at home. I can’t escape from myself and m... View more

I feel so pathetic and ashamed to be myself. I have basically no friends. The only people I really have are a few family members. Everyone else basically tolerates me. I cry so much. I’m miserable at work and at home. I can’t escape from myself and my thoughts consume me. Sometimes I think it would be better if I never woke up in the morning. I’m paranoid about everything and worrying constantly despite people’s effort to try and calm me down. I have panic attacks a lot . I’m always bitter and can be really cold. My mood goes up and down which is exhausting. I can’t keep relationships (friends, etc) going for very long before they see how I am and get bored... I just can’t stand who I am, I’m always making mistakes and looking like an idiot. I’m at the point of giving up on having a social life, I was probably just meant to die alone anyway so what is it worth? I try talking to people and they just look at me like I’m freak. I don’t want to be me, I hate me

footy1679 My 14yr old best friend is getting worse
  • replies: 3

Hi, this is my first time posting and I’m not sure how to explain, there’s a girl in my soccer team who is 14 and came to me at the start of the season which was roughly Start of March. She has been hurting herself and she’s getting worse. I told her... View more

Hi, this is my first time posting and I’m not sure how to explain, there’s a girl in my soccer team who is 14 and came to me at the start of the season which was roughly Start of March. She has been hurting herself and she’s getting worse. I told her Aunty and that’s when I realised how bad her home life is because her dad, mum and step mum just told her she was doing it for attention and that she’s ungrateful. I’m 17 and when I was her age I was doing similar things (self-harming). I don’t know if I’m even helping her or doing the right thing by her as all I’m doing is just listening. I’m not sure what to do because I am kind of the only support she has. Talking to her about why I used to hurt myself has brought some stuff up, such as my family and school issues and I’m now at that stage of not knowing what to do. I feel like I’m being dramatic but sometimes I think she is giving up and is suicidal but then I just think I’m overthinking. Other girls in the soccer team (it’s an open ages team so there are older girls) they only half know what’s going on because the first one everyone found out nothing really changed. I feel like I’m the only one who wants her to get better. I feel like I should get help too because idk if this is too much just for me because I don’t want to be dramatic. sorry if this doesn’t completely make sense

Quercus Why are we still too ashamed to talk to our teens about sex!?!
  • replies: 10

Right. No idea if a thread like this is allowed but right now I feel it is desperately needed. Recently I spoke to a friend's teen who was her school's newest victim of sexual images being shared without consent. It was an eye opening discussion. Mad... View more

Right. No idea if a thread like this is allowed but right now I feel it is desperately needed. Recently I spoke to a friend's teen who was her school's newest victim of sexual images being shared without consent. It was an eye opening discussion. Made me wonder why in 2019 are we still repeating the same old mistakes? Yep. The technology is changing. Teens today are dealing with totally different risks than even ten years ago. But the lack of education stays the same decade after decade! I asked this young woman why was she embarrassed to talk and ask for help? Ok she messed up. But did she really think her Mum or myself hadn't messed up just as badly at her age? News flash to any young adults reading... Technology has changed. Sex hasn't. Your parents, grandparents, teachers you name it all went through the horrible misery that is puberty, developing sexuality, experimentation and all the cringeworthy mistakes that go along with it. What has changed significantly is the consequences and shame that now exist. Years ago a few girls skinnydipped at a girlfriend's house. My mate decided she would show the blokes in my year a photo she'd taken of me (thankfully a cleavage pic with most of the top still on). It was a nice photo and she wanted to help me to be noticed... but my goodness I was horrified. The difference was I got to walk up to the boys, tear up the photo and threaten my friend till she gave me the negative. I shared that trying to show her we all go through similar crap in life. It feels good to have someone say you are beautiful or sexy and sometimes we go looking for people to make us feel ok about ourselves instead of looking at why we have low self esteem. But then I realised this young woman didn't have the luxury of control over her photos. Or of forgetting silly mistakes fueled by hormones and youth and wanting to feel good. So why the hell aren't we talking about it? I wouldn't go back to being a young adult for anything. It was hard enough before the internet. I feel like we are failing our kids. If you could go back and tell your teenage self something about sexuality what would you want them to know? Nat

Taylah_H Financial stress HSC major works
  • replies: 1

Hi all, I have two major works due in less than 10 weeks and both are heavily practical based and require me to be buying so many materials that are extremely out of my budget and I am stressing more and more everyday about how I will pay for it all.... View more

Hi all, I have two major works due in less than 10 weeks and both are heavily practical based and require me to be buying so many materials that are extremely out of my budget and I am stressing more and more everyday about how I will pay for it all. The closer the date becomes the more anxious I have become because my parents kind of are not going to be expecting to help me pay all this money because they aren’t really involved in my HSC journey. Is there any ways in which you all suggest I can gather some money within the next three weeks to get started. I do have a casual job although I only work one day a week and am struggling to even save to buy a car as my birthday is coming up. I was hoping anyone knows of organisations that help fund students who do major works for their HSC especially as I am doing two. This is really stressing me out and we have been back at school for two days only. Please help if you know of any financial assistance for HSC students or if you have any suggestions as to how I can bring this up with my parents who I don’t have a close relationship with without the whole big shock and it causing extra stress at home. thankyou all for your support

llamalover23 How will I make it through next semester?
  • replies: 7

Hi everyone. i start my second year of uni at the end of feb and I am terrified. Last year during the semester my depression got really bad. It would take me 5-6 hours to fall asleep at night, up to an hour to eat a piece of toast, 4-6 hours to get r... View more

Hi everyone. i start my second year of uni at the end of feb and I am terrified. Last year during the semester my depression got really bad. It would take me 5-6 hours to fall asleep at night, up to an hour to eat a piece of toast, 4-6 hours to get ready to go out. I didn’t shower for weeks, ate terribley, didn’t brush my teeth etc etc... I woke up each day in utter misery, wanting to sleep everytime I opened my eyes. I honestly do not think it could have got more severe, I nearly got hospitalised. i tried everything I possibly could to improve my mood. Increasing pleasurable activities, exercising, doing things for others, changing my diet, meditation, breathing exercises, journaling, art etc etc. i filled out dozens of worksheets, read books, downloaded all the apps, used all the e-therapies. None of it has made any changes to my mood, even after implementing these techniques for the better part of a year. i visited my local GP a few times, he prescribed a medication that did not work for me. I went back after a month because I was at a crisis point, he upped my dosage and told me to ‘take a walk in the sunshine’. Didn’t work. i visited my university counselling service 4 times, but I could only get an appointment once a month. I deteriorated so much during this time I was essentially told to leave because I was so bad and I needed more treatment than they could provide. i visited a university gp, but he didn’t really have any suggestions apart from taking a different medication. I would like to note that any physical cause of my depression has been ruled out through multiple blood tests. I struggled to find a good match for a local psychologist so I am now using the betterhelp app. I like my counsellor however as it is with online chat, progress is very slow and she hasn’t really made any new suggestions. i live in a beautiful house with a loving family, and I have little to no obligations or outside stresses, so that’s not the problem. please, I need some help. I’m not an idiot, if I don’t change SOMETHING, I’ll go back to the stress of uni and become a human slug again, or worse if you catch what I’m saying. Unfortunately I can’t do my degree online or part-time so that isn’t an option. Thanks

LDW I feel like I'm being destroyed and I don't know what to do
  • replies: 1

So, I guess I should explain myself. I'm a teenager, not going to specify how old, and I am recently finding everything overwhelming. I live with anxiety - in many forms, depression, PTSD, insomnia and an eating disorder than I am unsure the name of.... View more

So, I guess I should explain myself. I'm a teenager, not going to specify how old, and I am recently finding everything overwhelming. I live with anxiety - in many forms, depression, PTSD, insomnia and an eating disorder than I am unsure the name of. So, I'm the baby of the family. I have no siblings and am the youngest cousin, and I'm always told that I act older than I am. I find this anxiety enducing because I'm expected to act older than I am, and I'm hardly allowed to be my own age, and this is purely because I was forced to grow up far too fast. I'm unsure of my sexuality, and that causes more anxiety because I have absolutely no clue how my family or friends would react to me being anything but straight - but they aren't homophobic, some of them are part of the LGBTIQ+ community themselves. And my friend recently started talking to me about her own concerns, doubts, worries, thoughts and such and I want to be there for her, I really do, but my thoughts are getting to me and it feels like I'm drowning while everyone around me is breathing. But I can't turn my friend away, because she pretty much only trusts me, and I don't know what she would do if I told her that I needed space. She is such a kind girl and she doesn't deserve any of what she is going through and I would take it all if it meant she could be happy, but I can't, and it is that realization that destroys me most. Could I get some opinions, or maybe some advice for anxiety? Am I thinking about this too deeply? Should I suck it up, or turn my friend away? Should I try and find a way to block out the thoughts?

Mousey22 I keep changing my mind constantly, how do I fix this
  • replies: 2

This happens all of the time and it drives me nuts at times. I will have a different idea of what I want to do with my life and how to act in the morning, and then it will change in the afternoon or evening. Like, in regards to serious things such as... View more

This happens all of the time and it drives me nuts at times. I will have a different idea of what I want to do with my life and how to act in the morning, and then it will change in the afternoon or evening. Like, in regards to serious things such as what I want to do for a career, which sport I want to play, who I want to associate with, what my own personal interests are, etc. I can't figure out why I keep changing my mind about things and why I can't just stay focused on doing one or two things and keeping it that way. Do you have any advice on how to stop jumping from one extreme to the other?

Kiraxl Lost and alone
  • replies: 2

Hello this is my first post here, i usually don’t talk about these things or anything because im really ashamed and embarrassed The house that i live in that i have grown up in is the worst possible scenario housing style you can think of and i can’t... View more

Hello this is my first post here, i usually don’t talk about these things or anything because im really ashamed and embarrassed The house that i live in that i have grown up in is the worst possible scenario housing style you can think of and i can’t escape or move because its to expensive in my city and i dont trust or like anyone enough to move in with anyone else so i feel stuck i dont talk about it with anyone because its just so embarrassing i am so ashamed. The scenario is that the house i live in is disgusting. I live with my siblings and just my mum and they have an aray of mental problems, my mum bipolar, adhd also shes been a single mum, my sister who i fight with a lot shes just in general crazy and has a lot of mental problems and shes always out to get me and i also live with my brother but all he does is game and be a slob. We have 21 cats in a 1 bedroom house, ( they’re all looked after fed etc) because of my mother. She just keeps getting them she thinks that no one else can look after the strays in our area that they just come to us this has been going on for years but right now its at its peak. 21. Try living with 21 cats. The smell. The amount of money it costs. We have a really bad insect infestation that nothing can help unless we get it professionally fixed but where would all the cats go? They all live inside my mum refuses to let them out so i feel so stuck the house is an absolute mess. No one cleans anything, ive cleaned the bathroom and then my sister would come in and mess it up again along with everyone else adding to it. My house is like a trap - house but worse. We also have 5 dogs to add to all this mess. I have no money because every night i need to buy take out as i can’t cook in my house or even store anything due to the infestation I dont know what to do i cry all the time i just want a normal household i see people cry about being poor but they have a functional household !!! My family breaks everytjing every door in the house is smashed due to tantrums and windows are smashed im so sad i feel so exhausted and lonely i never want anyone to know about my lifestyle and i cant fix it myself because they will just mess it up again. I see no end I am really depressed over this and alone I just want to die i feel like im the only one in the world who has to put up with such a disgusting lifestyle sorry if this didnt make any sense it probably didn’t its very rushed but i am just so stuck and clueless

natsukashii Feeling weak and pathetic because you lack confidence
  • replies: 1

Hi! I need some support, so I will keep it brief. I always feel very socially anxious and panicky when I have to talk to others I don't usually talk to without a friend. I was meant to go to a study group tonight but I only go because my friend goes,... View more

Hi! I need some support, so I will keep it brief. I always feel very socially anxious and panicky when I have to talk to others I don't usually talk to without a friend. I was meant to go to a study group tonight but I only go because my friend goes, and she couldn't come. I know it must sound stupid, but I just can't be myself, and confident without someone else, I have really low self-esteem. But I don't know how to get rid of it. I have panic attacks because I just feel like I'm so self-conscious of how I act and how I talk when I'm in group and personal situations. My parents ask me why, and they often say on the lines of "you have to put in the effort to make friends". But I know that if I did go, I just couldn't! I would be almost paralysed with anxiety! It makes me feel so disappointed in myself when my parents say that, because I should be fine! Normal people are fine! It makes me feel pathetic and weak. How do I stop being like this? Any advice would help a lot Thankyouu