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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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SweetAngel Fight with boyfriend
  • replies: 1

Why would your boyfriend text you the next morning “missing you heaps” after a big argument the night before and it made him in tears. I’m confused.

Why would your boyfriend text you the next morning “missing you heaps” after a big argument the night before and it made him in tears. I’m confused.

imrllyscaredhaha always scared my boyfriend is going to get hurt
  • replies: 1

Hi everyone, i have been with my boyfriend for little over a year. i have always been an incredibly anxious person and i often worry about both myself and my loved ones getting hurt or something bad happening to us. more recently, i have become extre... View more

Hi everyone, i have been with my boyfriend for little over a year. i have always been an incredibly anxious person and i often worry about both myself and my loved ones getting hurt or something bad happening to us. more recently, i have become extremely anxious regarding my boyfriend and his wellbeing. i feel the need to call him every couple of hours despite us still being busy at work or school. if i haven’t spoken to him or kept in contact with him much that day i begin to cry and worry and repeatedly call him in a panic just to make sure he’s okay. he’s the only thing i think about and it’s stopping me from doing simple things like work, homework, etc. he knows i have anxiety and says he will try his best to answer all my calls but when he doesn’t it makes me so much more scared and panicked. i honestly don’t know what to do. if i don’t know where he is or what he’s doing i cry and panic instantly, and i physically can’t stop until he calls back or i can see he’s active online. since “online activity” indications aren’t always accurate, i constantly check up to see if he’s active and i can’t tell if it’s accurate or not which makes me more and more anxious. i just want help on how to manage this anxiety. i love my boyfriend and i know he loves me just as much. i know that the logical way of thinking is that there is a very slim chance that he is ever in danger or hurt, but even the simplicity of him being busy and not answering my calls really upsets me. i just want to stop being so scared and anxious and start living my own life. any suggestions ?

Beanest133 I'm a little bit lost.
  • replies: 1

I can't motivate myself anymore I can't seem to think positively. I practice unhealthy relationships with my friends. I am in a long term relationship and I'm not sure if I even want to be in it. I'm stuck in a town I absolutely can't stand with a de... View more

I can't motivate myself anymore I can't seem to think positively. I practice unhealthy relationships with my friends. I am in a long term relationship and I'm not sure if I even want to be in it. I'm stuck in a town I absolutely can't stand with a desire for more that I can't seem to actually motivate myself for. My parents had a bad outlook on mental health and medication and so for what feels like my whole life I've been telling myself it's not that bad. But I'm starting to realize it is. I've tried therapies but the talking alone doesn't seem to help. I know and understand the what they're saying and I definately try to apply it. But it seems like I'm pouring a teaspoon into the ocean trying to tackle my issues with mindfulness and whatnot. I've been to three different doctors about trying to get on medication but they've all prescribed me different things. Being a free clinic (can't afford anything else) I get less than 10 minutes talking and they shove me out the door with very little information on whatever they've prescribed me. So far I've been to scared to take anything. I can see the steps I have to take in my life to get better. I just can't seem to make them. I feel like my passions and dreams slip away more and more everyday and I feel less and less like myself everyday. I know I have a boatload of problems. But I'm scared I guess. To admit to them, own up to them. I want a doctor to actually listen and explain to me what I need to do to get better or something. I feel like I'm spiralling downward. My whole life I've never truly believed I had potential for anything. I can honestly say that. But I know I can be something better and live a better life I am just so lost as to how. What steps do I take how do I make myself get the help I need with such s**t family support. I don't know why I'm even posting this I just needed to say that I look at people younger than me and they are doing so well and I wonder why the hell I'm so useless.

lostgirl13 Where to from here?
  • replies: 1

My life is a mess.. Over the summer holidays my boyfriend of 3 years broke up with me, it was sudden and I really didn't see it coming. Everyone said it was "good timing" because a week later I was headed to Europe to complete an internship for my cu... View more

My life is a mess.. Over the summer holidays my boyfriend of 3 years broke up with me, it was sudden and I really didn't see it coming. Everyone said it was "good timing" because a week later I was headed to Europe to complete an internship for my current bachelors degree. To be honest, it did feel like a good thing at the time, I had a great time whilst I was away and met so many great new people and formed new friendships. I've been back home now for 3 weeks and all I can think about is being away again, it's been hard to come back to uni and face everything that happened before I went away. I feel like I'm just trying to live as if I am still away and have made some pretty concrete plans to go back to Europe and rekindle my friendships once I graduate. I feel like I might be in denial about how I'm feeling but I don't really know how to address it. For now I'm just feeling really down and without purpose, the end of the year feels like a lifetime away and I find I'm just wishing away my time - I don't like it. I'm coping by stress eating and going out on the weekends, but this is making me feel worse because I'm gaining weight and feeling negative about my body image. Also, I'm spending too much money trying to make myself feel better when I need to be saving if I want to go away again. I'm just in such a negative place right now and I don't know how to deal with it. I feel so lost, can someone help?

youcantknow Anxiety at school!
  • replies: 2

I have been finding it really hard coping with my anxiety at school! I've been having to leave class and just go to the toilets and breathe because I cant cope! At the moment in my health class, we are talking about mental health even just thinking a... View more

I have been finding it really hard coping with my anxiety at school! I've been having to leave class and just go to the toilets and breathe because I cant cope! At the moment in my health class, we are talking about mental health even just thinking about it makes me wanna be sick. every time we start talking about it i have to leave and go to the toilet because i start having anxiety/panic attack! please help i don't want people to know i have anxiety! i feel like whenever my teacher starts describing someone with anxiety everyone starts looking at me and notices that i am doing everything she says! i just want to be normal.

youcantknow Friends are confusing!
  • replies: 2

I don't know if my friends are really my friends anymore? My other friend's ar saying that there talking smack about me, ki don't know y they would do that was so close were besties! there hurting my feeling left to right and centre i don't know what... View more

I don't know if my friends are really my friends anymore? My other friend's ar saying that there talking smack about me, ki don't know y they would do that was so close were besties! there hurting my feeling left to right and centre i don't know what to do?

mollycc12 Lost
  • replies: 2

I feel so lost and alone. I just don't know what the way forward is anymore. My beautiful boyfriend is the most amazing man in the world but my insecurities and constant mind racing is making me lash out at him. He doesn't deserve it. I love him more... View more

I feel so lost and alone. I just don't know what the way forward is anymore. My beautiful boyfriend is the most amazing man in the world but my insecurities and constant mind racing is making me lash out at him. He doesn't deserve it. I love him more than anything, and I don't want to loose him but all the conflict is taking its toll. Everyday just seems like a battle and I just don't know what the answer or way forward is anymore. I have a therapist I see and I'm on medication but it seems recently that everything has just fallen into a heap and I don't know how to find my way out. I just feel so lost, confused and alone.

Rishia Feeling/looking awkward
  • replies: 1

I just turned 14, and as you would expect I’m starting to get interested in festivals, parties and boys. But the thing is, I can’t stand the way I look or my stance. I never really worried about how awkwardly I ran or danced, until my family and frie... View more

I just turned 14, and as you would expect I’m starting to get interested in festivals, parties and boys. But the thing is, I can’t stand the way I look or my stance. I never really worried about how awkwardly I ran or danced, until my family and friends started telling me about it. Now it’s the only thing on my mind. I’ll go to get up out of my seat in class, thinking I look awkward, or I’ll do a simple thing like bending down and grabbing my textbook and worry that people are judging me about how stiff I look. It makes life so difficult to enjoy. I’ve always loved dancing to music as a kid. Now it’s been different, I stare in the mirror and cringe as I watch myself dance. Soccer was a passionate sport of mine, now I don’t try. I’m always thinking about how my body is so stiff when I run and how uncomfortable I feel. I’ve always wanted to be that one popular person everyone loves, but I have the worst social anxiety. It really depends what days, but most of the time I feel so uncomfortable in class. Somebody will ask me a simple question like “what’s the time?” My face will turn bright red and then I’ll reply. After that, I’m stuck thinking about how red my face went and how stressed I am. I’m very open and confident around my close, small group of friends. But around others, especially boys, I get very overwhelmed. Thank you for reading! Please help me increase my social and physical confidence, I hate it so much!

casey14 Im new im just asking for some help
  • replies: 1

I suffer from EUPD, depression anxiety and ptsd i have been put on high doses of meds but i still dont feel stable my parents only want me to go to the hospital right away if i feel this way but they just send me away over and over again and i just w... View more

I suffer from EUPD, depression anxiety and ptsd i have been put on high doses of meds but i still dont feel stable my parents only want me to go to the hospital right away if i feel this way but they just send me away over and over again and i just want it to END. I dont know what to do? do you have any coping ideas ?.....

Guest_026 no friends
  • replies: 1

hey everyone, im 17 yr old female in my second term of year 12. I have only 2 friends and neither of them do anything social, one of them has super strict family and isnt allowed to, the other just doesnt do anything; they both have mental health iss... View more

hey everyone, im 17 yr old female in my second term of year 12. I have only 2 friends and neither of them do anything social, one of them has super strict family and isnt allowed to, the other just doesnt do anything; they both have mental health issues and are quite stagnant in their lifestyles and dont really do anything new. I love my friends but i feel like im going insane with boredom and loneliness, im usually surrounded by negativity, and i have a past with my social life that has kinda effed me up,( ive been hurt by alot of people ). Long story short, i cant make any new friends at my school and i live in a rural town where if you dont play a generic sport (soccer, AFL, touch, tennis, netball, swimming etc), then there is nothing here for you. Im extremely lonely and just want to live like a normal teenager, i want to party and meet new people, i want to be adventurous and spontaneous, i want to be a teenager; but i dont have anyone to be one with. I dont know what to do.