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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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undecided_future need direction in life - friends/family/job/relationship
  • replies: 4

Hello i'm new to this forum! I have been feeling a bit down and anxious about my current circumstances and have not decided what I want to do in the next few years/have no positive direction in life. Little about myself: I'm a 22 year old male who ha... View more

Hello i'm new to this forum! I have been feeling a bit down and anxious about my current circumstances and have not decided what I want to do in the next few years/have no positive direction in life. Little about myself: I'm a 22 year old male who has very few friends, have not been in a relationship and have never held a job. I feel very awkward meeting new people, have social anxiety and always feel out of place. Since high school I have been bullied, felt alone and insecure due to my mother passing away when I was very young and felt that I was always lacking something in comparison to other kids. This caused my self confidence level to drop and has been with me since second year of university. I have just been able to open up to a group of friends that has changed me to think more positive and accept things for what they are. However, it is because associating myself with these types of people I have felt down, due to comparing myself to them and what they have achieved at their ages and what I have yet to achieve. They go out to parties, have a lot of friends and interact well among their family/friends and I wonder why this can't be me (they are friends from primary school and we've started from the same seed). Due to being unable to make new friends and socialise, I have taken holidays (solo) as an excuse to avoid the lonelyness and find something to do with my time instead of staying at home and watching youtube videos. These holidays have opened up a new insight on my life and have helped me deal with depression. However whilst I am on holiday, I feel like I am falling behind in life. People my age are getting employed in full time jobs, they are getting into various relationships, developing new friendships and socializing with the people around them. I'm at a stage where I feel like everything is going by so fast that I can't keep up and don't know what I can do. I can't just keep using holidays as an excuse to avoid lonelyness but want to deal with it now. I have just graduated university and am currently unemployed. I need help on what I should do next in life. Thanks for reading!

ribboninthesky Social anxiety getting the better of me
  • replies: 3

Hello, my name is Ashleigh. I guess I've decided to want to vent out about how I'm feeling about my current situation, and I found these forums and thought it was interesting, so here I am. So I am a student currently completing Year 11 of high schoo... View more

Hello, my name is Ashleigh. I guess I've decided to want to vent out about how I'm feeling about my current situation, and I found these forums and thought it was interesting, so here I am. So I am a student currently completing Year 11 of high school. I've been a pretty shy kid all of my life. As I've grown older up to about 14-15, I have began suffering with high social anxiety and I have been diagnosed with depression. To this day I do visit my school counsellor and my psychologist often. They both have different methods in supporting me but they help me a lot. Very frequently I find myself complaining that I want to go back to being a 5-year-old, and while it may seem weird, I sometimes talk to my mum in a baby-ish voice because if I'm going to be honest I am a huge child at heart. All my life I've been afraid of becoming an adult, and that time for me is not too far away from me as I turn 18 in a year. I also always worry about other people around me about how they are doing and how they think or feel of me. For the first three years of me being qualified to apply for a part-time job, I've been putting it off because of my increase in my mental illnesses. I've always been concerned about once I do start my first job when I begin communicating with customers and co-workers. I'm always imagining myself forgetting what to say, misunderstanding people or tasks, and just overall having a panic attack in the middle of the store aisle etc. This is all because they've happened to me before and I'm always worried that they'll just keep happening and get worse each time. I find it difficult to approach someone I'm not super close with and actually begin a conversation with them. People have continuously told me to work in fast food but I can't even step foot in a restaurant to order food without hiding behind my parents. I've been a very reserved person from birth but I'm always kind to everyone I meet. I'm just constantly worrying that I'll get fired within my first shifts because of the way I do or say something. But I have been pushing myself because I want to start receiving my own source of income. I'm not sure why I made this post but you don't have to reply if you don't want to. I just like writing down my current thoughts and storing them somewhere. If you do end up reading all of my rambling on, I appreciate you taking the time! I'm new here as well so this is my first post

Ash19 A lot of different feelings..
  • replies: 2

Hi. First time posting. I have a lot of different things I just wanted to get off my chest, to share with people who may be experiencing the same things and offer any advice. I just feel as though I am not the same person I was 2 - 3 years ago, I fee... View more

Hi. First time posting. I have a lot of different things I just wanted to get off my chest, to share with people who may be experiencing the same things and offer any advice. I just feel as though I am not the same person I was 2 - 3 years ago, I feel like I was so much happier then. I don't do the same things that I use to love so much and I miss doing them but I just feel like I don't have the energy. Some days I just feel so sad and don't want to do anything. Sometimes I'll be sad and there won't even be a real reason. I work two casual jobs but am only really productive in that sense four days at most out of my week. Most other days I just stay in my bedroom and binge TV shows, hardly leaving the house. I feel as though I am doing nothing with my life, which I know I have the ability to change but I just can't seem to find the energy to do so. I have issues with my self esteem as well. I have for a long time. I hate everything about myself, just struggle to feel comfortable with who I am. Some days I'll get really hung up on it and I'll just get really down. Feelings of not being good enough, of looking how I do, even just feeling like I'm a shit person. When I go out in public by myself, I tend to feel anxious, self conscious and uncomfortable. Especially in crowded spaces, I feel really overwhelmed. I can't help it. I shared these thoughts with my mum and she wasn't very supportive. I have no friends, one by one we just stopped talking. It just seemed like I was the only one making any effort, made me feel like crap, like they couldn't care whether I was in their life or not. So I stopped being the one to send messages first and then I just stopped receiving any. I feel as though I'm just a boring person and just bother people. I feel really lonely most days but it's not easy for me to make friends, I'm pretty quiet until I get comfortable with someone. However, I did meet a guy online a couple months ago and have been dating for a little while. I'm afraid though that he'll eventually give up and leave because of some issues, one being that I struggle to share a lot of my feelings and thoughts - to be open, not just with him but everyone. It's kinda starting to become an issue. I can tell he's frustrated and I can understand why but I just can't seem to let myself comfortably share my feelings.. Sorry that my post is a bit all over the place, I just have a lot on my mind.

Guest_7714 This Friend/ Person
  • replies: 2

So I have this person in my life, who has constantly made it quite clear that she is my friend so she won't be alone. I have also tried to tell her and hey her to talk to me more but that back fired as I accidentally said something mean. She is reall... View more

So I have this person in my life, who has constantly made it quite clear that she is my friend so she won't be alone. I have also tried to tell her and hey her to talk to me more but that back fired as I accidentally said something mean. She is really stubborn and really doesn't care about other people, she will be blunt and rude sometimes, and sometimes I feel as though her emotions are more valuable and to be notice than others. She's always like this and that, yet they are always complaints if she does talk about something other than schoolwork. Today we had this fete thing, but she kept on dragging me away from the people I think are my friends. The more time I spend with her, the less I actually want to be there. I feel as though I want nothing more than an occasional distribution of words with her. What should I do? How can I ignore her?

Teash101 Can’t keep a job
  • replies: 2

Hi everyone i can’t find a long lasting job! everyjob I’ve done has either been seasonal or casual with varying hours. i quit my last job because I was being picked on by someone. I now have shoulder injuries and need them to get better before workin... View more

Hi everyone i can’t find a long lasting job! everyjob I’ve done has either been seasonal or casual with varying hours. i quit my last job because I was being picked on by someone. I now have shoulder injuries and need them to get better before working again. im finding it overwhelming just being on centrelink and trying to pay bills and have food in the house! I’ve looked at what bills I can reduce or fully get rid of but most need large amount of money to disappear. i can’t ask family for money because that makes me feel like a disappointment. i don’t know what to do! Everyday tasks are difficult with my shoulders but I also get really down if I can’t pay my bills

Marli19 Treating depression
  • replies: 4

Hi, I'm an 18 year old girl, I've had depression since i was 11 and it was triggered by an eating disorder since then ive been on and off antidepressants. Recently my depression has become really bad again Im finding it hard to eat and leave my house... View more

Hi, I'm an 18 year old girl, I've had depression since i was 11 and it was triggered by an eating disorder since then ive been on and off antidepressants. Recently my depression has become really bad again Im finding it hard to eat and leave my house. I've taken 4 sick days off work in the past two weeks because i cant bring myself to leave my room. I recently went to my doctors to talk about my depression and she prescribed me with the same antidepressants i used to take but I just won't take them, I'm sick of feeling depressed and its effecting every aspect of my life but i don't want to start relying on a pill to get me through life. I've tried talking to my parents about it but they aren't supportive at all and think i just need to take the meds. I am recreational drug user and i know you cant be on antidepressants when taking certain drugs and i know i must sound completely idiotic but i would much rather be depressed and take recreational drugs than be on my antidepressants and not be able to take them... I also have lost my appetite entirely due to my depression and again this will sound dumb but i'm scared taking my antidepressants will increase my appetite and ill gain weight, as i said before i have had eating disorders in the past and i'm worried about what will happen in the future. I have no idea what to do or who to talk to, my parents are aware of my cannabis use but nothing else and i dont feel comfortable talking to a doctor about illegal drugs but i feel like i will never get an unbiased opinion. Any advice?

Dzartovian94 My life is an never ending trainwreck.
  • replies: 5

I seem to lack anyone in my life that understands the anger I feel towards everything. My anger motivates me and keeps me going because really I don't have anything else. At the age of 23, you would think that someone would be involved in their life ... View more

I seem to lack anyone in my life that understands the anger I feel towards everything. My anger motivates me and keeps me going because really I don't have anything else. At the age of 23, you would think that someone would be involved in their life and have the world open to them. But I have nothing. I survived cancer at the age of 4 and that started my downhill slide, I later was diagnosed again at 7 and underwent another 2 years of chemo. This stole so many opportunities from me, I can no longer have kids, my growth was stunned and my left arm is extremely damaged. During year 12, my mother had a stroke and my grandfather died, within weeks of my exams, my ATAR turned out rubbish. Got into an average university and developed an anxiety disorder from some repressed issues, my father having heart surgery and being the primary carer for my mother and my two younger sisters. My university grades suffered and my GPA is useless. I've been trying to find work for the last 10 months and I've had no luck, recently went for a call centre job and didn't even get that due to the fact that my typing speed is so slow because of my damaged arm. I am so angry and frustrated that I feel like a complete loser, no one seriously cares about me at all. I hate everything, society, people, school, work, etc, it's all just a dehumanising. I've always had people in my way and they seemingly just don't want to let me be, I can't be myself in any environment because if I was, no one would tolerate me. As a short white man, society hates me and sees me as expendable. I get that everyone's life is hard and we all suffer in different ways but seemingly everyone gets a break or something? I've helped people all my life but now I'm worse off and I'm stuck. I don't want to go back to university for no job prospects/more debt, I can't get a job because of my physical limitations/grades/lack of experience. On top of all that, I'm not a people person, I hate emotional thinking and frankly don't want to be bothered suffering because of other people's drama. All my life I've been told to change for other people. I don't care about other people, no one has ever helped me or asked if I was okay, why should I care? Im not going to hurt myself because I don't believe in being a coward and frankly I value my life. Heck, I could run this whole planet if I was given the chance, but of course that isn't confidence, that's egotistic. I really hate society.

LittleFox30 Having no confidence
  • replies: 2

Hello everyone, I feel I have no confidence. I am a very quiet person when I am around people I don't know. It makes it hard in group situations because I just sit there not knowing what to say or how to contribute to the conversation. I believe it h... View more

Hello everyone, I feel I have no confidence. I am a very quiet person when I am around people I don't know. It makes it hard in group situations because I just sit there not knowing what to say or how to contribute to the conversation. I believe it has gotten better in the past couple of years, but still not great. It makes it hard because my boyfriend is really outgoing so when he takes me to meet his friends, I can barely say anything. My mind is just blank all of the time. I am fine when I am alone with my boyfriend, I speak quite a lot, and with a couple of my close friends as well. I am going to meet more of my boyfriends family soon, so does anyone have any tips about how I can try to talk more? I am always self conscious about it now as I want to improve it, but its hard when my mind is always blank. Nothing goes through my mind in these situations, I just sit there and listen to everyone else talking. I am not sure how to fix this.

felixi feeling really lonely and depressed
  • replies: 5

hi guys, im felix i wont go into to much detail about my life but i havent had a very happy upbringing. i like to think mine is better then alot of other peoples though. im 15 years old and im suffering from bad depression and loneliness. im on presc... View more

hi guys, im felix i wont go into to much detail about my life but i havent had a very happy upbringing. i like to think mine is better then alot of other peoples though. im 15 years old and im suffering from bad depression and loneliness. im on prescribed medication for ADHD and have been diagnosed with Asperger's from a young age over the past few years ive been seriously bullied (bashed, house broken into, harassment, death threats etc.) ive been to police and charged most of them but it never goes away. this has made me very anxious and depressed, ive thought of suicide many times but im stronger then that. ive never really had friends or a strong support group. im seeing a therapist but its not working the way i want it to. im crying as i right this because i feel so lonely and worthless. im just really sad and anxious. i cant explain properly. ive smoked marijuana on and off for the past year, i gave it up becuase i felt like it was making my life worse. i was given a small amount of marijuana and smoked it yesterday. i feel very depressed after that. i know it has caused most of it. i really like this girl and my friend is flirting with her and there getting close. its not my biggest problem right now but it has caused a jealous and and frustrated feeling. i need someone just to help me and help me understand that im not alone, i also need tips on keeping my wellbeing happy and good. thankyou for reading