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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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Musicboy727 Depression, anxiety, regret, life falling apart
  • replies: 2

Hello everyone, Im 15 and this is whats going on. So 2 years ago i had some massive fights on social media with my friends from school, im not going to say what i said but alot of what i said was really bad, same goes with what they said to me. It wa... View more

Hello everyone, Im 15 and this is whats going on. So 2 years ago i had some massive fights on social media with my friends from school, im not going to say what i said but alot of what i said was really bad, same goes with what they said to me. It was both mine and their fault, i called one of my friends a backstabber then she made a group chat on Instagram with a lot of my other friends and they all came at me. I tried leaving the group chat 3 times but they kept adding me back in, by the third time i got really mad and exploded. It went on for 3 days and then stopped. I apologised and they forgave me. Somehow the whole school knew what i said and everyone hated me (and alot of people still do, even people I don’t know, know what ive done). I also tried to play the victim in the beginning which just made things worse. At the time i loved attention so I would just start random fights afterwards until around the end of last year. I see them occasionally at the train station after school and they just stare at me and ive heard once one of them talking about me. I had heaps of friends in between 2 years ago until now that i treated like crap and they eventually stopped being my friend. I also really liked this guy and i did all these bad things to him which i really regret and i still have feelings for him and all the time i see him in my dreams which stops me from sleeping sometimes and stuff. Ever since the first fight and what happened with the guy i liked ive became really depressed and suicidal. I haven’t gone to school in 2 years (ive changed schools 4 times within 3 years of being in high school), i hardly get out of my bedroom and all i do is listen to music all day because it helps me get through everyday, Im also transgender and my mum doesn’t support me which makes things worse for me and there are some family issues going on. I really regret what ive done and ive recently apologised to everyone and they forgave me and wished me the best but I can’t seem to move on. I don’t know what to do. Someone help please!

Mate2708 Making Friends :o
  • replies: 2

I am currently 19 and halfway through my second semester, first year at university and i only finished high school last year. Uni generally is going okay, i'm doing alright with workload and stress of assessment and things but my main issue is trying... View more

I am currently 19 and halfway through my second semester, first year at university and i only finished high school last year. Uni generally is going okay, i'm doing alright with workload and stress of assessment and things but my main issue is trying to make friends My high school was big and i cant say i had many friends but i had about 8 really really good friends in my group, and i knew a fair few others. I would consider myself as a shyish person but once i get to know people i'm quite confident and talkative, especially within my good friends. However since starting university i'm really struggling to make friends. I'm not the greatest at starting conversations but i have been trying to make a conscious effort to make some sort of connection with people in tutorials or in the cafeteria. I've talked with a few people here and there, including people who I am doing group work with, as it's kind of forced, but they always will go back to their other 'better' friends and never really sit or talk with me if they see me in their free time. It always makes me feel like on the outer. Also, my uni is kinda far away from where i live and my school was, (although i don't stay on campus i just drive each day, about 1 hour) so it feels like a lot of the people already have friends there from the surrounding schools in that area or they just seem better at it. Obviously i don'y see my good friends from high school as much as they go to different universities and are always busy as it would seem I know a lot of people suggest clubs and societies but my uni is small and doesn't have a lot of those things and the ones we do have don't interest me that much, as well as the fact i would have to drive a distance just to participate. I will keep doing what i'm doing, but any guidance would be appreciated Thanks, Mate

constantlyconfused I hate myself
  • replies: 4

I'm a 15 year old, I'm in year 9 and I have 8 siblings. I'm not quite sure if there is a big age gap between myself and people who come on here because I've seen a lot of 20+ year olds, regardless, I really do hate myself and the way I act. When I wa... View more

I'm a 15 year old, I'm in year 9 and I have 8 siblings. I'm not quite sure if there is a big age gap between myself and people who come on here because I've seen a lot of 20+ year olds, regardless, I really do hate myself and the way I act. When I was younger my mum gave birth to identical twins (Naomi and Rachel) and they were later diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia. After all the treatment Naomi passed away, to this day we still have Rachel and she is a blessing. I don't know if that relates to how i feel about myself because I am obviously in no way an expert about these things. At home is where it starts, I act like a spoiled brat and continue to do so, even when I am definitely aware of it. When we have no money I harass my mum and I will get upset if things don't go my way and I see this all the time. I often only do jobs around the house for money so I can get things for myself and not care about anyone else, mum used to say "can you come and do this job? Or will you only do it for money?" And this hurt a lot and I would just sit and cry because it's so true, I am so self centered and conceited. At school there are those types of girls who, when they go past a group of boys they laugh and scream loud to get attention, my friends often call out these girls and talk to me about them. I look at myself and realize that that type of girl is me. I get really confused with myself and mad with myself and the way I act, trying to be cool and popular. When I get mad at myself for acting this way, i make a scene and get more mad at myself for doing so and it just goes in a circle, and compared to what other people experience, i know this is no match for that. I have spoken to my friends and they do lift me up when i get like this but I see myself and i think that i am the most disgusting thing known to man. I don't like my legs, i don't like my stomach because its not flat and i don't like my pimples. I don't think I have depression or anything like that, I think i'm just confused with my feelings and I need help to understand. I've spoken to my mum and she said that what I'm saying is not needed to be felt but I can't help it and I don't know who else to tell. I also feel stupid writing on here because this is nothing compared to what other people go through but I thought I should just give it a shot.

Hopestevo Can't cope anymore
  • replies: 4

Hi, so even though I'm young I feel as if I can't cope anymore. I'm in grade 8 and right now I feel as tired and depressed. All my friendships have turned toxic and I'm failing classes from stress, losing sleep and I don't know what to do. I have spo... View more

Hi, so even though I'm young I feel as if I can't cope anymore. I'm in grade 8 and right now I feel as tired and depressed. All my friendships have turned toxic and I'm failing classes from stress, losing sleep and I don't know what to do. I have spoken to a school counselor and they say to take time off but it's hard when your family wont listen, or when there is no one to talk too.

Loulou97 Struggling to adult.
  • replies: 2

Hey, new here. I’m usually always happy. Always smiling, never sad. But the last few years have been really hard. I had a great childhood, and have always been just a really happy person. Until I hit my adult years. I feel like I’m drowning, both fin... View more

Hey, new here. I’m usually always happy. Always smiling, never sad. But the last few years have been really hard. I had a great childhood, and have always been just a really happy person. Until I hit my adult years. I feel like I’m drowning, both financially & mentally. How is everyone doing it?! How can they afford a house & children & still be able to pay their bills & not worry? I’ve had trouble with money from the start, my first two cars that I paid for just stopped working & I was finding it difficult to get a loan as I wasn’t much of a saver. I was in an accident 2 years ago, I was fully insured, but I was never taught what to look for in an insurance policy.... well, they ended up giving me HALF what I paid for my car, & for someone on a little wage, I was without a car & with a huge debt. I was fortunate to have a car company take pity & pay the excess & push through another loan, but that bit me in the bum even more.... my repayments were more than $100 a week, plus on top of that I had to pay this company back $50 a week.. which they didn’t disclose when they were ‘helping me’.. I felt used & abused at my lowest. I expressed how little money I was getting a week, & they ensured me all would be fine.. but alas, to this day, I’m still struggling. I’m 21 years old & my credit rating is stuffed, I’m barely living paycheck to paycheck & it seems no one can help me!! Or wants to.. I tried to consolidate my loans to make everything a bit cheaper but I was declined... thanks to a default from 2 years ago that was paid but a permanent mark on my record. I feel I can never catch a break. I want a house, a family, everything I’ve always dreamed of, but this seems so far away. Now I’m not suicidal, I am grateful for my life, but I’m struggling to see the bigger picture.. I just want to be happy again. I want to have a normal sleeping pattern, I want to stop stressing & making myself sick from worrying if I can pay my bills this week. I am looking for techniques or strategies on how to look at things a different way, or how to breathe & just take it all like a big girl. I don’t usually reach out as I’m stubborn & can do things by myself, but I can feel myself wearing thin.

Natx Everything is starting to become too much
  • replies: 2

I’m currently in high school, year 10. In all honesty the last couple of months have been rough and I feel like things have begun to pile up over time. Things began when I started constantly getting criticised about my looks from my mum. I couldn’t l... View more

I’m currently in high school, year 10. In all honesty the last couple of months have been rough and I feel like things have begun to pile up over time. Things began when I started constantly getting criticised about my looks from my mum. I couldn’t look at myself properly for weeks and I hated myself. Along with that I have my school stress and tutoring stress. I can never seem to settle down and I am constantly on edge. I always feel like something bad will happen and I tend to feel like breaking down a little more often than usual. I’m not sure if I’d call them panic attacks but I’ve had many episodes in the past couple of weeks where my heart wouldn’t stop beating fast, my throat was closing in, I couldn’t breathe and I kept crying. I’ve gone to see school counsellors, but honestly the counselling system isn’t so great. Its not that the counsellors were terrible but I cant help but feel judged when trying to speak my thoughts, which I struggle to do. I try to take on their advice in regards to my anxiety but they never work, especially in moments where my anxiety spikes up. I’m starting to push my family and friends away and I noticed that I’m starting to get more gloomier everyday. I feel that I need to always put on a face at school to act like I’m okay, when in reality I feel like I’m choking. I don’t know what to do. I don’t like discussing this with other people because I dont feel that they’d openly listen to my thoughts without judging. I am an extemely self conscious person and am starting to lose my confidence. I get extreme anxiety during tutoring for some reason, especially when the teacher walks around. I dread it every week and I worry more than I should about it. My motivation to go to school is slowly fading away and I’m not sure how much longer I can hold on for. My life’s a mess and i don’t know what to do with it.

Kate_P Have my friends gone too far or is it just me ?
  • replies: 2

I don’t know where to start but u know I needed someone to talk to, I go to an only girls school and I have a big group of friends but in that group there’s a smaller group they have always been so nice they would joke around but i would never take i... View more

I don’t know where to start but u know I needed someone to talk to, I go to an only girls school and I have a big group of friends but in that group there’s a smaller group they have always been so nice they would joke around but i would never take it to heart but one of my close friends has become more popular out of school and she just started being so rude to me another friend is on her leash, my other friends just watch , I feel as though every time I talk she finds a way to shut me up by making fun of me or judging me , the other day she through something at me I threw it back and then I went to the bathroom I come back and she’s there telling everyone hands up who doesn’t want (me) in the group and like she knew I was listening and she always tells me not to take things to heart , if I try being nice she judges me if I try joking around she judges no matter what I do she finds a way to judge me. She always finds a way to convince the rest of the group to go along with her shit and it makes me feel lonely and hopeless every time I walk into the room I know that she’s not going to nice and the upsetting thing is sometimes she is so nice I forget all the Shit she’s done in the past hour ,I just don’t know what to do there’s lots more but it’s hard to explain I’ve just been feeling empty these past 2-3 weeks and I have no idea what to do

DrFisheye I don’t feel anything anymore. Why?
  • replies: 1

So these past 2 months I’ve been feeling something that really worries me. I don’t know how to cure it or what it is and that’s why I’m here. So recently I’ve been feeling absolutely nothing. No sadness, nervousness, stress. I have been feeling happy... View more

So these past 2 months I’ve been feeling something that really worries me. I don’t know how to cure it or what it is and that’s why I’m here. So recently I’ve been feeling absolutely nothing. No sadness, nervousness, stress. I have been feeling happy though. My dad left to england 2 weeks ago and before when he would go, I would start worrying and feeling sad about him, thinking that something would happen to him. But now, I absolutely feel nothing. I don’t even feel that he’s gone. I have forgotten that I have a father and this really worries me as I’m not the same anymore. Im losing my religion aswell. I am a Muslim right but I didn’t wear the headscarf and I didn’t pray often. And I always had this connection with god. I would make prayers to him, ask for his guidance, ect. And now it’s like I don’t even care that I there’s a god. And every day it’s just fading and fading. i also has several tests and exams. I didn’t study, I wasn’t nervous and I basically didn’t even care and it didn’t phase me. I don’t know what’s happening to me and I really wish someone could help me out. I’m usually a happy person but this all kinda bums me out. I even don’t feel love anymore. I don’t like anyone like I used to. I don’t care about getting a boyfriend or useless shit like that. i don’t care about my friends, coming late to school, embarrassing myself. The things I do feel however is when I do drama. I love the feeling of acting and doing plays in my class. I also love the feeling of squash. But other than that. I’m numb. And I need help...

rubyonyx Should I get counselling (think I have anxiety)
  • replies: 7

I don’t want to rant about everything I’m feeling but basically I’ve been feeling really anxious for a year now and it’s spiked over the last six months. I’m in my last year of school so maybe it’s just exam stress and it’ll go away. But I’ve been co... View more

I don’t want to rant about everything I’m feeling but basically I’ve been feeling really anxious for a year now and it’s spiked over the last six months. I’m in my last year of school so maybe it’s just exam stress and it’ll go away. But I’ve been considering going to see my school counsellor (who was my teacher last year and has helped when I had a panic attack on camp). Should I do it? Theres no information from my school on how to contact her, so I’d probably just email?? Does anyone have any tips on writing that email and what counselling is like?

TheLogophile When do you quit your job?
  • replies: 2

I’ve had pretty bad anxiety for a while now and in February I got a part time job. I didn’t want the job but my parents had been pushing me for ages to get one and even helped wright my resumes and hand them out. My friend was already working at this... View more

I’ve had pretty bad anxiety for a while now and in February I got a part time job. I didn’t want the job but my parents had been pushing me for ages to get one and even helped wright my resumes and hand them out. My friend was already working at this place but it was a restaurant. I didn’t want to work at a restaurant but my parents insisted I hand my resume in anyway just in case. I ended up getting the job and have been working there since. I get about 2-3 shifts a week and every time it’s horrible. It’s so fast and busy and just makes me break out in panic attacks. Having OCD doesn’t help at all either. Just the thought of working makes me feel so anxious and nauseous and I just can’t take it anymore. I’ve been seeing a psychiatrist for a while who put me on medication, but it hasn’t helped my work situation at all. I really don’t want to work anymore at this restaurant and want to quit my job. I just don’t know if it’s the right thing to do or not and don’t know how to tell my boss that I hate her workplace. Do I have a valid reason to quit my job or am I just been a dramatic teenager?