Young people

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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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Penguin_fan08 My family member doesn't understand my OCD and makes it worse on purpose
  • replies: 5

I share a room with my family member who is a year younger than I am. I have very bad OCD and anxiety (which she knows) but she does things to upset me or make me panic. I have a phobia with germs, so I ask her kindly to please not do things on purpo... View more

I share a room with my family member who is a year younger than I am. I have very bad OCD and anxiety (which she knows) but she does things to upset me or make me panic. I have a phobia with germs, so I ask her kindly to please not do things on purpose to upset me such as; using my bedhead as a table for her food, leaving her clothing everywhere, messing up the rug (which really upsets me). (She kicks the rug all the time to make me upset). This morning, I was making my bed when I noticed she'd dropped a licked Popsicle stick on my blanket. I freaked out and told her to take it off and she said it wasn't hers as a joke. When she finally took it off, I was almost in tears, to which she replied 'I'm not a germ, so stop treating me like one!'. I said again, I've never called her a germ. I only ask she is respectful of my issues as I am of hers. She doesn't understand and if I tell on her about it, I'll get in trouble because she will start (fake) crying... I'm a new member, so I apologize if this is hard to read. What should I do?

Danni_Gansberg My Boyfriend and Me
  • replies: 1

Hi, my name is Danni and my boyfriend Ollie and I are both 22. Ollie was diagnosed at 14 with depression and anxiety along with borderline personality disorder. we have been dating for 5 months and have been living together for 2 months. we did jump ... View more

Hi, my name is Danni and my boyfriend Ollie and I are both 22. Ollie was diagnosed at 14 with depression and anxiety along with borderline personality disorder. we have been dating for 5 months and have been living together for 2 months. we did jump into things very quickly with moving but this was due to his home life with his family was a bad environment and he couldn't bear the negativity. Over the time we have been together there have been ups and downs, changes in medication and a hospital visit. I see myself as a very strong person emotionally, and very care-driven. I enjoy helping people and it gives me a great sense of purpose. over the last week things have gotten bad. He became very distant and shut off, not wanting to talk to me, but resulting to talking to complete strangers as a way of getting validation that he was worth something. I knew about this as I was one of those strangers until we became closer, and I never had an issue, I just be as supportive as i can and be reassuring that he does mean something. Last night I finally got him to open up to me, he broke down saying that for reasons unknown to him he just doesn't feel anything anymore, for me or anything else. He still cares for me and didn't talk to me because he didn't want to hurt me. He makes it clear that he doesn't know what he wants and doesn't feel like he can be a positive person in my life and he cant give me what he thinks I need, like gifts and emotional support. I have always said i don't need gifts and presents to be happy because as long as he is a part of my life I am happy. He still wants to be close to me and be a part of my life, but doesn't feel like he can be a supportive partner at the moment. I am having trouble figuring out whether this is just a phase or whether this is what he really feels. He has gone through little phases of being distant but he always bounced back and became the person I fell in love with. So I'm just looking for a little advice on how to go from here. How can I be reassuring that I will be there no matter what I am, friend or girlfriend.

Vexed Not experiencing enough
  • replies: 3

Hey all, I'm an 18 year old male and quite confused about quite a few things. I really want to get out more and enjoy life but I don't really have any incentive to do it. I used to hang out with the biggest scumbags and did a lot of drugs, I'm clean ... View more

Hey all, I'm an 18 year old male and quite confused about quite a few things. I really want to get out more and enjoy life but I don't really have any incentive to do it. I used to hang out with the biggest scumbags and did a lot of drugs, I'm clean now and barely drink. Looking back I really regret doing it but I guess I liked having people to hang out with. I don't text anyone except for when my family texts me and I hate the whole going to partys deal, I've been to two and hated both. I play a lot of video games and have never been in a relationship before which is probably the thing that makes me the most saddened. I tend to think alot deeply about the wonders of life and things in general but don't get a chance to experience them, I feel really different to the people I know and I just don't know why.

Rachey189 Traumatic Event at School
  • replies: 1

So about a month ago I had a traumatic event at school. I was talking to my teacher with three other students, we were alone in the hallway so there was no one else around. And then all of a sudden my teacher drops her coffee mug and her face falls a... View more

So about a month ago I had a traumatic event at school. I was talking to my teacher with three other students, we were alone in the hallway so there was no one else around. And then all of a sudden my teacher drops her coffee mug and her face falls and then she falls and hits her head on a chair and she starts convulsing on the ground, like she was having a fit. All my friends and I run off to get help, I can remember how scared I was, so I ran and got my teacher and he came out and helped, while my friend was on the phone to the ambulance. I can remember it so vividly still and think it's going to happen again, I get really stressed in big crowds now. And I was at a lecture for a subject about two weeks after and all I could about when the person gave the lecture that whenever he froze, he was going to do the same thing as my teacher. I always think about it still, and recently I've noticed I can't watch people convulse and have fits or imitate the shakiness, my heart drops and I immediately think of what happened. Also my fear of heights has gotten much worse, I hate standing near stairs that are a couple of flights high, and I don't know why. I recently had a dream about waiting for an elevator and then having a panic attack because the stairs were so close and I was about 100 flights up. I can feel it getting worse. What should I do? I keep getting told it's going to pass, and I don't know if I should wait longer to see if it will? Please help

Call_me_tony overwhelmed with anxiety
  • replies: 1

Hey everyone, I’m 21 and suffering from anxiety, I’ve never been a worrier but for the couple 2-3 months I’ve been drowning in my thoughts, Thoughts of me falling ill to some sort of illness and dying, honestly I think I’m a hyperchonriac, im physica... View more

Hey everyone, I’m 21 and suffering from anxiety, I’ve never been a worrier but for the couple 2-3 months I’ve been drowning in my thoughts, Thoughts of me falling ill to some sort of illness and dying, honestly I think I’m a hyperchonriac, im physically and mentally exhausted, most night I’d stay up chasing/worrying/googling about these phyical symptoms, it seem like it’s taking control of my life, I haven’t had a decent sleep in months, I’ve been to my local gp multiple times and they said I’m healthy and that everything seems to be normal but honestly I don’t feel normal, the problem is that I can’t seem to sit back and watch my thoughts go by if you get where I’m coming from, ive tried to mediate but whenever I do my body would twitch or itch or feel tensed and my mind would just go wondering off worrying about what it might or might not be, I don’t know how to help myself and that’s why I’m here maybe someone has been through this and gotten over it because it seem like I can’t.

madeline1 that guy
  • replies: 3

so i like this guy, but he doesn’t like me, he probably thinks im annoying that didn’t really bother me until he called my cousin hot, we are close me and my cousin so this annoyed me even more. but ever since then i can’t help feeling like im ugly l... View more

so i like this guy, but he doesn’t like me, he probably thinks im annoying that didn’t really bother me until he called my cousin hot, we are close me and my cousin so this annoyed me even more. but ever since then i can’t help feeling like im ugly like there’s something wrong with me. i never normally feel like this, please help.

IsolatedStudent Friendly help on friends please!
  • replies: 3

Hi everyone, hope you're all doing as best as you can. As you can see from the title, I would really appreciate some advice on friends in general. I am a first year university student who moved interstate to study, and feel as though I am really stru... View more

Hi everyone, hope you're all doing as best as you can. As you can see from the title, I would really appreciate some advice on friends in general. I am a first year university student who moved interstate to study, and feel as though I am really struggling in the friend department. What made me write this post is basically my experience of university. In orientation week, I got to know the one friend I made this entire year. As I am an interstate student, I stay on campus in the college dorms. At first I thought I'd have a great time, and was really excited to meet new people. However, as time went on I felt very anxious about my ability to speak to people. You see, the friend that I made had a very outgoing personality and was always able to make whoever he talked to laugh. But when I tried to talk to people, the conversation would feel extremely bland and go nowhere. Because this occurred more than a couple of times, I started to talk less to people in the dorms. This feeling also carried over to university when classes began. I had trouble finding friends because everyone seemed to know each other from high school. I was added into a facebook group chat that contained around 50 of the students in my course. However, I missed out on the 'Welcome Party' for the course, and as such didn't get to meet all my course mates. This also lead on to me missing the course ball in August because I felt so scared that I didn't know anyone from my course. I feel like now it's too late to mingle with my course mates, and I'll be in the same year as them studying the same thing for the next 4 years! I just don't want to be 'that guy' who no one actually knows (which now I see is very ironic) I just don't know how to approach a group of 50 people who now seem very close and comfortable with each other. Also, as it is currently mid-term break, I flew back to my home state. I tried to meet up with a friend of mine who I deemed quite close. But no matter how I tried, he didn't seem to want to meet up with me for some reason. He said he was busy and didn't even bother trying to find another day. I just felt so crushed and uncertain about friendships. Does anyone else experience the same thing with friends? I hope to get a response! Thanks

cleonykx Keeping up with life and university
  • replies: 2

I struggle keeping up to date with university studies. When my anxiety acts up or my home life gets bad I fall behind. I always finish assignments on time and complete necessary exams/tests. But mentally and physically I feel behind. I’m a perfection... View more

I struggle keeping up to date with university studies. When my anxiety acts up or my home life gets bad I fall behind. I always finish assignments on time and complete necessary exams/tests. But mentally and physically I feel behind. I’m a perfectionist and knowing I could’ve done an assignment better keeps me awake at night. I start wishing for a pause button just to breathe. All I want to do is sleep and avoid human contact. I don’t catch up with friends or go to uni if I don’t have to. Family issues are unpredictable and in my case extremely severe. This semester something happened during the mid-semester exam period!! Both my parents suffer from mental illness, my dad OD’s twice a year and has since I was 8... I’m now 21. Any issue that occurs with my family truly knocks me down. Seeing a professional is scary! My whole life I jump from person to person trying to find help but in the end it does more damage than good. It’s hard re-living a traumatic experience over and over with strangers who stare at you like an experiment. Therapist can’t help me but I’m near the end game. I honestly don’t know what to do to help me mentally. Talking out loud about it makes me cry hysterically. Medication doesn’t work, they gave me shakes and took me to hospital. Right now I just need advice on how everyone survives the uni stress and personal stress. How do you keep on top of university during a mental breakdown? I apologise for this post being all over the place. I have a lot on my mind!

Nicole_shine SOMEONE HELP ME TO UNDERSTAND
  • replies: 4

Hi, I couldn't find a thread relating to this so I thought id make my own. I'm really lost at the moment and I'm so confused with who I am. I know the person I want to be but somehow I keep coming back to this same issue that I can't seem to figure o... View more

Hi, I couldn't find a thread relating to this so I thought id make my own. I'm really lost at the moment and I'm so confused with who I am. I know the person I want to be but somehow I keep coming back to this same issue that I can't seem to figure out. I've always felt that I've been different to other people but I just didn't know why and I want to know. I struggle daily with anxiety of the silliest of things, I get so nervous talking to people and feel like I'm worthless. I'm so boring and even when I try to find things that will hopefully up me from that, I just crash and burn. I feel like I have no purpose in life no matter how hard I've tried. I don't have any close friends really. I find it really hard to open and be vulnerable. I've never had a boyfriend, I've always wanted one but I'm so fearful of even just going on a date. this isn't making any sense but I'm just writing as it comes to my head as I have so many thoughts. I'm an INFJ which I've read is also the least popular personality type which I think is 1% of the population, crazy right. People never stick to me which makes me wonder whether I'm boring, not a good friend/person. I don't know it really gets to me and bad thoughts go through my head. sometimes I lie in bed for days on end with the same thoughts going through my head. thats the other thing, I find it super hard to open up and tell my feelings as I am scared that I will let people down. I am really struggling with day to day life and Im really over it. is anyone else out there?

madeline1 sick of this place
  • replies: 2

ever since i went overseas last year, i can’t help but feel like there if so much more out there for me. im so sick of school it’s actually the worst. i literally want to run away. staying here is making it so much worse. I would miss so many people ... View more

ever since i went overseas last year, i can’t help but feel like there if so much more out there for me. im so sick of school it’s actually the worst. i literally want to run away. staying here is making it so much worse. I would miss so many people and im so lucky to live in a safe place. but it’s boring and horrible. i really can’t deal with this place anymore. i have got to get out of here i seriously want to buy a ticket to anywhere in the world and go, see where life takes me. this doesn’t sound like a serious issue, I know but it’s messing with me so much, I cry I just can’t deal with living here anymore there’s to much to see and do. I really hate it here, what should I do? I’m just so done, THX 4 LISTENING TO MY ISSUE