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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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Carla200288383 Moving schools
  • replies: 2

Hi my name is Carla and im in year 9, i’ve recently started at a new school an hour away from my home, and its safe to say im struggling. i have no motivation whatsoever to go to school, i hate waking up and hate seeing everyone to do with this schoo... View more

Hi my name is Carla and im in year 9, i’ve recently started at a new school an hour away from my home, and its safe to say im struggling. i have no motivation whatsoever to go to school, i hate waking up and hate seeing everyone to do with this school. there is a lot of drama revolved around me here and i just want to get away from it. i have fake friends too, and its hard to cope with all the work since i used to be one of the top in my class but now im droppin. im wondering if i should move to the school that is closer to my house. my old friends are there now, the school used to be considered feral but it has improved a lot since then. i want to be near my house, my old friends and not have to wake up so early. the school im at now is considered really good but i don’t understand the hype. i dont know what is the right decision to make, what if i leave and continue to have no genuine friends? what is the right decision??

KadeJ ADF medical appeal for depressive anxiety disorder
  • replies: 1

G’day guys, just seeking some advice on my medical appeal for the ADF (Army Medic). When I was 16 I had been diagnosed with “depressive anxiety disorder” and prescribed with anti depressant medication. There was lots going on in my life at the time a... View more

G’day guys, just seeking some advice on my medical appeal for the ADF (Army Medic). When I was 16 I had been diagnosed with “depressive anxiety disorder” and prescribed with anti depressant medication. There was lots going on in my life at the time and I was very aggravated with the world. My Mum took me to a paediatrician and I ended up with this diagnosis. The medication never seemed to make me feel any better, I was never reviewed and just kept getting advised to take this tablet. Now, I am 21 years old and stopped taking the tablet in January. I feel better than ever. I started exercising whilst also working full time, I’ve been studying at university since 2023 trying to become a paramedic. I have previously been knocked back from the army twice. I have applied again and of course, been knocked again. I constantly kick myself for ever agreeing to go to the paed as this situation would never have been an issue. I have made the decision to appeal and have seen a psychologist. She says that I shouldn’t have ever been put on medication especially at 16 y/o and that the certain type of antidepressant is not approved for anyone under 18 y/o. (Australia) my main questions are: - what are my chances of a successful appeal - what is some strong evidence to chuck into my appeal Thankyou for taking the time to read my post. Kade.

Guest_60121912 Please help
  • replies: 1

Please help. My son recently attempted to take his own life (I know that's not the right terminology and for that I'm sorry). It was just days ago. His pain isn't something that will change. He's grieving the loss of his step father, his girlfriend a... View more

Please help. My son recently attempted to take his own life (I know that's not the right terminology and for that I'm sorry). It was just days ago. His pain isn't something that will change. He's grieving the loss of his step father, his girlfriend and him are having issues, his dad and his relationship is strained. I can't change these things and his pain became unbearable. He has done every kind of talk therapy for 5 years about these things and he can't talk about them any more. He says that talking about things makes it worse, they can't be fixed but the pain is clearly crushing him. I have taken leave at work so I can be with him but this is a temporary thing. I can't follow him around forever and just keeping him alive while he's being crushed by pain isn't the answer. Where do we go from here? We've talked to doctors who say more counselling but how if that makes him feel worse??

Guest_64694817 No purpose in life
  • replies: 1

i’m 18 years old. i have no friends. my family acts like they can’t stand me. i’ve graduated high school and struggling to find a job due do my anxiety (not that i want one anyway). i rarely get out of bed unless i have to. i do nothing all day and i... View more

i’m 18 years old. i have no friends. my family acts like they can’t stand me. i’ve graduated high school and struggling to find a job due do my anxiety (not that i want one anyway). i rarely get out of bed unless i have to. i do nothing all day and i genuinely have no direction in life. i feel like collapsing when i see any type of friendships online. i miss having a friend group and i feel like i’m missing out on everything, like life is passing me by. i’m mourning a life that doesn’t exist. i wish i was never born. how is that fair? why do i have to deal with such suffocating thoughts and feelings when i don’t even want to be alive. i’m full of hatred and anger about my past. i’ll never get over it. what’s the point of continuing?

Guest_03848443 Freaking out about maths
  • replies: 1

I’m currently in year 11 and I’m doing maths methods. My first test wasn’t great, but my second was 88% which is really really great in my class. My next test however was 17%I think the reason I scored so low is because there’s nothing I hate more in... View more

I’m currently in year 11 and I’m doing maths methods. My first test wasn’t great, but my second was 88% which is really really great in my class. My next test however was 17%I think the reason I scored so low is because there’s nothing I hate more in the world than maths methods. Every moment in that classroom feels like hell. I literally dread sitting down to do my maths homework. I think to myself, maybe maths just isn’t for me? But then I also wonder that maybe the reason I’m doing so badly is because I’m not putting the effort in. It’s true, I could be studying a lot more, but I cannot bring myself to do it.I am resitting the test I got 17% on this week and I have a SAC on the same topic too. I’ve fallen so behind I wonder if it’s even worth studying because there’s no way I’m going to pass either of them. I’m feeling so anxious and I don’t know what to do or how to study for it. I don’t know if my teacher would be very pleased with me if I come up to her and tell her there’s no point in my resitting the test I failed because I’m not going to do any better.

izzy My 16 year old struggles
  • replies: 2

I’m not really sure what i’m meant to write, this is my first time going to a place like this and talking about it, but it seems to help everyone else. Im in year 11, which has a lot of work and exams and stress… which doesn’t help anything! But i’m ... View more

I’m not really sure what i’m meant to write, this is my first time going to a place like this and talking about it, but it seems to help everyone else. Im in year 11, which has a lot of work and exams and stress… which doesn’t help anything! But i’m finding that i have been struggling alot, i just feel tired, i feel drained, i’ve had enough, i’m sitting at lunch while everyone is laughing and just don’t have it in me to join them.. i’m not sure what’s going on but i’m not hungry and i just want to sleep. My step grandma is fighting with cancer and only have about a week left, which has a huge toll on everyone.. but my actual grandma died of cancer when i was 8, so it’s flushing everything back. I’m just not sure what to do or how to deal with it, I also got kicked out of my friend group which is now bullying me at school, my new friend group is still settling in with me and it’s really hard. As well as loosing my boyfriend of almost a year who was so special to meAt home my parents are split, so there is some fighting and it always a-bit eh, but lately it seems everyone is yelling at me and everything is my fault, so i want to get away. but at school i have tons of work and i just can’t find a place.I don’t really have anyone to talk to… I told my parent about how i’m feeling and they simply said i don’t know.Its hard to describe how i feel, i may have a good day and then the next i'm just really horrible. this has gone on for about 2 weeks, everything is just dull. It’s like someone just vacuumed everything out and i’m just empty. I had a huge cry over the tiniest thing the other day which i thought would help. i hope some one understand what i’m feeling.. i don’t know how to finish this but i’m just tierd.

Edawge I have suddenly lost all of my motivation and most of my emotions.
  • replies: 3

Hello, (this is my first post) recently i have just suddenly lost all of my motivation. I have 3 critical assesments due very soon and i just cant bring myself to do them. i could easily finish one of them in about 2 hours but i just cant do it. im g... View more

Hello, (this is my first post) recently i have just suddenly lost all of my motivation. I have 3 critical assesments due very soon and i just cant bring myself to do them. i could easily finish one of them in about 2 hours but i just cant do it. im going to fail them but im not stressed at all? i have always been stressed when im doing assesments but recently i just lost my stress. I have hereditary anxiety but i have been on a 50mg a day dose of antidepressant/SSRI for the past 2 years and it has been working great until now. Without antidepressant/SSRI im extremely irratable (i used to get in a fight if a kid called me a name more than twice) and i cant control impulsive thoughts that enter my head, i also self harmed but i dont do that anymore. Im thinking i should go to a therapist or something but im not sure. Sorry if this is a bit all over the place but as you might of gathered, im not in the best of mental spaces.

Laney-BB1234 friends and school
  • replies: 1

ok so basically i have a friend (lets call her v) she is my best friend of like 4 years now. initially we were a trio with this other girl, but she moved schools recently. it hit us both rlly hard, but her especially. since then, i've joined a group ... View more

ok so basically i have a friend (lets call her v) she is my best friend of like 4 years now. initially we were a trio with this other girl, but she moved schools recently. it hit us both rlly hard, but her especially. since then, i've joined a group of ppl that im friends with and she followed suit. these ppl are rlly kind, friendly and like us both a lot. thing is there a lot closer to me than her. recently my friend broke down saying she felt rlly alone since our old friend left and since i'm hanging out with these ppl more than her. she doesn't rlly have other friends. she told me she was gonna try and find some other friends (since she doesnt rlly like my friends a lot) but so far there's been no success. and look, she means more to me than those other friends but i like them a lot too and i dont wanna leave them. i told them about how she was feeling (she told me i could) and they were like 'tbh we like her but we've rlly only tolerated her this long cause she's your friend' (v doesnt know about this btw) v has since said she wont be sitting with us and it sucks, since without her i'll always feel like a bit of an outsider compared to them, and since shes my best friend. and look ive supported her a lot but in all honesty i think shes being dramatic, although i understand i dont own her and she can sit with whoever she likes. anyways, i wanted to ask if there's anything i should do? or should i just let her leave? idk someone help pls.

lemon-lexy im 13 and i am so close to just ending it bc of school
  • replies: 1

i am in the 8th grade and i already just want to leave i have changed schools and everything and i really just want to leave. I am constantly skipping class, skipping school, injuring myself on purpose to get out of school ect. I am constantly beggin... View more

i am in the 8th grade and i already just want to leave i have changed schools and everything and i really just want to leave. I am constantly skipping class, skipping school, injuring myself on purpose to get out of school ect. I am constantly begging my dad to let me homeschool. The 2 week holidays are almost over and i don't want to go back considering the fact that i had the most embarrassing thing of my life happened right on the last week of term one. A girl got on my friends nerves and her and my friend got in a fight, i went to separate them and the girl who is infamously weird dislocated my knee and i have not been back since so i am soooo scared.

Guest_16153177 Moving interstate at 17
  • replies: 1

Hi, I’ve been searching and trying to figure out if it is legal or if there was restrictions on a person under 17 being able to move interstate alone without parental consent or knowledge. I already have a plan on getting money and a way to move, I j... View more

Hi, I’ve been searching and trying to figure out if it is legal or if there was restrictions on a person under 17 being able to move interstate alone without parental consent or knowledge. I already have a plan on getting money and a way to move, I just need an answer to give reassurance on if I should move or not.