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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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ND27 Im depressed, no moitvation, have no idea how to get back up from this down fall - please help
  • replies: 3

So a few weeks ago i started getting really depressed. Im on medication - i think it made things worse because my anxiety feels worse and my depression is worse. I lost all my motivation and it doesn't matter how much i try to do small goals, it does... View more

So a few weeks ago i started getting really depressed. Im on medication - i think it made things worse because my anxiety feels worse and my depression is worse. I lost all my motivation and it doesn't matter how much i try to do small goals, it doesn't make me feel better or want to improve my situation. I have no idea how to make it better. I think i became more depressed because i had been trying multiple things to become happier. There has been a lot of things thats happened in my life that has made me negative. So was trying to make life better. I have tried hobbies., getting out of my comfort zone, putting effort in everything i do, exercising, therapy, being more social. Just a load of different things to increase my life. Unfortunately everything ive tried has not worked. I am reading a book though on the happiness trap because i feel i am trying to push happiness. I guess im just worried - will i ever be happy and be able to move forward with my life. I just feel like im going in circles and im not getting any better. im just getting more and more frustrated as im seeing the same results. Im trying to be more satisfied in life and find joy in the little things but everything just makes me so unhappy. where i am in life. what im doing. it just sucks. I am (working on my goals to be in a career i love while working to get money for it)

Bec_98 Scared of war, apocalypse, doomsday, death...
  • replies: 13

Hi everyone, I'm new here. I'm 18/19 and have had depression, anxiety & OCD for a few years now, but for the past year or two I've been doing quite well... up until recently. When all the news about the North Korea situation started surfacing a month... View more

Hi everyone, I'm new here. I'm 18/19 and have had depression, anxiety & OCD for a few years now, but for the past year or two I've been doing quite well... up until recently. When all the news about the North Korea situation started surfacing a month or so ago I found a video basically simulating and explaining what would happen to the world if nuclear war broke out (including the 'nuclear winter' theory) and from then on I was terrified of nuclear war/WW3 breaking out. Every time I thought about it or saw the latest news headlines relating to it I would get very anxious, scared and would cry. This continued on and off for a few weeks and then progressed to thinking up scenarios of other disasters such as an apocalypse/doomsday, economic breakdown, worldwide disease outbreak etc and a general fear of dying, the afterlife (or lack thereof), being in a crisis without my parents or boyfriend with me and dying without them...the list goes on. The smallest things seem to trigger my fear/anxiety and I find it difficult to 'not think about it'. Sometimes I can think logically and tell myself that certain things won't happen for certain reasons, but then my anxiety kicks in and says 'but what if it did?' or 'but what if this happened?' and I get upset again. When I'm not scared, I just feel depressed and have the feeling of impending doom. It's very difficult to go about my daily chores and carry out my home business duties and I have been avoiding social activities at the fear of having a breakdown in front of people. It's very hard to get to sleep at night and have spent a lot of nights sharing the bed with my mum for company/comfort when my boyfriend is unable to come over due to work. I am booked in to see a psychiatrist next week and my mum and I are looking into doing some meditation/yoga together, but I recently discovered NLP and am wondering if this is something I should look at getting as well. I have considered going back on medication but would prefer not to rely on medication, although I am starting to think I may need it. Is anyone else here struggling or has struggled with similar fears/anxiety? Is there a name for these feeling & fears? What have you found to help? Could anyone offer some wisdom on the subjects concerning me? It took a lot of courage for me to post this so publicly (even if anonymously) and I would greatly appreciate any replies. Thankyou

exhubrantzebra55 Managing my mental health and caring for my girlfriend's
  • replies: 2

I'm in my early 20s and live with my girlfriend who is a year younger than me. I went through very difficult/dark time in my life leading up to when we met, but had my life turned around by her. I finally got a few therapy sessions and learnt a lot a... View more

I'm in my early 20s and live with my girlfriend who is a year younger than me. I went through very difficult/dark time in my life leading up to when we met, but had my life turned around by her. I finally got a few therapy sessions and learnt a lot about myself, I've felt like myself again in recent times .It hasn't been an easy past few weeks, with the news of Linkin Park's lead singer Chester Bennington passing away i've been in a bit of an emotionally sensitive place and still finding it hard to come to terms with, especially as it reminds me of what it would like to lose the ones I love to depression. My girlfriend has been living with depression most of her years since her early teens, she used to self harm.. She stopped 3 years before I met her, and hasn't relapsed since.. Which I am so proud of her for.. It's been really hard for her recently.. Her workplace is negative and really drains her, they keep expecting way too much of her for little pay and it's grating at her. Everthing is stressing her out, she has no motivation to leave the house and get groceries after work even we're running out on a day i'm working a night shift, or look for a new job. The smallest things can really affect her and i'm trying to be more sensitive to it as we go on. For example there was a scribble on our kitchen whiteboard I did when i was drunk one night "you're my happy place when i don't feel alright".. I had some negative associations with it because It reminded me of a bad headspace, I tried to rub it out a month or so ago and she said no please don't and that she liked it. Then yesterday I rubbed it off cause it was getting smudged and I wanted to clean it up nicely.. But she saw and started balling her eyes out... I didn't realise how much sentimental value it had to her.. I just thought she thought it was cute. She then hid under her blankets and wouldn't pay attention to me at all, it took about 20mins before we properly talked about it. It happens often, we're about to go out and do something that isn't fun like shopping or laundry and she kind of breaks down and can't deal with anything.. Usually this is at a point where dinner becomes really late if we don't go and do the shopping straight away. I wanna help support her more....

Chickyb Growing apart from my mum
  • replies: 4

My mum and I used to be very close. I told her everything, she knew everything about me and she even used my Facebook (probably not the best idea now I look back). Everyone was jealous of our relationship, it was so supportive and easy. My mother fou... View more

My mum and I used to be very close. I told her everything, she knew everything about me and she even used my Facebook (probably not the best idea now I look back). Everyone was jealous of our relationship, it was so supportive and easy. My mother found out that she had be diagnosed with a health issue. At this same time I had started seeing someone and was spending less time with mum and more time with him. I tried to support her how I could but I think she felt like I abondend her and didn't bother to include me in her appointments, information on the disease etc. It's been 2 years and we hardly speak, she is very blunt and never wants to include me yet she stated that I forgot about her and left her. I have struggled with depression since and I hate coming home as it's awkward and reminds me of our crumbled relationship. She cries and blames me and no matter what I say it's never good enough. Am I just growing up? Is this normal? The relationship issue is still effecting my mental state so much that I am putting things off, sleeping through the day due to overthinking and feeling guilty when I am not at home or in her sight. Its getting to much and I'm beginning to feel feelings of resent towards her however I want to support her through her health issue. I don't know what to do I'm honestly just drained, flat and feeling worthless.

Tegan1997 where to seek help?
  • replies: 2

im 20, im a young mum of a 3 year old boy and a 6 month old daughter. i was engaged but as of last night, he gave up on me. he couldnt deal with my out of control mood swings and my lack of motivation, my constant fear and inability to leave the hous... View more

im 20, im a young mum of a 3 year old boy and a 6 month old daughter. i was engaged but as of last night, he gave up on me. he couldnt deal with my out of control mood swings and my lack of motivation, my constant fear and inability to leave the house, the fact that everyday just getting out of bed seems like a struggle. ive had depression/anxiety most of my teenage life. id been on meds since i was 12 and stopped taking them when i fell pregnant at 17. problem is it feels so much worse than how it used to feel. it feels so much more suffocating. my ex told me if i couldnt figure out what was wrong and get help for it, he was having my kids taken from me because im not stable enough to deal with them. he thinks i have bipolar or borderline personality disorder. where would i go to have checks done for that kind of stuff? can a doctor diagnose it? will they take my kids if i am diagnosed with it? how would i go about going to the doctors when leaving the house causes anxiety attacks? what do i say to them about it? im confused, im scared and now that my partner has broken up with me im also alone. i have finally pushed everyone in my life away because of my twisted mind. the one thing i was trying to prevent was the one thing that ended up happening. i cant keep allowing it to happen and ill be damned if i let him take away my children.

Mini_Anonymous I suppose this is an introduction
  • replies: 2

I really needed somewhere to go to right now, I don't really know why. Ok, so some context: I'm in year 12 at high school and have recently been diagnosed with depression and anxiety, even though I believe that I've had at least depression for a whil... View more

I really needed somewhere to go to right now, I don't really know why. Ok, so some context: I'm in year 12 at high school and have recently been diagnosed with depression and anxiety, even though I believe that I've had at least depression for a while now. I grew up with my mother having custody over me, although I live with my father now. She was... mentally unstable, as in she would constantly see people following her and spying on her. One very memorable drama lesson she called me claiming that someone was pumping toxic gas underneath the door of the unit, and was asking me what she should do, stuff along those lines. On top of that, she was majorly into a religion called Brama Kumaris, that's main doctrine is all about this rapture-like apocalypse that was going to happen "very soon"right up until I was 14 or so, so I grew up believing that nothing I did would matter because the end of the world was coming. But that's all water under the bridge now, I've moved away from my mum. Depressed Rant incoming: I guess I want to make this post to try and get some help. I don't even know if I want help. I feel so helpless all of the time to do anything and that majorly affecting my school life. I don't know how to do something, but I feel so anxious asking my teachers for help so it won't get done. I feel like I can't get extensions because I don't deserve it.I don't think I deserve anything. Sometimes I wonder why I'm even depressed. I have an amazing father, a great best friend, a supportive group of friends, and I live in a middle class environment. I should have everything I want so why aren't I happy? I feel like I don't deserve to be depressed or to have anxiety, because everything is great now. People tell me not to blame myself, but it's hard not to when everyone holds you accountable for being depressed. I have 3 assignments due in tomorrow and I have no idea what I'm doing on any of them. I was just staring at my math assignment for hours. I heard my dad say "sweetie, don't waste your life". I don't want to waste my life. I want to be motivated and I want to be able to work. I want to make my father proud, as cliched as it sounds. But as many plans that I make to get it done, I just can't. Or maybe I won't. Maybe I want everyone to pity me, so I can make it though life easier. I don't really know anymore

Jezza53 Can't figure out how to live a content life with depression and anxiety
  • replies: 1

G'day guys, Firstly just some context for what may follow - I'm 25, work full time as a panel beater, been in a relationship for 4 years, currently renting, have a reasonably stable life. But. I'm not happy. I realise that happiness is more of a noun... View more

G'day guys, Firstly just some context for what may follow - I'm 25, work full time as a panel beater, been in a relationship for 4 years, currently renting, have a reasonably stable life. But. I'm not happy. I realise that happiness is more of a noun for fleeting good feelings, it doesn't last but I'm not even content. Although I've only been diagnosed recently, I'm certain I've been suffering with mild to severe depression and anxiety (plus and intermittent panic disorder) for most of my life. I've talked to a isychooogist and taken medication. Mess made me feel horrible and my psychooogust was probably more adept to helping people with a simpler mindset. Thinking about times I was happy and trying to draw on that emotion for current use is not doable my missus is about to leave me because even though she has spent years trying to make me happy, she can't ( Shit I can't make me happy) and she can't do it anymore, she's mentally and physically exhausted by it. She wants to have kids and a family, and she's been more than patient waiting years for me to get my Shit together on deciding whether I'm capable or not. I want to have kids and a family but I feel as though I'm not capable of maintaining consistent moods and energy levels required to deal with the immense stresses that come with the good things in a family life. She has every right to be selfish and find happiness for herself. She has every right to leave and I won't stop her but, that doesn't fix my well being. How is someone with depression and anxiety supposed to find happiness and meaning in existence? The things that make me happy are either immoral or hurt the people around me. I love my missus but that doesn't stop me from wanting to get to know and sleep with other women. I'm a hard worker but I hate that I have to work to exist, not because I wanted to be born, but because my parents wanted a baby. Every time my body and mind screams to do what feels good, to stop work and go home or to have Sex with someone who isn't my missus I have to suppress it and it doesn't make for a happy individual.Look I've got A lot more semi-incoherent rambling but basically I'm sad and lost, can't talk to people I love about the way I feel because it upsets them to. I would love to chat to someone who has felt the way I do about things, because right now I see no other way to live life than as a hard emotionless man holding back constant sadness, unable to do what brings me happiness.

Lucyelyse My fight against anxiety keeping positive
  • replies: 10

Here I sit after 23 years, situated at the base of the kitchen sink, a faint sensation of the cold hard wood floor pressed firmly under my body; my head heavily resting upon the cabinetry staring blankly at the white ceiling, a steady stream of silky... View more

Here I sit after 23 years, situated at the base of the kitchen sink, a faint sensation of the cold hard wood floor pressed firmly under my body; my head heavily resting upon the cabinetry staring blankly at the white ceiling, a steady stream of silky tears rolling down my cheeks as soapy water pools on the floor beside me. I never thought that washing the dishes would lead me to this point, my human casing held together like a shattered windscreen, completely disjointed. Sharing just a glimpse of a short life. Ive lost a friend to suicide, 2 family members suicidal, my best friend attempting her life 3 years go to which I almost lost my job to be there for her. 3mnths of visiting the mental health hospital. 4 different houses in the last year, none I could call home. 1 living in chains, losing everyone over ending a toxic relationship resulting in anxiety; stopped going out fearing the past and those who threatened my existence and diet pills. Next was meant to be a new beginning leaving hardship behind, a fresh start, a new job, new location. Instead, sexual and verbal harassment, added loss of faith in human kind. Another complete isolation, found my love for art again, financially things were tough, shamefully asking my new boss for money to afford my rent. little time working 6 days a wk, studying full-time via distance; I was on the mend.Over 12mnths I lost 6 people 3 of them in 2 mnths 2 diagnosed with cancer another in and out of hospital. He sees me struggling offering reassurance simple words help my fight but make me crumble knowing the substantial pressure on him and us. I have a minimal support network in a clicky suburb. Trying make friends challenging myself. Yet I find myself six months having made no progress. I am still that support beam, that person who is easy to talk to, the one for advice but never anything more or anything further. Here I sit 4 hours later, situated at the base of the kitchen sink, If I gave up I would not have meet my partner who has fought every step with me, helping me bring me to life. I love my life, the negative and positive experiences for without them I would not be the person I am today, I would not have the strength and the motivation to keep my fight up against my anxiety, dragging myself out of bed knowing someone might need a person to simply ask them 'are you okay?'. I close my eyes take a deep breath and whisper to myself ‘it is time to get up and continue through what will be a magnificent day’.

crazycatlady13 I don't know what to do anymore...
  • replies: 5

I'm a 22yo university graduate and over the past year I've been looking for jobs but have had no luck. I've recently been placed into Work for the Dole and it has made me even more depressed than before. I feel odd in the placement, most people aren'... View more

I'm a 22yo university graduate and over the past year I've been looking for jobs but have had no luck. I've recently been placed into Work for the Dole and it has made me even more depressed than before. I feel odd in the placement, most people aren't approachable to me but I've managed to befriend a person who is the same age and situation as me. I had a guy who I do not know just come up to me and asked if I had a boyfriend and it was that moment where I realised I had to get out of this. When I got home, I completely lost motivation and interest in anything. I understand that people cannot live on welfare and do nothing forever, it's just that I could have avoided all this if I've been able to get at least a part time job. I need a job so I can finally get off Centrelink and stop visiting those helpless job recruitment agencies! BUT, getting a job is easier said than done. I also have social anxiety and do terribly in job interviews. Most jobs require constant interaction and I'm so introverted that I feel like I'm not a good candidate for any job! I actually had a job interview today in my field of study but I feel like I won't get the offer. Right now I am desperately looking for any part time job, whether it be retail or admin, just so I can get off work for the dole. Finding retail jobs are hard as it is for someone over 21. I don't have any connections or networks to help me. All my family who own businesses live really far interstate. The amount of experience I have is not that much as I never had a casual job when I was in my teens. What can I do? Seeking professional help is expensive and I can't really afford it at the moment.

dizzy_dreamer Just wanting to let it all out
  • replies: 2

Hi, I'm just really needing to vent. I'm an 18 year old mother of a 2 year old and 21 weeks pregnant. I've had counselling and I've been hospitalised more than once. I've been medicated. Nothing helps. My house is a literal prison. I'm here 24/7. I c... View more

Hi, I'm just really needing to vent. I'm an 18 year old mother of a 2 year old and 21 weeks pregnant. I've had counselling and I've been hospitalised more than once. I've been medicated. Nothing helps. My house is a literal prison. I'm here 24/7. I can't leave my house, most of the time I can't even go get the mail. I'm living in constant terror. My offical diagnosis is is BPD and it's just gotten worse. I can't be normal. I can't drive or even get a car, I can't go out to get groceries, I can't work or study. I barely eat or take care of myself and I have nightmares every night. My first pregnancy has left me severely overweight and with the way my body works it's been impossible to lose any of it in a healthy way. I barely have friends and the friendships I do have I struggle with. Most of the time I'm on autopilot, tending to my child's needs. I feel so agitated and sad all the time. I look at people around me and I feel genuine hate for them. Everyone seems so happy and they're all better than me. They all have cars, friends, they're in uni or they have jobs, they are attractive, they get to go out all the time. Everyone else is happy. all I want is that for myself but I feel like I'll never have it.