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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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Jamie C. Need friends
  • replies: 1

I know this might sound pathetic to some people, but I really just signed up for this website to find friends my age dealing with similar issues. I am fourteen (turning fifteen on the 27th) and I barely have any friends in and out of school, I have o... View more

I know this might sound pathetic to some people, but I really just signed up for this website to find friends my age dealing with similar issues. I am fourteen (turning fifteen on the 27th) and I barely have any friends in and out of school, I have one really close friend, but she lives so far away so I only ever see her at school. I have been having a tough time recently, dealing with bulimia (vomiting up to two or three ti) and I've been fighting with my dad, I have trouble telling people close to me because I don't want them to worry. I was wondering if anyone else was dealing with

tombraider Difficulty meeting potential friends outside school
  • replies: 3

This is my first post on here. I recently turned sixteen and attend distance education as of this year after my anxiety and depression kept me from attending regular school. I'm much happier in distance education, but it's not exactly conducive to fo... View more

This is my first post on here. I recently turned sixteen and attend distance education as of this year after my anxiety and depression kept me from attending regular school. I'm much happier in distance education, but it's not exactly conducive to forming friendships and I'm feeling more and more isolated and lonely. My family is mostly very supportive and I have retained a few close friends from my previous school - but I feel that I'm always the one initiating the conversations, and as my closest friend (and crush) has very similar and severe issues, I feel bad asking her to hang out all the time, both because I don't want to put pressure on her and because I feel that she doesn't enjoy my company. I've considered joining groups in my city - bookclubs and that sort of thing - but they all seem to be composed of people far older than me. When I was admitted to psychiatric care last year after my anxiety stopped me from going to school for quite a while, I made several friends and even dated a fellow patient for a while, though we're no longer together. That sort of solidarity was so important to me that at one point, I didn't want to go home. I suppose I'm asking how people my age make and keep friends outside school. If anyone has any suggestions, I'd love to hear them.

tashaann_ Hi Everyone!
  • replies: 13

Hi everyone! This is even making me nervous just trying to write about myself.. I'm Tasha, I am 21 years old and have been suffering from extreme anxiety and panic attacks since I was 13 years old. I am joining this forum as I feel so alone sometimes... View more

Hi everyone! This is even making me nervous just trying to write about myself.. I'm Tasha, I am 21 years old and have been suffering from extreme anxiety and panic attacks since I was 13 years old. I am joining this forum as I feel so alone sometimes and my anxiety has took a turn for the worst recently and I feel like I need to share my experience with others who understand me. I am currently engaged to a very understanding partner and studying business at college(struggling) but cannot cope with face to face interactions, have not been able to find myself work and meet many new friends. Would love to chat to people who understand me!

Nikkie345 Anxiety ruining my relationship
  • replies: 3

I have been with my boyfriend for 6 months and he is amazing in every way and I adore him but for some reason my anxiety is making me question everything. It's making me think I don't want to be with him when I really do. I don't know what to do abou... View more

I have been with my boyfriend for 6 months and he is amazing in every way and I adore him but for some reason my anxiety is making me question everything. It's making me think I don't want to be with him when I really do. I don't know what to do about this and it's making every day a nightmare. I couldn't imagine my life without him and don't know how to make these thoughts stop

Shas Murdered friend and work absenteeism
  • replies: 3

Hi all, Firstly, I suffer from ptsd and depression. Two and a half weeks ago I found out a family friend was murdered and it brought much shock to me. He was like an uncle and cared for me and my family. I work a fair bit as a casual, but since that ... View more

Hi all, Firstly, I suffer from ptsd and depression. Two and a half weeks ago I found out a family friend was murdered and it brought much shock to me. He was like an uncle and cared for me and my family. I work a fair bit as a casual, but since that incident I've started to slip from work, cancelling my shifts which I've never done before. My job is not easy, I sometimes deal with rude clients who makes me feel awful. My bosses will offer a lot of work and Ive been declining all of them which is not like me at all and I feel terrible that they may not give me shifts anymore. I feel like I'm relapsing into depression again. Thank you for taking the time to read this. I just wanted to get this off my heart.

kebsong i have an imaginary friend
  • replies: 16

hi, so this is my first post/thing/whatever and i don't know what to say or do, so please forgive me for being awkward. i also do not know where to put this so .... i have a pretend friend. i know she's not real. everyone involved in my life thinks s... View more

hi, so this is my first post/thing/whatever and i don't know what to say or do, so please forgive me for being awkward. i also do not know where to put this so .... i have a pretend friend. i know she's not real. everyone involved in my life thinks she is. i have this whole story i've made up about this person; i've made up how we met, how we still talk on a frequent basis, what her personality is, what she looks like, etc, etc. it's gotten to a point where i've forgotten on certain occasions that she wasn't real - where i'd go to my contacts and wonder for a minute why her name isn't there. it didn't start out weirdly; i've always like spinning stories of people that i make up. it's something i do to keep myself in check, kind of like forced daydreaming. i've been doing this since i was a kid. but whereas i abandon the other 'stories' and make new ones, i've found myself building onto this one and making it feel real. i am still in school and i am diagnosed (unofficially, but professionally) to have minor social anxiety and minor depression. my anxiety comes in the form of me being loud and talkative out of fear of silent judgement. i have lied and exaggerated repeatedly to my 'friends' - to the point where i had almost tore a friendship apart. i feel like i'm finally losing my plot. my relationships with real people are crumbling amazingly fast and i'm clinging to a piece of my imagination. i just need to forget my 'friend' but i don't know how and i just need someone to tell me i'm not going insane

PrincessMilktea Becoming emotionally numb...
  • replies: 24

I'm beginning to lose my emotions, or at least, the intensity of my emotions have declined. I have no life passions/motivations and this didn't bother me so much before, but recently after some existential angst/depression (where I've logically concl... View more

I'm beginning to lose my emotions, or at least, the intensity of my emotions have declined. I have no life passions/motivations and this didn't bother me so much before, but recently after some existential angst/depression (where I've logically concluded that life is ultimately meaningless for reasons too long to share here) I've become less and less motivated to continue functioning like normal. I'm currently 17 and I see no point in pursuing a degree in economics anymore (I only chose this subject out of mild interest that isn't deep enough to be called a passion) and now I am more or less going through the motions of this prosaic existence but no longer find myself feeling any satisfaction or even dissatisfaction. Occasionally I get a dull ache in my chest because I find everything is unstimulating/predictable/boring and I have tried therapy, but my therapist doesn't know what to do with me after I explained my reasons for being a nihilist. I believe that my nihilism wouldn't be a problem if I at least had some pleasurable activities I could partake in regularly, but nothing (that I can reasonably do at my age/budget) so far has given me pleasure and I can only assume that drugs/alcohol will help. Obviously I'm aware that this is unhealthy, and so I'm leaning towards something less harmful like antidepressants, however I can't access the prescription and money for this because I don't want my parents to know I'm depressed/anhedonic. Before you advise me to tell them, just know that they are from a somewhat "backwards thinking" culture that doesn't understand mental illness and depression very well, and will probably find it a burden or cause for stress if they have to deal with me. This is not because they don't care, but because they don't understand it and I'd rather not have to placate them when I barely know how to deal with it myself. I also have insomnia, and the last time I tried to explain it to them, it caused me a lot of anxiety and upset because I couldn't communicate to them in a way they could comprehend. I'd be grateful for some advice (and yes I do have a stable social life, I do normal teenage girl things like going to the movies and attending parties, however I'm almost always faking my excitement and honestly feel nauseated from being around other young people. I feel most isolated/lonely when I'm in a crowd as opposed to being alone because I feel like our differing life views just punctuates my social insularity further).

HiddenGirl No Social Media Limiting Friendships
  • replies: 4

Hey guys. Hope you are having a good day. As a teenager who does not have social media, such as instagram or snapchat, I sometimes feel like I miss out on friendships. My current friendship group only talks about school, social media and other people... View more

Hey guys. Hope you are having a good day. As a teenager who does not have social media, such as instagram or snapchat, I sometimes feel like I miss out on friendships. My current friendship group only talks about school, social media and other people, resulting in very limited topics for me to talk to them about. I'm not in the same classes as most of them, so school is a very limited topic. As I said before, I don't have social media, so social media is a no-go. Unfortunately, my friends love to gossip about this particular girl and her friends (they even have an instagram chat about her), but I have nothing against this girl, so once again, nothing to talk about. Last year, every inside joke was about how stupid I was, but after changing classes, I kinda distanced from my current friendship group (as of lack of communication and realisation of my somewhat toxic friendship). Because I couldn't just walk away from a group of friends in high-school (as I'm a coward who's scared of gossip), and because I have no other friends except for some girls who I sit with in class, who have their own friends, I am still friends with this group of friends. But after my attempt at distancing myself, I have resulted in no close friends what so ever. I have lost contact with all friends from primary school, as I have moved states (and have no social media), and I have no current 'close friends'. Back onto the topic of social media, I have noticed that a lot of times I am uninvited to an event as I am not part of an instagram group. Maybe they just don't want to invite me, but I can't help to wonder if I would be invited if i had social media. I also can't help to wonder if I would have more friends with social media, with the possibility to talk about instagram/snapchat. I don't want to get social media just because it is the only way for me to get actual friends. I don't know, maybe this is my 'stupid teenage phase' or something, but I really want to have real friends who aren't so focused on posting aesthetic instagram pictures or streaks. I know that I should be grateful that I at least have friends, but I can't help but be greedy and want sincere friends. Maybe I am doing something wrong when it comes to friendships, but after everyone telling me that 'lifelong friendships begin in high-school', I am extremely worried. Thank-you for taking the time to read my rant. Please help me / tell me if I'm over-reacting.

TheGuyNamedJoseph 22 and Going through some drama (Depressed)
  • replies: 2

Hey there I'm 22 years of age and Im in a sitatuion where I feel helpless so currently, lately I sleep in because atm ive got no purpose, ive told my mum to book in my driivng lessons but she has not done anything about it for months, Everytime I tal... View more

Hey there I'm 22 years of age and Im in a sitatuion where I feel helpless so currently, lately I sleep in because atm ive got no purpose, ive told my mum to book in my driivng lessons but she has not done anything about it for months, Everytime I talk about getting a job she starts baffling on about my medication or she tells me shit and makes me doubt myself. I can't have most jobs becaues I don't have a reliable source of transport (Car) im 22 and getting older and the older I get the more lack of opportunitys I have. I dont feel confident to use public transport because i dont know how to read/understand the bus time table properly (Don't Judge) im still learning the system. I feel trapped its the reason I have depression to be honest. My dad never talks about our problems and than ignores until it gets to the moment and than makes up some excuse. On top of everything my school friends think im making excuses or useless and i feel like i cant be successful coz i feel trapped, I try not to think about things but when ur seeing the world move forward and people getting older u feel like ur still 12 getting your mother to make ur toasted sandwitches... I feel like I wish I wasn't around but im not going to tell my doctors because they will prescribe anti depresssants or something and I don't need meds, I just need to get the ball rolling with my life. This is my last chance for a peace of mind/help Thanks for taking the time to read

the_macadam_nut attraction issues
  • replies: 7

I have "attraction issues" I used to be attracted to girls but an incident occurred It involved in appropriate touching towards me and ever since then I didnt think of myself as normal as I didnt feel attracted to good looking girls I want to be attr... View more

I have "attraction issues" I used to be attracted to girls but an incident occurred It involved in appropriate touching towards me and ever since then I didnt think of myself as normal as I didnt feel attracted to good looking girls I want to be attracted to girls again (I dont see myself as homosexual). I have tried to search of appropiate methods to be attracted to girls but I tried and none of them worked One of them was watching videos of "a nature of some sort" that didnt work. I tried to exercise a lot, eat healthy and obviously I dont smoke or take drugs but that didnt help me to feel attracted to girls again I found a method which I think can make me attracted to girls but that would involve a large sum of money (its a massage of some sort) and I prefer to use cost efficient methods Please help me, this has been occuring for about 3 years and I wanted to have this issue resolved quickly so I can live a "normal" life again

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