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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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Andon How do i deal with my Anxiety??
  • replies: 5

Okay, so I haven't yet been diagnosed with Anxiety, however I'm more than positive that I have It, and multiple types as well. For the past 12-24 months I've been having extremely bad panic attacks (mostly when I'm playing basketball) and I don't kno... View more

Okay, so I haven't yet been diagnosed with Anxiety, however I'm more than positive that I have It, and multiple types as well. For the past 12-24 months I've been having extremely bad panic attacks (mostly when I'm playing basketball) and I don't know how I can prevent them... I've tried the whole slow deep breathing thing and nothing seems to be working. I always have self doubt, like I'm not doing anything right and that I'm letting everyone down (mainly my parents and other family members). I just really need some advice on how I can manage my anxiety and ways so that I don't have these severe panic attacks all the time. Honestly I've tried so much so anything would be helpful... PLEASE!

VeeTee Another anxiety problem or is this normal?
  • replies: 1

So, I've had Social Anxiety since year 6. I'm now in year 11. I thought I should add this in - just in case. Recently I've been noticing that I do some "abnormal" stuff - to me at least. - Context - With my social anxiety, most of the time I don't ar... View more

So, I've had Social Anxiety since year 6. I'm now in year 11. I thought I should add this in - just in case. Recently I've been noticing that I do some "abnormal" stuff - to me at least. - Context - With my social anxiety, most of the time I don't argue or try to justify my actions. Even if I feel my actions were 100% correct. Most of the time when i'm being told off by anyone (including my friends that i'm not extremely close with - not in a mean way, just to help me) - I will get extremely scared (They must hate me now, I'm done for, etc.) and I'll end up agreeing with that they're saying (yea, i know, yea, sorry...). This however, I think comes out as me being a bit "obnoxious". I had to cut out the story because there is a character limit. Basically I have a new teacher teaching my class. She makes us do a group task. I'm forced to go with "bad" people. That is, people the teacher constantly tells off - They're not bad people, I meant bad in the teachers view (noisy and all). There is a misunderstanding and she thinks I freeloaded the whole class (1 hr+) and she goes crazy on me. I've never had a teacher shout at me in my life. Being me, I end up panicking and agreeing to everything - sounding obnoxious along the way. She makes me do something that scares me heaps because it involves debating alone in front of a class. - Problem - I usually think about stuff in the future and get sad/scared. Crying myself to sleep and all. With what happened - forced to debate alone and having a teacher hate me (I think) in the subject I excelled in - caused me to worry a lot. I started thinking about scenarios and I would "blank" out. Once I finish blanking out, I would realize that my heart would beat fast and I would feel "oxygen high"/"adrenaline high". Oxygen high being, when you breathe in and out fast you feel weird. Sorry, I don't know what it's called. Till now and still going, I would blank out and have scenarios in my head where i'm extremely sad/angry - distressed - and sometimes I would feel like crying, and sometimes I would get "oxygen high". My mum thinks i'm ignoring her, and I feel bad. I don't want to ignore her, but I can't stop blanking out. In class, I blank out and in and out. It's a cycle. Is this a thing? Is this known as something? Did my social anxiety stem to other problems? I've looked into panic attacks, but I don't think that's what it is. Any help would be lovely, thanks so much!

Jackson1994 Career pressure
  • replies: 6

I can't deal with this pressure from my step dad about what I want to do anymore!! I don't know!! And I'm sick of it. The fact that I don't know is what is ruining me the most but then his added pressure is just making this worse! It's as if I don't ... View more

I can't deal with this pressure from my step dad about what I want to do anymore!! I don't know!! And I'm sick of it. The fact that I don't know is what is ruining me the most but then his added pressure is just making this worse! It's as if I don't already know that I need to find something, he doesn't have to tell me that. Stop asking me if I've applied for uni I haven't because i don't know what to do!!

solaris helping a friend through depression
  • replies: 5

i've recently made a new friend, we've been talking to each other for about 3 weeks and he has recently opened up about his depression and i really wanna know how i can help him and what a could do for him. he told me he feels like he's just 'wasting... View more

i've recently made a new friend, we've been talking to each other for about 3 weeks and he has recently opened up about his depression and i really wanna know how i can help him and what a could do for him. he told me he feels like he's just 'wasting away' and i'm not sure how i can help, i wanna be there for him but sometimes i really just don't know. I've started to develop feelings for him so i really care about him and i don't want him to hurt himself, i wanna be able to help him through this.

solaris i have a bf but i also like this other guy
  • replies: 3

so i have a boyfriend and we've only been dating for 9 weeks or so and over the past week I've realised i like this other guy and I'm stressing out cause i don't know what to do. i think i wanna break up with my boyfriend but i don't know how to. als... View more

so i have a boyfriend and we've only been dating for 9 weeks or so and over the past week I've realised i like this other guy and I'm stressing out cause i don't know what to do. i think i wanna break up with my boyfriend but i don't know how to. also I'm new to this and i would really just like some help

wilfredpickles I can't decide whether travelling is going to be good for me
  • replies: 4

Last year during my worst period of depression and anxiety a new acquaintance invited me to travel with him and a mutual friend, and now our departure date is weeks away. I said yes, but the thought of the trip never really excited me; I'd been to al... View more

Last year during my worst period of depression and anxiety a new acquaintance invited me to travel with him and a mutual friend, and now our departure date is weeks away. I said yes, but the thought of the trip never really excited me; I'd been to all of the destinations before. I sat through the planning stage and was always the last to contribute ideas, or pay deposits, figuring my enthusiasm would come later. But it didn't. If I'm honest, I said yes not to have something to look forward to, but something that I had to keep being alive to do; an obligation. Later on, the mutual friend's father became sick. It looked like he might not go and I felt trapped. If i cancelled now, the acquaintance would be stuck unable to go at all (the friend has since decided to go). And so I've suffered in silence until recently, when I began to explore the option of cancelling. If I were to cancel, I'd get about half of the money I've spent back, which is a little over a third of what the trip would cost if i were to go. The costs for the other two people wouldn't change. My biggest problems are that if I go, I'm not sure that anyone will enjoy themselves as much given that everyone is now aware of how I feel. My friends have said that they only want me there if I want to be there. At the same time, if I cancel I'm worried about the embarrassment I'll feel when explaining to people why I cancelled (my family, for eg, stigmatise mental illness a lot). I've always felt that I didn't want to go on this trip, and the thought of doing so has caused my mental health to take a turn for the worse again. Cancelling has become unexpectedly possible, and I'm relieved about it, but part of me is still reluctant to do so for some reason. I'm fine with the amount of money I'd lose by cancelling, but the thought of spending even more on this trip bothers me when I'm not passionate about it and I don't want to lose all of my savings. I just feel like I'm going to face pressure either way and can't decide what to do.

bornto_ I have depression, avoidant personality disorder, selective mutism and i need help
  • replies: 3

Hello, here is a backstory so readers have some understanding of my situation. When i started high school my 2 best friends left me and this put me into a deep hole of depression. In year 5 i was terrified of going to high school, i broke down in tea... View more

Hello, here is a backstory so readers have some understanding of my situation. When i started high school my 2 best friends left me and this put me into a deep hole of depression. In year 5 i was terrified of going to high school, i broke down in tears thinking about moving to high school. I had 2 best friends that were coming with me to the same high school so i was reasurred that i would have them. The first day of high school was good, my freinds were there for me and everything was normal but over the next 2 days things started to get bad. They started to ignore me and leave me out of stuff and the next day one of them outright told me to go away. This started my depression, avoidant personality disorder and selective mutism. After that happened i would sit by myself away from people in recess and lunch. I began being silent, i wouldnt speak to anyone especially the students, if i had to i would speak to the teacher. People ignored me, even the teachers, i feel invisible, non-existent and nobody cares about me. I am currently in year 10 and nothing has changed. I have not left my house for 2 years except to go to school. I take days off school because of how depessed i feel, i hate going to school just to be ignored. I have no one to talk to except my family and i havent told them about my depression and other issues becasue im scared it will ruin our relationship, but im sure that my close family members can tell because i dont leave the house except to go to school. One person did often come sit next to me in recess and lunch over 5 months and i built some what of a relationship with them. I trusted this person enough to send them a message opening up about everything and they never talked or messaged me for 3 weeks after that, all it would have took was for them to ask me if i was ok or to show that they cared. I dont know what to do anymore, i need help but i dont know where to get it. I dont want to speak to a school councellor because being at school gives me anxiety and i cant open up at school. I just want to be confident again and be able to do whatever without feeling judged for everything i do, because its having an impact on my education. I dont want to care about what other people think of me, and i want to live my life to the fullest but theses issues are restricting me so much and its impossible to change anything by myself.

bellaxj Hiya
  • replies: 3

Hi, I'm new here xD

Hi, I'm new here xD

eth93 Choosing between what you love and who you love..
  • replies: 5

I feel a tad bad for posting this on here as it is probably kind of trivial. It’s just something that has been on my mind for quite some time now. I’m having trouble choosing where I am going in life career wise. I was always brought up to chase your... View more

I feel a tad bad for posting this on here as it is probably kind of trivial. It’s just something that has been on my mind for quite some time now. I’m having trouble choosing where I am going in life career wise. I was always brought up to chase your passions and not money. And that its much better to live a poor life doing something you love, then to live a rich life doing something you hate. But.. Incomes my mother. She raised us five children as a single parent. Working crappy odd jobs to put food on our table and a roof over our head. This means that we never really had much money, and still to this day she lives pay check to pay check. I’m the middle child, but for whatever reason I have taken on the role of the protector. I feel it is up to me to protect and support her. Not so much nowadays but in ten or so years when she is just to old to continue working. I know for a fact that I currently have more money sitting in my super account then she does. And I am forever hearing just how hard it is to survive on the old age pension, especially when you don’t own your own home. So here I am. Stuck between doing something I love, or chasing the money. I know exactly what my mum would say. But I can’t help but think that it is my duty to look after her and to give her the life that she really deserves.

that_crazy_araneologist Newbie here, excited to make friends!
  • replies: 10

I've posted on other forums before, but I get a little anxious and tend to procrastinate going back....but this one, I'm going to try a little harder so, I should start with a few things about myself, I guess....I have anxiety and on/off depression, ... View more

I've posted on other forums before, but I get a little anxious and tend to procrastinate going back....but this one, I'm going to try a little harder so, I should start with a few things about myself, I guess....I have anxiety and on/off depression, but I'm finding new ways to manage it that suit me better than cognitive therapy or medication. Idk, I'm just like that....I learn in a very specific way, just like my dad, by pulling something apart and putting it back together piece by piece to understand it, rather than read the manual or tutorial. I think that's what I've started doing with myself, and it feels much better as you may have guessed by my user, I am an avid lover of all things spider related! I really enjoy studying spiders and watching them (I considered capturing a few, but then I realised the information I am looking for won't come from a synthetic environment, so I just quietly watch them outside now, sometimes for hours XD but that's okay, I love to be outdoors) I used to be a literal arachnophobe, but I am not one to view people or things from only one perspective, so i applied that to my phobia and started catching glimpses of a world that I never saw before....and I was hooked from there I think I have discovered a lot about spirituality and the effect of thoughts which you project in my studies as well, something I never imagined I would say. I try to explain to my terrified mother my exciting discovery, but she doesn't want to hear XD fair enough, I've been her before hahaha. I wish I could share with more frightened people the things I have found....I won't go into it too much here, because well, I will go over the word limit hehehe....but I will say, I trust this ideology so much so, that I will let white-tailed spiders crawl on me everyone is calling me nuts, but they don't see, not like I do. Or feel I guess I should say ANYWAY. I am really really looking for new friends which I can relate to. I'm extremely introverted, I almost prefer silence than talking, and I spend a lot of time in my head....not ofteh overthinking, more doing a heck of a lot of creative thought. I also think about prehistory and connect dots a lot. But that's beside the point, i mean to say I do really want friends that don't mind the inevitable awkwardness....idk, shoot me a reply if I haven't already put you off XD