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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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lister22 Youth Employment
  • replies: 2

Hi, I'm just reaching out to see if anyone is struggling to get employed and what use might think the factors to this may be. If you do struggle to get employed how does this make you feel?

Hi, I'm just reaching out to see if anyone is struggling to get employed and what use might think the factors to this may be. If you do struggle to get employed how does this make you feel?

stokes06 School and Hypocrisy
  • replies: 1

Hi all,End of year has come around and as many school students know the workload from teachers increases. This year is by far the worst i've had. Im in year 11 and have spent the past 2.5 weeks jacked up with schoolwork and have had 0 time to do any ... View more

Hi all,End of year has come around and as many school students know the workload from teachers increases. This year is by far the worst i've had. Im in year 11 and have spent the past 2.5 weeks jacked up with schoolwork and have had 0 time to do any sort of extracurricular activities. This past week I reckon i've averaged 3 hours of sleep, staying up as late as 4:00am to get my schoolwork done. Whilst I can accept part of this is how school rolls, the part I can't wrap my head around is the absolute hypocrisy my school indulges in. Since 2020 they have flicked a switch and have had an extreme focus on well-being. Twice a week we get sessions on topics ranging from study support and personal wellbeing to mental illness. Around a month ago they brought in a sleep expert who told everyone about how "you must get eight hours of sleep", and "your bedtime shouldn't be past 12:00am" and all that stuff. I cannot fathom why they would bring in a sleep expert and then dump work on students that requires them to stay up until ridiculous hours of the morning to complete. And it's also not like they're oblivious to it, they run surveys as they are "so interested in the students wellbeing" but upon seeing responses like this, the response is always "you need to stop messing around in class" and "your time management must be terrible". Can anyone provide me with some suggestions for the next week as I am torn between getting my schoolwork done and struggling to stay awake and feel good, or prioritise my well-being and fail assignments, with disciplinary action from the school.

rocker12341234 i dont know what to do anymore.
  • replies: 1

ive always struggled with my social development partially cause of constant bullying throughout middle and high school and partially cause my parents have always belittled, degraded and otherwise called me a "worthless pos thatll never amount to anyt... View more

ive always struggled with my social development partially cause of constant bullying throughout middle and high school and partially cause my parents have always belittled, degraded and otherwise called me a "worthless pos thatll never amount to anything" whenever they arent blaming me for everything wrong with thier lives. not to mention daily miscellaneous verbal abuse and occasional physical abuse from my parents over trivial stuff. so i have next to no confidence or trust in people. every time i try to break free and do something to get my life together it seems they find a way to screw it up. i even tried running away years ago before the end of highschool and lived with relatives that werent so toxic for a while but when it came to trying to find employment my parents found out and pretty much made the employment agency i was with find me work near them so id be forced to move back in. fast forward to now, everything hit the fan a couple days ago, cops were involved but since it was father on son and my mother brushing it off as "they just get hot headed" nothing got done. im at my breaking point, and my father despising that he finally messed with the wrong people and almost got dragged away by cops has given me a week. i have no money, no id outside of a bankcard and very outdated student id, no local friends (all live interstate or overseas) and dont know what i can do. part of me is heavily debating running and just taking the homeless plunge cause its gotta be better than here suffering this constant bs but i understand how risky that can be. i just need to get out of the situation and start new but everywhere i look it just looks like a constant state of "you need money to make money"

slugsaredelicious alcohol abuse
  • replies: 5

For the past few years I've been struggling with my mental health and recently I started drinking to stop myself from thinking about what's been going on and so I could be happy but now I can't stop myself. I'm losing friends over this and I hate it ... View more

For the past few years I've been struggling with my mental health and recently I started drinking to stop myself from thinking about what's been going on and so I could be happy but now I can't stop myself. I'm losing friends over this and I hate it - like what's wrong with me for turning to alcohol instead of dealing with like everyone else. Even now it feels wrong to reach out because this is my own fault.

chpouy School stress
  • replies: 5

Hi I am a year 10 student currently attending high school, recently i’ve been feeling extremely overwhelmed with the amount of work that i have to do. ATAR has been introduced to year 10s meaning I have to study hard for the subjects I want that will... View more

Hi I am a year 10 student currently attending high school, recently i’ve been feeling extremely overwhelmed with the amount of work that i have to do. ATAR has been introduced to year 10s meaning I have to study hard for the subjects I want that will contribute to my ATAR score in the future. I feel like I’m very far behind and I don’t know what to do. I’ve asked for help numerous of times but I’m left unmotivated. Taking days off just for my mental health feels like a big risk of missing out on important information for my subjects. This has been continually building up as I keep on struggling with studying all my subjects at once. I’ve been crying each night about this to the point where I have thoughts of self harming to punish myself. I’m only 15, thinking about what my future holds for me and the expectations from school and my mum have me so under pressure about it. I just wish that my mum didn’t have to push me so hard, I know she means good intentions but she really doesn’t show it well. What I mean by that is that she thinks that I can do this without any mental health consequences being pressured on me. I’ve been working my absolute ass off just to please her expectations of school but it’s almost never good for her. I’m lacking that emotional support from her and it’s affecting me so much, I dread talking about anything to her. This stress that I feel has been draining me a lot, I struggle with getting up in the morning. I hate this feeling, the only days I feel remotely relaxed is on the weekend, but after that I know that I have to go to school the next day. This feels like a big loop I can’t overcome. School makes me stressed, stress makes me drained, being drained makes me not want to go school and not going school makes school stressing again. A big loop that makes me feel helpless and completely vulnerable. I wish my mum didn’t belittle my emotions about this. I know that it’s just high school and all and there’s bigger things to stress about, but right now school needs to be my 1st priority.

davw Help
  • replies: 1

Really don't know what I need in life! My partner has know time for me and I feel like I'm trapped and want to start over. I'm so lost I don't know what makes me happy anymore

Really don't know what I need in life! My partner has know time for me and I feel like I'm trapped and want to start over. I'm so lost I don't know what makes me happy anymore

highaltitude I feel like I don't have control over myself anymore
  • replies: 1

Apologies if this post is a little on the longer side but I am really desperate for help and I feel like some context is needed. I'm currently in Year 12 and I feel like my mental health has completely gone down the drain since starting Year 11. I'm ... View more

Apologies if this post is a little on the longer side but I am really desperate for help and I feel like some context is needed. I'm currently in Year 12 and I feel like my mental health has completely gone down the drain since starting Year 11. I'm not sure what switch flicked inside me that made me sort of destroy myself. I'm not really sure what to blame either. I have always been good in school, achieving good grades and feeling confident in my subjects. However, I really dropped the ball this year. My grades in Year 11 were A-/A but this year I have let both my maths subjects drop to C grades. I really don't know what's happening to me. I have somehow allowed myself to procrastinate to the point where I can barely pass my maths tests and hand in assignments way past their due dates. To show how bad it got, I have a maths exam tomorrow but I also have to hand in a maths assignment that I haven't even started ASAP or else I will get a 0 grade for it. I promised myself that if I took 2 weeks off school I would catch up and everything would be okay again. But some part of my brain wouldn't cooperate. Now I feel like I am trapped in my body, just mindlessly consuming YouTube/Instagram content or just succumbing to a certain vice to relieve stress in hopes of being able to get my work done after. Sorry if this is sort of a trauma dump but I really don't know how I can fix myself. Deep down I really have the motivation/anger to get out of this rut but I can't execute my plans for some reason. I am tired of failing to do things all the time. How can I change? I know I am perfectly capable of doing what I am supposed to but I just can't for some reason. Has anyone been in this position before? I have tried many times to fix my problems but I could only successfully do so for only a few days at a time before failing again. I also got sucked into the self improvement community for 2 years (mainly binge watching a YouTube guru called 'Hamza') in an attempt to fix myself, but I ended up being more confused than before. I just want to be disciplined like I used to and enjoy life rather than always being stressed about overdue stuff. Anyone got any ideas to how I can fix myself and get out of this rut? I really feel alone in having this issue as all of my high school friends seem to not have this issue, always getting their work done on time and having fun. Thanks for your time and I look forward to reading your replies. Thank you.

Paper Nautilus Letter to My 19-Year-Old Self
  • replies: 2

Dear 19-year-old Jacqui, You have just been diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder. Right now you are grieving the loss of the person you always thought you would become. That is natural. There are things that you hoped to do that you will never do, but the... View more

Dear 19-year-old Jacqui, You have just been diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder. Right now you are grieving the loss of the person you always thought you would become. That is natural. There are things that you hoped to do that you will never do, but there will also be many things in store for you that you never imagined or dreamed of, some good, some bad. Don’t be afraid to question your doctors, and the medication they prescribe to you. It takes many years to find the right drug, combination of drugs, or the right dosages, and if you are plagued by side-effects, such as weight gain, don’t suffer in silence. Speak up. There is no one-size-fits-all drug to treat bipolar disorder. Experiment. There’s nothing wrong with being a human guinea pig if it means eventually achieving a better quality of life. Be ambitious. You are intelligent, creative and talented. Your confidence in yourself is well-earned and genuine. Not all ambitions are delusions of grandeur, and what may seem like crazy ideas won’t always be that crazy. Not all excitement is hypomania, and not all sadness is depression. You are allowed to experience the spectrum of human emotion without always second-guessing yourself and interpreting every feeling as a “warning sign” or something to be feared. Allow yourself to feel. It is a fundamental human right. You may be told that creative or spiritual endeavours are just triggers to be avoided, and that indulging in these sides to yourself will always be a slippery slope down a dangerous path. Don’t listen. These things are a part of who you are. You deserve to be loved, fully and completely and not just tolerated. You are not a burden. You are a joy, and a delight. You are not ruining lives, you are enriching them. Hyper-sexuality often comes with bipolar disorder, and it is nothing to be ashamed of. It is something to embrace and be proud of. Throughout your life, you will have both successes and failures. Not all of your failures will be because of your bipolar disorder, and not all of your successes will be despite it. You are still the person you have always been. Love yourself and let yourself be loved by others. Yours faithfully and sincerely, 40-year-old Jacqui.

kay_laaa1995 Gaining weight ruined my life
  • replies: 6

When I hit 19 I gained 20 kilos in one year. Now I'm turning 21 this year in July. Honestly these have been the worst 2 years of my life and I have never felt so miserable. Every night I go to sleep and I can't help but think how much I hate myself a... View more

When I hit 19 I gained 20 kilos in one year. Now I'm turning 21 this year in July. Honestly these have been the worst 2 years of my life and I have never felt so miserable. Every night I go to sleep and I can't help but think how much I hate myself and how worthless I am and how much I suck at life in general. Since gaining on weight - I am so embarrassed about how ugly I've become that I have hid away. If I don't have to work or go to uni then I do not leave my house. For this reason, I have lost all my friends because I just don't want to go out and socialize. I never do any of the things I like anymore (I used to looove shopping but now it just makes me more depressed). Every one on social media are posting photos of them at parties and music festivals and it kills me that I can't go. I started university this year and it has been so hard making friends because I am not myself anymore... and I just can't shake this feeling that no one would want to be friends with me because I'm ugly and fat. I miss being confident.. I miss being myself. I know the obvious answer here is to get up off my fat butt and do something about it but it's not that easy. I cannot stop eating I have no self control. Every night I tell myself I'm going to get up tomorrow and do exercise and then tomorrow rolls around and I find myself sitting in McDonald's drive through ordering a cheeseburger and nuggets. I literally cannot help myself, it's like my body has a mind of its own. I'm not really sure what my question is here. I guess I just needed to tell someone what's on my mind since I have no one else...

feeling_blue006 HSC in 8 days.
  • replies: 6

The HSC is in 8 days and I've never felt more overwhelmed in my whole life. Theres so much to get into that I don't even know how I can fit it in one post. Since the beginning of Y12, I've been slaving away at work, only to receive substandard result... View more

The HSC is in 8 days and I've never felt more overwhelmed in my whole life. Theres so much to get into that I don't even know how I can fit it in one post. Since the beginning of Y12, I've been slaving away at work, only to receive substandard results. Even subjects like English, which is my favourite subject I've barely managed above 50. Theres just so much stress built up - the hype over internals(all of which I've royally messed up) and now theres barely a week to the first hsc exam. Since I suffered from extreme procrastination pre-trials, i started studying about a month before the hsc but somehow I feel the time ran by too fast and now I still have an enormous amount of content to get through and this is leaving out past papers(i haven't even attempted a single one yet.) plus this, i have the feeling that I need to do well in the hsc and get atleast band 5s across all my subjects as these exams are my final "chance" to prove myself. added to all this I'm also facing some health problems(my iron levels were shown too low) causing clumps of hair to fall out everyday. everyone else seems so calm and collected and no one is freaking out as much as me and yet they all recieved good results in trials and probably will in the hsc too and i feel the pressured to live up to their standards as well. theres also the fact of nerves - i am feeling very anxious about the exams and if Ill get a mind blank in the middle of them. My memory is also very poor and I am panicking over how to fit the tomes of content into my brain. all this is causing me major stress and my feelings are almost always at a low point. i know people will say the hsc "isn't the all" and "your atar doesn't define you" but to me these are the final exams that i can leave my mark on and are so important to me, but just now I am running on crappy feelings and low motivation. if anyone can help with this, it will be greatly appreciated, thank you. ps i know people will tell me to look after my mental health, but i don't have "depression" or anything like that, just to confirm, im just majorly stressed out and want to give up on the hsc but also don't want to.