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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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TAHNS I feel like I'm losing myself.
  • replies: 4

So, for the past year I have had these waves of sadness, a lot. I've just usually talked about them to my friend but now it's gotten worse, I blame it on being sick a lot to my dad as I can't talk to him about it. (I can't bring myself to) and I am c... View more

So, for the past year I have had these waves of sadness, a lot. I've just usually talked about them to my friend but now it's gotten worse, I blame it on being sick a lot to my dad as I can't talk to him about it. (I can't bring myself to) and I am constantly tired, I feel myself changing. I haven't been to school in two weeks and also I just don't feel right. I've cried more than I ever have these past few months, it's just getting harder and harder each day. I want to feel happy again, how do I even tell my dad this if he thinks I'm fine?

Ripley123 Numbness, lack of emotion, not depression?
  • replies: 2

Hi all, I'm a teen and new here as I've recently joined to talk about this issue that has been bothering me lately. I've found myself to be emotionally numb as I don't feel any strong emotions to anything at all. This is odd as I still show a lot of ... View more

Hi all, I'm a teen and new here as I've recently joined to talk about this issue that has been bothering me lately. I've found myself to be emotionally numb as I don't feel any strong emotions to anything at all. This is odd as I still show a lot of personality and find myself to be quite an extroverted person. I once thought that maybe I had some sort of minor bipolar mentality as I found myself quickly turning to these seemingly depressive thoughts, but I now found that maybe I only have these thoughts when I have time to myself and basically talking to myself about how I am 'feeling'. Sometimes I find myself having somewhat obsessive thoughts as I often think about certain people romantically when they have no contribution to what I'm doing. A few years ago I was obviously depressed after my friends were bullying me as well as some other complications. I cut off these friends and moved to a new school, it was hard but I was able to do it, although recently I've made friendship again with one of them and I am glad we are friends, we are now very close, although I often get scared of her hurting me like she did a while ago and sometimes find myself trying to push her away. I don't believe I've felt any strong emotion since this time. I'm fairly certain I am not depressed, it's just this numbness I feel now and how little emotion I actually have - I'm just rolling. Sometimes I think that I am happy, as I know I am in a good place at the moment - I have a lot of friends, good grades and a healthy and happy family, but I think that maybe I only acknowledge that this as a good position I am in and I'm not actually happy - I can differentiate the good and the bad and acknowledge and identify which is which, but I can't actually feel anything towards it... I think. I don't know what I'm looking for when posting this, but I would value your opinions. Thank you!

jazzyw_98 Uni Student with Anxiety
  • replies: 7

Hello, I'm new here and I thought I would share my story. I'm sure there are many of you with the same problem so I would just like you to know that you are not alone. I am a 17 y.o. uni student from Brisbane. I graduated from high school last year a... View more

Hello, I'm new here and I thought I would share my story. I'm sure there are many of you with the same problem so I would just like you to know that you are not alone. I am a 17 y.o. uni student from Brisbane. I graduated from high school last year and I was extremely excited to start uni and I thought this year would be great. But after I was accepted into I started getting really terrified about the idea of going to uni, the thought of it made me feel sick. I started to develop agoraphobia (fear of leaving the house alone). So I started uni but I couldn't go alone, my mum had to come with me and my friends were all at a different uni. I hated uni immediately and wanted to change to be with my friends. I skipped every tute and I wouldn't eat. I went to a psychologist for a few sessions and that helped a bit but I haven't been in a while. So now I'm at the same uni as my friends and I love it there but I'm so scared to go to class and the bad habits I developed last semester are getting worse. I've skipped a couple of tutes and I don't know how to catch up and the thought of going there being behind scares me. I'm scared to be alone. Anyway I hope this all makes sense, this is a really broken up and condensed version of my story.

Guest_322 Getting help
  • replies: 10

Hi again, It's now kind of late (and I should probably be in bed as I've a morning lecture tomorrow yet I'm still wide awake). I've just been thinking. As much as I hate to admit it- call it pride or stubbornness or whatever- I think that I probably ... View more

Hi again, It's now kind of late (and I should probably be in bed as I've a morning lecture tomorrow yet I'm still wide awake). I've just been thinking. As much as I hate to admit it- call it pride or stubbornness or whatever- I think that I probably need to go see my GP (cue inward groan). The sadness isn't going away. The morning struggle to get out of bed isn't going away. The not wanting to face the day isn't going away. The wanting to cry isn't going away. I haven't seen my psychologist in a while (& by a while, I mean I haven't seen her since last year) because I was doing okay- even well- the 1st half of last year. But it's like something snapped towards the end of last year/this year. I'm not even sure what the point of this thread is...maybe it's just to feel a little less lonely. I don't know. Anyway, thanks for reading and let's hope things improve. You guys are the best! Dottie

teenytiny Hi, I'm new here
  • replies: 11

Hey guys, I know you don't know me but, I am really hoping to benefit from talking about how I feel to a supportive community. So, lately I have been feeling really down and angry about various things going on in my life at the moment. I didn't reall... View more

Hey guys, I know you don't know me but, I am really hoping to benefit from talking about how I feel to a supportive community. So, lately I have been feeling really down and angry about various things going on in my life at the moment. I didn't really realise anything was severely wrong until one of my teachers called me to her office after class the other day. She was asking me what was going on and I started crying, I thought I was going crazy. I've spoken to her before about my struggles but, this time I couldn't let the words come out of my mouth. She told me if I didn't talk to someone about it by the following Wednesday she'd talk to me. Wednesday came and she said it was optional because I was so determined not to spill the beans. Thursday branded a new day and I couldn't cope, I knew I couldn't do it on my own so I gave her an overview what was happening before school started. We didn't really get too much into it because we only had a few minutes but, I don't really enjoy sharing my feelings. I feel they are personal, like intimate, one on one. I do believe I need some support and I am hoping to find it here. This past week has really harboured more anger and hopelessness inside of me, with stress from both school and home taking it's toll. I have friends at school who love me and support me but, I am unable to confide in them. I have trouble trusting people. When you've been hurt too many times, it's difficult you know. Anyways, thanks for reading and by the way I am only 15.

Anne93 Birthday blues
  • replies: 2

My birthday is coming up tomorrow and all of a sudden it's hit me that it's another year I will celebrate only with family. I love my family but seeing old friends from high school/Uni, colleagues and family posting photos of their celebrations just ... View more

My birthday is coming up tomorrow and all of a sudden it's hit me that it's another year I will celebrate only with family. I love my family but seeing old friends from high school/Uni, colleagues and family posting photos of their celebrations just drains me. I had a big falling out with my friends from high school in year 12 which led to me putting everything into a close friendship at uni that turned out to be toxic. Now, almost two years out of uni I still find myself lonely. I've done the Internet searches that tell me to join groups but I've been in community groups and found everyone already in cliques. There is a lovely group of girls I work with who I'd love to socialise with but they just seem happy to be in their own bubble outside of work and any hints I have dropped just get ignored (I can't be upfront because my anxiety makes me terrified of rejection). I've found myself not wanting to tune out of work mode because my work relationships are my only relationships. I don't want to have a birthday because I don't want the world to see how pathetic my lack of celebration will be. I've been lying around in tears because I can't stop tomorrow from happening.

noname97 Feeling very lonely at college
  • replies: 2

Hi so I'm a 19 year old university student and I'm in my first year but I've honestly made no friends at all.I've just found it so difficult, I find myself having days where I do not speak to anyone besides my family all day. In my classes there is e... View more

Hi so I'm a 19 year old university student and I'm in my first year but I've honestly made no friends at all.I've just found it so difficult, I find myself having days where I do not speak to anyone besides my family all day. In my classes there is either no discussion at all and the room is dead quiet, or I find myself in a class where lots of people know each other and are friends and make no effort to reach out to me. I don't consider myself to be unfriendly or socially inappropriate by any means but whenever I try to make conversation with someone, they just seem very uninterested and cold. I have friends from high school but they are all at completely different universities to me and they have all made lots of friends, which is very hard to sit and watch. I know lots of people suggest joining societies and groups, but my experience with them is that they are very judgemental, cliquey and hard to break into unless you have a large group of friends with you, or they are made up of people that are (not trying to be rude!) a bit socially inappropriate. I've been here for over a year but I have not made a single friend. It's very hard for me because I am quite a social person who enjoys going out and partying, but there are just no opportunities to do so! I just feel so lonely and isolated and I can't remember the last time I have actually properly interacted with someone my age...

healy94 Recently dropped out of university, and depression has exploded
  • replies: 2

Hi guys, I'm very new to beyondblue so this is the first time I've posted in here. I've always struggled with anxiety, health anxiety, general anxiety etc. Recently I dropped out of university because as I began it just exploded into I don't want to ... View more

Hi guys, I'm very new to beyondblue so this is the first time I've posted in here. I've always struggled with anxiety, health anxiety, general anxiety etc. Recently I dropped out of university because as I began it just exploded into I don't want to do this anymore. I dropped out and now just have too much time on my hands. I see a psychologist, I have a loving home, I have a beautiful girlfriend. The tough thing is all this extra time has made me depressed like I feel nervous and sad a lot. I do the mindfullness, exercise, sleep, and eat routine but I'm still not making much progress. I'm scared I won't come out of this funk because if I've ever been in a funk I could escape it. Such as; I lived in Japan after highschool it got to much so I left, I went on a holiday in Europe with mates last year it go to much and I left. This time I've quit uni but these feelings and sadness haven't gone away and I don't know how to get rid of them. I don't really have any hobbies I suppose? I don't know what to do and I'm scared. I just want someone to let me know that I'm going to make it out of this and SOON!

Jd1998 Tired.
  • replies: 5

The past few weeks I have been feeling tired. Only leaving my room for school and to eat. I sleep whenever I can and I feel like crap all the time. I'm always the one there for others and no one is ever there for me. My whole life it's been the same ... View more

The past few weeks I have been feeling tired. Only leaving my room for school and to eat. I sleep whenever I can and I feel like crap all the time. I'm always the one there for others and no one is ever there for me. My whole life it's been the same way. I always put other people's problems before my own and it drains me. And now I feel like all my own emotions and problems and issues have just piled up and I feel trapped and lonely and helpless. When I see friends I always put on a brave face because they're always going through something and I need to be strong for them. Im so sick of feeling this way and its building up inside me. Please

Guest_322 New here. Dottie 😊
  • replies: 34

Hi, I'm new here Little about myself is that I'm studying full-time at uni and working part-time. Struggling...been on a roller coaster ride of emotions but mostly feeling down. Mornings have been the hardest. And I feel lonely. I have friends and fa... View more

Hi, I'm new here Little about myself is that I'm studying full-time at uni and working part-time. Struggling...been on a roller coaster ride of emotions but mostly feeling down. Mornings have been the hardest. And I feel lonely. I have friends and family, but for various reasons, I don't confide in most of them. On the outside, I act like I'm coping. Inside, it just hurts. Motivation has been a struggle lately. Have to force myself to do my uni work when all I want to do is cry. My uni friends seem to have this impression that I'm always motivated and seem to cope. But they don't see what goes on in my head or behind closed doors. It's not that I'm always motivated and coping, but it's just that I FORCE myself to do what I need to do. I just feel drained at the moment. And teary. Thanks for reading.