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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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Jess_164 Tips for bridge phobia?
  • replies: 5

Hi everyone, i was wondering if you could give me some advice on gephyrophobia (fear of bridges) and how to manage it it has been there ever since I Can remember, when I am even told I am going to drive over a bridge my hands get all cold yet sweaty,... View more

Hi everyone, i was wondering if you could give me some advice on gephyrophobia (fear of bridges) and how to manage it it has been there ever since I Can remember, when I am even told I am going to drive over a bridge my hands get all cold yet sweaty, I feel shaky, I go pale and I just can't take my mind of it. I am petrified. When I actually go over it I freeze. I also have never told anyone. does anyone else experience this or have some tips? thanks

Amali_Cu Is my mother emotionally abusive?
  • replies: 3

I’m not sure if my mother is emotionally abusive or not. However in someway she is. She works a lot, so I don’t see her much. More than most of the time, my mum and I are arguing. She will be so unreasonable and push me to the point where I say somet... View more

I’m not sure if my mother is emotionally abusive or not. However in someway she is. She works a lot, so I don’t see her much. More than most of the time, my mum and I are arguing. She will be so unreasonable and push me to the point where I say something I regret. For instance, she made me late to school because my brother took ages to get ready and she would say its my fault. She would laugh and say I’m ridiculous. It got to the point where I called her a b****. She always over exaggerates and tells my dad lies. The next week whenever I saw her she would always bring it up. OH “Im just a fat b****”, oh i can’t do anything cuz I’m a b. She would carry it on, and she does this every time. She’s even threatened to move out because of me and she would go on about it. She’s constantly unreasonable and horrible to me all the time. Sometimes she comes home and she hugs me and says she loves me. She does call me names but she doesn’t call me stupid because I am smart. But she makes me feel incapable of many things. She compares me to my other friends and is never afraid to point out my flaws. For example when I was to do gymnastics and I went to states I always said how nervous I was or “I don’t think i will do great” and she would say “Well (name of friend) will be hard to come close to). She always buys me stuff but she never comforts me. She always expects me to talk to her, to invite her places even though she never invites me. Like she will stare at me and i say “what” and she goes “ i want to be talked to like i am your mother” yet she rarely asks how my day is and she expects me to just talk to her. I mean Ive tried before but she acts like she doesn’t care so its hard. She asks me why don’t ask her to come on walks with me yet she never suggests anything involving mother and daughter time. She just buys me things a lot because she thinks it keeps me happy, but she always complains about it like “I can’t buy a kitchen cuz i bought u a phone” “ i have to go to work just to pay off your bloody bed” yet she offers to buy hugely expensive things for my brother. In fights i tell her she only buys me things and she goes “fine i just won’t buy you anything”. I try talking to her about how i feel but she never admits to making a mistake and it turns into horrible fights where i end up crying and my phones taken off me. So the question is, does it sound like my mothers emotionally abusive, (I wouldn’t be asking this if it didn’t happen on a daily basis)?

LilNugg But what about me?
  • replies: 1

Hi guys, I'm a 22 year old who's new to this and would love to seek help from everyone else while helping others in any way I can too. I'm struggling with BPD which gives me depression, anxiety and OCD. I'ts hard to cope sometimes but some days I hav... View more

Hi guys, I'm a 22 year old who's new to this and would love to seek help from everyone else while helping others in any way I can too. I'm struggling with BPD which gives me depression, anxiety and OCD. I'ts hard to cope sometimes but some days I have my good days. Lately I've been feeling frustrated and angry. I've been thinking a lot.. Too much actually! I've done so much for people, in their terms, thought of everyone else except for myself. Go out of my way to make others happy but in the end result? I'm tired.. Tired of pleasing everyone else and not thinking about number 1 as my partner would say. Number 1 which is myself. I don't know what being selfish is, I really don't. It just doesn't register to me. I get so upset when I'm out and about and see people in need t=of help but no one can do anything about it or I can't either. I try my best though. I've been having this aching empty feeling like I don't belong anymore. I just simply don't want to exist.. I'm always in bed. It's my comfort zone. I don't want to leave my apartment. I'ts making it hard for me to work my full time job. Especially when I'm not appreciated at all and I've only noticed that after a long time of my partner trying to convince me. I just thought I wasn't good enough. Can i just disappear? I'm on medical leave at the moment from my psychiatrist due to my reoccurring panic attacks. I'm using this time to myself. To learn to be selfish. To rest. But I simply can't.. Please help me? What things should I do that won't cause me to think too much? Without making myself think I'm selfish? Without wanting to hurt myself or torturing myself for this? Writing this was really hard and a struggle. I hope its not too stupid to read.

UnreasonablySocialySelfCu What's going on with me???
  • replies: 7

I'm almost 20 years old, unemployed (not for a lack of trying) all i ever do is stay in my room, being (for the lack of a better word) nagged that i am being unsociable, watching tv, playing video games, sleeping and eating. I used to live life, hang... View more

I'm almost 20 years old, unemployed (not for a lack of trying) all i ever do is stay in my room, being (for the lack of a better word) nagged that i am being unsociable, watching tv, playing video games, sleeping and eating. I used to live life, hang out with my friends during school, always go somewhere, do something, i had good grades... well reasonable. I tried following my dreams, to no avail, and the fact that i am doing this for no reason angers my mum, and when it angers mum, it angers me thus repetitively asking myself "what is wrong with me" it keeps driving me back to my room, it a vicious cycle that i want to break......anybody help???

rain01 I feel depressed, useless, and a waste of space.
  • replies: 5

(My engish is not very good sorry) I'm a young female still in early years of high school. At around February this year my father left my family for another woman and completely replaced me and my mother. Im forced to see him once a week but hes so c... View more

(My engish is not very good sorry) I'm a young female still in early years of high school. At around February this year my father left my family for another woman and completely replaced me and my mother. Im forced to see him once a week but hes so cruel to me. So home is very bad. But also recently on top of this school has become horrible, I sit alone and i am very shy and all my friends turned on me and were extremely cruel, so now im a loner. My friend from old school also committed suicide which i found out a week ago. I feel like I have no where to go. I have started to contently feel miserable, useless and no one cares about me, I feel terrible that my friend committed suicide and awful for her parents, and now im getting suicidal thoughts constantly and I feel very alone, I feel like I have no where to go. The only thing that is stopping me from committing suicide now Is knowing how my mother would feel. Almost every night I cry myself to sleep, I just want the pain to end. I wake up in the morning not knowing what the point is anymore, because after almost every day Im just going to end up in tears again. I feel so pointless in this world, It seems that no one cares that I exist or would care if i died, im extremely sad and I feel like i have depression. All I want to do is make others happy, in my past I have been naive and walked all over by others, but I still want to help others, which is so hard when dealing with all im going through. I constantly feel like if i do one small thing wrong I will let others down. I feel like a waste of space.

whatisthispain i feel so useless, stupid, ugly and worthless
  • replies: 3

I am still a little new to this website and it's really helping me out but now i just feel so worthless... I am a young female and i still go to highschool, i have a lot of friends but i feel really distant from them, and it hurts... ugh, i feel so e... View more

I am still a little new to this website and it's really helping me out but now i just feel so worthless... I am a young female and i still go to highschool, i have a lot of friends but i feel really distant from them, and it hurts... ugh, i feel so emotional and stupid. When i was in primary school i had a bestfriend and she is still my "friend" to this day, but she always give me the look like she doesn't want me. And when she talks to me, her voice sounds irritated like she dislikes me. Ugh... all those happy memories in primary school is just a waste to me now... and it just hurts so much to be thrown away like i was nothing to her. Yet, i still stick to her, i just don't want to be separated, she doesn't know how much i actually care. I always act happy around my "friends" so they can be happy, i laugh and smile, but i just do it so i don't cry infront of them. I hate going to highschool, i'm always having a fast heartbeat when i approach my group of friends. And there's one thing that makes me really upset, when my "best friend" talks about her problems, i try my best to comfort her... but when i do that, she just gives that look like she thinks i'm doing it for attention and she always says to "ignore it", but it's so hard, uhh... everything is so unfair. I commomly have bad days, well, atleast 2-3 every week. When i come back home i always lock myself and cry and sometimes.. I don't talk to my family about it because when i do they just ignore me... i feel stupid. I'm always scared when next year comes, every one of my friends would leave me and i'll just be standing alone. I'm always looking at the popular and pretty girls, and i hate how their lives are so perfect and they get whatever they want. i've also got another friend, and i hang out with her more than my "bestfriend", and ever since that i've been really distant... maybe that's why she dislikes me... ugh, everything is my fault. I always get irritated at the littlest of things and i lose motivation to do homework/assignments and the things i usually like to do. I feel like everyone would be better off without me and if i vanished they would be happier... My "bestfriend" always seem to do better without me anyways.. i know no one likes me or understands me because i overthink things too much. I know i'm a mistake and i should've never existed in the first place.. ugh, everything is so painful. anyways, this is the end of this post. sorry about talking about my stupid life. cya.

whatisthispain what is happening to me?
  • replies: 4

I am new here and i don't really know how to start this post, but anyways... I've been feeling really down, anxious, and scared recently. Actually, i think i've had this feeling for a pretty long time, so like about the past 2 years, but it's gotten ... View more

I am new here and i don't really know how to start this post, but anyways... I've been feeling really down, anxious, and scared recently. Actually, i think i've had this feeling for a pretty long time, so like about the past 2 years, but it's gotten more worse. I've been crying for little things like being excluded from a group, being teased at for saying the wrong answer at class and getting into arguments. I've always felt so happy and then one day i feel just horrible, it's like a pattern, however i eat normally and i dont have sleeping problems. I honestly don't think i have depression or anxiety, but i've always had this pain in me. And i'm scared to say my problems to my friends because they might think i'm trying to do it for attention so that everyone would feel bad for me.... This is just the only website i can talk about this. I always overthink things, like when someone becomes close to me i sometimes think... "are they using me to become popular?" and some other things... and when sometimes i ask them about my thoughts i get into an argument and they get angry at me. This is also the reason why people don't like me alot, and it is also (maybe) the reason i've been getting distant to my friends.

Kangaaroo I think I might have anxiety?
  • replies: 25

I'm 14 and I've recently realised I might have some form of anxiety. Insignificant everyday situations like catching the bus or buying something from the shop make me quite anxious. Whenever I'm in a situation where I know people will be observing me... View more

I'm 14 and I've recently realised I might have some form of anxiety. Insignificant everyday situations like catching the bus or buying something from the shop make me quite anxious. Whenever I'm in a situation where I know people will be observing me in some way or I will have some kind of responsibility I tend to overthink things; I tell myself I'm going to embarrass myself or stuff something up. For example, I often resent catching the bus home from school because the bus I catch gets extremely crowded, so the whole journey I worry about how I will navigate my way to the front of the bus, when I should stand up to do so etc. I cannot relax until this is over. The same applies to social situations. If I'm with friends or people I am comfortable with then it's usually okay, but otherwise I hate it. The worst part for me is when I'm at a party or something and a guest/s is leaving/arriving. This is often when people make small talk or start conversation and I DETEST this, my palms get sweaty, my heart races and I constantly feel like I don't know what to say. A conversation with me basically consists of the person asking question and me answering yes or no. Also, I play waterpolo as a summer sport and get really stressed about this too. I keep getting put in the top team but I feel like I'm not good enough (I don't think this is a product of the anxiety I just genuinely think my ability is misjudged). I've played the sport for a couple of years and always gotten anxious about it, but recently it's been exacerbated to the point where I will start worrying the day before we have training. We have training twice a week and one game a week so there's only a couple of days when I can relax. I think I've been having anxious feelings for a while but I always just thought it was normal or I was just overreacting. I know I've rambled on heaps but there was a lot I really feel like I needed to say (btw, I haven't really told anyone about this). I'm aware the most important thing is not to self diagnose but I also know you need to listen to your feelings, and the feelings I get frequently just don't feel right. Any help or answers would be greatly appreciated. Thanks so much for reading.

Mr_Random I'm Scared
  • replies: 4

I'm an 18 year old male who has almost finished school. I have never had a girlfriend which is not a problem at the moment but what is a problem is i'm worried that being as unattractive as I am I just never will be able to get one. I am not hugely d... View more

I'm an 18 year old male who has almost finished school. I have never had a girlfriend which is not a problem at the moment but what is a problem is i'm worried that being as unattractive as I am I just never will be able to get one. I am not hugely deformed or anything but I lack features that make men attractive. I have a very small chin and my eyebrows are too high. I am worried that being less attractive than the average person will mean that I only meet a small amount of people in my life that i'm good enough for and its unlikely that any of them will happen to be people that I have anything in common with other than physical unattractiveness. I don't really know what anyone can say to help but if anyone wants to try and say something to cheer me up I would appreciate it.