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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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SF New and Confused (about how I'm feeling)
  • replies: 2

I joined this because I was searching the web to see if I could find out something about how I'm currently feeling, or lack thereof, and as I have suffered from anxiety/depression before, thought it might have something to do with it. I'm 20 and have... View more

I joined this because I was searching the web to see if I could find out something about how I'm currently feeling, or lack thereof, and as I have suffered from anxiety/depression before, thought it might have something to do with it. I'm 20 and have been dealing with depression since the age of 7. The last two years I haven't had any problems. I got a new boyfriend, had a positive outlook on life, new what sort of jobs I wanted, what I needed to do to get there, etc. Last week I went to visit my grandad, and missed my boyfriend a lot. I face timed him each day and called him. Then suddenly it stopped. Not the face timing or anything, but the feelings of love and happiness. I didn't slowly feel less in love or less happy it was just poof, gone. I'm not unhappy. I'm back now, doing things, or having things happen that should make me feel great or overjoyed, but every time I should feel love or happiness I don't feel anything at all. It's like being a computer with a glitch. File not found. Everything else is normal, I just can't seem to feel these feelings. Has anyone else ever experienced this, or know if it is my depression, or can tell me anything about it at all?

lucasworm I am my own worst critic
  • replies: 1

Hi I'm Lucas I'm 16, and new to Beyond Blue, so its nice to be here. I've been suffering from anxiety for around 4 years and for the last over six months I've been depressed, and I hate it, because no matter how happy I feel, there is always this voi... View more

Hi I'm Lucas I'm 16, and new to Beyond Blue, so its nice to be here. I've been suffering from anxiety for around 4 years and for the last over six months I've been depressed, and I hate it, because no matter how happy I feel, there is always this voice in my head, telling me I'm "not good enough" that "I'm fake" that "I'm stupid and a failure". I am my own worst critic, so when I get criticized by others it hits twice as hard. But I like to be a positive person when I can be, I'm in high school (obviously) and I push my self, I have received straight As for both school semesters, I received numerous leadership awards, academic awards and captaincy's, in just one year, and now I'm about to start another year, but this time I'm starting it while I feel, sad all the time, so I'm worried I wont live up to the expectations I place on myself, I'm a perfectionist, but one with no motivation, I hate going out, I hate seeing friends but I hate to be alone, and I put on this mask of happiness for my family and friends, I feel so alone. All my friendships are complex, I have so many friends that I feel alone in a sea of people that don't really know me, I feel like there is no one to turn to, hence why I am here, I'm scared that I will feel like this forever, unmotivated, unhappy, depressed, anxious, lonely and a failure. It feels like nothing I do is right, at work, at school or at home. I hate being judged, which is what started my whole anxiety thing, the fear of people talking about me negatively making me feel shit about myself and the fear of not living up to my expectations, my depression came straight after I got my first straight A's, I just felt nothing. Its not the sadness that hurts me its the feeling of nothing. So I suppose I'm here to see what you think, If theirs anyone that understands? sorry for my rant, -Lucas

Elliemaybe Feeling lost and hopeless
  • replies: 4

I am not the most important person in anyone's life. I have no passions. Every day is getting more and more difficult to get through. I have nothing to look forward to and have nothing to hope for other than to find some sort of peace.I will always c... View more

I am not the most important person in anyone's life. I have no passions. Every day is getting more and more difficult to get through. I have nothing to look forward to and have nothing to hope for other than to find some sort of peace.I will always come second to someone else for anyone. I don't even have a best friend. I haven't had one since primary school. Every single one of my friends has another they like more than me. I have no impact in the world and would not be missed for long if I was gone. Even my boyfriend will always choose to spend time with his family over me. Even new years, I am invited to spend time with them, but he's going no matter what I choose. Even if I go, he's going up earlier and I have to catch the train there. It won't affect anyone whether I'm there or not. We have been together over a year but I am still never a part of his decisions. I feel like I just get in the way.I just wish I was important. I wish I knew how to be happy. I wish I had the motivation to do anything. Nothing is easy.Barely anything is fun. Every day is harder than the previous one. I don't know what to do. I can't keep going like this. It never ends. My hope is disappearing more and more.I don't even want to get out of bed anymore. They say you must find happiness inside yourself, but I have run out. I'm just so tired I don't want to fight anymore. I'm sorry for rambling I just feel like I need to vent beyondblue's clinically-trained moderators often work offline (invisible to you) on issues relating to suicide or self-harm. At the same time, general supportive comments from the community are encouraged. If you have concerns around suicide or self-harm, please phone our support service on 1300 22 4636. Normal 0 false false false EN-AU X-NONE X-NONE /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin-top:0cm; mso-para-margin-right:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:8.0pt; mso-para-margin-left:0cm; line-height:107%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-language:EN-US;}

PixiePie Family holding me back
  • replies: 2

I'm 18 in a few months and I feel as if I'm completely wedged in a ditch and am not getting out any time soon. I live with my mother and her boyfriend (they've been together since I was little). Starting from the beginning, a few years ago there was ... View more

I'm 18 in a few months and I feel as if I'm completely wedged in a ditch and am not getting out any time soon. I live with my mother and her boyfriend (they've been together since I was little). Starting from the beginning, a few years ago there was a bad bullying situation at school which caused me a lot of stress and triggered a lot of anxiety and depression. I dropped out of school at the beginning of year 11 after trying many different schooling options. As you can imagine I was so happy at first but that being said I've lost a lot of contact with people and feel incredibly lonely at times. I'm wavering on the decision of going back to a campus to complete my high school education. Lately, I've been feeling really not myself. I've come to a realisation that I've completely changed. I used to be so outgoing and happy but now I lock myself away in my bedroom almost every day and just sleep because I don't want to deal with the outside world. I have a couple of friends but I get the feeling my closest friend is distancing herself from me. I try so hard to be a good friend and to make an effort to hang out with people but it seems that it doesn't work both ways. I feel so rejected because of this. I always see girls hanging out and having fun and I'm alone in my bedroom. Not to mention the fact that I just don't seem to fit in with anyone. I have nothing in common with people my age anymore because I've grown mentally a lot in the past two years. At home, I don't get along with my mothers boyfriend. In fact, we despise each other. The problem here is. My mother and her boyfriend hold me back. I received my L's a fair few months ago and mum acted as if she was so excited and almost began crying when I passed my test (I know) yet I haven't been taken on a single lesson yet. No matter how many times I ask they always say they are to busy and I'll find them watching a movie on the couch. This really hurts me because even my younger cousin has been on more lessons than me and she's had hers for three days. Another thing is, I am so passionate about acting and film. I so badly want to begin lessons and I've asked my mother multiple times, pleaded with her to let me join and she just says "I will think about it". It really hurts because she knows how much it means to me yet she doesn't care. Im so tired of feeling helpless and broken. There is so much more I could say but I don't have enough characters so I'll leave it here. Thanks for listening/reading.

rosie2 Anyone else struggling with Grief?
  • replies: 3

Firstly i want to say im here for you. My best mates little sister was killed in a car accident when the ute they were in hit a tree. Her Dad suffered injury to his neck but we lost her instantly. I will never understand it. Why she only got 11 years... View more

Firstly i want to say im here for you. My best mates little sister was killed in a car accident when the ute they were in hit a tree. Her Dad suffered injury to his neck but we lost her instantly. I will never understand it. Why she only got 11 years and some paedophile gets to live to 100 years old. Im here for you all! 5 Months and it still hurts just as much as it did that day. :'(

catlover97 Partner and depression
  • replies: 5

Hi I really need some advice! My boyfriend and I have been together for almost 4 years, we are each others bestfriend and he just recently broke up with me because of his depression. The cause of his depression was caused by being forced to move to a... View more

Hi I really need some advice! My boyfriend and I have been together for almost 4 years, we are each others bestfriend and he just recently broke up with me because of his depression. The cause of his depression was caused by being forced to move to a different state with his parents, so we had to do long distance for 1 1/2 years. Only 6 months ago he decided to leave his parents and move back down to his original state to live with me. We were both very happy, despite his low days. I am very understanding of his depression as I also have depression and severe anxiety. During the Christmas holidays he decided to go and visit his parents for a month, and he had booked his plane ticket back to come home, and also left clothes, PlayStation consoles and bits and pieces, as he was so sure he was coming back to me. His parents aren't very 'nice' people, they have tried to break us up before, and they push him with his studies, and put him down quiet abit. They do not like me much at all, (I have not done anything wrong) it's just my boyfriend is the youngest child and his mother does not want him dating (yes after 4 years she still doesn't approve). He called me Monday, telling me we had to break up because he needs to get his life together, that he is a terrible and horrible person and he's not the person I think he is. He thinks I can do better than him, and whatever I say he won't listen to me. While he was on the phone he absolutely bawled his eyes out, saying I'll always be the one, (we are each others first loves) and I'm the right person at the wrong time? He is very very devoted to me, I trust him 100% faithfully. So this is quiet odd for him to break up with me, seeing as he has swore to God that he would never break up with me (he told me this because I have separation anxiety) and he had told me before he left to visit his parents that he had a date planned out for when he was going to propose to me in the future.. Im so confused and hurt, I know this is the depression breaking up with me, because he's very inlove with me. I don't know what to say to him, or how to calm him down. He is on medication for his depression also. Can anyone help me out? I feel physically and mentally drained over this. We have never broken up and I'll I want to do is help him and bring him back to me.

Paradoxy Confused.
  • replies: 2

Hi everyone,Hope you are all well. Just some background info to begin with. I'm 21 years old and male. I go to university with 1 year left to go. I do everything normal people would in a way. Study, go out, go to the gym, work a part time job etc. Ye... View more

Hi everyone,Hope you are all well. Just some background info to begin with. I'm 21 years old and male. I go to university with 1 year left to go. I do everything normal people would in a way. Study, go out, go to the gym, work a part time job etc. Yet, something feels not quite there. I should be happy with what I have. Everybody else that's similar to me seems like they are happy with what they have.It's hard for me to articulate what I'm feeling because I don't exactly understand it myself. Sometimes it doesn't affect me - I feel normal, happy etc. However, when it does affect me I feel sad as if I just want to disappear from the world. This being said, I can't seem to understand what it is. I feel as though my life is never progressing forward. It is as if it is stagnating already. Like everyday will become the same old routine even though it isn't. I feel like I want to do one thing, yet end up doing another.It feels like all my friends are also there become of the circumstance (uni, school etc). Once I finish university, I'm not sure who my friends will be. It makes me feel lonely and scared at the same time. I can't seem to meet new people either. I can meet them and we can really get along. However, without something that allows us to constantly see one another (job, uni etc), I struggle to stay connected to said people. It makes me feel like I'm never going to make some real and everlasting friends. Everybody around me is advancing in their lives. New jobs, new relationships, etc. For me however, it's as if there are only 2 pillars holding me up: university and family. If you were to take away any one of these, then I would have nothing. Nothing to live for at all.I don't know if this will make sense to anyone. If anyone reads it and can relate, it'd be nice to know others that feel the same way. All the best ! beyondblue's clinically-trained moderators often work offline (invisible to you) on issues relating to suicide or self-harm. At the same time, general supportive comments from the community are encouraged. If you have concerns around suicide or self-harm, please phone our support service on 1300 22 4636. Normal 0 false false false EN-AU X-NONE X-NONE /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin-top:0cm; mso-para-margin-right:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:8.0pt; mso-para-margin-left:0cm; line-height:107%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-language:EN-US;}

Smithsons Do I have anxiety?
  • replies: 3

I know the only way to know for sure if I have anxiety is if I go see a doctor, but I just wanted to know other people's opinions here. I'm an obsessive thinker and mostly expect the worst. When I was younger, like maybe 11, I relied on my mum pickin... View more

I know the only way to know for sure if I have anxiety is if I go see a doctor, but I just wanted to know other people's opinions here. I'm an obsessive thinker and mostly expect the worst. When I was younger, like maybe 11, I relied on my mum picking me up from school. Since she worked far away, I was always the last kid left waiting. Sometimes I'd worry and panic about this, just being left on my own - I'm not sure why exactly, I always knew she'd come.. just the thought of being alone frightened me so much. It even took me a while to be comfortable with staying home alone. I've always worried about what other people think of me, and let their opinions of me define who I am. I guess I'm pretty insecure and that only worsens it. Since things are a bit rocky with my girlfriend at the moment, I panic that it isn't going to work out and it just upsets me. I somehow managed to convince myself I was schizophrenic, and a result, I suffered a panic attack. When I get slight headaches, I always expect the worst and worry it's something more. Whenever I hear of a young healthy person that got struck with an unfortunate disease, I panic the same will happen to me. Are these all symptoms of a person with anxiety, or am I just a worry-wort? When I manage to calm myself down, I feel okay. But when I get panicked, I'm just not the same person and I feel so down and negative about everything.

pandacoot I think I have depression.
  • replies: 5

I am not sure if I do have depression or not. My close friends think I do, they think I should go and see a doctor, the thing is, I don't want to tell my parents that I think I might have depression, and I can't go to the doctors or a GP without them... View more

I am not sure if I do have depression or not. My close friends think I do, they think I should go and see a doctor, the thing is, I don't want to tell my parents that I think I might have depression, and I can't go to the doctors or a GP without them. ​I am not entirely sure of the reason/s I have been down, other than the usual stories, didn't achieve well at school, I had a falling out with a good friend, and I always look down on myself and don't go to people for help, as I am worried I will get annoying. My parents have made it quite hard on me as of late, and most of my mates are saying 'all parents make it hard,' and 'you'll get over it soon enough.' I have been feeling this way for over 3 months, and I am worried of the outcome my behavior will have on my friends. Please help me, I need all the help I can get at this moment in time. Extra info: I am a 15yo girl with no job (no way of paying for any doctors appointment myself) ​

teenidllle how do I get help
  • replies: 3

Hello, For the last year I've been feeling constantly sad and irritable, but I've always blamed my feelings and anxiety on school (tests, exams etc). However in the last two months it has become clear that that is not the case, I have no motivation t... View more

Hello, For the last year I've been feeling constantly sad and irritable, but I've always blamed my feelings and anxiety on school (tests, exams etc). However in the last two months it has become clear that that is not the case, I have no motivation to do anything and I've lost interest interest in things I use to enjoy. I'm constantly tired and have a lot of trouble managing my anxiety (I've missed school and work because of it). I'm constantly feeling empty and I don't know what to do. I know the obvious answer is to talk to my parents but I have no idea how to open up about how I'm feeling, they will either not take me seriously or over react. I've never had that kind of relationship with them where I feel like I can talk about anything, so any advice on how to do so would be much appreciated.