Young people

A space for people aged 12-25 to discuss life. If you’re over 25, please be mindful that this is a space for younger people to connect.

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romantic_thi3f Eeep! When study is overwhelming! - Tips, ideas and coping strategies
  • replies: 51

Hi! Just thought I’d make a post with some tips for study. I know this is something we can all struggle with. These are all suggestions so feel free to take them or leave them! Hope they help! If you only remember one thing, let it be this: You are i... View more

Hi! Just thought I’d make a post with some tips for study. I know this is something we can all struggle with. These are all suggestions so feel free to take them or leave them! Hope they help! If you only remember one thing, let it be this: You are important. Your grades don’t define you. (support) Studying can feel isolating but know you’re not alone! Reach out – and find or make friends that can support you along the way. If you’re having trouble finding some friends, join some local communities or clubs! They have lots at Uni’s and even stuff like open days are great ways to meet new people and find out what’s happening. Study groups can also be a great way to meet people and stay motivated. Also remind yourself why you’re doing this; inspirational wallpapers or quotes can be super inspiring. Remember the saying about the oxygen mask? If you can’t take care of yourself first studying will be harder. You are important. You know the drill - water, food, exercise, sleep. Try to stay calm. Stuff that might be able to help include mindfulness, breathing exercises, colouring in, going for walks, journaling, listening to music… If you’re struggling – reach out. See a therapist. Talk to your student counsellor. If you need help, don’t be afraid to ask for it. Also lots of Universities and TAFE offer disability services – which includes conditions like Depression and Anxiety. (study) Find the right study space for you. Maybe that’s in your room, or a coffee shop, or the library. Some people find that noise helps; other people not so much. If you like particular kinds of noise, you can find ‘coffee shop’ noise or ‘rain sounds’ to help concentrate. Make a plan. It helps to do it often so it becomes a habit. Anytime you get a due date, write it down. Maybe you could use a diary, planner, bullet journal or an app. I find the 30/30 App helpful - study for a bit and then break for a bit. You can also get add-on’s for your computer to block sites like Facebook if you find them too distracting. Find out what study technique works for you. Do you like cue cards? Mind maps? Colour coding? Does highlighting stuff help you remember? Charts, maps, diagrams? Recorded lectures? Goals! These are so important – not just writing down deadlines but rewarding yourself for meeting them. Even making smaller goals like ‘read two pages from a textbook’ can help. Break it down into bite size pieces, and don’t forget to reward yourself after!

Sophie_M NEW TO THIS FORUM? Please read this first
  • replies: 0

The Young People space is a sub-forum within the wider Beyond Blue forum community. 1. Its purpose is to provide members aged 25 and under a space to discuss anxiety, depression and other related life issues. If you are aged over 25, please be mindfu... View more

The Young People space is a sub-forum within the wider Beyond Blue forum community. 1. Its purpose is to provide members aged 25 and under a space to discuss anxiety, depression and other related life issues. If you are aged over 25, please be mindful that this forum is a space for younger people to connect and provide peer support for each other. 2. Content from this sub-forum is displayed on both the beyondblue and youthbeyondblue websites. 3. Please bear in mind that some members find content relating to suicide and/or self-harm distressing or triggering. If you would like to post on these topics, please do so in our Suicidal Thoughts and Self Harm section. Please see also our guidelines for making posts on this topic. Posts made here in the Young People sub-forum containing content relating to suicide and/or self-harm will be moved. 4. These forums are moderated, so your posts may not appear straightaway. Information on how our system works can be found here. Being familiar with our community rules can help ensure that your posts appear online as quickly as possible. 5. This is a peer support community, and to get the best out of being here we recommend that you 'give support to receive support'. More on how that works here.

All discussions

sadgirl57 End of my rope
  • replies: 9

Hi, so I've had depression and anxiety and whatnot for like years and I've tried dealing with it and getting help and I have a history of having to suddenly leave my job because I have mental breakdowns all the time... or the same one over and over. ... View more

Hi, so I've had depression and anxiety and whatnot for like years and I've tried dealing with it and getting help and I have a history of having to suddenly leave my job because I have mental breakdowns all the time... or the same one over and over. I just can't cope with working but I can't lose this job/my income and I don't know what to do. I went to the doctor and she said to go on antidepressants but I really don't want to do that and it's too far beyond that now. I'm really not good at looking after myself and I just don't know what to do.

tiffles93 Anxiety.
  • replies: 5

I'm 22 and suffer from anxiety. I don't really have many friends anymore, I have a partner however it sometimes it doesn't feel like he understands what goes on in my head.​ I guess I'm seeking any kind of advice, I can get. More often than not, I wa... View more

I'm 22 and suffer from anxiety. I don't really have many friends anymore, I have a partner however it sometimes it doesn't feel like he understands what goes on in my head.​ I guess I'm seeking any kind of advice, I can get. More often than not, I wake up feeling flat and I have all these negative thoughts in my head, that I can't seem to shake off. I want to get better but I don't know how I can help myself. Some days are worse than others.. the worse days, just lead me to tears purely just because of the thoughts in my head. Any sort of advice and encouraging words, would be highly appreciated, as right now I feel like I'm battling this alone. Cheers..

bluesky95 little empty.
  • replies: 2

I don't know why i feel this way and i don't want to. I can be talking to friends, sitting watching a movie or out going shopping and be enjoying what I'm doing and yet when i slow down or have a moment to my self i don't FEEL anything its like blank... View more

I don't know why i feel this way and i don't want to. I can be talking to friends, sitting watching a movie or out going shopping and be enjoying what I'm doing and yet when i slow down or have a moment to my self i don't FEEL anything its like blank fuzzy space. no matter what i do it is always just there.

Bodey294 hello, Im new to this
  • replies: 1

hello people of Beyond Blue, um this is this first time I've really reached out to anyone really. Im not in a good place right now especially socially. Im have been experiencing anxiety and depression i feel like for almost my hole life. as a result ... View more

hello people of Beyond Blue, um this is this first time I've really reached out to anyone really. Im not in a good place right now especially socially. Im have been experiencing anxiety and depression i feel like for almost my hole life. as a result Im overly anti-social and very shy. so there. what do you think

Tamkay Feeling so trapped in anxiety.
  • replies: 3

My anxiety has only really started to affect my life over the past few months. Though the past few weeks it has had a huge impact. I constantly have this voice in my head which tells me no one really cares about me and that everything I'm doing is wr... View more

My anxiety has only really started to affect my life over the past few months. Though the past few weeks it has had a huge impact. I constantly have this voice in my head which tells me no one really cares about me and that everything I'm doing is wrong. I feel so down & frustrated all the time because I'm alone. But I'm to scared to go out & socialise. I always feel so uncomfortable, even with friends who were once really close. My boyfriend gets annoyed because I tell him how I feel and he just says I'm being negative all the time & that everyone does like me & want me to go out places. I really just feel like living life is such a chore. I have had two panic attacks at work where I have had trouble breathing & was shaking uncontrollably. I always feel so scared of everyday people.. I have really low self esteem & just don't know where to go from here.

Ilovebunnies Am I depressed
  • replies: 3

I don't know if I'm depressed or I just want to be. I know this sounds so strange but I have a habit of just wanting to be something & then doing it. I've been watching Skins for like the last 5 days & I don't know if I just want be like Cassie & Eff... View more

I don't know if I'm depressed or I just want to be. I know this sounds so strange but I have a habit of just wanting to be something & then doing it. I've been watching Skins for like the last 5 days & I don't know if I just want be like Cassie & Effy or if I'm actually depressed. I kind of felt like it before I started watching the show but I've noticed my feelings being aplified lately & I think it could be because the characters are making me realise that I'm depressed or I just want to be like them. I know I have anxiety & it's getting really bad lately, it's gotten to the point where if I drive at night, when I get home I go back outside like 5 times or more throughout the night to make sure my car headlights are actually off & my car is locked even though I know it is. I've been having a lot of anger problems lately as well, I have a really short fuse, I couldn't figure out how to start a new thread on here & after only like 10 seconds I wanted to throw my phone & I was almost in tears. I've been emotional about everything & I've been having horrible reactions to things. Things that should make me sad do make me sad but I smile & laugh even though I don't want to, like there was a thing on the news about a lady dying & I was so saddened by it yet I was smiling & I know I shouldn't be. It's been happening for like 3 or 4 weeks now. I feel sad all the time & I stress over the smallest things, I am tired even when I sleep 9 or more hours a night, I'm so scared that my life is just going to crumble around me, I've been lying to someone for like a year & if they find out I could get in a lot of trouble & it stresses me out so much but I can't come clean because I don't want to get in trouble. I'm stressed because I have almost no money, I'm always thinking about what could happen if this happened or if something had gone differently, I fixate on things that happened like a year ago or a day ago & try to thing about how I could've changed it. I've been having these feelings before I watched the show & I don't know if it's depression or not. I don't know if I just want to be depressed because I want to be like a TV show character & because Depression is sadly somewhat glamourised by the media. I know this post may seem all over the place but I don't know how to get my feelings & what I need to say out without word vomit.

PetaRina How to know if you have mental illness or you're just going through a 'sad phase'?
  • replies: 3

how do you know if you have anxiety or depression, or if you're just going through a 'sad period'? For a few years now i've been feeling isolated, and sad, and it's getting progressively worse all the time, and i'm kinda scared it'll get to a point w... View more

how do you know if you have anxiety or depression, or if you're just going through a 'sad period'? For a few years now i've been feeling isolated, and sad, and it's getting progressively worse all the time, and i'm kinda scared it'll get to a point where i'll just give up. I cry all the time, there's days where i can't get out of bed and just lay there for hours and hours and others where on a whim i decide to catch a train to somewhere random just to explore. i have all these textbook 'symptoms' that are typical of what you always hear are related to some sort of mental illness. However, I'm 18, failing university & I don't have any friends or family members other than my parents (who i'm not close to), so I don't have any one to talk to. Rationally, i know these are things that can make someone any person really sad or upset, so how do you know if you're sad because of something that's happened, or because of the situation you're in, or if you have an illness of some sort? For a while i thought i had social anxiety, because i'm outgoing for things like public speaking when i'm doing a speech, but had this debilitating fear talking on the phone, of conversations & small talk, i would try to plan what to say in my head then stutter it out and become flustered, but it seems like every second person these days has social anxiety, so how do you know if you're just one of those 'awkward people' or if there's actually something wrong? There's so many people now quick to diagnose themselves as having depression (cue. Tumblr) just for sometimes being sad, that i'm hesitant to think that there's actually something 'wrong' with me, but i'm not sure how i'm feeling is normal, so I don't know what to do.

Jimmy19 I don't know what to do any more, I feel lost
  • replies: 3

This is mainly going to be a vent to anyone who will listen. I have been feeling really tired and just sad lately due to almost every aspect of my life. My family, my uni, my friends, everything. My family is, in my mind, the main problem. I live at ... View more

This is mainly going to be a vent to anyone who will listen. I have been feeling really tired and just sad lately due to almost every aspect of my life. My family, my uni, my friends, everything. My family is, in my mind, the main problem. I live at home with my mother and my older brother and I feel like they either think I am incredibly stupid or can't be trusted. They will say or do anything to stop me from doing pretty much anything social, (for example, I went to town for a friends birthday, and my brother, my mother and my gandmother constantly told me I will probably get mugged, my drink spiked, get into a fight and wont enjoy myself. this went on for 3 days non stop, every conversation. and on the occasion i decide to stay home, they complain that I dont go out. It doesn't make sense because every counsellor and all my friends I have told this to, tell me that my family is in the wrong. But its the fact that they all gang up on me that makes me think I am wrong. I understand that tragedies can cause repression, which I think this is. But they make me want to run away forever. As for my Uni, I hate it. I am studying first year product design and it is just too much. but i cannot find a job where I live. I have given out over 150 resumes and I haven't even gotten an interview. My Uni peers treat me like an Alien and I just want to quit, but i have nothing else to go to. As for my friends, My best friend Brad is the only person on this planet I can tell anything to, but sometimes I feel like I put to much pressure on him with my problems. I always feel second best out of my friends and I just hate it all. I feel like I cant tell anyone how I feel because I am being over dramatic. I am starting to get extremely angry at little things, i never express it but in my mind I just feel like exploding. I have tried counselling and have spoken to my GP a few times about this, but nothing helps. the tablets make me feel tired and sluggish which I cant be for Uni. there just feels like no escape. And I feel so alone, I only have 1 friend that takes me seriously and I dont want to keep putting pressure on him. If anyone has the time to offer their thoughts I would be grateful, I don't know what to do any more. I just think I need someone to guide me for a while. Thanks

Bearylewis123 Feeling lonely
  • replies: 2

I feel very lonely. At the moment, it is school holidays and I am just spending most of my time at home alone while my parents work. I have barely any friends (like 2), and the ones I do have either don't go to my school or their parents are so stric... View more

I feel very lonely. At the moment, it is school holidays and I am just spending most of my time at home alone while my parents work. I have barely any friends (like 2), and the ones I do have either don't go to my school or their parents are so strict I can barely see them. I feel really sad because I look on social media and everyone is out with friends having fun while I have no one to do anything with. This year was hard for me as my old best friend left me and I haven't made many new friends. I've been friendly, approachable,vans kind and have tried so hard to make friends yet no one seems to care about me as they all have their own little groups. I feel awkward and like I'm the odd one out. I feel like I am wasting my childhood and that I am going to regret not doing much or having fun now when I'm older but I don't see any way out of this situation because I don't have anyone to have fun or go out with. My mum is supportive but she always tells me how she had so many friends at school and it makes me depressed I'm not like that. Any suggestions?

Blue67 Life is unfair
  • replies: 9

Does anyone else just get so angry at how your life turned out? I had these friends who turned out to be so mean it really ruined me. I am now so angry that they can live their happy lives like I meant nothing to them! Isn't life so unfair! Why does ... View more

Does anyone else just get so angry at how your life turned out? I had these friends who turned out to be so mean it really ruined me. I am now so angry that they can live their happy lives like I meant nothing to them! Isn't life so unfair! Why does this happen to me? I just don't know how to move on from this anger and sadness