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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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Civilised_Biscuit Anxiety and Depression involving human extinction.
  • replies: 2

Hi everyone, A little over a year ago, I started to have nervous quarrels with myself over human mass extinction and the destruction of our planet. It was a dark time for me, my grandmother had been diagnosed with cancer recently, so the anxiety grad... View more

Hi everyone, A little over a year ago, I started to have nervous quarrels with myself over human mass extinction and the destruction of our planet. It was a dark time for me, my grandmother had been diagnosed with cancer recently, so the anxiety gradually got worse as she got more sick. When she passed, I felt better for a while while and I got back into the groove of school life. Now, a year later these worries are starting to come back. I constantly have very dark thoughts, which make me feel very uncomfortable and I am always feeling exhausted from constant panic attacks which seem to come randomly in the middle of class. My friends are great people, and I want to stay friends with them but they are at the roots of the problem, since they talk about nuclear war, climate change and viruses wiping out the earth in the next 10/20 years. I have tried talking to them about stopping this talk but in doing so I always get caught up in an argument with them about the subject, which makes me more depressed in the long run. I have been to doctors and Physciatrists about this. They always tell me to "accept I cant change the future" which to be honest, doesn't help at all. I cant stop thinkning about the death of the me and the people I love and accepting that that is going to happen only makes me think about it more. My anxiety has become a white noise, something I cant get out of my head like TV static. I've talked to my family, who are very supportive but its an uncomfortable area to talk about to people so close. Ive been told this is natural, and that all pubescent boys feel this way. Looking over personal stories, what I am experiencing seems very different to most. It's constant, tiring and frustrating and I want to be done with it so I can continue enjoying my life. Thanks guys.

PetaRina Anxiety attack or just being paranoid?
  • replies: 1

the other day i had what i want to call a panic attack, but i'm not even sure if that's what it was. (long rant, sorry) I never like answering the door, i'm afraid of the awkward small talk whether it's someone i know or don't know, recently i've tho... View more

the other day i had what i want to call a panic attack, but i'm not even sure if that's what it was. (long rant, sorry) I never like answering the door, i'm afraid of the awkward small talk whether it's someone i know or don't know, recently i've thought i may have anxiety & i want to see someone, but every time i try to i get to, i get too nervous and cancel the appointment. Anyway, the other day someone came to the door and i freaked out massively. I didn't know them, but it's this person who goes around our area around a few times a year to sell his amateur paintings, so i knew it wasn't like an axe murderer or something. But for some reason after he'd left (i didn't answer the door so he gave up and went to the next house) I started freaking out and kept thinking that people we're coming to get me and he was just the first person and that more we're coming and that all these people were after me. I ran upstairs and was trying to find somewhere to hide and was crying for ages, i kept trying to look out of the windows to see where they were, if they'd found me. For about an hour i was really freaking out and thinking all these people were after me. That they were outside watching. I wasn't hallucinating, i didn't actually see people outside or anything, i just for whatever reason thought that some people we're after me and i was terrified. Nothing like this has ever happened before, but his sort of thing is happening more often. The other night i had this feeling that there was someone in my room. I didn't see anyone, there was no one in there, but for about two hours i lay in my bed terrified to move because the man at the end of my bed was going to kill me. I lay in the most uncomfortable position, really needed to pee, but couldn't move because I was so scared the man would kill me if i moved. The other day i was walking home and i had this thought that people were following me. It's not uncommon for girls to feel like that walking home at night, so i dismissed it. But when i thought about it later, i was way more scared than usual i kept looking around and i was hyperventilating and at one point i started running because i thought there were people around, watching me, when no one was there. So basically, i know it's not normal, I'm not stupid. But i haven't been sleeping, or eating well. I've been quite stressed so i don't know if this is just because of that, or something else and i don't know what to do, i kinda feel like i'm going mental.

Kendall Just wondering
  • replies: 2

Hey so I was just wondering if it is normal for me to always be surrounded by people but still feel lonely and lost? I often find myself fake smiling more than I should and lately I just feel like I don't belong.

Hey so I was just wondering if it is normal for me to always be surrounded by people but still feel lonely and lost? I often find myself fake smiling more than I should and lately I just feel like I don't belong.

unigirl1994 Seeing GP for anxiety, advice on possible treatments?
  • replies: 1

Hi all, I've never seen my GP about anxiety before but it's been so horrible lately with the end of my uni degree in 4 weeks and many sleepless nights. Been putting off an appointment for weeks so going to bite the bullet next week and just do it! Fi... View more

Hi all, I've never seen my GP about anxiety before but it's been so horrible lately with the end of my uni degree in 4 weeks and many sleepless nights. Been putting off an appointment for weeks so going to bite the bullet next week and just do it! First of all, I'm not 100% how to bring it up and what to say? I think I might have depresssion to but I don't want to self diagnose. I also am worried that he will refer me to a psychologist/psychiatrist and I hate the idea of that - I talked to a psychologist once when I was 14 and hated it, she didn't help me at all and I felt like it made me more upset. I'm just not sure about the treatment options apart from that and medication that he can help with? I'm happy to be put on meds as long as it helps but I feel like that wont be the first option right?

Lontes The finer points of life that people usually aviod(and some school exam troubles)
  • replies: 3

Why hello there. i'm new here and I have an unsolvable problem How do I prevent myself from taking a path I desire to take. essentially, I think about everything, truth, life, death, my mind works a million miles an hour yet its hindering me and lowe... View more

Why hello there. i'm new here and I have an unsolvable problem How do I prevent myself from taking a path I desire to take. essentially, I think about everything, truth, life, death, my mind works a million miles an hour yet its hindering me and lowering my emotion. Here is a sample of what I think about. Please, I warn you if you fear lack of purpose and meaningless then stop reading now. I am on a path for truth. so far my conclusion is that there is no truth within this world apart from absolutes which are created from unabsloutes. lets say we have a piece of iron, 100% iron with no other particles of anything in it. we can truly say that is iron. because that's the truth right? now if you see a desk can you say it is a desk? no because what exactaly makes a desk? if I remove a leg is it still a desk? if I destroy it is it still a desk? its viewed different to each person. so therefore it cannot be truthfully called a desk. its our perception of a desk. Things like beauty, ugly, good, bad, none of that exists. its all just opinions, different to each and every single person alive. What you think is bad I might think is good. Our opinions are our ideas, our perception is our way we see things creating our opinions which can in turn create our perception. and both of our opinion and perception combine and create our behaviours, our actions. I also think about words and how they are just sounds we make that we give meaning to. Take away that meaning and what do you have? There is no truth in words and it goes so much further. yes there all all the basics like why do we exist and what is our purpose and truth be told there is no given purpose or reason we exist. so I created my own. For fun. Okay, so these thoughts might be what others consider bad for me but I consider them to be eye opening and insightful into the future. but what I want to know is how to stop them from flooding my mind consistently without removing them for good or distracting myself with something else which is what I have been doing yet now I need to focus on school work because I have my year 12 exams in less than a week. any help is appreciated yet please try not to be too daft. I'm not an idiot or someone who can be simply persuaded and encouraged by the usual helping techniques. I have too much knowledge for that(yes I sound cocky... all well). I would love people who understand to be able to help. if you don't understand you can try anyway. Thanks

Michael202 I am fighting a losing battle.
  • replies: 2

If anyone does happen to read this, i would firstly like to introduce myself - I'm 17 years old, I work 30-35 hours a week and I have very recently dropped out of high school (Year 11). Before year 9 i was what teachers would call an exceptional stud... View more

If anyone does happen to read this, i would firstly like to introduce myself - I'm 17 years old, I work 30-35 hours a week and I have very recently dropped out of high school (Year 11). Before year 9 i was what teachers would call an exceptional student. I stick by my decision of dropping out of school, I was not learning anything, I was constantly getting in trouble for sleeping in class, teachers would accuse my of cheating if my work was well done. I often felt as if the people around me didn't care about me at all. I would often find myself sitting alone with my headphones in reflecting on the little things & the big things. I have been seeing counselors my whole life, that's no exaggeration, when I was younger it would be for anger management, which progressed into stress, which progressed into anxiety, which progressed into depression (I was diagnosed in January). In year 8 I think it was my counselor suggested that I talk to my parents about my problems. My Dad replied with "Get a job, then tell me about stress", and my Mum said "Welcome to the club". I have been told my Mum also struggles from depression, and my dad is a hard worker, which i respect him for, I understand that they do not know how to approach the matter. I haven't been to school for 7 weeks and I only really see one of my friends he comes over after school 80% of the time, he is the source of my sanity, my other friends I only see once a fortnight if I am lucky. I think my Mum thinks I love their Mums more, which isn't true. There is only one other friend that I would ever talk to, but he goes to school 5 days a week, he is on like 2 different basketball teams, and he is madly devoted to his girlfriend of one year, I am happy with how well his life is going, but I wish I could talk to him more. I am growing to hate my job, which right now is my only outlet, i feel the employees there that are my age have a problem with me. At the start of the year 9 I started writing songs, because I'm pretty good with words, it was also therapeutic and I got really good at it. It's now my only REAL career option, but lately I have been getting writers block like crazy. I'm really sorry about the length I was trying to direct, but I guess in conclusion, I feel incredibly alone, I hate failure and I feel that no matter where I go failure will follow and I'm so over these fireballs life just keeps throwing at me. Thank you if you got this far.

Liam007 One year later, starting to feel depressed again
  • replies: 3

So it was around this time last year that I started to feel depressed and lonely. I fear it might be coming back..... I hate myself and feel I don't have any good qualities that people would love. I plan routes whenever I go for walks to avoid locati... View more

So it was around this time last year that I started to feel depressed and lonely. I fear it might be coming back..... I hate myself and feel I don't have any good qualities that people would love. I plan routes whenever I go for walks to avoid locations where I might see people I know, I walk alone a lot. I just feel so left out and worthless

8r00k33y Depression, Anxiety or just Overreacting
  • replies: 2

Hi guys, I'm 14 years old and Female. so for the past year or so I've been feeling down and worrying more my grandfather passed away last October and that's when everything started to seem different. I didn't notice much last year but this year I've ... View more

Hi guys, I'm 14 years old and Female. so for the past year or so I've been feeling down and worrying more my grandfather passed away last October and that's when everything started to seem different. I didn't notice much last year but this year I've been worrying more. I found out my dad has been smoking behind my back after he said to me he would quit, (he got pneumonia). I've been having terrible dreams about family member being killed or my dad is in a coma or has cancer. I wake up sweating and sometimes before I go to sleep I get horrific thoughts in my head about the dreams I had the night before. I sometimes have panick attacks due to the dreams. Or I have them when something doesn't go right most of the time it's random and unexpected. i have wanted to tell my mum that I'm feeling this way but she has always been very blunt and if I told her about this what would I say I get so shy and embarrassed when I even think of telling her. I feel like if I tell her and have to go to a GP to get diagnosed and medication and therapy it will be too much of a burden on her. I don't want to make her spend more money. if anyone has tips or ideas on how to talk to her about it I would love to hear. But I'm scared she will think I'm just lieing... thanks ~ B

PetaRina Treatments for depression & Anxiety?
  • replies: 2

I feel like this is something i could just google, but i'm looking for a more specified response, particularly from people around my age or regarding people my age. What treatments are there for depression or anxiety? If you 'qualify', are you just g... View more

I feel like this is something i could just google, but i'm looking for a more specified response, particularly from people around my age or regarding people my age. What treatments are there for depression or anxiety? If you 'qualify', are you just given medication or anti- depressants? Do you just get counselling until you get better, or to a point where it's manageable? I don't know if i'm even depressed or have anxiety, but i'm hesitant to go and speak to a GP or anything because if it turns out i did have something wrong, i don't want to be drugged for the rest of my life as a solution, and counselling just seems like too much of an idealistic solution, something that doesn't really work in practice. Coming from a position of naivety, I've never been to a counselor so i don't know how it works, but i don't know how talking about it can make it go away. I've read over this post and it comes across as really ignorant, i don't mean it like that, i'm just not good at wording my questions. i'm trying to ask if treatments for anxiety or depression actually help you overcome it, or it's more about just teaching you to live with it., and thus is it worth the money to try and look into it. Also, i'm 18, so if i was diagnosed as having a mental illness, does the severity impact whether i'd be medicated or not or whether I'd be referred to counselling & has anyone had success with counselling or did it just teach them to accept what's wrong with them?

Poppy Anxiety is tough for boyfriend
  • replies: 4

I often worry that my beautiful boyfriend who I've been with for over a year who does so much for me will one day stop because dealing with someone with anxiety isn't easy ; I get scared he could have it so much easier even though he adores me. I wor... View more

I often worry that my beautiful boyfriend who I've been with for over a year who does so much for me will one day stop because dealing with someone with anxiety isn't easy ; I get scared he could have it so much easier even though he adores me. I worry it's unfair on him but he says if you love someone you love every bit of them even the bad bits. I have a dad with bipolar so I know how tough it can be living with a person with a mental health issue. What are other people's partners like with their anxiety ?