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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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Misslauren93 Nothing makes me happy
  • replies: 2

Hi Recently I landed my dream job everyone around me is so happy and excited for me but for some reason I can't be happy for myself I feel like I don't deserve it or something will come along and ruin it I don't know how to accept happiness for mysel... View more

Hi Recently I landed my dream job everyone around me is so happy and excited for me but for some reason I can't be happy for myself I feel like I don't deserve it or something will come along and ruin it I don't know how to accept happiness for myself

Mocha007 Depression is eating away at my loved ones
  • replies: 1

We used to live a very family orientated life, however about a year and a half ago my dad was diagnosed with PTSD. A lot of stuff came up about his childhood upbringing, and how his parents treated him, and it caused him to break down completely. Eve... View more

We used to live a very family orientated life, however about a year and a half ago my dad was diagnosed with PTSD. A lot of stuff came up about his childhood upbringing, and how his parents treated him, and it caused him to break down completely. Even now we can see that he struggles to do the simplest of tasks, but since he had to quite his job, home life has been really stressful. And then, what seemed like completely out of the blue, the pressure began to hit mum. She began breaking down at work and would spend almost every night crying herself to sleep. And when she went to the doctors, they told her that she too has depression. Both of my parents are going to psychiatrists, but dad has been going for nearly 1.5 years, and he seems to be barely improving. Having both parents go through something that I feel like I can't help them with, hurts so much. It is tearing my family apart, and I feel like there is nothing I can do to make it better for them. All I want is for my family to go back to the way it was before, when everyone was happy and loved life. But now, nothing is the same. So I want to know if there is anything that I can do to help them! Anything at all!!! Cheers

Lost_n_confused Working is so hard. Please help
  • replies: 1

Hey guys new here so give me a chance to spit this all out. I have had depression and anxiety for years now and I usually manage okay but not lately. I am a manager at a place I rather not name and it makes me feel like shit! I apply for work daily a... View more

Hey guys new here so give me a chance to spit this all out. I have had depression and anxiety for years now and I usually manage okay but not lately. I am a manager at a place I rather not name and it makes me feel like shit! I apply for work daily and am getting no where. When at work I actually hide and cry in the office sometimes. The place of killing me but if I leave without another job I will not be able to support myself. I just don't know what to do? I have tried everything to be positive I try telling myself it's not forever but I wake up the days I have work feeling so sick. I do to bed after work and cry. Any tips?

Alyssashby Pressure
  • replies: 1

Hey, I'm new here so I'm not really sure how this works, but I thought I'd try it. I don't know what to do a lot of the time. I haven't been diagnosed with depression so sometimes I'm worried that I'm over reacting. But the things is, all the pressur... View more

Hey, I'm new here so I'm not really sure how this works, but I thought I'd try it. I don't know what to do a lot of the time. I haven't been diagnosed with depression so sometimes I'm worried that I'm over reacting. But the things is, all the pressure builds up, and there are days when its hard to summon the strength to smile through it. The worst part is my parents. Every conversation we have turns into a lecture about me not thinking of others, not doing enough exercise, not trying enough at school. These topics are brought up no matter how the conversation begins. I can't talk to my friends either, sometimes they pressure me too... I'm not really sure what to do anymore. Every time I try to talk to my parents, or try to summon up the courage to talk to someone - anyone; fear of judgement and failure stop me. Whether its from my parents telling me that I'll be fine, I'm being dramatic, I'm not listening to them properly, or whether its just the idea that, if I do talk to them about it, they won't look at me the same. I don't want pity, just understanding. Sometimes, when the pressure gets too much at home I end up fighting with my family, and every time I try to explain how I'm feeling I'm shut down. I don't let myself do that at school. There, I hold on the shreds that people can believe that I'm okay, because I'm afraid that I'm not. What should I do? I don't have anyone to turn to, not that I really trust.

_Truffles_ Depressed or just being dramatic??
  • replies: 3

Hi, I'm 16 for about the past 18 months i have been really down, and I think it is getting worse. You see, I am always comparing my self to my older sister who is really academic and hard working and always has a one up on me. I just feel like I am n... View more

Hi, I'm 16 for about the past 18 months i have been really down, and I think it is getting worse. You see, I am always comparing my self to my older sister who is really academic and hard working and always has a one up on me. I just feel like I am never going to be good enough, especially because she had this teacher last year who loved her, and she got a super good study score and now I have that same teacher for the same subject this year. I hate going to work because my sister works there and she is a great worker and I feel that there is an expectation that I have to be the same, and then we get comments on how cute and how similar we are and I just hate it. Lately I have been feeling distant from my friends, particularly because two of them (they ones whom I hang out with the most) have boyfriends and I don't... Which I don't care about, but I am always the odd one. My other friend, who I have been friends with since kinder sort of ditched me last year for this other girl, who turned out to be a b**ch, so then she came back to me and we sort of rekindled the relationship. Then, again this year she has just left me all together and hangs out with different people and the worst part is her mum and my mum are best friends and I feel like her mum is some how still trying to force us to be friends. I also play basketball and I am really bad but our team isn't really competitive, but I always get the sympathy vote and it makes me feel worthless, like I am a child. I have had quite bad acne and mum took me too the doctors last year because I was a bit self-conscious and I got some medication to clear my skin up, I am off it now but my skin has flared up again, mum wants to take me back to the doctors but I just don't care anymore. I have been feeling really hopeless, sad, frustrated and stressed (especially about school and after school) lately. Some days are good and I am happy for a bit, and then someone will say something or do something and it will put me into a 'bad' mood. Im too scared to tell anyone how I am feeling because I don't want to tell mum and dad because I don't want to disappoint them and I feel like my problems are pointless and irrelevant, especially because there are other people that have much bigger problems than mine and I don't want it to look attention seeking. am I depressed or just being dramatic? Sorry for lots of writing

BlueNinjaX2912 Can't afford to lose more family members
  • replies: 1

Right now, it has been over a year since this tragic event has happened. For two/three years, my Nana was diagnose with cancer. Early March in 2014, she lost her battle and passed away. She was the closest grandmother I had. The one who cared for me,... View more

Right now, it has been over a year since this tragic event has happened. For two/three years, my Nana was diagnose with cancer. Early March in 2014, she lost her battle and passed away. She was the closest grandmother I had. The one who cared for me, who loved me, who was always there when things got tough. So hard to lose her. A few months later, my mum's uncle passed away from a heart attack. The weight of struggle have added more to my shoulders. I was becoming more stressed. A while later, my idol and favourite actor, Robin Williams committed suicide which took me off guard. I was not expecting this to happened. He was the reason why I wanted to become an actor. And now, I don't know why... The weights was again added. And before Christmas, one of my aunt passed away from liver failure. More weight was added. It proves that 2014 was not my best year for me. I thought 2015 would be a year ignore the pain and more on. I was wrong. As the year was coming to an end, my mum's cousin (the son of my mum's late uncle) passed away from heart problems. Right now, after what has happened to my family, I was worried of who going to be next. Will it be my dad? My mum? My siblings? My cousins? Aunts? Uncles? Anyone I know? I'm bottling all this anxiety inside of me and I haven't been myself lately - even though I have always put on a brave face for most of the time. I could really use a talk... anything to get this off my mind...

Maui757 It's debilitating
  • replies: 5

I have had depression and anxiety for the past 4 or so years, and have been treating it for the past 2 and a half years. Long story short, I've tried most the options out there, and they generally work. But I've found that no matter how much help you... View more

I have had depression and anxiety for the past 4 or so years, and have been treating it for the past 2 and a half years. Long story short, I've tried most the options out there, and they generally work. But I've found that no matter how much help you have, no matter how much effort and work you put in to getting better, no matter how many fail safes you have in place, I always end up at some point or another being super down, and not having anything or anyone to help. I see a psych, i try to exercise as much as I can, I try to eat often and healthy, I try to get out and enjoy life, I try to keep my stress as low as possible, i TRY to be better but it just gets the better of me in the end. I have a super caring family and a super caring boyfriend and super caring friends, but I feel like I can't talk to them anymore. I've been through the worst part of depression, the suicidal stuff, the self harm stuff, and now they all think I'm getting better. I mean, even I thought I was getting better. I AM better, way better than I was a year ago. But lately it's been coming back, hard and fast, just like it used to. I don't really understand, I know I'm stressed about uni and work and money like always, I've taken out most the things that used to trigger me in my life. But I'm starting to get those irrational thoughts and feelings again, and I feel like I can't talk to anyone about it. They all think I'm getting better, and I feel so ashamed to let on that I'm getting worse again. I'm a perfectionist so me going backwards is not easy to deal with on its own, but seeing the hurt I'm starting to cause my boyfriend again because I can't cope with simple day to day stuff that has to be done.. My friends and family are busy and I don't want to interrupt their day complaining about how sad I am. They've all been there and done that, I feel like I can't go there again otherwise it's just like I'm trying to get attention, which I guess I kind of am. My boyfriend has his own stuff to do and can't drop everything every time I feel like this because I feel like this a lot. I thought I was getting better but now it seems I'm going back to where I started, and I can't cope with that

Alexisrenee01 Feeling alone
  • replies: 1

Hey, I've suffered with anxiety for about 5 years and suffering with depression for the same amount of time i feel unwanted and alone at school. i don't really know what to do. It hurts a lot to feel like this because I'm the one that has to call the... View more

Hey, I've suffered with anxiety for about 5 years and suffering with depression for the same amount of time i feel unwanted and alone at school. i don't really know what to do. It hurts a lot to feel like this because I'm the one that has to call them to hang out and so on. i don't know what to do please help me.

Zoe1 i have a boyfriend but i also like another guy
  • replies: 2

Hey, I’m 17 years old and I am a girl. I’ve been dating my boyfriend for 3 months. I really love him and see us going in for the long run. However a few weeks ago I was at a party were I met a guy the same age. We really got along and we good chemist... View more

Hey, I’m 17 years old and I am a girl. I’ve been dating my boyfriend for 3 months. I really love him and see us going in for the long run. However a few weeks ago I was at a party were I met a guy the same age. We really got along and we good chemistry. I’ve started to developed a crush on the guy that I met at the party, Ive been thinking about him a lot and I really want to kiss him. I think he might like me back but i'm not sure. I don't know what to do because I like both of them. Can You help?

Grey_Man Mum and Dad don't understand sometimes.
  • replies: 2

Hey guys, So, I just started my HSC year, time flies hey. Anyway, I'v been affected by a number of stress, anxiety and depression related instances for probably the better part of two years now, but have only really started to surface in the current ... View more

Hey guys, So, I just started my HSC year, time flies hey. Anyway, I'v been affected by a number of stress, anxiety and depression related instances for probably the better part of two years now, but have only really started to surface in the current year due to the rigor of these last few years of my schooling. The pieces of the puzzle are starting to come together gradually, as I see a psychologist as well am on medication for my depression related feelings (I like to call them 'motivation issues', I hate the word 'depression'). And while that's all fine and dandy and certain aspects of my life seem a bit brighter, the major hurdle is getting mum and dad to fully grasp how I feel. They are both really understanding most of the time and I really appreciate the effort they put into doing their best for me and listening too me, but sometimes it is incredibly frustrating. My feelings generally lie in the region of that I have little to nothing to look forward too a majority of the time. I get little pleasure in lots of the things I used to enjoy and life as I see it, it just a constant grinding machine that doesn't stop. I hate the fact that I have to act joyful and happy around everyone, when in reality, I'm not. Perhaps its the way I describe it that doesn't help mum and dad understand. Most of the time I get comments like 'everyone has those days' etc. I occasionally have days of school when I'm just not feeling up to anything, today for example, but I hate taking them because sometimes I either loose the privilege of going to a party or an outing, or something else that is not in the weekly timetable, is used as leverage against me. "If I cant handle one day of school, then you won't be able to handle a party". I understand their frustration, but these few outings are my only glimmers of hope and enjoyment in what is often just a dull and repetitive life for me. The only people that really understand how I feel, are medical professionals and friends who have gone through the same things as myself. The more I talk to my parents about it all, the less I want to do it in the future, as while it is ok to talk, just every few weeks I get that blasting on how "life isnt fair" and "just have to put up with it". I truly love my parents and appreciate everything they have ever done for me, thinking about them is the only thing that stops me from doing something drastic to put my mind off this hell for just a little bit. Any advice would be fantastic.