Young people

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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.

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a94 Losing motivation to do anything, dealing with loneliness, depression creeping back...
  • replies: 6

HiI am a 21 year old male working full-time for a fairly large company. I was recently diagnosed with depression earlier in the year and was put on anti-depression medication after I began self harming once my closest friend forced me to seek help. T... View more

HiI am a 21 year old male working full-time for a fairly large company. I was recently diagnosed with depression earlier in the year and was put on anti-depression medication after I began self harming once my closest friend forced me to seek help. Things were getting better for a while, but for the last couple of months have gone bad. Whilst I see a councillor, I still feel extremely isolated, emotional at work and home, haven't yet been able to spark any passions back into my life, and sense as though my depression could get worse. My motivation keeps dwindling on things I used to do, like going to the gym or playing video games. I have a small circle of friends who I see every blue moon, and my family and I don't get on spectacularly (still live at home). I have just started a new job and haven't been able to make any friends since everyone in the office is rather introverted and I'm not particularly outgoing either. I've never had any meaningful relationships (recently came out to my parents and some friends as gay). I'm not hugely into the gay scene, nor am I particularly flamboyant either, so meeting other guys in person is impossible. Only through apps like Tinder/Grindr do I occasionally meet someone but it never lasts. I feel like if I knew someone actually cared for me (in an emotional/relationship context) I would probably feel more grounded and to get back on my feet a bit; invigorate my life a little.The nearest thing to a relationship I've had was about a month ago where I had been dating a guy for three weeks. We got along well. He even introduced me to his friends (a first) and I thought things were going pretty good, but after he travelled overseas for a few weeks, it seems he lost interest in me. I've tried to communicate with him on multiple occasions, but he would be very brief or wouldn't reply at all.All I want to do in my spare time is socialise with people. Since most of my friends are too busy, I end up talking to strangers on Grindr or Tinder to not feel so lonely. I'll just watch TV when I get home after a long commute from work everyday and go to bed. Weekends are pretty bad since I am so idle and have no idea what to do with myself. I just end up taking extensive naps so as to not be conscious and let my thoughts overcome me.Nothing interests me, people don't find me interesting and I've lost enjoyment from work and living.Just thought I'd post here if anyone had some suggestions on what I should do. Normal 0 false false false EN-AU JA 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:10.0pt; mso-para-margin-left:0cm; line-height:115%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;} 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.

feelingreserved Trapping myself in..
  • replies: 2

I'm a 19 year old girl and have suffered from social issues as long as i can remember due to the fact of a large amount of bullying throughiut primary and highschool. Primary school I also searched for acceptance and in turn became the annoying girl ... View more

I'm a 19 year old girl and have suffered from social issues as long as i can remember due to the fact of a large amount of bullying throughiut primary and highschool. Primary school I also searched for acceptance and in turn became the annoying girl no one wanted to hangout with. In highschool it was the same but gradually getting worse. I would be afraid to speak or do something without my "friends" ridiculing me for it. Eventually I gave up and became extremely reserved limiting myself to interactions with other people constantly fearing what they would say, think or do if I were to do something. Walking to school I would have to stop each morning before entering the gates to stop myself from vomiting and prepare myself for a day of being teased and undervalued. Graduating school and moving out of my home town was one of the best decision in life i have made so far. I have come a long way with my issues but still find them limiting me. I find myself withdrawing from friends because they have found new friends out of fear of being forgotten or left out. So i tell myself I don't care and choose not to participate alienating myself. I find it so hard meeting new people. However my boyfriend of 6 months now is the complete opposite of me (works in a night club) and has really helped with my anxiety of meeting new people and it has subsided but the thoughts in my head have not stopped. I can never turn them off. It has now really become a problem because a month ago my bf and i were having a lot of issues and he made a mistake and made out with another girl. I recently found this out. He has given up so much of who he was to become the man he is today for me and i know he regrets it and is trying to fix what he did. But I can't get it out of my head. I can see the truth in his eyes that he isn't bullshitting. He would take a bullet for me if it meant I was safe. But my anxiety is running into overdrive... And even once this is over my anxiety will move onto something new to fester on... I just want to make it stop. To stop watching my life go by as I sit at home by myself wondering what everyone else is doing.

Jack1233 Problems with a girl
  • replies: 8

Hello, my name is jack and i'm currently having a situation. I'll try to keep this as short as i can. I'm 15. I found myself liking a girl and it has come at a large cost for me. We talked a lot and it appeared to me as if this girl liked me. We caug... View more

Hello, my name is jack and i'm currently having a situation. I'll try to keep this as short as i can. I'm 15. I found myself liking a girl and it has come at a large cost for me. We talked a lot and it appeared to me as if this girl liked me. We caught up on the weekends twice, once to go to the soccer, and we both had a great time. She told me how much fun she had so i said why don't we go next week to the soccer. So everything is fine, we do everything as friends, but i feel as if each other those we like each other if that makes sense. I then take the bus all the way down to the soccer by myself and when i get there she texts me saying she doesnt want to catch up this time. This girl knows she is much more popular than me and thus i feel like she feels she has much more power over me. I'm always the one who messages first. I try so hard to make this all work, to show her how much I really like her but now I'm not sure where I stand with it all. I'm loosing sleep, I find it hard to concentrate at school, and I feel very alone in this situation. I've never had a girlfriend so I'm not quite sure how I'm supposed to act or anything. If anyone could help that would be great thankyou

guest165 I hate everything
  • replies: 2

I'm 16 years old and going through high school.. I've lost all motivation to do anything! I hate school, I hag everyone and everything and I hate thinking of the future! it's very odd for me to be like this because I'm a generally happy, enthusiastic... View more

I'm 16 years old and going through high school.. I've lost all motivation to do anything! I hate school, I hag everyone and everything and I hate thinking of the future! it's very odd for me to be like this because I'm a generally happy, enthusiastic girl but I seriously hate everything. I'm stressing and struggling and school and I hate it because all I want is a good future and I'm scared if I don't go well on my HSC! I don't won't to work in an office, get married and have kids I just .. hate conformity .. I don't know I just ugh please tell me if you've experienced stuff like this and can someone please give me advice

Sarkastik_Worlock from anxiety to nothing.
  • replies: 2

Hi So I have always been an anxious person, often considering that I had anxiety but then would always dismiss it. My mind would be constantly racing stressing about nothing. like a lot young males I experimented with drugs after high school and movi... View more

Hi So I have always been an anxious person, often considering that I had anxiety but then would always dismiss it. My mind would be constantly racing stressing about nothing. like a lot young males I experimented with drugs after high school and moving out of home. I smoked a lot of weed and that was enjoyable but then it just made me depressed and have not smoked in over a year now. I also used ecstasy occasionally. Not long ago I had some ecstasy with a friend and had a great time. Then about two weeks after I was just sitting out the back of my house having a cigarette, when I noticed a pattern in the sky and I started to freak out as I have had some bad experiences with hallucinogens. I tried to dismiss it as nothing but the more I freaked out about it, the worse the visions got. To the point of not being able to sleep because of the patterns in my head. This really scared me, I thought I was going insane. Now the hallucinations have stopped but ever since then I have not been the same. I used to be constantly thinking of something whilst at work. Whether it be a girl I liked, where I wanted to holliday next or what car I wanted to by next etc. Now I just feel empty. My racing thoughts have disappeared which is scaring me. Even as I am typing this it feels like I am doing a creative writing assignment for English. The only thing I can seem to think about without conscious effort is how terrified I am about what is going on. I actually miss my racing depressed thoughts. Feeling depressed/anxious was better than feeling blank. Those are the feelings I used to associate with myself anyway. Just wonder if anyone else has experienced what I have, as I feel that might help me. Thanks

Lilly4 emptiness, loneliness and anxious dreams
  • replies: 2

Hey everyone (sorry for the long post haha) Ive suffered from anxiety and a severe depressive disorder for a while now, and this year it's at its worst. I've had a ridiculous amount of time off school, hit rock bottom and I'm on medication and seeing... View more

Hey everyone (sorry for the long post haha) Ive suffered from anxiety and a severe depressive disorder for a while now, and this year it's at its worst. I've had a ridiculous amount of time off school, hit rock bottom and I'm on medication and seeing a psychologist etc etc to try and get help. Right now though for the past couple of days I've just been feeling constantly anxious, and it's not going away. I feel like I need to do something drastic to fix it almost just run away or go off and use substances to mask it but at the same time I never even have the energy to do it. I've tried deep breathing and distracting myself but they're only short term solutions and my chest has just constantly felt tight with this anxiousness..I honestly just feel like running away from everything and with my exams coming up in two days I feel like this has been a big trigger for why I'm feeling like this. But on top of the anxiousness I've felt my depression has gotten worse too and I've just felt so alone. Even though in one sense I can see I'm really not I just have this feeling of emptiness and loneliness.. the other day it was my birthday and towards the end of the day all I felt like doing was crying and iscolating myself.. I just felt so alone. Even though so many people would say happy birthday and show they cared and loved me, and I was with my family and friends I would focus on the tiny things and people who didn't make an effort and I just couldn't shake that feeling of loneliness for just no good reason, I hated it. The day before my birthday is also when I started to get anxious dreams, the ones that stress you out and make you feel restless and you get a really bad sleep- it took me a while to even just wake up from it. And now for the past few days I just keep having either anxious or just generally intense dreams that take me a long time to actually wake up properly from and adjust to reality, on top of the fact that I'm just incredibly tired 24/7. I have a really supportive and close family that I use for help and technically I really shouldn't feel like this at all but I just don't know what to do, at the moment I feel so empty and alone, constantly anxious and always like I'm on the verge of a break down but I can't even bring myself to crying ..

GreenLime Starting a tertiary education course, *VERY* apprehensive!
  • replies: 2

This Wednesday night I start one of 3 courses held by the "CAE", Centre for Adult Education in Melbourne. And I won't mince my words, I'm pretty damn scared. I found these courses back around June/July that all revolve heavily with drawing, and I was... View more

This Wednesday night I start one of 3 courses held by the "CAE", Centre for Adult Education in Melbourne. And I won't mince my words, I'm pretty damn scared. I found these courses back around June/July that all revolve heavily with drawing, and I was instantly captivated by them. They were really genuinely exciting, things that I have a deep passion for. It was fantastic finally finding some sort of tertiary education course that met my specific tastes, but now that they're just 2 days away, I'm wrought with anxiety, panic, fear, nerves, just everything really! It's not exactly helping with my already pretty frequent depressive moods, because it all just makes me feel terrible. When I've been completely isolated from the outside world for almost 2 years now, living idly in my house, in my room, removed from any sort of learning environment, and certainly removed from basic social interactions, you can probably understand how difficult it is to just suddenly leave this comfort zone and go and actually do something with my life. And don't get me wrong, I want to do something, I want this anxiety to pass, because I want to make friends and enjoy myself and be successful, it's just I'm so scared, but that's another topic entirely. Right now, I really, truly WANT to feel optimistic about these courses. I want to feel that excitement I got when I first read them, but it's just not coming to me. I have no idea what to expect, no idea where to go, no clue as to how the course will function or anything at all! I don't know what to do, and it's this Wednesday night!! The constant worrying just won't leave me alone!

Summer_ Just feeling empty
  • replies: 4

I've been feeling miserable for a while now and unsure why but because I am constantly sad and unhappy, it has ended up ruining my relationship with my boyfriend, who has just dumped me and now i'm struggling even more to find something in life which... View more

I've been feeling miserable for a while now and unsure why but because I am constantly sad and unhappy, it has ended up ruining my relationship with my boyfriend, who has just dumped me and now i'm struggling even more to find something in life which brings me happiness. I'm a social person, I have a really close circle of friends who is supportive but I don't feel comfortable just texting them whenever because I don't want to be annoying or make them feel miserable too. I am really struggling to find something to get me out of bed each day and whilst in my relationship, and now even more so, I feel like crying every day. It used to be because my boyfriend didn't respect me anymore and started putting me down whenever he didn't want to talk to me and he didn't want to see me when i was with my friends, he would suddenly ignore me during the day because i would ask him how his day was and when I was upset or crying he would tell me i'm carrying on and causing a scene. Now that its over, its because i'm sad it didn't work out and because I feel lost without him. We had so many good times and had fun dates every week. It was hard for him to accept that I was emotional and found life difficult and was down a lot. I have no one to say good morning or goodnight to, no one to cuddle me when i'm sad, no one to kiss me and tell me i'm going to be okay. I'm now not sure if i'm upset because i love him or upset because now i'm alone and really lost. I don't have time for hobbies or sports or fun things, because i'm at full time uni and work in between. So there is nothing i look forward to during the week. I don't know how to change this, i'm scared to be hurt again and i'm scared that if i try something i won't fit in. I have no one to share my every day feelings with anymore because although my friends are really close I never like sharing my personal worries with them, when i see them i just want to have a good time. But now i don't even want to leave my house but i can't sit here crying and worrying anymore because i feel so down in the dumps and i just want that to change.

Kkat1 First Post.
  • replies: 3

Hello, I have joined because I find myself having difficulty staying positive a controlling my depression. I have treated it in the past but lately I feel angry, agitated and hypersensitive. My most common thought now is that I am wasting the time of... View more

Hello, I have joined because I find myself having difficulty staying positive a controlling my depression. I have treated it in the past but lately I feel angry, agitated and hypersensitive. My most common thought now is that I am wasting the time of my life that I should be enjoying; my 20's. I feel isolated from my age group and life, and self. I also love helping others over forums.

Carlyrm Feeling depressed every weekend
  • replies: 4

I have a problem at the moment where I feel I am doing well during the week, I have set out plans and always have obligations which I find motivate and give me a positive attitude in my life - like I am moving in the right direction. By the weekend I... View more

I have a problem at the moment where I feel I am doing well during the week, I have set out plans and always have obligations which I find motivate and give me a positive attitude in my life - like I am moving in the right direction. By the weekend I feel my mood drop, my friends don't return my texts and I hardly get invited out. I could spend my Saturday night studying or doing something that makes me feel happy but I feel like I'm missing out not socialising on the weekend like most people are my age (not necessarily getting drunk or things like that just being social) and I begin to feel hit with severe loneliness. To the point where I feel so unmotivated to do the simpliest things or hobbies that could make me feel good instead I waste time and then go to sleep. I feel like no one wants to spend time with me I see friends on social media talking about their fun time out with other friends and feel depressed and alone. Why aren't I invited? Why am I still so alone? Maybe I just need to get some new friends? Why doesn't anyone seem to care? I'm tired of feeling depressed every weekend and dreading feeling awful on the flipside I feel very positive and motivated during the week so that's something. I just needed to type this out to vent - it can feel overwhelming.