Immediate support
Immediate support

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.

Start a discussion

FAQ

Find answers to some of the more frequently asked questions on the Forums.

View the FAQ

Forums guidelines

Our guidelines keep the Forums a safe place for people to share and learn information.

View the guidelines
Categories
Start a discussion

Pinned discussions

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

All discussions

Start a discussion

Steve22 Hello, I am Steve
  • replies: 10

Hey everyone, My name's Steve, I'm new to the Beyond Blue forum haha. Allow me to introduce myself.. Like many, I too suffer from depression and anxiety. My time in primary and secondary schooling, was well.. The polar opposite of positive. Most of m... View more

Hey everyone, My name's Steve, I'm new to the Beyond Blue forum haha. Allow me to introduce myself.. Like many, I too suffer from depression and anxiety. My time in primary and secondary schooling, was well.. The polar opposite of positive. Most of my time in school was shrouded in misery, depression, unrelenting bullying and the list goes on. Despite my best efforts, I've been really struggling to deal with depression (due to unemployment) recently. In order to try and deter depression, I regularly hit the gym (3 times a week) for lengthy sessions at a time. While regularly attending gym is a good thing, it still does not fix the underlining problem of unemployment. After working out rigorously, I often find myself with too much time on my hands. I do enjoy maintaining a very clean car, but you can't be washing it daily lol. I do enjoy hitting the beach, but given that it is winter here in Melbourne, the cold ocean breeze does detract from the overall enjoyment of the beach haha. So why don't I go get a job?.. Ahh yes, easier said than done. When your someone like me, who gets discriminated from applying for jobs due to your heritage (despite having the essential licence), it makes applying for and being accepted for a job.. Impossible. I myself am not one to judge people, I am very accepting of all people, all shapes/sizes, heritage, religion etc. I never judge people on those particular things, but it seems that others judge me purely on my heritage. Maybe employers are scared that a young man with dark brown hair & eyes and olive/tanned skin wants to become a truck driver?, the possibilities are endless. If you must know, I am of Italian heritage. I can't understand why being of that heritage is disliked by employers, it's just ridiculous. I've found that by paying attention, listening and offering advice and tips to many other people in our community, it helps me too. I understand that there are many people who are suffering from depression for different reasons compared to me, It's something that i want to help people with. Having suffered from depression for many years, I'm definitely no stranger to it. I can well and truly relate to it and understand what many are going through. That's why I want to help people, to let them know their experiences are understandable. That's my brief introduction (not really brief, but you know what I mean), I look forward to speaking to and offering advice to many on this forum. Thank you for reading my thread

LostInMyThoughts constant overthinking thoughts are taking over my life
  • replies: 3

Hello, this is my very first post to this page. I don't really know where my anxiety came from, I just noticed myself become a more insecure, shy, unconfident individual who always self doubts herself. I have so many conflicting thoughts and no matte... View more

Hello, this is my very first post to this page. I don't really know where my anxiety came from, I just noticed myself become a more insecure, shy, unconfident individual who always self doubts herself. I have so many conflicting thoughts and no matter what I do throughout my day I'm always overthinking everything, my head just controls me, it controls my thoughts. I want to have friends but i don't want to be the one to make the first move or conversation because I don't want to be annoying or a clingy friend and I always find myself saying if a person wanted to talk to me they'd speak to me first. I want to go out with friends but when the day comes I find myself dreading it and not wanting to go because I want to stay at home, home equals safe. I'm so unproductive with uni I just don't want to go anymore I don't want to leave my house. I've become such an angry person, I bottle things up, i hold grudges even though I don't want to, I just can't let things go no matter how hard I try to. I always feel as though that person doesn't desrve my forgiveness, even if it's something so petty, and I know it's petty I just won't let it go. I often tell myself the only person I can trust is myself because this world is filled with just horrible people who betray and hurt you. It gets worse late at night though when I am completely alone and have nothig to distract me, I feel worthless, unimportant, nonexistent, like nothing I do is good enough, I just don't think I belong in this world. I don't want to think or be like this I know it's unhealthy, I know it's not good but it controls the way I think, the way I feel. I feel so trapped I feel so alone sometimes. I can't reach out for help because how do you explain something like this to someone without them thinking your nuts. I've done counselling in the past and I didn't find it effective, I've tried writing in a journal and I used to find that helpful when I was younger but not so much now. I'm hoping talking to others will help My anxiety controls who I am and I want it to stop. It's ruining my life. I'll take any advice I can get. I need help please. I don't want to feel like this anymore.

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.