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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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Katy92 Feeling alone and can't stop comparing myself to others.
  • replies: 1

Hi everyone, I'm going to warn you this might be long but I'll try to make it as short as possible. So six years ago my mum was diagnosed with a muscular disorder and unfortunately due to a prior wrong diagnosis had to have her leg amputated. A short... View more

Hi everyone, I'm going to warn you this might be long but I'll try to make it as short as possible. So six years ago my mum was diagnosed with a muscular disorder and unfortunately due to a prior wrong diagnosis had to have her leg amputated. A short while after, my grandmother who was her carer died of cancer. I then became her primary carer at 18. It was really isolating and every day seemed harsh and strenuous. During this time I met a guy, he liked me and I liked him...but he didn't realise and met someone else. I was pretty devastated and didn't really have anyone to talk to about it. I met my ex eight months later, for a while I was happy...until his high school sweet heart came back from France. They've been together ever since. I recently heard the first guy, who I will call Anthony, broke up with his girlfriend. Yes...I did have that small sliver of hope, he did like met at one time and said if he had have known before he would have picked me. But I heard he might fancy someone else only five months later. In 2013 a 'friend' who I had confided in about my situation had told our community about it. I was excluded, laughed at, stared at like an exotic animal. Before this happened she would always belittle me. Anthony is now friends with her and she now has a boyfriend. I just feel like their lives are all so much better, and yet they've been nasty to me. I've now been single for three years, Anthony breaks up with his ex and he meets someone five months later.... I've struggled with my mother, I've done part time work when I can and volunteer work to keep my skills up to date. I've went back and done my year 12, went to art school for one year and am now studying teaching. Yet...I still feel sad and some days I'll just burst into tears. I have one close friend, I went to church and made acquaintances. I see them once a week, so it's just a routine of study and mum, then in the holidays, work. I have this fear I won't ever meet anyone and have started to be really panicky when I'm on my own, which is often. It feels so draining. Also I don't understand how they could treat me so poorly, and walk away happy. I used to believe in karma, now I'm not so sure. If I repeated anything or made and mistakes. I apologise but I'm feeling really emotional right now and it's late. Thank you if you managed to read all this.

audy I think I'm depressed
  • replies: 1

I've just started uni and I'm finding it hard to make friends. Mum has gone to England for a year and I miss her, her partner and my younger half siblings so much. My other half sister won't see my dad, and he's got depression, it's like he's a diffe... View more

I've just started uni and I'm finding it hard to make friends. Mum has gone to England for a year and I miss her, her partner and my younger half siblings so much. My other half sister won't see my dad, and he's got depression, it's like he's a different person. I find myself not going out, and my self esteem is pretty low at the moment.

Broxxtex I just need someone to ask hows it going.
  • replies: 3

Pretty much I just need someone to come say "Hey man, hows it going" or tell me they are my friend. I already know that they are but it's good to hear it from them. I don't care if I don't know you i'd be nice hearing it from time to time View more

Pretty much I just need someone to come say "Hey man, hows it going" or tell me they are my friend. I already know that they are but it's good to hear it from them. I don't care if I don't know you i'd be nice hearing it from time to time

Luka-chan I'm being ignored because of my depression?
  • replies: 3

I'm in year 12 at school and my teachers are trying to make it an easy year for me because I'm struggling. Two of my friends have been outrightly ignoring me in English and Religion because I have been getting 'special privileges'. They suggest I dro... View more

I'm in year 12 at school and my teachers are trying to make it an easy year for me because I'm struggling. Two of my friends have been outrightly ignoring me in English and Religion because I have been getting 'special privileges'. They suggest I drop out of school and go to TAFE instead, but I want to finish year 12 before I try TAFE. Being ignored by them is only worsening my depression, but I don't want to tell them that because they'll only say that I'm saying it to make them feel bad or because I'm too soft or something like that. I've been friends with them for years, I don't know why they're treating me like this now. I want to keep up our friendship, but in English and Religion at school they've been horrible to me. What do I do? They're making me want to skip English and Religion.

Caleb_Crawdad Catharsis
  • replies: 1

Hi I guess I'll get straight to it. I'm a 20 y/o male and I think I could do with some help. When I was younger I lived with my mother and my two sisters. My mother has a lot of issues in her past that still plague her to this day. She never really h... View more

Hi I guess I'll get straight to it. I'm a 20 y/o male and I think I could do with some help. When I was younger I lived with my mother and my two sisters. My mother has a lot of issues in her past that still plague her to this day. She never really had a good relationship with her family as far as I can tell and decided to move us across the country and change our family name so that we could not be found. We moved around a lot; always a new school, a new house. When I was 8 we moved states again. When I fourteen I started to feel very rotten. I started staying home some days and not handing in work at school. My sisters and I would ask my mum questions about our fathers and our family and it would always end up messy. When I was 15 I left home to live with my sister oldest sister who had left home the year earlier at 18. She had finished year 12 and started working and I was still in high school. Each month that went by this rotten feeling intensified and each month I found myself attending school less and less and submitting work less and less. High school had finished and I had just scraped by. When I was in college this pattern repeated itself, gradually intensifying. I would only attend two or three, sometimes one day a week. The days I didn't go I would sleep until 5:pm and stay up until 5:am. Then I would only attend music class. Obviously this lead to failing college. After college I moved in with a friend who went to university and I started a TAFE course so that I could get a better job. Self destructive pattern: rinse and repeat. When I was 18 I found out my father had passed. I felt rotten to the core. My girlfriend left me and I stopped talking to most of my friends, the ones that I did talk to I was convinced that they thought I was a joke. I formed a drug dependency and went to the doctor looking for help. I was going to see the head headshrinker but I didn't have the money and so I left with the GP telling me I looked like a healthy young man (even though I told him about the drugs) and a prescription for some mild anti-depressants. I took them for a couple of months but didn't feel any better for it and didn't feel any worse for it when I stopped. A couple of months later I moved states again with a mate and started studying. I study online and am inside most of the day but recently I have started falling back into old habits. Sorry for the essay, just thought context might be handy. I would just like to feel better. Thanks

Bella8 Am I just being dramatic?
  • replies: 3

I don't know how to clearly write this, in fact it took a while to work up the courage to even make an account. I guess I just want to finally know whether I do have social anxiety, or am I just blowing things out of proportion and should just shut u... View more

I don't know how to clearly write this, in fact it took a while to work up the courage to even make an account. I guess I just want to finally know whether I do have social anxiety, or am I just blowing things out of proportion and should just shut up and get over it? I dread phone calls, especially customer service. I will sit there thinking about what I'm going to say for the longest time before working up the courage to make the call. Sometimes I'll write down what I want to say. During said phone call I'll be sweating, heart thumping loudly, and my voice gets all strange and croaky. Whenever I'm alone and out in public I think everybody is looking at me. If a stranger on the street speaks to me I'll sometimes freeze up or stutter and start sweating. Then after they leave I'll start rewinding the encounter and wondering if I said or did anything stupid like god, they think I'm a weirdo. It could just be a "Hello, nice weather today!" and I'd still stress over it. Negative social experiences and rejection have made things a lot worse these past few years. The only two times I managed to land a job interview I was rejected, and one of the jobs I really badly wanted. Since then I have never tried to apply for part-time work because I just don't want to experience that feeling of rejection ever again. Socialising is basically me thinking I've said something stupid every second line. Then walking away believing they don't like me. Eye contact is hard for me but I try my best because I know it's rude and distant not to, but I find that when I'm with a friend and talking to someone new, the said person always gives eye contact to my friend and never to me. So then I start feeling inferior and stop talking, then I go home and feeling like I'm boring and unwanted. This has happened so many times I've simply stopped trying to make new friends already. It gets tiring. I can't talk to authority without making a fool out of myself. I constantly think they're judging me for being an idiot, especially teachers. These past few years in university I have felt the worst. I can't find the courage to seek counseling or talk to a GP or anything, just this forum. And there's no way I'm telling my family or friends. I just don't know what to do anymore, I'm sorry for letting out all my thoughts. My case is obviously nowhere near as serious as the ones in this forum, I don't get panic attacks or vomit or anything. I probably don't even have an anxiety problem sorry.

LK I feel like disappearing
  • replies: 3

So for the last few weeks I've been having depressive thoughts which for the first time have been leading towards suicidal...Every time I think about it I have a panic attack and struggle to breath.I don't know what to talk about to people, what to t... View more

So for the last few weeks I've been having depressive thoughts which for the first time have been leading towards suicidal...Every time I think about it I have a panic attack and struggle to breath.I don't know what to talk about to people, what to tell them when they tell me I can talk to them.Its all just kind of a blur, I feel like there's no reason to be going through all of this, and then I feel worse when I think of others that have it much worse than me and feel even worse.I feel like everyone preaches to me that it will get better but it hasnt and I can't see it happenning.I just feel like going out and blowing my money, disappearing and just giving up.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.

Gia13 My Parents - Please Help!
  • replies: 2

Okay, so I just need some help or some reassurance that it's not what I think. I think my parents hate me, on some level. They are always unsupportive and make me feel horrible about myself. What happened about an hour ago is a good example. My dad c... View more

Okay, so I just need some help or some reassurance that it's not what I think. I think my parents hate me, on some level. They are always unsupportive and make me feel horrible about myself. What happened about an hour ago is a good example. My dad came into my room asking about my science test and if I got an A. I told him it wouldn't be marked for another week, and I said it normally. He paused, as if he was thinking, then suddenly started yelling at me saying he was asking a perfectly nice question and I didn't need to give him so much attitude and slammed my door. I couldn't help but keep crying. Later he came in and gave me such a cold look and told me that there was left over curry for me and my sister to eat for dinner. Only when I went to go eat my sister had already eaten her half. She said that was about half an hour before. My dad only just told me so I ate cold curry in case warming it up made him yell at me again. It was horrible. I hate going home after school. I hate being sick, too. My mum is always the one that's home during the day so has to pick me up if I get sick at school. Last time I was sick at school I was throwing up in the school bathroom and nearly collapsed but I tried not to go to the office because I was scared to go home. My mum always seems to be so angry with me for being sick. She yells at me and treats me like I am lying even when it's obvious I'm not. Being at home always leads to me crying. There are days when things are okay but something will happen and it has to be my fault. I was seem to ruin everything. Am I crazy or do my parents not like me? Please help.

1234567 Problem cause by feeling too great
  • replies: 1

Does anyone else have problems when they are on a manic high? I don't feel depressed or anything like that. I'm just unsure what I'll end up doing when I'm on a high. I got into very serious trouble in a manic high a couple of years ago. I decided to... View more

Does anyone else have problems when they are on a manic high? I don't feel depressed or anything like that. I'm just unsure what I'll end up doing when I'm on a high. I got into very serious trouble in a manic high a couple of years ago. I decided to start a police chase which resulted in me crashing and being arrested.

classical_muso New and confused
  • replies: 6

Hi,I’m new to this community and I’ve never reached out like this before. But I’ve reached a point where just need to talk to someone and I don’t quite know how to or want to reach out to my family and friends. I have no idea if I have depression or ... View more

Hi,I’m new to this community and I’ve never reached out like this before. But I’ve reached a point where just need to talk to someone and I don’t quite know how to or want to reach out to my family and friends. I have no idea if I have depression or anything similar but I go through stages where I get down, I’m tired and everything just feels so overwhelming.My normal personality is quite energetic, happy and carefree, and most of the time I feel like this which makes me think that when I get down that I’m just being dramatic. I’ve had an on and off history of self-harm through my teenage years (I’m 20 now) which still persists occasionally today. When I’m freaking out and can’t get away from despair I find it helps me deal and calm down. I’ve always managed to pass off the few marks and injuries friends and family have seen and I’ve never confided in anyone about it. I guess I’ve always felt that it’s not a big deal to make a fuss over and eventually it'll just stop.I think what I’m most confused about is that the majority of the time I feel fine, I feel normal, which makes me think that I don’t have a problem. But then there’s times like today. I’ve been feeling off for a few days now and today was just a bad day. I struggled getting out of bed this morning, I burst into tears over a tiny comment my mother made, I was tired all day and even with a friend at my house I wanted to curl up in bed. And now I’m just struggling. I'm feeling so trapped and overwhelmed. It's like I'm drowning in negative emotions. I just don’t want to deal with anything in my life right now.I wanted to see if anyone has had any similar experiences or anything helpful they can offer because I’ve reached a point where I’m just so tired of not talking about this and pretending like this is normal and I have no idea what to do.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.