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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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Nadia_R How do I tell my mum I think I'm depressed?
  • replies: 7

Hi, I'm 13, and generally throughout life I've been just a happy average kid. There have been many things that could have made things really bad, like a mixture of always being the 'fat girl' throughout primary school and all of the boys teasing me a... View more

Hi, I'm 13, and generally throughout life I've been just a happy average kid. There have been many things that could have made things really bad, like a mixture of always being the 'fat girl' throughout primary school and all of the boys teasing me and just being told nobody will ever like me, but it didn't really have much of an impact on me when I was younger. Since leaving primary school, I have become a lot more comfortable and confident in my body, and I think I have shed a few kilograms, and I'm proud of myself - however it's always a thought in my head "is this shirt clinging in the wrong places" "do they think I'm fat" and every time I walk past a mirror I can't stop checking to see if I'm fatter than last night and stuff. I've also been having some friendship issues. My best friend all throughout primary school goes to a different highschool because I moved, and we don't see each other as much as we used to. I miss her terribly, and sometimes I just cry thinking of all the memories we shared through about 10 years of knowing each other. I miss her so bad. My highschool friends are great, but my highschool bestfriend is weird sometimes. Sometimes, I love our friendship so much, for about a month, it'll be pure joy. It'll just be fun, and laughing and all that good stuff, but then other times, it's so dark, and depressing, and dry, and just plain sad. Sometimes I cry myself to sleep thinking about how we have never held hands or hugged or had a proper heart to heart, and I just wish we could be closer. My highschool bestfriend just doesn't open up to me. Her grandmother recently passed away, and she didn't tell me till about a week before it happened. Of course, I was heartbroken for her, but I also felt this sudden hurt, like she'd just punched me in the face. I know I have no right and it's not really my place to say this, but I was so upset she didn't tell me this. I feel like that's something I would tell her, and so I was really hurt. I also just feel so lonely sometimes. It could just be becoming a teenager and things like that, but I'm starting to wonder. Do i have depression? Do I have anxiety? It's a common thought to me, but I'm not sure how to ask my parents to see a doctor, coz they might just brush it off or think im overreacting. I just want to be happy.

jinnie3 I need advice pls (TW: Eating Disorder)
  • replies: 2

Hi, I am currently a year 10. Ever since the year 7 I had the "perfect" life. I had good grades, and had many skills. I also participated in many extracurricular school sports and I had got selected into the gifted and talented program for the high s... View more

Hi, I am currently a year 10. Ever since the year 7 I had the "perfect" life. I had good grades, and had many skills. I also participated in many extracurricular school sports and I had got selected into the gifted and talented program for the high school I am currently in. However, ever since the end of pandemic I think my life had started to go down. I first quite the sport I did for 6 years, I was very promising first however I slowly couldn't carry on anymore. After that I think I went through of a phase of social anxiety and embarrassment of my own culture as I was a migrant. I think I felt embarrassed a lot of the times when my family and I went out in the public. So my mum decided t seek me a psychologist, however I think after 6 months of it I couldn't bring myself to say most of what I had felt and so they thought I had no more problems left. I think after that I got into a phase of depression, which may have been caused due to puberty. However I didn't seek help from my parents or anyone. Then everything became worse last year. Due to my background as a migrant who went to school that was mostly all "white", I had often been discriminated as well feeling different. I think a sort of image stuck to me. I had bad body image issues, which I think was quite common in kids these days. However, the end of last year I was diagnosed with Eating Disorder. Everything went down hill, because of my worsening relationship with my parents and me being unable to focus in school. During the past 2 years my parents' relationship and I became bad. I also slowly started to find school work draining, ever since the start of year 9. Now it's getting worse. I am often stuck feeling helpless, all the school work seems like an effort, I don't have any goals for what I want to do in the future and I am constantly struggling to accept my body after gaining fat due to re-feeding. I also currently have a psychologist but I still can't tell them how I really feel. My parents, recently, had given up their high expectations of me. My mum said she feel quite disappointed and has given up on me. I am currently thinking of quitting guitar that I have been learning for years. I've been getting into a lot of arguments with my parents and I hate my current self. I'm always trying to seeking change. I don't know what to do. I don't know why I am making my own life difficult. I don't want to ruin my own life.

anonymouszebra Parents fighting. Again.
  • replies: 4

My parents have gotten into another argument, I feel no one is right, both are wrong. This has gone on all my life, but I feel like I've had enough. It will never ever stop. All I want is a family that functions well and sorts out disagreements in a ... View more

My parents have gotten into another argument, I feel no one is right, both are wrong. This has gone on all my life, but I feel like I've had enough. It will never ever stop. All I want is a family that functions well and sorts out disagreements in a civil way. Nope, I have two parents who think they're doing better than the other, and that they're more important. Im stuck with for my entire life, and I feel like whenever these two are in a spat or are not talking to each other, I can't be productive at all. I simply feel helpless. Neither of them are thinking of me at all in this. Im just stuck. I feel my life could be perfect if only these two got along with each other without these insane arguments in which they yell at the top of their lungs and doing give a single stuff about their children.

sunderland Uni, Friends & Poverty.
  • replies: 6

My friends are all 18-25, university age and all of them are in uni or planning to be. I am happy that they have this opportunity but all they ever talk about is school as if it's the most normal thing in the world-- I can't afford university, I coul... View more

My friends are all 18-25, university age and all of them are in uni or planning to be. I am happy that they have this opportunity but all they ever talk about is school as if it's the most normal thing in the world-- I can't afford university, I couldn't even finish year 12 because of my home life falling apart. I can't add anything to the conversation because if I do, I'll just bring down the mood and make it sad. But it makes me feel like shit that I can't pursue I what I want, that I'm always denied work even when I have experience because I don't have a bloody level 2 certificate or I wasn't able to finish year 12. Then to see my friends who are privileged enough to get into good schools skipping classes all the time and doing nothing but complaining...it makes me really upset. But again, I can't say shit.

GrayDee Best friend
  • replies: 3

Hey everyone, I'm not sure if I'm overreacting to these situations but I just wanted to know what I should do. When I started high school last year I was always stressed and my friends all suddenly dropped me so I started hiding out in the bathrooms ... View more

Hey everyone, I'm not sure if I'm overreacting to these situations but I just wanted to know what I should do. When I started high school last year I was always stressed and my friends all suddenly dropped me so I started hiding out in the bathrooms just to avoid people and cry. Its been a year since I stopped doing that and my best friend just transferred to my school this year. I thought things would be easier to manage now that I had my best friend as well as a few other friends I made. She was normal the first few weeks but then she started telling me I was ignoring her. I knew how bad that feels so I started hanging out more with her, but as soon as I do this she starts hanging out with my other friends and ignoring me. I thought it was probably fine even though I was getting left out by everyone again, atleast I had my best friend. I also vent to my best friend to help me get things off my chest, and she used to be quite understanding, but now if I vent about something like my insecurities she counteracts them by saying she never had any such issues and I need to just "deal with it." She also doesn't respect my personal boundaries as much as she used to. I have told her that I'm not comfortable with too much physical contact (hugs or holding hands) and she used to respect that but now she doesn't. It makes me very uncomfortable and I don't know how to tell her. Despite her ignoring me a lot and leaving me randomly to go to her other friends, she gets mad at me for "leaving her out." I know the things my best friend has gone through and they are quite similar to mine, but she keeps using the way her family raised her as an excuse to get mad at me. She even ignored me for a complete week and then said she felt left out even though I tried to talk to her multiple times. She also is very social and pretty so she uses those things against me when I am venting to her. I'm not sure how I'm supposed to feel about this honestly. She always makes me feel like I'm a toxic friend, and lately I've been starting to think I am. I'm scared I'm going to suddenly lose all those friends I made because its only been a year since I stopped hiding to avoid people, and I dont want that to happen again.

Pityparty Uni and just life in general
  • replies: 3

So im currently in my final year of uni, ive never had good grades and more recently have been only just passing my assignments. I know that passing is the main thing but it has really been getting me down recently and has been making me feel like im... View more

So im currently in my final year of uni, ive never had good grades and more recently have been only just passing my assignments. I know that passing is the main thing but it has really been getting me down recently and has been making me feel like im not even understanding any of the content, and leading me to procrastinate my assignments, which then leads me to being more stressed and not wanting to even bother doing any of them and just dropping out. I really cant afford to fail and at the same time i cant really drop out since ill be a failure to everyone around me, considering this is the second degree ive started (dropped out of the first one) and stuck for options. My job also requires me to be studying this degree so i cant really defer for a semester either. It also doesnt help that my friend is studying the same degree with me and always talks about getting high distinctions for all her assignments which leads me to have even more doubt in myself and feel like a dumb ass. Im really at the point of just being like stuff this, and wanting to just run away. Speaking of friends, i literally only have 1 friend and my partner. I feel like having so little friends also effects me and my mental health. Ive also moved regionally, away from my 1 friend and my family therefore feeling even more isolated. Im not a super outgoing person so making new friends can be really difficult for me. I just dont know what to do, i have no motivation or care to do any uni assignments and i have like 4 due in the next two weeks. Just feeling really overwhelmed and lost.

a13xx are really emotional periods normal?
  • replies: 5

Hey just a quick question Ive had suicidal problems in the past and it’s been difficult to get over however now i only really get them when i’m on my period. I know being emotional comes with the period and stuff but i don’t know if this is normal. I... View more

Hey just a quick question Ive had suicidal problems in the past and it’s been difficult to get over however now i only really get them when i’m on my period. I know being emotional comes with the period and stuff but i don’t know if this is normal. I have a lot of suicidal/self harm thoughts while on my period and every time it happens i feel like i’m going into a depressive episode or something. I'm really happy when I'm not on my period, but when I am i feel completely terrible. Is this normal? is there any way to help with this?

Vbee Crying for no reason
  • replies: 9

Hi im V and im new here im 12 and in year 7 i have been crying a lot recently and not sure why, a day ago i was crying before school without a reason then today i started crying before school because my jackets wrist wasn’t straight then cried again ... View more

Hi im V and im new here im 12 and in year 7 i have been crying a lot recently and not sure why, a day ago i was crying before school without a reason then today i started crying before school because my jackets wrist wasn’t straight then cried again cause my brother was staring at me. I don’t want to cry but i cant help it, i feel like im not apart of my body because it wont tell me why its sad. I feel like im not normal and something is wrong with me I need support but i don't feel like i can get it from my parents because they don’t understand me.

driftedID I hate my "friends" at school
  • replies: 19

Today I cried like hell. Multiple times. I'm the "extra" of my friend group. I'm the one that's not very close with anyone and that's just there. My friends leave me out of everything. Nothing I do is worthwhile to them. I'm essentially just a downer... View more

Today I cried like hell. Multiple times. I'm the "extra" of my friend group. I'm the one that's not very close with anyone and that's just there. My friends leave me out of everything. Nothing I do is worthwhile to them. I'm essentially just a downer to them. Today, at some point during the final session of the school day, my teacher made the stupid decision to have our class outside, since I had hayfever I had to stay inside. My best friend promised he would be there with me. He wasn't. He then said he would talk to me nearby. He obviously didn't. I was so upset I couldn't even muster the motivation to work. I cried, but thankfully nobody noticed. Yesterday, we had sport. Our teacher is ignorant of groups and told us to form our own. Sadly, I'm the worst in sport and I'm not usually chosen, but even so, my class can be compassionate about it. My friend group formed a team with everyone but me. At this point I had enough of their shit and held strong resentment for them. I know these examples may seem pretty normal, but they are totally not just forgetting me. They do stuff like play games together and go out outside of school without me and openly talk to me about it. All I do is just pretend I'm okay with it. My best friend tells me not to get Discord where they all hang out. They also leave me behind in group work, recess and such. My best friend has started to avoid me. At one point we grew apart because he hung out with a girl in the group and left me behind. He stopped talking to everyone at one point, then talked to me, like some form of replacement, and now things are back to normal for them. The girl was also a close friend of mine too, then we grew apart, and then we were getting close again, but it seems she's actively avoiding me now. I decided to take a day off tomorrow because I felt so shitty. I needed the time for myself to be away from all the trouble, but I still can't feel any desire to go back to that. I can't see any spark in any of those "friendships" but I can't even make new friends or leave behind these guys. I have no fucking idea what to do. I'm tired of caring for these people. I'm tired of enduring their constant shit. I'm tired of trying to get close to them. It has had almost no value to me and yet I can't get rid of it or change it. It feels like my fault, and I tried to back out from being annoying, etc. but what's even the point? How does one even approach something like this? I don't know, man. I just don't know.

Leyley29 Struggling to cope with a culmination of physical and mental health issues
  • replies: 4

Hi there, a bit about my self. I am 22 years old and have a beautiful parter and a perfect 8 month old baby boy who light up my world like nothing else. I would quite literally be nothing without either of them. I have struggled with mental health is... View more

Hi there, a bit about my self. I am 22 years old and have a beautiful parter and a perfect 8 month old baby boy who light up my world like nothing else. I would quite literally be nothing without either of them. I have struggled with mental health issues for nearly half my life now with the earliest bout of depression starting at only 12 years old. For a couple of months I could not even get in the car to go to school and felt crippled emotionally to the point of uncontrollable crying with absolutely no idea why. Life was getting better again until I started high school. Long story short I found it very hard to fit in to the groups of friends that had all separated when primary school ended. I ended up trying incredibly hard to fit in with people who physically and mentally tormented me almost every day. From the start of the day being refused handshakes from my so called mates, continuously making jokes about me to having my bag stolen and ransacked and thrown onto school buildings and getting physically tormented all in the name of fun and banter. I have been through all the bullying. I then experimented with marijuana in an attempt to fit in with the crowd which resulted in a massive flip out of which I suffered with DP/DR for quite a number of years from a bad reaction to smoking bud. My senior years of high school got better, a lot of the people contributing to the bullying had now left and I had a pretty tight circle of mates who would all do anything for each other and we all shared some pretty fun times. Leaving school I persued an apprenticeship FIFO which I followed through to the end and this pushed me both mentally and physically to the point of break down many times. I am currently struggling with my current role as a tradesman taking on an incredibly high workload for not a lot of money since I have decided to come back home and work to support the family. This has pushed me to the point of resignation. I am in an incredibly bad state of mind at the moment and cannot cope with even basic tasks and feel sleep deprived with little to no energy every single day. This has been like this since leaving high school and starting full time work feeling completely burnt out 24/7. I am as far from suicidal as it gets quite the opposite I have an extreme fear of death and leaving my loved ones behind with a stressful financial situation that they could not possibly bear alone. TIA