Support
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 conversation

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 conversation

Pinned discussions

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 conversation

Rocky315 Finding it really hard
  • replies: 1

I don't know who I am anymore. I could look into the mirror and just see a face. A stranger. The face may look familiar, but the person staring back at me is someone I would not have seen before. i cannot see the positives around me. They have blurre... View more

I don't know who I am anymore. I could look into the mirror and just see a face. A stranger. The face may look familiar, but the person staring back at me is someone I would not have seen before. i cannot see the positives around me. They have blurred out. Sometimes I can see a glimpse of them, but they're a bit fuzzy. Is this selfish of me? I don't go out anymore, don't spontaneously see my friends like I used to, nor make any kind of plans. I am home bound. Am I a loner? I am full. From the second I wake up, to the seconds where I start to fall asleep. I wish mornings were later, and evenings sooner. The thought of getting out of bed drains me. I feel tired. What used to excite me is gone. My energy has run out. My overall view on life is distorted. I can breathe. I can smell, think, and see. But I feel nothing. I look for my old self, hoping one day she can be found. I used to enjoy feeling like this. I obviously didn't take it seriously because now I am miserable.

Rere My story of depression
  • replies: 2

My name is Serena, I am 17 years old and was diagnosed with depression 2 years ago. It was a hard struggle for me, not having anyone to turn to that understood exactly how I was feeling. My parents tried their best to help me through the depression. ... View more

My name is Serena, I am 17 years old and was diagnosed with depression 2 years ago. It was a hard struggle for me, not having anyone to turn to that understood exactly how I was feeling. My parents tried their best to help me through the depression. I had always felt a huge sense of unwantedness where I was; at school I was bullied, at home I was fighting with my parents. All I wanted was to be dead because I thought that it would be easier if I was gone. I had few friends to turn to that I could talk too about things. People think that depression is a sign of weakness but in reality it's not. Depression affects so many people in so many different ways and a lot of people don't have help and support from friends or family and people don't realise how much something that they say can affect a person. I've been bullied all through my school-life and it used to affect me a lot because people would say all these negative things about me and it hurt because I already had low-self esteem and the bullying only made it worse for me. Not only I was getting bullied but my parents and siblings were always putting me down and I didn't have many friends at the time which left me with no-one to talk too about my problems. This was when I feel into depression with suicidal thoughts, but I thankfully got help and have since recovered from the depression, although at times I do still feel unwanted and down, I know that I am a stronger person now and I don't let people who say negative things about me bring me down. I want depression to something that everyone is aware of and don't think that it's a sign of weakness because I know that it is not. And my heart goes out to all them people who have struggled with depression for years with no-one to talk too that understands you and to the people who still struggle with depression today, you're a stronger person then you think you are!

james_ Do I have OCD?
  • replies: 2

(Numbers represent my age at the time) 6: When angry, I would think of doing intense acts of violence towards family members. 9: Organisation of pencil case and books in school tub, (sections and symmetry). I had a very good concentration at doing ju... View more

(Numbers represent my age at the time) 6: When angry, I would think of doing intense acts of violence towards family members. 9: Organisation of pencil case and books in school tub, (sections and symmetry). I had a very good concentration at doing just one thing e.g. Math. I would ‘wake up’ from my thinking to find the rest of the class had gone to do something else. I would look up gore on the internet. 10: Counting habits including: (power lines, cars, footsteps, chewing, cracks). I built a weird scoring system around this that I couldn't be kept track of as things were scored far too often. I had intense frustration and feeling of wasted time from this. I got over it before high school, but I still have counting habits, they just don’t consequently cause such stress as they did in primary school). 13: Placement of possessions in my room with symmetrical manner. Weekly cleaning of room, (dusting, window cleaning, de-cluttering) 17-18: Necessity of having my own desk at school. My friend took my spot once and I couldn't learn properly at all. Before class starts I take my pencil case from my bag and arrange it accordingly. I then open to the current page in my 4 ring partitioned binder, and get out the appropriate pen and calculator and ruler for the lesson. There are plenty of more things I could list, but I think I've addressed the main concerns along the timeline. When things are going well for me, I am really quite happy and relaxed and I feel good about life. But when things are out of order, I get quite stressed and edgy. I have always considered that I might have OCD, but then dismissed it because I don’t seem to build up as much stress as extreme cases I have seen on TV. But just recently I have considered that it might actually have it. I have never really spoken to anyone about this, especially the violent thoughts as a 6 year old, I still have those intense motives of rage that randomly spark, usually when I’m by myself and I think of someone annoying me, or an unorganized inanimate object annoys me, or having following an argument with family members. Do I have OCD? What do I do next?

freemefrommydemons Disgust
  • replies: 18

Has anyone ever repressed traumatic memories, and then suddenly just remembered what happened? I was going through a website about sexual abuse, and although I had already known I was sexually abused, I had forgotten the other time, honestly I had sh... View more

Has anyone ever repressed traumatic memories, and then suddenly just remembered what happened? I was going through a website about sexual abuse, and although I had already known I was sexually abused, I had forgotten the other time, honestly I had shoved it to the back of my mind and then all of a sudden the memories flooded back in. I feel so disgusted, and lost. I feel unclean, because at the age of 7 I was already being abused, and I just feel.. i dont know. Lost, disgusted and sad. I've been losing hope a lot lately, that im never going to be able to feel happiness again since its been so long and this has made me just withdraw, and lose even more hope for life. Im just rambling now, sorry

SadTumblrAddict Sad, tired, alone and depressed
  • replies: 1

I'm just so sick of the abuse people give me at school. My family is worse than broken. I'm so sick of everything and I just want to crawl into a hole and never come back out. I am always sad, even for no reasonable reason. I am always tired because ... View more

I'm just so sick of the abuse people give me at school. My family is worse than broken. I'm so sick of everything and I just want to crawl into a hole and never come back out. I am always sad, even for no reasonable reason. I am always tired because I can't sleep. I hate my body, I hate my face, I hate myself. My life is spiralling out of control and I can't keep up.

hann1805 Scared to sleep. Recurring dreams
  • replies: 4

So lately I've been having two recurring dreams. The first where I can't see a thing but feel like the walls are closing in on me, I can barely breathe and wake up gasping for air . The second is me walking alone through a dark deserted hallway that ... View more

So lately I've been having two recurring dreams. The first where I can't see a thing but feel like the walls are closing in on me, I can barely breathe and wake up gasping for air . The second is me walking alone through a dark deserted hallway that never seems to end, before realizing that my teeth have fallen out and I can clearly feel where they used to be so I suddenly wake up and make sure they're still there. These are starting to really scare me and I delay sleep as much as possible just to avoid these dreams but I can't seem to escape them. Can anyone tell me what they would mean??

yogi3537 Anxious. Lost. Numb.
  • replies: 3

I've always been an anxious person and i go in and out of thinking i need help and thinking i am ok. On the outside nobody would guess that i am an anxious person, in fact i appear quite calm and collected but on the inside there is an underlying sen... View more

I've always been an anxious person and i go in and out of thinking i need help and thinking i am ok. On the outside nobody would guess that i am an anxious person, in fact i appear quite calm and collected but on the inside there is an underlying sense of anxiety that clouds each day. It's been particularly hard lately as i am no longer a student for the first time in my life and i am in the transitional phase of student to developing my career. There are plenty of things that i continue to feel anxious about eg. the future, things i need to do to achieve my goals etc. which is normal. However, i amplify these things in my mind to epic proportions and i am left in a state of feeling hopeless. i have always done it regardless of the situation or challenge i am faced with. I have a friend from that has never experienced anxiety and appears to breeze through life even though i work twice as hard as her. I convince myself that the only reason i feel anxious is because i am not conquering my fears and taking risks as much as i should be but am i so hard on myself? I seem to neglect every positive thing about myself and very rarely congratulate myself, always believing i am in some way inadequate or undeserving of something. It holds me back so much but it's like a disease, i know it's happening and i hate it but i don't have the skills to change it. The same friend who never feels anxious can go for weeks without exercise and eat terribly. If i did this i wouldn't be able to cope. (I feel horrible if i don't go for a run for two days and eat badly) My exercise and healthy eating is something i do to feel in control...however sometimes i'll go for a run and feel even more anxious (meanwhile my friend who never feels anxious has not been for a run and is watching a movie eating a piece of pizza and still seems to get ahead with work.) Basically i feel like i have to work so so hard and always have to stay in control and even then i'm on the verge of collapsing. For the last few weeks i have cried for no particular reason at least 2-3 times a day and felt generally miserable and depressed even though when i put things into perspective i am in a good place in my life. I want to appreciate these years (I'm 23) and not let my insecurity, negativity and anxiety hold me back which it has for so long. What should i do? my mum recently saw her GP and was told to go on anti-depressants for her own anxiety but is opposed to going on medication.

BenD Diary Entry
  • replies: 10

Hi all, Just did the old drive-to-uni turn around come home trick because I was feeling anxious about walking into a lecture room full of people (I was 5 mins late). I was/am anxious about my appearance, with usual culprits like red eyes, pasty skin,... View more

Hi all, Just did the old drive-to-uni turn around come home trick because I was feeling anxious about walking into a lecture room full of people (I was 5 mins late). I was/am anxious about my appearance, with usual culprits like red eyes, pasty skin, unshaven, thinning head of hair all chiming in. It's really unfair that we are constantly bombarded with unobtainable images of perfection (models in advertising, on TV, in movies, etc) and are expected to conform to stereotypes of how we are supposed to look like and how we are supposed to act. It feels confirmed everywhere I go. I'm writing this at a park that I used to play at when I was younger and I don't really want to go home (it's cold, dark and a bit lonely) but I don't really want to go to uni either. I feel very unimportant there, like I'm part of a production line designed to shovel out employees. Having said all that the rational part of me says that 1. No one is perfect (image wise) 2. I have spent a weekend drinking and not sleeping a lot, so these feelings really should have been expected 3. Getting a degree is like learning to read or write, it takes a while, but it's worth it in the end. Making the way I feel catch up with the way I'm can rationally think is the part I'm having trouble with. Thanks for listening. Rant over, Ben

mandy6 20C
  • replies: 12

Hello group of friendly or problem facing people So, i have been here a few times and although I have changed since my first post I feel this is largely due to the fact that I stopped caring about anything and I started to not give about what people ... View more

Hello group of friendly or problem facing people So, i have been here a few times and although I have changed since my first post I feel this is largely due to the fact that I stopped caring about anything and I started to not give about what people thought. I am in high school and am constantly feeling depressed. I have also begun to stop trusting anyone and am always extremely cynical. furthermore I realized that I don't care if I have friends because whether some one is my friend or not they still seem to treat me the same way. the real reason i have come here is to ask for some advice about a problem. THE PROBLEM: every time i meet someone who has a quality which i dislike or does something i think is either rude or stupid or mean or annoying or just undesirable I consciously avoid doing that thing. for example when someone you know starts talking to you about something really simple as if they are talking about a complex issue and they assume you have no knowledge about it even though it's just something really obvious and then they act like their the best because they told you about this idea. or when people always agree with you even when you start the conversation with a debatable idea and people just don't want to argue so they just agree. or when people don't accept a compliment or fish for compliments. there are more. now i have become a void of nothing because I realised that i actually hate every quality about every person and I can't possibly do something which I hate in other people, but instead i have become this boring nothingness and I hate this more than anything else in the world. the other thing which makes me angry and feel isolated and then depressed is that no one seems to share the same opinions as me on anything, or when I do something differently to everyone else (which happens often) rather than people supporting me they are just condescending and gossipy. what's worse i have a really bad anger problem and am always so angry at things which other people don't seem to give a damn about. what i'm really trying to ask is how do you become an interesting person who who doesn't hate themselves and how do you make friends who aren't phony and furthermore how do you keep them? thanks

Smc12 I don't know why I feel like this..
  • replies: 1

Only recently has the feeling of helplessness taken over me. It's been happening for the past year or so, but has recently increased quite a bit. The worst part is I can't put it in words properly. I feel lost. I feel alone. I feel helpless. I have b... View more

Only recently has the feeling of helplessness taken over me. It's been happening for the past year or so, but has recently increased quite a bit. The worst part is I can't put it in words properly. I feel lost. I feel alone. I feel helpless. I have become so cold and have begun pushing my loved ones away, yet at the same time hope that someone comes along that is right for me and will magically 'cure' this feeling i've been having. I fins myself wanting to cry at random times for no real reason. I take every little comment so personally, even when it's not. I snap at my loved ones. I reject nice, new people from my life in fear that I'll somehow destroy them and tell myself I don't deserve good people in my life. I hate my body image and worry that I may also develop an eating disorder. I get sad for no reason and eat my feelings when no one is looking to know what I'm doing. I'm scared I'll never feel better or even start getting worse. I have some great friends but they seem to not have as much time for me these days, or are too busy spending time with their new partners. My emotions are just all over the place and I don't know how to cope with it all as it's becomming too much.

As an organisation that supports people from across Australia, Beyond Blue acknowledges the Traditional Owners and Custodians of Country and their continuing connection to land, waters and community. We pay respect to Elders past and present.

First Nations Peoples are advised that this website may include reference to and images of deceased persons.

Beyond Blue is committed to safe inclusive spaces, policies and services for people of LGBTIQ+ communities and their families.

Helpful information

Stay in touch

Sign up below for regular emails from Beyond Blue, filled with information, advice and support for you or your loved ones.

Stay in touch

Talk it through with us, we'll point you in the right direction.

Call 1300 224 636

24 hours / 7 days a week

Chat Online

24 hours / 7 days a week

Email us

Get a reply in 24 hours

Copyright � 2026 Beyond Blue Ltd

All rights reserved

Contact us Terms of use Privacy policy Site map