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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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67ChevySunburn Just another sob story.
  • replies: 1

I'm 22. I don't really know why I'm here, pouring words out on a web page nobody will read, but I am anyway. Ever since I was a kid I've been a hermit. I never did what normal kids did. Didn't like sports. Didn't like meeting new people. I didn't lik... View more

I'm 22. I don't really know why I'm here, pouring words out on a web page nobody will read, but I am anyway. Ever since I was a kid I've been a hermit. I never did what normal kids did. Didn't like sports. Didn't like meeting new people. I didn't like my own family. Daddy didn't abuse me. My family only ever wanted the best for me I guess but they didn't have the money or knowledge to help. I've always had a heart attack at the mere thought of meeting new people. I would rather eat a bar of soap than have a social conversation with a stranger so nowadays I just avoid it altogether - one of my old boyhood friends convinced me to come out to a pub a few months ago and I went reluctantly. I just sat in the corner with my phone until he got tired of drinking and took me home. I remember a stranger saying "Look at that guy...he looks like he's ready to go postal." Yeah. That's me alright. I kind of expect people not to like me so I don't make an effort in case I bother them or make things awkward. I don't want to bother anyone about anything so I never complain, never whine about anything and I don't understand why other people do. It further alienates me from everyone else (especially those I work with), and I can see why. I started training for a new job about six months ago after two years of unemployment and I can tell everyone I work with hates me. You can see it on their faces. My sadness is written all over my face wherever I go. It brings down everyone I am near. They go quiet and whistle because I don't talk unless I have to and try to have painful, tedious small talk with me about the weather and such things. It makes my head hurt when people do that. Why not just shut up if you have nothing useful to say? I put on a smile because I don't want them to feel embarrassed and talk and make eye contact when needed. I can still see they pity me. Have you ever seen that? When someone pities you? The blank look out of the corner of their eye. I see it all the time. I try not to bother anyone, but somehow someone always feels like stepping on my feelings and because I'm a guy I'm supposed to suck it up, but I don't. Nobody thinks twice about the things they say to me because, on the outside, it looks like I just take it in my stride. Every little criticism hurts. It hurts internally, and I can't stop thinking about it. I had a particularly bad day today where I worked alongside an "experienced" staff member who made me feel utterly worthless and completely incompetent, embarrassed me in front of my boss, and just pushed all my buttons. I felt very down afterwards, I really did. If I lose this job I will return to a downward spiral of unemployment and dependency and then I will be truly in trouble.That's just life I guess. I look around and don't know how other people do it. All the people I went to school with? They have amazing careers, beautiful partners, children, everyone knows their name, they go to university, they juggle great jobs and some brilliant education at a great university, they are smiling and happy in photos. Me? I live with my parents and I can't even finish a diploma. I went into the military but dropped out and told my family I was medically discharged to hide the shame. My sadness is a black hole in my chest that is with me every waking minute, and my head droops from long years of being held low. Today more than ever I have wanted to take action. I looked myself in the mirror and said "Nobody will miss you," and that is true, at least after the shock is gone, those who knew me will carry on regardless as if I was never even here. We're all specks of stardust in an infinite cosmos. The world will keep turning if I am not here tomorrow, so what's the point? Had a girlfriend once. She left me. Had a long-distance relationship not so long ago. She took my money, abused me, bullied me, used me, left me. Every day I find less and less to live for. I remember ever since I was a child I have experienced ridicule, bullying, cynicism, apathy, cruelty, and inhumanity. I remember being bullied in primary school while a teacher looked on from across from the room, pretending not to see what she saw, and it has stayed with me 10 years later. And that's that. Just another sob story to make you feel bad. Not sure what I'm looking for here, if anything.Sorry if I spoiled your day.

DaenOwens96 How to Overcome Depression?
  • replies: 1

How do I overcome Depression? Is there a cure? Will It ever go away? Will I have to take Anti-Depressants for the rest of my life?

How do I overcome Depression? Is there a cure? Will It ever go away? Will I have to take Anti-Depressants for the rest of my life?

Jessy22 Rollercoaster of ups and downs...
  • replies: 5

Hi All, I am a new member to these forums and thought I would write my story as I am at the point of not knowing where to turn… I am 23 years old and have suffered anxiety and depression since the age of 14. I can’t say I have experienced much trauma... View more

Hi All, I am a new member to these forums and thought I would write my story as I am at the point of not knowing where to turn… I am 23 years old and have suffered anxiety and depression since the age of 14. I can’t say I have experienced much trauma throughout my life; being brought up within a loving and supportive family, having a close group of friends, living a generally normal life. I find it extremely hard to speak to others about my condition due to this reason as I don’t have much reason to be depressed. I come across as a confident, bubbly and caring person. I will admit throughout my high school years I did participate in a lot of partying and took associated substances during this time. I have also been a heavy cannabis smoker for around 5 years. I am naturally an extremely driven person, with perfectionism characteristics which has helped me succeed in my career being a Property Manager, winning awards and gaining a reputation within the community of providing a great service to all of my clients. I was working for a small property management company with just 2 employees, being myself and my boss, working from her home based office. She was amazingly supportive to whom I considered a close friend, even becoming part of their family. She received tragic news that her 3 year old son had been diagnosed with cancer which resulted in me having to look after the business by myself whilst she attended hospital constantly. I guess looking back this did affect me quite a bit due to the stress and emotion however at the time I ran on adrenaline as my main focus was to help her and the company. During this time; I had decided to wean myself off my antidepressant; as I felt I was a lot better and ready to face life without medication. For a few months after; I felt fantastic, finally feeling comfortable in my own skin and genuinely happy within myself. We then received fantastic news that my boss’s son was officially in remission and that he would be ok. Things were great in my life. Until things took an unexpected turn… I started to find even the smallest tasks were stressing me out, I was unable to cope with client interaction and took a lot of things to heart. This resulted into getting major panic attacks, feeling like I couldn’t breath and constantly falling apart in tears over nothing. With my boss recognising this; she recommended that I take a week off just to relax and not think about work. After returning back to work after my break, things did not improve. In fact they became even worse. My negative thoughts started to take over; my normal happy persona was diminishing; I started to feel anxious in social situations and just felt constantly empty. I then decided to seek help from a psychiatrist. He diagnosed me with major depression with agitation as well as panic disorder and advised that I need to recommence on another type of antidepressant immediately as well as an anti-psychotic medication. He stated that I was “unfit for work” as the side effects would be full on and I needed to be monitored. He also advised I needed to quit cannabis immediately as this would stop the medication from working properly. I was absolutely devastated by the news, being someone who was so used to being in control and independent. The next couple of months were absolute hell, I was unable to do anything for myself; to the extent of my parents needing to help me out of bed, forcing me to eat. Driving was not an option. Luckily my boss was still extremely supportive and told me to take all the time I needed to recover. I was in complete isolation for 2 months. After trying a couple of types of antidepressants; I finally found one that seemed to have agreed with me. After the 3rd month off work; I was finally ready to return back to work. I was actually excited to get back to normality and routine. 2 days before I was supposed to start; I received a call from my boss. She advised she would need to make my position redundant as the company was not growing and she couldn’t afford to keep employees. It was another major blow for me, I was in complete shock. I had mixed emotions; anger, depression, confusion, self-blame… After a couple of days of crying; I immediately started looking for a new job in the same industry which to my surprise; I received 3 job offers within the week. The role I accepted was in a bigger company with a team of 23. I tried my hardest to feel excited about it; yet had this “empty” feeling still lingering. I tried to convince myself this was just nervousness and things would work out. I ended up lasting 3 days at this job and quit… After the 2nd day, I witnessed the boss screaming & swearing at all the employees, the in office banter was insulting and intimidating, the way they spoke about their clients was disgusting. The environment definitely didn’t fit and lead me to feel anxious and unconfident. I then took another role in a smaller company... I lasted 4 days and quit… I took another role after that… I lasted a week and quit. At the time of starting each role, I tried to be open minded, I understood that it takes time to adjust to new environments, yet the constant feeling of anxiety kept returning, I was always running to the bathroom to be sick due to this panic, sitting in the corner of the cubicle balling my eyes out. I had absolutely no confidence in myself and felt these companies were better off with someone that could actually cope. To make matters harder, my parents have now gone on a holiday for 2 and half weeks so am sitting here alone at home feeling like a complete failure. Feeling like my life is going nowhere, I have no meaning anymore. I have had to double my antidepressants as my psych believes this is necessary. To add to this; I did the silly mistake of obtaining more cannabis to try and cope with it all. Yet it made matters even worse. The feeling was horrible and nothing I had ever experienced before, making me feel even more depressed, paranoid and completely out of it. It wasn’t the answer anymore… There is nothing out there that will help me cope with this. I honestly thought I was on the verge of recovery at the beginning of the year.. now Im feeling worse than ever. Ive lost all motivation to do anything, the only escape I feel is when I am asleep and don’t have to deal with any of it. I don’t want to socialise with anyone yet at the same time I just want to talk to someone that understands. It is now 2:30pm, I am still in my pajamas and haven’t showered.. my thoughts just keep telling me its not worth it… ive lost my strength and fight.. I keep getting told “just take one day at a time”… I am so sick of hearing that… time seems to make matters worse…

lotus Does it get easier?
  • replies: 4

I have been battling with depression and anxiety for nearly nine years now, I turn 21 this year and I am so scared that what I go through isn't going to get any better!

I have been battling with depression and anxiety for nearly nine years now, I turn 21 this year and I am so scared that what I go through isn't going to get any better!

Shea___ Have to present in front of the class and anxious
  • replies: 4

Does anyone know any worthwhile ideas to help calm yourself down or to get out of stress or stressful situations? I have a presentation tomorrow and have to present it in front of the whole class I don't think it will be good enough and everyone will... View more

Does anyone know any worthwhile ideas to help calm yourself down or to get out of stress or stressful situations? I have a presentation tomorrow and have to present it in front of the whole class I don't think it will be good enough and everyone will laugh or judge!!!! Please help I am in desperation and am really worried that people will hate what I have to present at school tomorrow...

Jade12 New Here
  • replies: 12

Hi, this will be my first post. I am a bit nervous and not sure what to do but its nice to know there are people out there going through something similar to me. Sometimes its just nice to talk to someone about it who doesnt judge you. I have chemica... View more

Hi, this will be my first post. I am a bit nervous and not sure what to do but its nice to know there are people out there going through something similar to me. Sometimes its just nice to talk to someone about it who doesnt judge you. I have chemical depression and currently am on meds. I have been suicidal, and self harmed but lately have been developing people to support me when things get hard.

Swim89 Can't escape
  • replies: 1

Feeling like I have this thing hanging over me all the time from the moment I wake up till the moment I go to sleep and it even haunts me in my dreams sometimes. I can't ever get away or take a break from it it's just always there. It is exhausting. View more

Feeling like I have this thing hanging over me all the time from the moment I wake up till the moment I go to sleep and it even haunts me in my dreams sometimes. I can't ever get away or take a break from it it's just always there. It is exhausting.

triforceofcourage Hi there, just signed up
  • replies: 12

Hi everyone, after knowing about this website for a while I decided to finally join up. I'm just introducing myself and leaving the "other stuff" for another day. I am 21 years old, 22 next month. I live in the Melbourne area and I work 10 hours a we... View more

Hi everyone, after knowing about this website for a while I decided to finally join up. I'm just introducing myself and leaving the "other stuff" for another day. I am 21 years old, 22 next month. I live in the Melbourne area and I work 10 hours a week in retail. My hobbies are watching anime (Japanese animation) and playing video-games although lately my interest for everything has gone down. My username comes from the video-game "The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (1998)" on the Nintendo 64, my all time favourite game. I am single and have not been in a single relationship to this day. I am currently living alone and have been for around 2 years. As a child I had signs of autism and had learning difficulties growing up. I had an integration aide (assistant teacher) for all of my Primary School years. I spent the first few years taking extra speech classes because I didn't know how to speak properly. My integration aide moved back to New Zealand and didn't end up getting one for High School. Mum always read books to me so I can read and write properly even if I don't know what the words mean. I left High School in 2009 (Year 11) and got a job in retail which has helped me learn how to make casual conversation with people I don't know. There are issues with work now but I'll get to that another time. I think the main reason I joined is because I think I needed somewhere to let my life-long story out. Friends can say they will always be there, but in reality they do get tired of hearing me about my issues all the time. The community here seems small but nice so I hope I feel welcome here soon.

ThousandMiles Heya ^_^
  • replies: 13

Hi everyone, I just joined and wanted to say hello! I'm Cherry, I'm 17 and I love k-pop, Japanese movies, learning languages, playing piano, cute things, gothic horror, cats and chai lattes. Would love to make some new friends (: I'm currently strugg... View more

Hi everyone, I just joined and wanted to say hello! I'm Cherry, I'm 17 and I love k-pop, Japanese movies, learning languages, playing piano, cute things, gothic horror, cats and chai lattes. Would love to make some new friends (: I'm currently struggling with generalised anxiety, social phobia as an offshoot of that, melancholic depression and body dysmorphic disorder. And these things decided to come forward at the end of last year, just before year 12. So convenient I'm seeing a psychologist and a psychiatrist, my parents are supportive and even though my friends don't really understand, I have a couple who are being lovely to me. I'm so grateful for those things, but it's still hard, so I'm hoping to meet people who are going through the same kind of things, and hopefully give and receive some help on here :3 I know I can get through this, and I know every single one of you can overcome and be bigger than whatever you're going through, too. Even if it's hard, we can all do this x

papercut Really confused about my life
  • replies: 10

hey, im 16 and new to this site but i dont feel like a 16yr old should. Ive never really had alot of friends and pretty much the whole way through primary school i managed to scrape through with only 5 friends. 3 of them been 2 grades below. i never ... View more

hey, im 16 and new to this site but i dont feel like a 16yr old should. Ive never really had alot of friends and pretty much the whole way through primary school i managed to scrape through with only 5 friends. 3 of them been 2 grades below. i never really understood why people didnt like me. i always got picked on and teased for the way i look, people used to insult me and leave me out on purpose. i remember this one boy used to call me "death word" which i eventually just got used to enough to not care about it. shame i was born on the same day as him... which pretty much made the situation worse. the day i left primary school was probably one of the happiest days of my life... shame i was too young to realise how crap highschool really is. At first things were fine, i had a friend or two and everyone was just getting to know eachother. People sort of looked and me and were already avoiding me, i reckon it was my looks that said it all. throughout highschool i think ive been in 7 differnt groups of people... and that was from 7-10. now in year 11 im in my 8th group and i get the feeling im not welcome. No-body ever messages me over fb, they never invite me over to hang out.... they dont even say hi to me when they see me. If i was alone they would sit together and they wouldnt write my name if someone asked who was in the group. when i got to around year 8 i was admitted to hospital and diagnosed with crohns disease ( chronic inflammatory bowel disease) and i was told i was going to have a ilesotmy bag for life. Not alot of people knew and some that did teased me for having it. Feeling shattered i wanted to give up. by the time i got to year 10 i was having major difficultiies with my crohns disease and i was admitted about 5 times, until i got my ilesotmy re-done in 2013.... i got basically no messages from people at school ( well nobody messaged me unless i messaged first). and i was then re-admitted about 3 times after.... adding up to me missing about 6 months or so of yr 10. most people thought i left the school and most still dont know or care that i have this disease. I find when someone complains about been sick for one day they get more sympathy then when im sick for over 6 months. I feel so invisable and insignificant to anybody. I find it so hard to have conversations with people after my bad experiences. i think ive lost my ability to be social. i normally find myself sitting alone in class and i dont contribute to class discussions. I hate hearing the bell for recess and lunch because i know that means i have to either sit alone or be with people who will just ignore me and treat me like fly on the wall. I always find when people talk to me, their tone is higher and more sarcastic than if they were talking to a friend. i feel they think i am socially unaware. They talk to me as if i am a little kid and than they all laugh and giggle as if i dont feel the pain. I dont want to be rude and tell them off for "pretneding to help me" because i remember how bad its gone before. the thing is its mostly girls who are doing this. i know you'd proably just think its girls been b****y but i hate it. ive tried to ask for help from differnt people but its alwayts gone wrong. my parents made it worse. my so called friends didnt care when i told them i was at a all-time-low and everything just falls apart. My sister is the worst. she always makes me feel so bad. my heads in a bad place. I have one really good friend i always talk to about my problems and she does the same ( we are not gay btw). i dont know what to do. i cant change schools. I cant get away. im already seeing a pyscologist but i dont feel comfortabe to tell her my thoughts anymore. not after last time. please help....