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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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Matilda99 Feeling lost with life
  • replies: 1

Hi, I suppose I am looking for some guidance. For the last 9 years i have felt like i have lost myself. Long story short, I developed an eating disorder when i was very very young. During this time I lost my best friend. We use to do everything toget... View more

Hi, I suppose I am looking for some guidance. For the last 9 years i have felt like i have lost myself. Long story short, I developed an eating disorder when i was very very young. During this time I lost my best friend. We use to do everything together, always hang out on weekends etc.. Although sometimes, she wasn't exactly what others would call a best friend as she would often verbally abuse me and just be plain nasty i.e. tell me i couldn't hang with other people, force me to eat servings after servings of cake because i was skinnier than her and she wanted to make me fat, make me roll in mud etc. After our fallout, I moved schools within the same town and couldn't make friends, so i decided to focus on school and my grades, even on weekends i would spend the day doing homework. Consequently, with the lack of social interaction i developed social anxiety. I then moved towns and again schools, this time i became friendly with a group of people but i still didn't consider any as true friends as we would never hang out aside from school and i would always felt left out and couldn't relate. Again, i also focused on my grades and struggled to talk to people. At both new schools, people would often laugh at me and say things behind my back, things like that i was the devil or that i would just come home and stare at a wall all day. By my last year in high school i was truly recovered from my eating disorder and once I finished school and got my first proper job, it only lasted a month because my boss would verbally abuse me. So i spend my gap year staying inside the house. I then moved 600 km away from my family into the city to start university, hoping to start fresh, be a new person, and make friends. A year later, I changed degree as I was unsatisfied into a new degree that i still feel unsatisfied with but I'm still sticking with it. My plan to start fresh hasn't been going well, i can't make friends no matter how hard I try, nothing interest me anymore, I just sit at home in a house i rent by myself all day doing university work and just feel like I don't have a life. I've always felt that I was destined to do something great, but now I don't believe in this. My younger brother often tells me that no offense the last person he would want to be is me because i don't have a life. I feel like I've never been the same since developing the eating disorder, like I've missed a big part of my life and that everyone is getting somewhere in life except me.

carrotparrot services or organizations to help with practical problems
  • replies: 2

Hi there, Are there any services or organizations that would be able to help with the below.... I want to find a tutor re find out what I don't know or help create revision plan from previous uni studies because of gaps in time in study. A parent tri... View more

Hi there, Are there any services or organizations that would be able to help with the below.... I want to find a tutor re find out what I don't know or help create revision plan from previous uni studies because of gaps in time in study. A parent tried to help me with it and talked with someone and they said they would get back to us after a certain day... and didn't Also in initial stages with other people re text and they said have a meeting to discuss it even though I stated I don't know where to start (in initial contact) My psychologist hasn't been any help in the matter. So I'm wondering if there's anyone out there who has psychological training with education who could help me what to write or say so I don't come across as distressed.

spontaneous sunflower struggling with social anxiety post-lockdown
  • replies: 2

I'm from victoria and over the past few weeks, restrictions have been easing more and more. We're now able to see more people and there are less limits to what we can do and where we can go, which is great and i've been looking forward to this for mo... View more

I'm from victoria and over the past few weeks, restrictions have been easing more and more. We're now able to see more people and there are less limits to what we can do and where we can go, which is great and i've been looking forward to this for months! But I feel like I'm still in lockdown. I haven't been going out very much. It's not because of fear of covid, it's more so due to anxiety about being out in public and socialising. I do have anxiety but previously have never really experienced social anxiety too badly.I love going out and socialising. But after how many months of lockdown, I feel so anxious about being seen, worried about saying something stupid or whatever. It doesn't really help that a couple days ago when I was at the shops with my mum and my brother's girlfriend, a strange middle aged guy approached me and asked for some of my hair and was complimenting my hair as he stroked my hair. It was very uncomfortable. As a young woman I have experienced uncomfortable and unwanted male attention before, but until now I had never experienced someone getting in my personal space like that. I'm 18 and I want to be going out and having fun but after that incident I feel more anxious about going out. I'm less anxious about going to my friends house, but when it comes to going to the shops or going to a restaurant, I can't get myself to do it. I feel miserable that after months of isolating, I'm still kinda isolating myself. I want to be able to go out and enjoy life. Recently I've also been feeling insecure and anxious about not being good enough (not being a good enough friend, not being good enough for the guy i like to like me back, etc). I was so excited about lockdown ending, I'm so confused where all this anxiety came from!

A sad boy I really want to make friends with a strange person but I am not brave to say this...is there anything can help me??
  • replies: 5

I do not know if it is suitable to send my experience and worries in this column or in this forum, but I really do not know what to do in the future of this terrible time. I am a student but I really want some extra care for some reason. From this ye... View more

I do not know if it is suitable to send my experience and worries in this column or in this forum, but I really do not know what to do in the future of this terrible time. I am a student but I really want some extra care for some reason. From this year I accidentally learned about a strange person in his own blog, which is a teacher. I was moved and attracted by what he said and what he did. I also thought of what I experienced during my middle school time during his contents. I am so happy that I really want to make friends with him -- but I am not so brave to give him some greetings or contact with him, because I am afraid that my content will make him angry or no replies -- because sometimes emails can not get any replies in his own country(He is not Australian). With the help of the counselor, I still wrote something to the teacher with email, but so far there is no replies from him. In fact I am a little disappointed but there is no doubt that he may not use the emails. I have thought of use other applications, but I do not want to disturb him -- this may be the private social applications like WhatsApp. However these days for some reason I think that my life is so terrible(if necessary I will post a new thread but that is not the main thing of this) and the heart of "missing" him is the only desire for me. And I found that I really need him to get some warm care to have power doing something because my mood has affected my daily life, and that may be my final chance to do it. But I am really not brave to do this thing. I do nit know what I should do for this about him -- contact him or not. I really like him but I really have no way to get in touch with him better. Maybe I have other things to say, but I can not say something in this. If I can say some other things, I will add it.

lmaydnn poor mental health symptoms are confusing me
  • replies: 4

on and off i've had periods of low mental health but recently for the past couple weeks its been the worst its ever been. I've felt emotionally numb and empty and detached. All my energy has been drained and i've been so tired, weak and fatigued. My ... View more

on and off i've had periods of low mental health but recently for the past couple weeks its been the worst its ever been. I've felt emotionally numb and empty and detached. All my energy has been drained and i've been so tired, weak and fatigued. My muscles have been aching and i've been crying for no reason. I've also had the feeling that bugs are crawling on me, feeling like the room is slowly spinning or im rocking back and forth but am being still and that the world is moving in slow motion. Also i had one day where it looked like the walls in my room were moving and have been zoning out to the point where people have been concerned about me and i've booked a doctors appointment. However suddenly i'm feeling fine and im just really confused because i feel like my mental health is just an ongoing cycle of good and bad ranging from days to weeks and i've already seen a doctor a couple months before and they just said that everyone goes through ups and downs however my symptoms were quite full on and i'm worried next time my mental health goes bad again it will be worse and i just am so confused what is happening just because it says that illnesses such as depression are an ongoing thing and that they don't take breaks.

RubyAmeliaaa I feel really lonely and really want some friends
  • replies: 19

Hi, I have so much to say but I just don't know where to start let's just say it has been really hard recently, life has never felt so meaningless I miss being happy I am trying really hard to pull through. I have felt really distant from my friends ... View more

Hi, I have so much to say but I just don't know where to start let's just say it has been really hard recently, life has never felt so meaningless I miss being happy I am trying really hard to pull through. I have felt really distant from my friends this past year I kind of don't even know if they are my friends anymore I really want to make some new genuine friends, highschool is hard enough but being in high school and having no friends is just really taking a toll on me. I don't know how to make new friends, not going to lie none of the people at my school really get me I don't know some of them are nice I just get a feeling they don't care about me like they wouldn't care if I was gone. I have many likes and hobbies and wish I would be able to bond with people over them so if anyone has any tips it would be greatly appreciated! Also having high anxiety definitely doesn't help meeting new people lol

Muon7 unbreably alone. always feeling empty, nothing makes me happy anymore. [looking for advice/guidance]
  • replies: 2

im close to 18, and just finished my year 11 exams. i used to suffer from a bit of anxiety, which i fixed by myself over a few months. i now feel self confident in general, and have a few hobbies. my grades are average. 5 months ago i broke off from ... View more

im close to 18, and just finished my year 11 exams. i used to suffer from a bit of anxiety, which i fixed by myself over a few months. i now feel self confident in general, and have a few hobbies. my grades are average. 5 months ago i broke off from dating a girl, as we both thought she was not ready for a relationship. we still talk, or did until about a week ago, when she told me to get off her back, and that she had no friends. it really hurt hearing that, after i had tried my best to be there for her, and so have many others. i told her how much i was hurt by that, and she ignored me, and no longer speaks to me. my best friend of 4 years met a girl at the beginning of the year. since then, he almost never speaks to me, unless its about his girlfriend, or if he needs tech related assistance. we used to talk almost every single day, or most days, now we share a sentence or two every week. after a conversation with his girlfriend, he also said he has no friends, and he feels as if no one cares about him, except for her. 6 months ago was the last time i saw my father. he verbally and mentally abused me until soon after i turned 17, when i decided to stay at my mothers. he made me feel useless and pathetic when he shook the house with his voice toward my step mother, my sister and i, when he was in physical pain, or had a bad day. on some nights, they would yell at each other over nothing until 12am. my parents divorced when i was 6 for this very same reason. however, when my parents were still together the abuse was physical, and left me sleeping on my stomach at some nights. on top of all that, half of his side of the family dislikes me, and my grandfather died recently too. his wisdom guided me. i have been feeling like i am on autopilot for months now. i almost never speak to anyone, maybe saying a few sentences to people per day at school, and im barely self aware. when i get home, i still feel extremely isolated and alone. i feel so alone and i feel i have no purpose, at times i feel theres no way out, and no one to make me happy anymore. i used to be a rowdy, noisy guy, now i feel like theres a wall between me and others. my only friend is an angst teen i know from childhood, although is always there for me, but lives 2 hours away. every night i do homework, then sleep at 8pm because i have nothing to do, and no one to talk to. i dont want anyone i really care about to know, and to hurt them. if im trying my hardest, my hardest isnt enough i guess

Guest_2503 Have no friends at school
  • replies: 2

I've been withdrawing from all my friends at school and I don't know if I should be concerned. I used to have a very large group of friends but lately I have been finding it extremely draining to be around most of them. I've also recently had a prett... View more

I've been withdrawing from all my friends at school and I don't know if I should be concerned. I used to have a very large group of friends but lately I have been finding it extremely draining to be around most of them. I've also recently had a pretty major fight with one of them. I just really don't want to be around them now and I feel so much more comfortable finding a quiet place to just sit by myself during breaktimes. I don't know if my withdrawing is because I'm happier alone or if it's a symptom of something being wrong with me.

THATGirl1 Do I have depression? How do I ask my parents?
  • replies: 2

So recently I have been sad a lot feeling worthless and hating myself, you know all that fun stuff. so I have tried taking depression tests and they all comeback as high or whatnot, but I feel like I can’t tell people because I think it’s not true th... View more

So recently I have been sad a lot feeling worthless and hating myself, you know all that fun stuff. so I have tried taking depression tests and they all comeback as high or whatnot, but I feel like I can’t tell people because I think it’s not true that I don’t have depression I’m just tricking myself or something also I f I do how do I tell my parents

Leanie I feel nothing
  • replies: 5

Hey! I guess I’m just writing this because I needed to let someone know. I have nothing inside of me. I won’t deny that I’ve been like this for quite a while, months maybe, and it’s not the first time I’ve endured this experience, but recently it see... View more

Hey! I guess I’m just writing this because I needed to let someone know. I have nothing inside of me. I won’t deny that I’ve been like this for quite a while, months maybe, and it’s not the first time I’ve endured this experience, but recently it seems odd that I feel nothing. I would like to say I have a good bunch of friends and am in a good relationship, but I feel nothing towards any of it. A lot of the time, I sit in silence and let my mind wonder, literally anywhere just so it can spark any emotion, but it doesn’t. I find it so easy to whack on a smile for my friends, family and partner, but inside I’m so numb and so lonely. I’m in tears sometimes too, and still in the middle of it all, there’s nothing inside of me. I want to be happy or sad or scared or anything, and I’m not. I don’t want people to know I feel this way, especially not my partner, I just want to be alone. I don’t know what to do. I’m a mess!