Immediate support
Immediate 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 discussion

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 discussion

Pinned discussions

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

All discussions

Start a discussion

GreysAnatomyFan I had a panic attack in front of my parents and know they know about my anxiety
  • replies: 2

I have had anxiety for a few years and recently it has gotten so bad to the point of panic attacks. After a panic attack in front of my parents they wanted me to go see a GP. This increased my anxiety and I started to pick at my nails as well as gett... View more

I have had anxiety for a few years and recently it has gotten so bad to the point of panic attacks. After a panic attack in front of my parents they wanted me to go see a GP. This increased my anxiety and I started to pick at my nails as well as getting heart palpitations and a sickening feeling constantly. Finally when I got to the appointment I started to cry and could not stop I think I may of had another panic attack. The doctor was really nice and handled it very well so I was not overly embarrassed. I did get worried when she started talking about my thyroid and getting me to get a blood test. What does the blood test show? Could my anxiety be caused by a medical condition? And what is the doctor going to do when we meet next?

anonymous767675 i don't know why im posting something
  • replies: 3

I'm nervous as its my first time posting on here, but I often come to read other people's posts. I'm not okay at the moment. Every aspect of my life is becoming a struggle, and I'm not at all happy. For a the past 1.5/2 maybe even 3 years I've been u... View more

I'm nervous as its my first time posting on here, but I often come to read other people's posts. I'm not okay at the moment. Every aspect of my life is becoming a struggle, and I'm not at all happy. For a the past 1.5/2 maybe even 3 years I've been up and down mentally. Earlier years I was mostly feeling good, but would have moments where I wasn't. Fast forwards to now- I feel awful. I hate school and hate feeling the way I do. The most frustrating part is that it is SO hard to explain. I have love and support from my parents who always want to help me (and d0 help me), but I can't fully open up. Nobody knows I feel much worse inside than it may seem on the outside. I hate school, not because of the workload (I tend to get good grades), but because of the environment. I do have friends (not many), but I feel lonely in class at school where I have nobody. I fear judgement every minute, and its exhausting. I dont feel like I'm even living the life I want to- but I don't even know what that is. I feel empty, sad, frustrated, scared and overwhelmed. I feel extra worse at the moment cause I JUST started my first job. I thought it would help me but I just feel like I can't handle it right now. In fact, I can't handle anything and I just feel like giving up. I feel like throwing everything away and not doing anything anymore- i feel like disappearing for a while i guess. Ive benn stuck in a trap for so long and it just gets worse and worse. So I dont even know if what i just wrote made any sense. It was all over the place but so is my mind.

Candydipper1 No one understands
  • replies: 1

Hiya all, I really struggle with having my family and some of my support team understand my Mental Health and I’m apparently faking it when I’m not. I struggle with several mental health issues. BPD, Anxitey and Depression are the worst ones.... I ju... View more

Hiya all, I really struggle with having my family and some of my support team understand my Mental Health and I’m apparently faking it when I’m not. I struggle with several mental health issues. BPD, Anxitey and Depression are the worst ones.... I just want family to understand. It’s not easy having unsupportive family when you are struggling. I keep putting on a mask that everything is okay when it isn’t. It’s a struggle some days keeping the mask on.

spontaneous sunflower dropping out of high school- what do i do now
  • replies: 14

I am 17 and this year is supposed to be my final year of high school (year 12). I mentioned in another post that due to anxiety and depression that resulted in me not passing a couple of my classes, instead of graduating this year I would be graduati... View more

I am 17 and this year is supposed to be my final year of high school (year 12). I mentioned in another post that due to anxiety and depression that resulted in me not passing a couple of my classes, instead of graduating this year I would be graduating in 2021. Basically spreading out year 12 over two years. I was hesitant to make this decision at first, because of what people might think (don't care about that anymore) but more so, I wasn't sure it would make much of a difference to my mental health. But I decided it would put less stress and pressure on me, and that was that. So I thought.. I didn't attend headstart classes at the end of last year. I don't even know what subjects I'm doing and I'll probably wind up with subjects I don't really like because I missed out. I've been pretty happy these summer holidays, going to the beach, hanging out with friends/family, etc. Majority of the days/moments where I felt anxious, depressed or upset were when I was reminded of the approaching school year. On Jan 1st, I quite literally broke down in tears telling my mum I couldn't go to school anymore. I can't do it anymore. For 5 years I've been struggling, I've seen multiple professionals, been put on medication, created plans with teachers, moved schools... and I still can barely get through a school year. And I'm smart, I get good grades, I enjoy learning. But I don't like school. I can't stand it. I guess I want to drop out. I literally don't know how to finish high school. Doesn't matter if I could graduate this year, or next year, I can't do it. I am so exhausted of feeling like shit all the time. The problem is if I drop out I'm not entirely sure what to do. Like I could go do a course at tafe, but I wouldn't know which one to do and where it would take me. Like could I somehow go to tafe now and then go to uni later? If it helps to know, I was interested in doing a media and communications course at uni. My interests are travelling, writing and photography. If anyone knows what my options are if I leave high school, please let me know. I don't want to end up working at maccas or whatever for the rest of my life, I want to accomplish great things. But i swear if I went back to high school, I would burn myself out in no time. I'm already holding on by a thread. I don't think I could handle another year of struggling with school. I don't think I've properly enjoyed my life in 3 years and I can honestly say it's because of school. I just want to live my life

FlowerGirl123 No One Understands
  • replies: 1

Hi I am a 16 year old girl and I have been experiencing mental health for at least 6 years. From a young age I was always the big child and that always make my Dad pick on me telling me I should stoping eating so much, or that I should be embarrassed... View more

Hi I am a 16 year old girl and I have been experiencing mental health for at least 6 years. From a young age I was always the big child and that always make my Dad pick on me telling me I should stoping eating so much, or that I should be embarrassed about my weight, this went on for 2 years and really affecting how I looked at myself, I developed anorexia for the first year, my mother found out and thought that I could just stop, she doesn’t understand how difficult it is, my anorexia turned into bulimia for the next 5 years. Whilst this I found myself crying every night, I always end up hurting myself, I don’t know why? I have always felt like I make things more difficult for my parents, with food, and even grades, I’m not the smartest kid and they always expect me to get high marks, to achieve this I studied 24/7 to reach those high expectations but whilst doing this I developed serious anxiety and a bad habit of stressing, I want to tell them but they are old folk who believe that I’m making it up and it will just go away. My uncle passed away from depression while my dad was young, my dad felt like he was making it up. what do I do?

Danioboy Advice on relationship-y stuff and self-image
  • replies: 42

Hi folks! Hope you're all doing ok. So, I'll try to keep this relatively short (though in doing so I will leave out a bunch of the story). About a year ago, I got friendly with this girl and developed feelings for her. I was going to ask her out, but... View more

Hi folks! Hope you're all doing ok. So, I'll try to keep this relatively short (though in doing so I will leave out a bunch of the story). About a year ago, I got friendly with this girl and developed feelings for her. I was going to ask her out, but wanted to know what my friends thought of her before I asked. Basically, no more than a week after I introduced her to my best friend he asked her out (I hadn't told him I was going to, etc.). This hurt a bunch but I kept it to myself for a long time, and I progressively got worse emotionally. Eventually I told them, which didn't really help me at all - in fact this made it worse. They were nice about it, and supportive, etc. (they were my two best friends at this stage). Eventually, they stopped dating and she started dating another guy (who is now also one of my good friends). I now don't know if I like her or not, I'm really confused - I guess I'll figure it out eventually - but I'm not over it by any means (though a lot better than I was). I don't want to blame this completely, but I think it heavily influenced my poor/relatively unhealthy self-image. She is the only girl I have been this close to so I guess a part of me perceives her as a 'representation' of the female sex (which I know is not logical and is wrong in a number of ways). But anyways, I've never seen myself as anything close to society's standards of good looking, my friends are objectively much more attractive than I by these standards. This wasn't a problem before but is now. Basically, it feels like I'm just feeling sorry for myself for not getting the girl, and I'm kinda convinced that I have no chance in the 'relationships' area due to the self-image issues (with the above story as 'evidence' of how incompetent I am in this regard). Its a lot more complex then this, but anyway... any advice you could give would be greatly appreciated, or if you want me to clarify anything or give more details I am happy to do so. I'll also say, recently I haven't been feeling too down, but thought it would be a good idea to talk about it. Thanks

rena23 Feeling alone
  • replies: 2

This is my first time opening up so it's a little bit hard for me. To start off with im 20 years old turning 21 in a couple of weeks. Pretty much i have noticed every year around my birthday i feel really down. Today has been extremely hard for me, i... View more

This is my first time opening up so it's a little bit hard for me. To start off with im 20 years old turning 21 in a couple of weeks. Pretty much i have noticed every year around my birthday i feel really down. Today has been extremely hard for me, im feeling very alone and that i dont fit in. I get the feeling when im around people that they hate me and dont want to be around me. I feel like people are judging me when i walk out of my house. I keep having thoughts that everything would be easier if i didn't exist. Generally just dont have any motivation either. I feel as if im falling behind on my "time line" like i should have graduated from uni this year and have my career sorted - I'm currently a manager at a fast food restaurant and its given me a lot of anxiety because of abusive customers. I just want to enjoy living again and not have these feelings all the time because of this voice in my head

IthoughtIdtrythis I'm in a bad place and needed to write it down......
  • replies: 5

So I'm a 16 year old kid whose been going through some stuff. But, nothing particularly bad has happened to me. I started getting overwhelmed and start crying when I'd pack my lunch for school, for no reason, 6 months ago. I thought it was strange, b... View more

So I'm a 16 year old kid whose been going through some stuff. But, nothing particularly bad has happened to me. I started getting overwhelmed and start crying when I'd pack my lunch for school, for no reason, 6 months ago. I thought it was strange, but didn't really address it. After a while of feeling, empty and void of any motivation for basic tasks. I reached out to a friend. He took me to go see the GP and, she said I had major depressive disorder. The diagnoses made sense but, I don't know where it came from. I've always been somewhat pessimistic about the world in general, but that was always just me. Everything was going perfectly in my life, I finally had made plenty of friends, after being teased and excluded for 2 years, my grades where perfect, my life was perfect. And yet, I'm miserable, I feel nothing. I started sleeping in everyday for school and being self destructive. My grades have dropped to the point where I'm not even passing, my rooms a mess, and I just feel, nothing. I just want to feel something again. I can't look to the future with excitement for whats to come, everyday is just another day, they've all moulded into each other and it feels like it wont end. But everyone says theres a light at the end of the tunnel, and I believe them, I just don't see any light yet. Part of me thinks it's because I got everything I ever wanted, the things I thought would make me happy, only to realise happiness is a fleeting moment, I'll always be running on my hedonic treadmill. Waiting for the next thing that'll fill the void. But I think I just stopped running, and I don't know if I ever can again. I don't know if writing here will help me, and I wasn't able to capture how I truly feel in so few words. But I'm drowning. And this, this is me gasping for air. If anyone is reading this, thank-you, and sorry it was so dark, but unfortunately it gets dark without the mask I put on. Yes I know the mask is ironic considering I'm posting this anonymously but still, uno what I mean. Have a nice day, I really mean it.

giraffe90 Scared of getting a job away from home.
  • replies: 1

I'm turning 21 soon and currently in my 2nd year of University living 4 hours away from my hometown. Previously, I've been perfectly fine with being away from home/family so much and have dealt well with any feelings of homesickness. Even during COVI... View more

I'm turning 21 soon and currently in my 2nd year of University living 4 hours away from my hometown. Previously, I've been perfectly fine with being away from home/family so much and have dealt well with any feelings of homesickness. Even during COVID, i have been away from home for months at a time and have dealt with that well. However, whenever i consider getting a casual job where i live now i freak out and become super anxious. I don't know what mental block or what is going on in my brain but i was offered a casual job recently and ended up turning it down because i was so beside myself and hysterically crying. I just feel this really intrusive/unbearable feeling of being trapped and isolated if i get a job where i am even though i know that i can always request days/weekends off to visit my hometown. I know part of reason i feel this way is probably because of the current pandemic/isolation situation (i have definitely been a bit homesick the past few weeks) but i still feel like a little bit of a failure because i am nearly 21 and should able to take these steps (getting a new job away from home). This situation has kinda left me feeling a little doubtful of my ability to start my career in the future if i panic about the prospect of getting a small casual job now. Would love to hear if anyone has experienced anything similar?

HoneyMilk something that happened to me and i don't know what to do.
  • replies: 3

Lunch today will be one I will never forget. I had to do an interview with my friends about school life. It was supposed to be happy and fun but then the year 10's came. They are stereotypically the mean people of high school. This was today proven t... View more

Lunch today will be one I will never forget. I had to do an interview with my friends about school life. It was supposed to be happy and fun but then the year 10's came. They are stereotypically the mean people of high school. This was today proven to be true. We sat in their "spot" unaware this was their territory and no one else's. So I and my few friends sat and started to begin and then they came. Time moved slower as they came over and I felt a deep dark pit in my heart erupt. I'm the small bookworm who wears my heart on my sleeves and am way too sensitive for the life of me. It felt as if they were almost about to yell at us over sitting. As I'm writing this I'm in class still and on the verge of tears. I'm so unbelievably worried about walking in the hallway and them seeing me and doing... I have no idea. I just know that they talked trash behind our backs. I know I shouldn't care about what other people say about me but I just feel so scared, helpless and sad. How can I feel better? Is there something I can say to myself to make it all disappear? I knew I should have never gone to school today.