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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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Kiraleigh Hi
  • replies: 7

I am young, most of the threads I see are older than me. So I want to come on here and express how I feel being a teenager that's almost about have a load of responsibilities dumped on me. But I also just want to find people like me. Anyways Hello View more

I am young, most of the threads I see are older than me. So I want to come on here and express how I feel being a teenager that's almost about have a load of responsibilities dumped on me. But I also just want to find people like me. Anyways Hello

C74 extreme pre-exam stress
  • replies: 70

Growing up, I was never one of those diligent kids; you know the type. Those that go around holding massive organised binders with highlighted notes and study timetables... I would show up to class, occasionally listen, and binge study the night befo... View more

Growing up, I was never one of those diligent kids; you know the type. Those that go around holding massive organised binders with highlighted notes and study timetables... I would show up to class, occasionally listen, and binge study the night before; strangely, I managed to get by until year 11, when my grades began dropping quite extremely. This year, I am in year 12, the final grade of school. Afterwards, it's university where my life can truly begin, and I can mostly be independent and free. But before then, there's this hurdle I must cross; the HSC. The moment 2019 began, something clicked and I felt this resolve; I must study hard, I must work to get the best results I possibly can. Surely that's great, ambition is key to success and all that, right? Nope. I've heard stories of people who've gone overboard, and I've always pushed that aside. People told me that you should always put your health and wellbeing above studying and they're definitely right, as I've learnt much too late. Now I've fallen into a deep dark hole that I can't get out of. The start of the year was great; I made sure I slept at 10:30pm, I kept a diary, I made sure most of my homework was done and studied hard over the monthlong summer holidays. Alas, it wasn't enough. <- Result of me being too lax throughout year 11 Now I'm in the middle of my assessment block, which'll go on until end of next week. We get ranks in these. As a result, I'm finding myself studying until 3-4am, I'm studying on the train, I'm skipping meals to study, I don't take breaks... Incredibly unhealthy. I've been suffering from low blood sugar levels, and now I've fainted twice in public from fatigue, and fell onto hard concrete both times so I've currently sustained injuries on my arms, legs and fingers (making it difficult to write fast). Not long ago, something happened (not going to go into much detail, it's not too relevant) which wasted an hour of my time. I had a completely mental breakdown, and refused to eat dinner, sobbing and panicking in the fear that people may have 'caught up' to me in that one hour. I have a stomach ulcer as a result of skipping meals, and the pain worsens when I'm hungry. Yet despite starving from skipping meals, I felt as if I had to catch up due to that lost hour. Just that one mere hour. I have gone from overly lax to excessively stressed. I can't help it, and I don't know what to do. If anyone could leave advice, I would so grateful. I just can't go on like this. C74

24AndOverIt Struggling more than ever
  • replies: 2

When i was 13 i broke, My mother never really listened to me or understood how much id missed out on. School, i never had the right uniform and was ridiculed by teachers and students. Big sis would always get lunch money, i never did. At home, i miss... View more

When i was 13 i broke, My mother never really listened to me or understood how much id missed out on. School, i never had the right uniform and was ridiculed by teachers and students. Big sis would always get lunch money, i never did. At home, i missed out on birthdays because of bills, and when i was told it would be "made up to me" at tax time, instead me and both my sisters would get stuff, so i was still left missing out for my birthday. Anytime id ever try telling mum of any of my problems, she acted as if they were too hard and sent me to my room where id spend the rest of the night crying. When i broke, i yelled and sceamed and shut her down whenever she would speak. I made her listen to me i explained everything i had a problem with, she eventually agreed it was all very unfair. Soon after she took me to the doctors where she told him "My son gets angry all the time, i think its just teenage hormones" thats when he suggested i may have bi polar (he knew this from the 1 line my mum said) and from then i had been put on mood stabilisers. That was 11 years ago, im still broken, i still get angry everyday, ive begged my mum to go back to the doctors and actually explain what my problem is/was, she refuses. I feel as if i never got the right "help". I never got help for being broken. Now i feel as if im too far gone, and am so lost as to what to do anymore

hellootheree A bit of a mess
  • replies: 7

Hi, it's my first time on here so I feel a bit weird to be honest. I thought I might come on here and rant for a bit just because I feel like letting some stuff out. Recently I moved schools, halfway through last year I fell into a depressive state a... View more

Hi, it's my first time on here so I feel a bit weird to be honest. I thought I might come on here and rant for a bit just because I feel like letting some stuff out. Recently I moved schools, halfway through last year I fell into a depressive state and was having panic attacks and I just wouldn't go to class because I didn't feel like doing anything at all at the time and everything seemed really pointless. Anyway, I just moved this year thinking I was going to have a fresh new start and all my problems would just magically fix (it was really stupid I know) I was disappointed and all my expectations weren't matched obviously. It was the same thing all over again but worse, I had to start from scratch and make friends and I was falling behind in class, I had made friends that had turned out to be toxic and overall I just felt terrible. It's really overwhelming and I feel so lonely right now. i feel like I can't talk to anyone and I want to get out but I know im probably overreacting. I feel like I have no one to go and talk to, but that's mainly my fault because I'm too shy and scared about it. I feel like I'm causing a problem, like if I seriously talk about myself I'm being extremely selfish because so many other people need help more than me. im sorry this was all over the place but I don't know what to do right now.

Lola_Lou Alone
  • replies: 1

Hey guys This is my first time posting on one of these, where do I begin. So I recently ended a friendship of 10 years with my best friend, it was my choice ( I had reasons) I did not want to but it had to be done. I have other friends but they all h... View more

Hey guys This is my first time posting on one of these, where do I begin. So I recently ended a friendship of 10 years with my best friend, it was my choice ( I had reasons) I did not want to but it had to be done. I have other friends but they all have boyfriends now and I feel like they have ditched me. I feel so alone now I feel like no one cares about me. My own family doesn't understand . I cant go out at the moment as my sister has special needs and cant get sick, so I have to wait until winter is over I just dont know what to do, I hate being so alone. I have had so many failed friendships and I dont know why, I try my best to be a good friend. It feels like people take advantage of me as ive been told i am to nice. All I want in life is a group of friends.

Rose31 Feeling anxious, lonely and confused
  • replies: 4

So I left home when I was 17. It's now been almost 18 months living in a town I had never been before and didn't know anybody. I have family and friends that live within a 70km radius although have hardly visited them as some times I feel like I may ... View more

So I left home when I was 17. It's now been almost 18 months living in a town I had never been before and didn't know anybody. I have family and friends that live within a 70km radius although have hardly visited them as some times I feel like I may be intruding. I thought it would get easier as the time passed, but since turning 18 and meeting the most amazing boyfriend I have been really struggling with living away from my home town. I enjoy my own company a lot and I like to do my own thing although now it feels a bit much going to work everyday then coming home to no one. I message and call my parents and boyfriend so much but it's not the same as talking in person. I'd move home in a a heart beat although I do struggle with worrying constantly. I worry about what people think and I am never focused on trying to please myself it's always everyone else. I recognise that but need help with pushing past and learning to be true and honest with myself. I also worry about money as I am on trainee wages and paying rent and a car loan. There aren't many jobs in my home town and I am worried that I'll leave a full time job to potentially nothing for a while. In also struggle with what people will think of that ! I'm blowing up at everyone for no reason and am so moody and on edge and have been for the last 12 months at least. But I have also changed for the better since meeting my boyfriend 12 months ago. I feel terrible when we fight but I'm so bad for snapping at him and taking everything out on him. It's hard living away from him and sometimes I can be so blunt and nasty with messages because I'm just 'not in the mood' I definitely need help with changing before I lose him and my family ... I need to learn how to cope with things and techniques for living with anxiety and sometimes depressive feelings (sad,moody,tired a lot)

helenhall 21, lonely, single, empty & fantasy
  • replies: 11

Hi, I dont even know how I got here. I have never even read any threads on here let alone written any. But here we are. I doubt this will even help, but at least I'm willing to try. Oh man where to begin. In a nutshell I am in university, studying so... View more

Hi, I dont even know how I got here. I have never even read any threads on here let alone written any. But here we are. I doubt this will even help, but at least I'm willing to try. Oh man where to begin. In a nutshell I am in university, studying something I really love and am passionate about. I've traveled, I have supportive friends, loving and devoted parents. And yet. I am almost 21 and have never been in love. Not even close. I am a virgin. I crave love, I yearn for it, I spend hours (and I mean hours and hours) imagining and daydreaming about what love could be like. I am addicted to movies, tv and books about love. And at the end of all of them I am left feeling more empty and alone that I ever would have. People would describe me as bold, outgoing, honest, brave, strong. But i feel like my insides are made of glass. Like there is hardly anything there. Like my body is one giant hole. I am a happy person. I am passionate about life. I care. But i am lonely. Every, single, day. It's like I have to fight my imagination, my desires about being wanted. Because I am deathly afraid that it will never happen for me. Watching those movies, reading the books, is the most short-lived escape and provides me with the only flicker of feeling that i wouldn't otherwise have. Its like loneliness sits on my shoulders and in my stomach. Everything feels heavy sometimes. I binge watched a romance show last night and spent most of today lying down staring at nothing. I dont like how this makes me feel. But I have always been alone. This is not new. Sincerely,

hatsunemiku Moving back to my old school
  • replies: 2

So, a bit of backstory first... My mum moved an hour away from my highschool to live with her boyfriend. Due to this moving, I also moved schools to one around the corner from our new house. This happened around August of 2019. Currently, he has abus... View more

So, a bit of backstory first... My mum moved an hour away from my highschool to live with her boyfriend. Due to this moving, I also moved schools to one around the corner from our new house. This happened around August of 2019. Currently, he has abused my mother verbally and physically while in the relationship but the police refuse to look at our evidence as it's a matter of Family Law, and we were evicted from the house because this ex boyfriend has convinced the police that we only lived there for one month too. I'm now living at my Nans for the time being which is nearby my old school. It's difficult to attend my current school as its an hour away, so my mum had suggested I move back to my old school as it's more convenient. I'm in Year 11 so it's difficult moving schools during my prelims but I can see the pros of moving back. I would be with all my old friends, with teachers I know and in a familar environment. However, at this new school I met a girl and we've been dating for three months. We were both new students when we met so she is new to the school as well. I see how convenient it is to move back to my old school, but I don't want to leave my girlfriend in a new school with few friends, and it will also be a strain on our relationship trying long distance (realistically we probably won't see each other much if i go back to my old school). I'm really stumped. I know the right choice would be to go back to my old school but i really don't want to deal with any of this at all. It's all very stressful.

kiki_forgets Forgetting how to live
  • replies: 5

Hi, This is the first time I have shared anything like this, but after reading the threads, I feel less abnormal and alone in my feelings. For a while I have struggled to find the motivation to do anything, so much so that I don't even recognise myse... View more

Hi, This is the first time I have shared anything like this, but after reading the threads, I feel less abnormal and alone in my feelings. For a while I have struggled to find the motivation to do anything, so much so that I don't even recognise myself anymore. School was once my biggest priority but now, in my second year of uni, I can't seem to bring the same effort to any of my current work. Nearly every day I simply wake up, am overwhelmed by the thought of facing another day, and so distract myself by watching Youtube or Netflix until the day's over. I can only move for work. I'm so frustrated with myself because I know that I have such a great family, great friends, and the incredible opportunity to be educated, so why can't I do anything!? I'm scared of going out and seeing people, mostly because I fear what they will think when they see me. Battling an eating disorder for the last three years, I am extremely self-conscious of my body and weight; it seems impossible for me to think of anything else. When it first started, I would constantly get comments about how great I looked, and how much weight I had lost. But now, as I try to develop a healthy relationship with food, I have gained back all of the weight I have lost and more. I feel disgusted with myself and cannot escape the thought that I am worthless because I am not the image of beauty that the world tells me I should be. I have never felt so much self-hatred. I think I escape into other film and tv worlds just to imagine what it would feel like to live again. I feel like I haven't allowed myself to really live for a long time. I have this constant battle between the idea that I am not worthy enough to be alive, and the other side which tells me I am so selfish for being consumed with my own issues. I want to be there for my family and friends, and I want to be there for my community through activism and volunteering, but I just get so caught up in my own darkness. I don't know how to stop being so self-centred. I'm terrified it will be like this forever. I see a therapist regularly, but I am battling with the question of whether I should also take medication. I was prescribed antidepressants but I didn't take them as my family thought and I thought I could make it through without them. It's not working, so I think I want to give them a try. I would love to hear of some people's experiences with them if they are willing to share. There's no one I can really talk to about this. Thank you

Clover98 Feeling alone and unloved in a family that is no longer mine
  • replies: 4

For a long time, it has been my younger Brother, Dad &myself, my Bio-Mum has some mental health problems &terrified &emotionally abused us so we moved in with my Dad full time when I was 14. My Stepmum really stepped up when we first moved in but the... View more

For a long time, it has been my younger Brother, Dad &myself, my Bio-Mum has some mental health problems &terrified &emotionally abused us so we moved in with my Dad full time when I was 14. My Stepmum really stepped up when we first moved in but then she started saying things like she gave up having children of her own because of us &if we had the slightest disagreement, come into one of our rooms crying, saying how much she loves us like her own, how she often just wants to kill herself because we don't love her. Going home was horrible and I would be scared to answer her calls.Dad works a lot &often takes trips away, he isn't gone for very long but he misses what's happening. I do love my Stepmum, but she is a different person half the time. When I was 18, after a really bad argument with her I stayed out of her way as much as possible &found a place to move within 2 months. Things started to get better with our relationship after that because I wasn't around all the time but I left my Brother with her. I didn't realise that all the stuff I used to go through he was now getting twice as bad. He had enough one day &wasn't old enough to move out by himself so he decided to go live with our Bio-Mum fulltime again. This really hurt my Dad because he didn't understand why, my Brother didn't want to upset him by saying it was because of our Stepmum emotionally abusing us and he was never home to stop it because at the end of the day that's his wife and he must love her. Now it's a year later and my Step-mum is pregnant. we have a complicated relationship but she is the closest thing I have to a Mum &when I came over for dinner she &told me she was excited to be a Mum for the first time &have children of her own. I feel like every time she told me she loved me like I was her own was a lie &every time she told me she considered me her daughter a lie. She looked me dead in the eye &said she was finally happy to be having her first child &how it was her own. I don't have any family, my mum&her side of the family won't talk to me, my Brother hardly talks to me &my Dads family are all dead. I feel so alone and scared, I have just lost the closest thing I have to a mum and found out that our relationship has been one big lie now that she has a child that's her blood. Should I talk to them about this or just leave it, I am being too emotional about it? I really am excited for another sibling to love and care for but I just feel so displaced and alone.