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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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Guest_294 Completely new life?
  • replies: 8

Hi all, so I have in the space of a couple days, submitted an application to transfer universities to ANU in Canberra from Macquarie University in Sydney. I’ve been advised that I am almost guaranteed an offer with my grades and GPA so I’m now thinki... View more

Hi all, so I have in the space of a couple days, submitted an application to transfer universities to ANU in Canberra from Macquarie University in Sydney. I’ve been advised that I am almost guaranteed an offer with my grades and GPA so I’m now thinking about logistics and the reality of moving away within the next few weeks... how do you deal with such significant change? I have my whole family here, all my friends and my boyfriend. None of whom (except my family) know that I’m moving. I’m waiting until I actually receive and accept the offer to tell anyone. I keep thinking about what it’ll be like not coming home and dancing around with my sisters or watching the footy with my brothers. Not having my friends a 10 minute drive away or seeing the same people I do every day. Not being able to turn around and steal kisses from my boyfriend who is such a significant part of my life. I couldn’t do long distance I don’t think - I’d try, definitely, but I’m a very physically affectionate person. I like cuddling with him and kissing him and just being together. Talking on the phone just isn’t the same... theres just so much that would change if I moved. It would be a great move! This is an incredible opportunity I don’t want to turn down and I know i will have an amazing experience living in Canberra and studying at ANU but it’s just all happened really fast and is a lot to take in. I don’t know...any advice for when you lose everything you know like that? I know I won’t lose it all - they’re only a few hours away on the train but it’s going to be so different. Thanks as always, A

Jassa Your Never Alone
  • replies: 8

Hi I am making this post to tell people, your not alone. It is absolutely okay not to be okay. I am to am struggling, recently I lost my friend, my supporter, my guider, my protector. I lost my dad to mental health. My dad lost took his own life this... View more

Hi I am making this post to tell people, your not alone. It is absolutely okay not to be okay. I am to am struggling, recently I lost my friend, my supporter, my guider, my protector. I lost my dad to mental health. My dad lost took his own life this year on Fathers Day. I will always be his daddy little girl I wished my dad spoke and understood that is okay to not be okay. I have a promise, I made him. i will promise to help break the stigma of mental health. I sit here today, I had to post this to allow myself and remind myself it is okay not to be okay. Lets all break down the stigma of mental health. We all have a roll to play to make that happen.

Spec13 My girlfriend doesn’t accept responsibility for her actions
  • replies: 1

Hi guys, I’ve lived with my partner for a year and a half now. She suffers from mental health issues which regularly requires me to take time off work to act as her carer. I’ve done all that I could reasonably do to assist her and support her over th... View more

Hi guys, I’ve lived with my partner for a year and a half now. She suffers from mental health issues which regularly requires me to take time off work to act as her carer. I’ve done all that I could reasonably do to assist her and support her over the last year and a half. I love her dearly and have done whatever needed to support her. But, I’m experiencing challenges and I’m needing advice. I have a good grip on my own mental health after a turbulent history, but I find that now I’m struggling to deal with my girlfriends lack of ability to accept responsibility for her actions or often, in-action. In her mind, nothing is her fault and she constantly blames others or myself for her misfortunes or mental health issues. I find dealing with her lack of accountability extremely taxing and often, I find myself incredibly exhausted from it. Why does her lack of accountability challenge me more than any other aspect of the relationship or her mental health issues, generally? What can I do to support her re this lack of accountability? How can I learn to better manage that myself? Thanks muchly, S.

eggalicious Feeling worthless and jealous of other's achievements
  • replies: 4

Hi All, Hope you are doing well in this difficult time! I wanted to bring up a problem I've been having for the past few months, which has been with me throughout much of the latter part of my life - I am hyper critical of my own achievements, and ha... View more

Hi All, Hope you are doing well in this difficult time! I wanted to bring up a problem I've been having for the past few months, which has been with me throughout much of the latter part of my life - I am hyper critical of my own achievements, and have never been able to see my own self worth in the way that I see others. For context, I am a visual arts student and many of my friends are also studying arts/have creative hobbies. In the past few months I've become more depressed and my art making has slowly trailed off. I still draw semi regularly, and can doodle without much thought, but art has become less of a joy and more of a burdensome task. Often I see my friends posting pictures of their creations on social media and think - why aren't I more like them? I often feel insecure, weak, untalented, and flawed in comparison to my other artist friends. I know I have issues with self worth - and this often exacerbates my anxiety in regards to the quality of my own work. For as long as I remember I've found it hard to be satisfied with my own achievements. Even when receiving compliments from others it's difficult to internalize them rather than having them go in one ear and out the other! I think a lot of this stems from my perfectionism - I find myself a bad judge of my own work as one mistake could ruin my perception of the entire piece. I think I have placed high expectations on my own art making, and this has paralysed me. In addition, I've been feeling more melancholic lately and dealing with feelings of worthlessness has made me even less motivated to keep going (a self reinforcing cycle!). Does anyone else get this problem? How do you deal with your own insecurities when it comes to creative pursuits? Thanks for reading, I really appreciate it Eggsy

noella99 Afraid to face consequences, making big decisions and do I really have control my life?
  • replies: 1

I'm currently unsure of the decisions I've made. I recently broke an agreement that costs me my entire savings. It took a lot out of me to break that agreement, because I thought it was the right decision for me in the long run. Yet now I find myself... View more

I'm currently unsure of the decisions I've made. I recently broke an agreement that costs me my entire savings. It took a lot out of me to break that agreement, because I thought it was the right decision for me in the long run. Yet now I find myself digging a deeper hole than ever and it made me rethink whether I made the right decision or not. I don't think I predicted the consequences would be this difficult and now I'm living through it. I'm too afraid to ask for help out of fear of others would judge me for my decisions. Some people have judged, with good intentions because I know what they were saying is true. However, a part of me just refuse to acknowledge it and feel hurt by it. I would just proceed to shield myself from doing the things they told me to do. Some people told me things on what to do and I let them. I hate that I let them. When I show some sign that I don't want to do it, they would tell me that I'm indecisive and that it's immature for me to do so. I overthink about it. Maybe I am immature. Maybe I should just follow through one decision, no matter how much I feel like I change my mind. They say it's for the best for me. I doubt it, but I never say anything. So I kept swallowing everything and kept things to myself. I wonder if anyone have ever felt this way? I'm only turning 21 this year and I still don't understand how adult-ing works. I feel like some people makes me feel like I'm not doing enough or just too immature with my decisions. I don't know how to break the chains from them and take over control.

GirlWithBigDreams If I Don't Succeed By 18 I Don't Know What I Will Do...I Want To Be A Successful Artist, I Fear Being Old, And School Is Bringing Me Down,
  • replies: 1

Hello everyone, I'm currently a student at a school for performing arts at the moment and I'm currently COMPLETELY behind in my school work because a SAC threw me off and now I'm behind in absolutely everything (with this online teaching style, whate... View more

Hello everyone, I'm currently a student at a school for performing arts at the moment and I'm currently COMPLETELY behind in my school work because a SAC threw me off and now I'm behind in absolutely everything (with this online teaching style, whatever lack of focus and motivation I had, is COMPLETELY gone out the window now. I'm doing both regular VCE Academic, plus intensive art at the same time in school (very long school days). I'm passionate about the art part and do that, but academically I am completely burnt out. With this whole system, it isn't working for me and I feel like I can't focus. More and more work keeps piling in. I CANNOT. I used to be a high achieving academic student, but once I realised that performing arts and film is ultimately my passion, I stopped prioritising/striving for education as much as I used to, and do not intend to university. My parent is very against that despite supporting me in everything I do. "You'll never amount to anything without education, you'll work at maccas/as a cleaner then..", but if I KNOW what my passion is, and that I plan to train and learn extensively for my talent, I don't consider that unsuccessful! I've talked to the school counsellor, but I feel like encouraging me to do it isn't helping me. I want to talk to a career counsellor, but from what I've briefly talked about they say "you might want to later on", but I DON'T! As an aspiring artist, it hurts when you're told there's the 1% of artists, and then the rest 99%. I don't want to mediocre, or have a plan B. As corny as it sounds, I want to be great! Why can't I be the 1%? I don't want to do this style of education where a grade or number determines your worth, or a degree determines your status. It isn't the same for art, its not like medicine where you NEED it in order to properly function. I feel like going to university is the "SAFE OPTION", but I don't want to waste away my young years 18-22... I already feel old (I'm 17), if I go to university and don't start my career, then I'll REALLY be old! Since I have to finish school, I feel like I won't be able achieve success because I'm stuck and immensely unfulfilled. Does anyone else feel this way? What can I do, who can I talk to? I know what I want to do with my future, but the academic system is not for my pathway and it's destroying my sense of purpose/belief in myself and my future. I have this thought that if I don't succeed by 18, I won't know what to do with myself anymore.

LisaLAynE Feeling Overwhelmed with School :/
  • replies: 2

So it’s a long story but due to my ocd, anxiety and past hallucinations I missed an entire year of school and now I’m back and the first term went fine I was getting straight A’s but since this term I’ve been doing horribly and I keep overthinking an... View more

So it’s a long story but due to my ocd, anxiety and past hallucinations I missed an entire year of school and now I’m back and the first term went fine I was getting straight A’s but since this term I’ve been doing horribly and I keep overthinking and thinking that I’m a failure and that I’ll never get into a good college and I’m so so so anxious about the future and I feel so stupid and everyone at my school is super smart and rich (I go to a prestigious private school) and I keep hearing about everyone accomplishments and how well they’re doing while I’m basically failing and I don’t want to disappoint my family because I feel like they expect so much from me

Flower_1 I had a big blowup with my partner for no reason
  • replies: 3

My partner and I have spent every second in isolation together and have had barely any arguments. Tonight we had a very huge fight over nothing at all and I yelled at him like I never have before and said some things that were very wrong and that I d... View more

My partner and I have spent every second in isolation together and have had barely any arguments. Tonight we had a very huge fight over nothing at all and I yelled at him like I never have before and said some things that were very wrong and that I didn’t even mean. It was a lot bigger then a normal argument and he said he doesn’t want to be around me at all and it’s best we end things. (We are both very hot headed people) Lately I’ve been feeling pretty lonely as my partner and I moved down to my family holiday home, so I’m feeling very distant and far away from my usual life. I have quit a large group of friends but feel like no one actually cares about me. I have always been someone to never really show or tell my friends how I’m actually feeling and just put on a fake smile.

DisplayName02 What is even happening.
  • replies: 18

Hi, Im 18 and I have struggled for a long time with something i never know how to talk about or explain. If this is confusing im sorry im not great with words. The issue with explaining it is its constantly evolving and changing; from one moment to t... View more

Hi, Im 18 and I have struggled for a long time with something i never know how to talk about or explain. If this is confusing im sorry im not great with words. The issue with explaining it is its constantly evolving and changing; from one moment to the next my explanation whether written or spoken becomes alien to me, and i cannot empathise with myself through it at all. Its as if my past self is not me at all - and not simply in the natural sense but in a far more heightened sense. To give examples- out of the five people I have attempted to explain it to one was my old therapist. I had a few sessions with him and while I clearly remember what I said, its seems so foreign to me. In fact through my 10 or so years of struggling with this thing the only constant has been the knowledge that it will become foreign to me within seconds. The issue is I feel that I cant trust my knowledge about myself- i cannot say Im feeling a certain way because Im not sure if I am or if Im just making it up. Im a fairly imaginative person, I can create emotion and reactions in myself in fake scenarios I devise (for writing) so how can I trust the emotions and reactions in me enough to describe them to someone else. I also struggle with remembering anything after its done, my memories of myself are all but dissapeared. The worst part of this is I can go months without experiencing anything and then all of a sudden this thing is just there and i cant seem to even understand what it is. And a quick clarification- I cannot even begin to comprehend it, ive tried. During these months its easy to convince myself that Im making it up, maybe for attention - but again that doesnt make sense as I dont tell people. I am mostly a very stable person with a very stable background, other than this thing (that Im not even sure exists) Im pretty much one of the most grounded people I know in the most humble way possible. I dont have issues with stress or anger - even the opposite, I quite literally have never felt actual anger at anyone before. In normal life I am the last person to have anything like this. And yet I have memories of self-harm. I have memories of sobbing for hours, of gasping and heaving and aching with this pressure bursting from me. This absolute fear of smth inside me. And yet it still means nothing to me. Im sorry cuse this is way too long. And a bit stupid. Im completely fine rn, but maybe im not idk.

Bella2201 Is it only me with this kind of OCD????
  • replies: 2

So i was diagnosed with OCD when i was in year 12 but i think i've had it since i was in year 4. It makes me feel disgusting and I hate living with it. During my lowest point, there was even an instance where i had to be admitted to a mental health f... View more

So i was diagnosed with OCD when i was in year 12 but i think i've had it since i was in year 4. It makes me feel disgusting and I hate living with it. During my lowest point, there was even an instance where i had to be admitted to a mental health facility because of my OCD along with my depression and anxiety. I just want to know if anyone else feels the same as me? My OCD prevents me from wearing tight clothes like jeans because i hate the way it feels on my skin. It just feels cold and tight and when i get changed, i have to make sure theres no hair on my clothes or my body and i have to tie my hair up into a bun or something to prevent hair from falling out. I don't like the thought of their being hair in my clothes. Another thing is that I get really conscious about books (like textbooks, etc) because i feel like there is dust or hair in between the pages. Even putting a book on the shelf makes me clench my toes and fists because i feel like dust on the shelf is getting pushed into the books. My obsessive routine would be flipping through the pages and fanning through the pages upside down (if that makes any sense) to let the dust fall out. i need help please. i cant find anything to help. Im a student and its winter so both these forms of my OCD is torturous