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.

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romantic_thi3f Eeep! When study is overwhelming! - Tips, ideas and coping strategies
  • replies: 51

Hi! Just thought I’d make a post with some tips for study. I know this is something we can all struggle with. These are all suggestions so feel free to take them or leave them! Hope they help! If you only remember one thing, let it be this: You are i... View more

Hi! Just thought I’d make a post with some tips for study. I know this is something we can all struggle with. These are all suggestions so feel free to take them or leave them! Hope they help! If you only remember one thing, let it be this: You are important. Your grades don’t define you. (support) Studying can feel isolating but know you’re not alone! Reach out – and find or make friends that can support you along the way. If you’re having trouble finding some friends, join some local communities or clubs! They have lots at Uni’s and even stuff like open days are great ways to meet new people and find out what’s happening. Study groups can also be a great way to meet people and stay motivated. Also remind yourself why you’re doing this; inspirational wallpapers or quotes can be super inspiring. Remember the saying about the oxygen mask? If you can’t take care of yourself first studying will be harder. You are important. You know the drill - water, food, exercise, sleep. Try to stay calm. Stuff that might be able to help include mindfulness, breathing exercises, colouring in, going for walks, journaling, listening to music… If you’re struggling – reach out. See a therapist. Talk to your student counsellor. If you need help, don’t be afraid to ask for it. Also lots of Universities and TAFE offer disability services – which includes conditions like Depression and Anxiety. (study) Find the right study space for you. Maybe that’s in your room, or a coffee shop, or the library. Some people find that noise helps; other people not so much. If you like particular kinds of noise, you can find ‘coffee shop’ noise or ‘rain sounds’ to help concentrate. Make a plan. It helps to do it often so it becomes a habit. Anytime you get a due date, write it down. Maybe you could use a diary, planner, bullet journal or an app. I find the 30/30 App helpful - study for a bit and then break for a bit. You can also get add-on’s for your computer to block sites like Facebook if you find them too distracting. Find out what study technique works for you. Do you like cue cards? Mind maps? Colour coding? Does highlighting stuff help you remember? Charts, maps, diagrams? Recorded lectures? Goals! These are so important – not just writing down deadlines but rewarding yourself for meeting them. Even making smaller goals like ‘read two pages from a textbook’ can help. Break it down into bite size pieces, and don’t forget to reward yourself after!

Sophie_M NEW TO THIS FORUM? Please read this first
  • replies: 0

The Young People space is a sub-forum within the wider Beyond Blue forum community. 1. Its purpose is to provide members aged 25 and under a space to discuss anxiety, depression and other related life issues. If you are aged over 25, please be mindfu... View more

The Young People space is a sub-forum within the wider Beyond Blue forum community. 1. Its purpose is to provide members aged 25 and under a space to discuss anxiety, depression and other related life issues. If you are aged over 25, please be mindful that this forum is a space for younger people to connect and provide peer support for each other. 2. Content from this sub-forum is displayed on both the beyondblue and youthbeyondblue websites. 3. Please bear in mind that some members find content relating to suicide and/or self-harm distressing or triggering. If you would like to post on these topics, please do so in our Suicidal Thoughts and Self Harm section. Please see also our guidelines for making posts on this topic. Posts made here in the Young People sub-forum containing content relating to suicide and/or self-harm will be moved. 4. These forums are moderated, so your posts may not appear straightaway. Information on how our system works can be found here. Being familiar with our community rules can help ensure that your posts appear online as quickly as possible. 5. This is a peer support community, and to get the best out of being here we recommend that you 'give support to receive support'. More on how that works here.

All discussions

Tara_ Dating
  • replies: 2

Hi there, I was dating someone for the last few months, things didn’t end very well. I guess I made mistakes pushing him away. I have felt guilty ever since then.I know he has already moved on with someone else which is a horrible feeling. I’m findin... View more

Hi there, I was dating someone for the last few months, things didn’t end very well. I guess I made mistakes pushing him away. I have felt guilty ever since then.I know he has already moved on with someone else which is a horrible feeling. I’m finding it all overwhelming at the moment. It’s really hard moving on even though it was only at the dating stage.The whole relationship thing all seemed new to me. Any dating advise/ moving on tips/feeling less guilty about it all would be appreciated.

Guest_07564765 Out of place
  • replies: 3

Life outta school sucks. My troubles are nothing compared to some people, and people would say I have no troubles. But I honestly am just so lost. Why did no one tell me one day I’d have all these amazing friends to the next all I have it my partner.... View more

Life outta school sucks. My troubles are nothing compared to some people, and people would say I have no troubles. But I honestly am just so lost. Why did no one tell me one day I’d have all these amazing friends to the next all I have it my partner. I love him but I feel like I have no one. Sometimes I feel useless. I wonder why I spent years making friends and sharing secrets to not even saying hello to them for over a year. What’s the point in trying if life has no meaning. I have no motivation. I hate myself. I’ve gained weight and I’m ugly. And the safest part is I can recognise that I truly can’t stand myself and need to change, yet I can’t be bothered. I’m lazy. I will amount to nothing. And one day everyone will forget me and what was the point. I’m just lost. I guess I just needed to write this down, knowing at least someone will see it.

MatthewAdl How to make new friends/integrate myself into friend groups/circles?
  • replies: 2

I've been really struggling to make friends for a while now. Its made me feel extremely lonely and I struggle to motivate myself to do basic things like shopping for clothes by myself without feeling sad. I also struggle with social anxiety so I find... View more

I've been really struggling to make friends for a while now. Its made me feel extremely lonely and I struggle to motivate myself to do basic things like shopping for clothes by myself without feeling sad. I also struggle with social anxiety so I find it almost impossible to go up to people and start a conversation with them. Everyone I study with is much older than me so we have completely different lifestyles so I haven't been able to make any friends while studying. I'm thinking of joining a badminton club but im worried I wont be able to join in with a random group of people - even if I do im pretty amateur at badminton so im worried I wouldn't be good enough to play alongside them. If I do start to make connections with people, how can I ensure that I can befriend them? for example, how can I ensure that they wont just be someone I see once and never again but someone I could chat with and hangout with outside of the club. I'm just really lost and starting to get really lonely and I just really need help.

Avocadooo Substance abuse.
  • replies: 4

Whenever I go out I feel like I need to under the influence off a substance to have fun.. Alcohol or drugs.. I'm disappointed in myself that I feel the need for it because I really wish I was as confident & felt like things were as fun without the su... View more

Whenever I go out I feel like I need to under the influence off a substance to have fun.. Alcohol or drugs.. I'm disappointed in myself that I feel the need for it because I really wish I was as confident & felt like things were as fun without the substances...

Guest_68860762 Struggling to get through life
  • replies: 2

hi im 16 and im in year 11 this year and I hate it, I hate my school so much. It’s so draining. The students and teaches are all just so draining. The student hate each other but all pretend to be friends, there’s so much drama and fights and people ... View more

hi im 16 and im in year 11 this year and I hate it, I hate my school so much. It’s so draining. The students and teaches are all just so draining. The student hate each other but all pretend to be friends, there’s so much drama and fights and people just like to start stuff for no reason. A lot of the good teachers in my school have left and the teachers we have now don’t even know how to teach or just don’t bother, ie my math teacher hadn’t taught us all the content so when we went into our first assessment task most of us didn’t understand or know how to answer the questions (mind you he’s not even a proper math teacher, he’s a science teacher). It’s just gotten to the point where I just don’t like coming to school anymore, I don’t bother to do the work sometimes because I just mentally can’t I don’t even learn anything anymore (I walks out of lessons not knowing anything) and I just hate it so much where I would rather consider online learning. Some days I can’t even get up out of bed and I would just wish I would just die. But as coming from an immigrant family my mum won’t accept that, I’ve only came this far just for her. I’m not even here for my dreams I’m here for hers. I’m so stressed and overwhelmed where I don’t even want to finish high school and go to uni or complete my hsc, they put all of this stress and pressure on me to figure out what I want to do in life, that I’ve just given up. I just want to disappear, start a new name, new identity and a new life away from everything and everyone. No more school I just can’t anymore

Obe I'm confident i just failed my mathematics test.
  • replies: 3

Now I'm normally an average Joe in marks, the highest I've gotten was a 42/45 (:D) But today, I just had to sit 45 minutes of my not recognising anything, and I'm pretty confident I got 14%, and even that's generous. Currently, my feelings are out of... View more

Now I'm normally an average Joe in marks, the highest I've gotten was a 42/45 (:D) But today, I just had to sit 45 minutes of my not recognising anything, and I'm pretty confident I got 14%, and even that's generous. Currently, my feelings are out of the scenario (kinda feel like crying but I'm not allowing myself to) and I'm kinda just beating myself up about it. But I just want to know if I can recover from this or not. If I'm aware, this is the worst I've failed. I really don't want to watch this slow train crash happen, and I'm so desperate to find someone that doesn't just chalk it up to me not working hard enough, or they just assume that it'll be better next time. (this is my first post, so idk if im breaking any rules, sorry T^T)

MonastiikKuyp Recently Immigrated
  • replies: 1

Kia Ora, I am a 16-year-old boy from New Zealand and just immigrated to Perth as of 23rd of December. I am going to rant, so thank you for reading this if you do :] My sister, parents and I immigrated to Aussie for the "better life-style." Better lif... View more

Kia Ora, I am a 16-year-old boy from New Zealand and just immigrated to Perth as of 23rd of December. I am going to rant, so thank you for reading this if you do :] My sister, parents and I immigrated to Aussie for the "better life-style." Better life-style my ass. The only thing I enjoy is the beach, and I can't go down there without my mum and dad worrying about sharks. Anyway, I come from the country-side and find myself thinking about the long wavy grass in our paddock, and the fresh cold air that would clear my nose as I stood outside in the mornings. I miss it. I eventually moved to a small town in NZ where my old high school was situated and it was lovely. I could walk down the street to my mates' houses. I could get chicken and chips with them! I can't anymore. Here I am. In this foreign place. Everything is so distant from me, despite being in a suburb close to the city. I was extremely confident (not in a cocky way) and was never insecure. That changed as soon as I got into this new school. Everyone has great hair and beautiful faces. I find myself worrying about my looks. Not only that, but I fear people don't like me. I have that fear, despite making new friends. They are lovely. I don't have to worry about a single thing with them. When we split to do our things, I get quite lonely. I made friends before these kinder ones. Though, one caught feelings for me, but never dated me. We aren't fond of each other. She had a tendency to insult me or made me feel stink about myself. She is mean enough to say "Ew," whenever she sees me. She tends to whisper to people whilst DIRECTLY look at me in the eyes, and sometimes she will even point. I am getting EXTREMELY anxious when walking around. This is because people stare and rarely approach me. I sit by myself in the middle of my classes (apart from two which my friends are in, which is nice). In these classes, I find myself getting bored or worrying about completely different things. The only one which I hyper focus on is Economics, and it is pretty fun and simple. Unfortunately, there is no Accounting in my school, which is what I did in my old one. I chose History due to the absence of Accounting (ps. History is interesting but it isn't fun for me). Idk, lol. I would love to explore more of Perth; though, I am trapped in our rental house, so instead I am at a table 24/7 indulging in some lovely ADHD (I feel that I have it, not diagnosed, got autism tho lol) burnout thingmabob because of the insane workload. My dad is usually on swing. My mum is reluctant to go places and I love her too much to get mad. Also as stated before, the school workload, hence why I am trapped. Perhaps this immigration will be my "growth" journey or something, lol. I was definitely happier in NZ. I apologise if this is hard to read along as I tend to write with no specific order, by that I mean I will write random things as they come to mind. I have a bit more, though I don't know the word count lol. I also should sleep... school :[ I know my situation no where near amounts up to someone else's problems, but I just wanted to share because I feel it would alleviate some anxiety and stress or perhaps make me see the light of it. Nga mihi nui, thanks for reading this :]

mickeyzee I'm so tired of life and I'm scared
  • replies: 3

Hey, I'm a 16 yr old girl in yr 11. I'm not very open about myself and this is really hard for me but I need some advice. I've been struggling with my mental health lately (since last year) and have been feeling extremely down over the years. I've br... View more

Hey, I'm a 16 yr old girl in yr 11. I'm not very open about myself and this is really hard for me but I need some advice. I've been struggling with my mental health lately (since last year) and have been feeling extremely down over the years. I've broken down so many times in the past month when I never used to. My biggest struggle is my body image. My waistline is 82cm and I've been feeling really bad about it, especially as all my classmates and friends are always complaining about how 'fat' they are and the calories they consume. I'm scared to eat and I've become extremely conscious about my calorie intact and how many I burn however I am also a huge emotional eater and food is part of my culture and my only happy place at the moment which drags me into a vicious cycle. I do exercise daily and am active, eating healthy (except when I feel horrible, then I eat which has been a lot lately) but my stomach makes me want to lose weight desperately. Due to my classmates and friends negativity (not just about their weight btw) I am hating being at school and dread every day but have to attend most days as it is so hard to miss days during SACE years without falling behind. Due to the extremely high expectations of my grades I put a lot of pressure on myself to do well and feel really stressed to achieve well. I am also struggling with sorting out my emotions over the guy I like and recently found out that one of my closest friends like me and knowing this is hard. He doesn't know I know but he is acting more distant lately since I revealed I still like another guy but I really don't want to lose my friend. All these emotions and pressure is getting to much for me and I'm starting to scare myself. I've often found myself sitting and wanting to hurt myself so badly but being to scared of pain to. I don't want to open up to my parents because they are going through a lot with dad travelling so much for work and my friends are going through their own battles. I don't know what to do and could really use some advice. If you read all this thank you so much for listening to me ramble on :]

Aimz_03 Siblings in jail
  • replies: 2

Hi, I’ve been going through a rough patch lately since both my siblings got locked up and I sometimes feel like didn’t Do enough as an older sibling and I really miss them, we call time to time but it doesn’t feel like home anymore it feels like a em... View more

Hi, I’ve been going through a rough patch lately since both my siblings got locked up and I sometimes feel like didn’t Do enough as an older sibling and I really miss them, we call time to time but it doesn’t feel like home anymore it feels like a empty house with memories. This is my families first time to have someone in jail

mango-ice_ i dont feel like i fit in
  • replies: 2

im in year 10 and i started a new school at the start of this year. i know its only been 8 or so weeks but i still dont feel like i fit in anywhere. everyone already have their designated friend groups. at lunch and recess i float around and dont rea... View more

im in year 10 and i started a new school at the start of this year. i know its only been 8 or so weeks but i still dont feel like i fit in anywhere. everyone already have their designated friend groups. at lunch and recess i float around and dont really have a "group" to always be around. i know its still early but i feel so unwanted. another thing, on the bus a peer took a photo of me and made fun of me in a groupchat with their friends. it wasnt a big deal but in the moment i got pretty upset. i told one of my new friends my side of what happened then they asked the person what happened and they made me look like im making a big deal out of nothing. i have issues with cameras and i always get so anxious when theres one infront of me but thats a story for another day. i feel like if i was in my old school then everyone would be abit more understanding. what can i do