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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.

Guest_28109914 Isolated
  • replies: 1

The only person who ever cared about me is my mum. She has just been diagnosed with dementia. I’m devastated. I’m worried about what will happen to her. I’m also worried about me. No one else loves me.

The only person who ever cared about me is my mum. She has just been diagnosed with dementia. I’m devastated. I’m worried about what will happen to her. I’m also worried about me. No one else loves me.

Unigurl18 University stress
  • replies: 5

So I’m 18 years old and just completed my first semester of university (I was a mid year start due to mental health problems) I have failed one of my topics (it was an option topic) and am currently sitting on a GPA of 4.33. I am really spinning out ... View more

So I’m 18 years old and just completed my first semester of university (I was a mid year start due to mental health problems) I have failed one of my topics (it was an option topic) and am currently sitting on a GPA of 4.33. I am really spinning out because initially, the degree I’m in doesn’t really have a set career path. Also I’m not even sure whether I can get my GPA up and do well in my topics. I’m terrified of disappointing my parents further because they are paying for my degree, which I am so thankful for. I don’t know what to do, and I’m terrified that this failure with my gpa will follow me around and permanently impact my career and internship options. I’m really just looking for some advice about what I should be doing. Thank you

Shelbelle I have no friends
  • replies: 1

Well if you couldn't guess by the title i have no friends, well i have 2 friends. I just finished year 9 and am part of a pretty big friend group, on the last day of school they all went to maccas and i was the only one not invited, they all tried to... View more

Well if you couldn't guess by the title i have no friends, well i have 2 friends. I just finished year 9 and am part of a pretty big friend group, on the last day of school they all went to maccas and i was the only one not invited, they all tried to blame me because 'i left the group chat' but no one tried to tell me, and i left the chat because it was all wildly inappropriate stuff that i just didn't want to deal with. So when i asked someone to add me back and confront them about it they all blamed me for not being in the group chat and it's not like i would win an argument against 15 other people. Then they removed me from the group chat and they were all mocking me and saying 'ding dong the witch is dead' like i was the problem. Then like 4 people private message me and say it to my face. One of the boys Maddox is in another group chat with me and Tessa and he just started ignoring us, and he got mad at me asking about maccas the day of and i got mad at him for making it seem like i knew about it the whole time and chose not to come so i unadded him. Anyways he kept ignoring us and i was like this is like no i am not doing this so tonight when he responeded to something tessa posted i said 'Omg u actually responded,stop pretending that "not having an input" or "reading it too late" is a valid excuse. If you cared even a little, you’d make the effort to engage or at least acknowledge me instead of letting me feel ignored. Saying nothing at all repeatedly just shows you don’t value me or my presence. And now you want to twist it around and say, "this is why I don’t respond"? That’s such a weak excuse. The so-called "backhanded remarks" you’re accusing me of making are just me standing up for myself because of how you’ve treated me. If you’re so quick to cut me out and use that as justification for being removed from the group chat, maybe you should think about why this all happened in the first place. If this is how you define friendship, then no wonder things fell apart.' and then he left the chat apparently after saying some hurtful stuff but i didn't open it because i was ignoring him the same he ignored me. But it was a 3 person group chat and neither tessa or i have any other friends to add to it so it's back to being just us. And tessa is supposed to just be finishing year 8 and my other friend izzy i can't tell anything because she is in yr 10 and severely depressed and i don't want to make it worse so. Sorry about the rant. 🙂

Sexuality and gender identity

Peer support and conversations about anxiety, depression and other issues in the mental health space affecting LGBTQI+ people.

ZacOliver Struggling with my faith
  • replies: 0

Im a male 31 year old I’m a Christian and love God so much all my life Im BI sexual but mostly lean towards gay probably am gay but scared to admit it I’ve never been in a relationship my church teaches u can be born gay but it’s a sin so u must stay... View more

Im a male 31 year old I’m a Christian and love God so much all my life Im BI sexual but mostly lean towards gay probably am gay but scared to admit it I’ve never been in a relationship my church teaches u can be born gay but it’s a sin so u must stay single I had a breakdown a year ago and came out to a friend he was so supportive and I don’t know if I would be alive without him I’ve since told one other friend he too was supportive i grew up with a homophobic dad that called it vile and said some very horrible stuff and had been mentally abusive he took off after I finished school I knew I liked guys since yr 9 and hated that part of myself l had crushes on guys and felt so guilty I wanted to die especially seeing that my dad though it was vile school was so hard I managed to be okay after school and ignore that part of me for years then I had a bad case of depression after I had a crush for a guy friend and after bottling it up for years it all boiled over and I had my breakdown I tried to come out to my mum who I love so much we been through allot together she said all the right things but as soon as I saw a bit of hesitation from her I got scared and backpedaled saying I’m just lonely and confused never wanted a boyfriend I’m just so scared to tell her if she knew I’ll be happy to be out and proud but what if she says no I love her so much I get so angry all the time at work and home and this is why I’m so scared to meet with other lgbtq people in fear of being outed it has got so much better since I came out to my friend who told me I need to stop hating myself and be free I was just looking for advice and to air it all out

Guest_10025 About time I find out who or where I fit in
  • replies: 1

(57M 157cm 107kg) I have been struggling with my gender association all my life. I've tried the straight way, and the gay way but each way I felt I forced myself and felt uncomfortable. From a young age through adulthood, I tried both, it felt like s... View more

(57M 157cm 107kg) I have been struggling with my gender association all my life. I've tried the straight way, and the gay way but each way I felt I forced myself and felt uncomfortable. From a young age through adulthood, I tried both, it felt like something was off. I've had trouble with kissing and feeling romantic, I think I may have a past trauma or something unbalanced in my head. Deep down I felt torn between male and female thoughts, someone said I may be trans, not long ago. I have no attraction to either sex, but when I see a woman walking nearby I see how she walks and dresses, not in a stalker way but fantasize I am them, as for guys I think differently, either as friends with sexual desires or they seduce me. I'm a mad mixture, which I can't focus on what. Some days that dreaded black dog makes me think crazy things, but that's when my mind imagines ideas and I write stories about them. Now I have found a new sexuality and it fits most boxes of my make-up but not all. Autosexuality. I've lived in imagination throughout my life, even written sexual stories in forums in the past, I imagine I am what I'm writing. I live more for a sexual imagination and fantasy rather than human contact. One thing Autosexual people do that I don't is, I'm not in love with myself. Where the hell do I fit in this world, and will I find out before my time on comes to an end (not talking suicidal)?

Earth Girl Feel like I guilt-tripped myself into becoming more bisexual
  • replies: 8

During my school years, I was mostly straight. I occasionally had moments of confusion when around other girls, but it was very mild and didn't last long. I use to use a forum and people from school somehow found my search history and so they started... View more

During my school years, I was mostly straight. I occasionally had moments of confusion when around other girls, but it was very mild and didn't last long. I use to use a forum and people from school somehow found my search history and so they started thinking I must be gay because I only looked up "lesbian type of things", but I didn't want to do those things in real life. I could walk right past other girls back then and have no attraction to them what so ever. A couple years after school I think it was, I was looking back through some stuff that people were saying about me on there (e.g. she would only date pretty girls to try to get popular) or that I was just after something sexual (even though I didn't want to do those things in real life), but all this made me feel bad so I tried to be more open minded and tried to feel attracted to other girls in an emotional way instead of just admiring the emotional side of other girls like what you do with friends, but then I started being wayyy to open minded and kept feeling mild attraction to a lot of other girls and it was just getting awkward so then I had to try to teach myself to calm down a bit and for the most part, I feel I've managed to get back to being mostly straight, but that bit of confusion that I barley use to have when I was younger is still there. I miss being mostly straight because it was easier and it was more true to how I really was, now I just have moments where I feel like I am going crazy. I don't have a problem with other people being bisexual or gay, but I just want to go back to how I was before. It's like I forced myself to feel a certain way somehow. I know it sounds crazy, but it's really how what happened feels to me. Does anyone know anyway I can "calm down" and go back to how I use to be before I guilt tripped myself? I wish I didn't use that site now, for a lot of reasons, but one of the reasons is because if I didn't, people wouldn't have thought I had that problem and then I could just live life in a more natural way instead of forcing things to the point where I feel like it's just gotten complicated.

Multicultural experiences

Designed for members who were born overseas, have parents who were, speak a primary language that isn’t English or have mixed cultural heritage.

Guest_17578890 It's just not working out
  • replies: 1

I am a 39 year old South African who has moved to Australia 18 months ago. It hard! Harder than I thought and in ways I could never have imagined. I moved for my kids to have a better education and for us all the be safe. I have a working visa but it... View more

I am a 39 year old South African who has moved to Australia 18 months ago. It hard! Harder than I thought and in ways I could never have imagined. I moved for my kids to have a better education and for us all the be safe. I have a working visa but it will be a long time before I'm a permanent resident (4 1/2 years), this means I am in limbo in the meantime as I don't feel like I belong. Pile on the fact that as a South African we are known to be friendly but efficient and no nonsense ie direct. I also have high functioning anxiety for all my life (abused as a kid). All of this in S A didn't seem to be an issue. If I was stressed I'd take anxiety meds, and if I was a little short at work, because of my position it would be brushed off, I'd appologise and we would all move on. Sometimes the general manager has to Crack the whip, it's part of the job. I was never rude or abusive. Now... in Australia, I feel like my entire identity has been beaten out of me. I spend 90% of my energy trying to be extra nice, extra friendly, and nothing gets done...so I do it myself, working 7 days a week to make deadlines without any support. Which of course means I'm achieving but I'm exhausted and can get snappy. I get insecure and i hear people talking about me in the office. Again, I appologise immediately after. I've now been fired essentially for not being nice enough, and every interaction has been twisted and misunderstood/represented to the boss. I dont know what to do...whats the point of being here. Achieving goals at the expense of being a push over and killing myself didn't even work, and not being a pushover is seen as being aggressive. I just can't win. I've given up everything and have nothing to go back to, plus I'd never get my children to come back with me (ex husband is here in australia) so I really have to stay, but will I ever fit in, how do I find a job where I can be myself, or just get a bit of understanding while I acclimatise. I am embarrassed about humiliated by being fired, a second time, after 4 months of probation at each despite achieving and surpassing goals, essentially because of my personality. I know that I dont want to die but I certainly cant live like this anymore. I don't see any alternatives.

Robuu Depression on international student life
  • replies: 2

Life as an international student can be extremely tough, especially when you're in a foreign country, trying to navigate unfamiliar systems. In my case, I was unknowingly influenced into participating in fraudulent activities. I had no idea what I wa... View more

Life as an international student can be extremely tough, especially when you're in a foreign country, trying to navigate unfamiliar systems. In my case, I was unknowingly influenced into participating in fraudulent activities. I had no idea what I was doing, being new to the place and the culture. This mistake led to the suspension of my NDIS, cutting off essential support that I relied on.Without the NDIS, I lost my job, making it impossible to pay bills, fines, or even manage daily expenses. As the financial pressure mounted, it became harder to keep up with tuition fees, leading the school to cancel my Confirmation of Enrolment (COE) due to outstanding fees.I tried speaking with the school to get my COE reinstated, but they refused, demanding full payment upfront—something I simply couldn’t afford. Desperate, I reached out to friends for help, but they were more like acquaintances, "hi friends" who couldn’t offer the support I needed. To make matters worse, my family back home is depending on me, adding to the burden.All of this led to feelings of loneliness, helplessness, and a deepening sense of isolation, leaving me battling with bad thoughts and the weight of depression.

Guest_74671780 Mixed relationship
  • replies: 4

So I'm in a long distance relationship with a mixed male who is white-mexican and he grew up all Hispanic, I'm Australian white and when he told an aunt about me she said "I was going to taint the blood line" and so I've been trying to embrace his cu... View more

So I'm in a long distance relationship with a mixed male who is white-mexican and he grew up all Hispanic, I'm Australian white and when he told an aunt about me she said "I was going to taint the blood line" and so I've been trying to embrace his culture more so that they don't feel that way and I'm not really sure what do to and it stresses me out alot because if him and I get married and have kids I don't want his family to disapprove or make comments further as they should be happy he has someone who loves him, so I guess in a way I want to impress his family aswell as him.

Grief and loss

Support and advice following the loss of a family member, partner, spouse or someone close to you.

sleepy166 Parents gone by 21
  • replies: 0

I am currently 26 years of age. I feel guilty that the loss of my parents still affects me every day. It affects my relationships with friends, co-workers and my boyfriend. It is so damn hard to explain. I just don't feel normal and don't want to act... View more

I am currently 26 years of age. I feel guilty that the loss of my parents still affects me every day. It affects my relationships with friends, co-workers and my boyfriend. It is so damn hard to explain. I just don't feel normal and don't want to actually tell people how I feel because they cannot relate and I don't want to be a burden and it's exhausting. I have used vices that are not healthy to achieve relief and I do not know what to do. I am on anti depresants and see my therapist every 6 months but I cannot deal with myself anymore. I just feel like a piece of shit because I don't feel normal and cant just have a laugh with people or feel comfortable to message someone to hang out. I am so exhausted.

Guest_04161246 Separation and anxiety
  • replies: 2

Recently my 8 year relationship was ended by my fiancée. I had just turned 30 (F) and we were planning our life together. We had bought our first home and owned a dog we had together for 7 years. One day he left and has not been back and it’s been a ... View more

Recently my 8 year relationship was ended by my fiancée. I had just turned 30 (F) and we were planning our life together. We had bought our first home and owned a dog we had together for 7 years. One day he left and has not been back and it’s been a month today. i recently found out that they may have been some infidelity with a co-worker and it has really put my progress backwards and I’m constantly ruminating about this situation and putting negative thoughts into my head. The anxiety won’t stop, I have tried breathing exercises, walking, holding my dog, crying, hot showers, sleep meditations, meditations. Nothing seems to be working to stop intrusive thoughts and all I want is the validation of the person who hurt me the most. I’m feeling very low self esteem and self sabotaging seems to be the only way I can make sense of anything. I want this pain to end, I want to stop feeling this reality. I miss my old life and I miss the girl I used to be a month ago. I’m really lost and don’t know what to do.

Guest_66161283 Tahnisha
  • replies: 1

Hi there I really need to talk to a grief counseling 

Hi there I really need to talk to a grief counseling