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Sophie_M How are you feeling about the social media restrictions in Australia for under 16s?
  • replies: 13

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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Sophie_M How are you feeling about the social media restrictions in Australia for under 16s?
  • replies: 13

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

ebee do i deserve to be happy?
  • replies: 2

for many years i used to be quite mentally ill, very full of constant self hatred and had anxiety, but one day it just….stopped. it felt like all the cynicism, defeatism, self flagellation, fear and anxiety just got up and left, that i finally felt l... View more

for many years i used to be quite mentally ill, very full of constant self hatred and had anxiety, but one day it just….stopped. it felt like all the cynicism, defeatism, self flagellation, fear and anxiety just got up and left, that i finally felt like i was happy and felt like i wanted to live, that i could embrace challenge and failure and know i would be okay after it anyways but now when i see my other friends who are struggling so much with their mental health issues, i feel a sense of guilt, like do i deserve to have this happiness? why was i allowed to be cured miraculously while the people who matter continue to suffer so much? when im enjoying myself while the people important to me are struggling, its as though im a rich person bathing in an oasis of water in front of someone dying of thirst of course, i am trying to encourage my friends to seek help, but theres only so much i can do (since i obviously cant force anyone to do anything, and as always all things take time) while i dont intend to be making other people’s issues about myself, that is kind of what im doing. i want to erase the part of myself that is selfish and self centred and become a selfless, kind and goodnatured person but no matter how hard i try, i always feel resentment and guilt even though i know its wrong i dont really know how i should feel… its very tempting to go back to negative self talk patterns and make myself miserable on purpose as punishment, but i know its just a self-serving act that doesnt help anyone at all, so i wont, but im really not sure what ishould feel

ClosetMonster Letting a Favoruite teacher know about my mental health
  • replies: 3

I'm in highschool, yeah 9 to be exact. I have a bad habit of staying home from school even if i dont actually want to, but im a great student. And, I have a favourite teacher. I dont think he knows he matters to me as much as he does though. For sake... View more

I'm in highschool, yeah 9 to be exact. I have a bad habit of staying home from school even if i dont actually want to, but im a great student. And, I have a favourite teacher. I dont think he knows he matters to me as much as he does though. For sake of not using his proper name I'll call him just Mr. P. He isnt aware of it, but his attitude and confidence helped me get through tough spots in my personal life and helped me be more confident. I dont have a father, and he's the closest thing I have to one.But today I've hit a blunt stop. I was crying, and my mother made it worse, now it's turned into something worse than a mental breakdown, and she isnt making it any better. I want to email him to ask for advice or even just to let him know why im not there again. In parent teacher interviews all Mr. P left me with, improvement wise, was that he wanted to teach me more, hence why I feel so bad about staying home this much, it irks me.But I dont know how to reach out to him without either A: weirding him out, B: worrying him when he wasnt prepare for it, or C: seeming like an attention seeker. Can someone help me? I wanna be more confident to reach out when I know I need it. And, is it weird to be as attached to him as I am?

Guest_45257283 Joining the ADF with mental health
  • replies: 2

I have been diagnosed with bipolar disorder and have always wanted to join the ADF. I was wondering if after a certain amount of time without meds and after seeing a psychologist would I still be unable to join or would they allow me to considering I... View more

I have been diagnosed with bipolar disorder and have always wanted to join the ADF. I was wondering if after a certain amount of time without meds and after seeing a psychologist would I still be unable to join or would they allow me to considering I don’t need the medication and would be deemed mentally stable by the psychologist.

Reminiscent_sky Where do I go? Do I just rot away?
  • replies: 4

Hello, new member to the forums here 19M. To keep things concise I’m going to be blunt with it. I’ve been recently broken up with by my boyfriend of almost 3 years. He was my reason to strive for anything past high school, before I met him I just tho... View more

Hello, new member to the forums here 19M. To keep things concise I’m going to be blunt with it. I’ve been recently broken up with by my boyfriend of almost 3 years. He was my reason to strive for anything past high school, before I met him I just thought I’d rot away in some alley making nothing of myself as I strived for nothing and didn’t believe I could get anywhere in the world. I didn’t even believe I could love before I met him. He proved me wrong.But now he’s gone and now the crippling shade of loneliness is mixed with my old suffocating shadow of self loathing and aimlessness. I feel completely sub-human and just want to disappear as to not ruin any more lives. But I’ve still got this candlelight-esque hope in me that this doesn’t have to be the end. But how? I’ve got nowhere to go, I hate all the pitiful faces that surround me and I feel like I’ll just shut down in this house. I feel like I need to meet people like me, people who won’t judge? (If that makes sense) maybe I could make friends with people that understand what I’m going through, it’s a silly idea I’m aware. I thought about inpatient psychiatric care but I’ve heard mixed opinions about it and I won’t have access to my online friends which are maybe the only thing keeping me together as of late. So where do I go? Is there even a place for a person like me?

Noons13 Hopelessness & Self - Hatred
  • replies: 3

Hi everyone, I've had really bad anxiety for almost 3 to 4 years, particularly social anxiety, which began around the end of high school. Whilst, I have struggled with this for a while, I feel that recently this has contributed to me feeling depresse... View more

Hi everyone, I've had really bad anxiety for almost 3 to 4 years, particularly social anxiety, which began around the end of high school. Whilst, I have struggled with this for a while, I feel that recently this has contributed to me feeling depressed. Despite my anxiety during high school, I still had optimism about the future and my life after high school. Since finishing, however, I've lost all hope whatsoever and I just feel worthless. I haven't made any new friends, have become a borderline alcoholic, sleep in almost everyday until 1pm, spending most of my time watching tv or listening to music to distract myself from how bad I feel. My anxiety more recently has also forced me to take a break from uni, as I would either skip classes or have a complete mental breakdown from being around so many new people. Whilst I felt I had to take a break from uni because I wasn't coping, I feel that this has actually made me more depressed as I have become more isolated. I now have developed a sense of hopelessness, where I genuinely don't believe that I'm every going to meet any new people or not worry about things constantly to the point of mental exhaustion because of my anxiety. Without my best friend, who is pretty much the only good thing in my life and my family, I think I would have already ended it all. Would love to hear from anyone,Noons

Guest_90999667 Friends
  • replies: 1

Why is it so hard to find people that actually want to be friends outside of work, we talk all day at work but they never wanna hang out or doing anything I don’t get it.

Why is it so hard to find people that actually want to be friends outside of work, we talk all day at work but they never wanna hang out or doing anything I don’t get it.

Guest_55721292 Lonely
  • replies: 1

i turned 19 today and one of my friends is out without me and im just so lonely. all of my friends are my highschool friends and they’ve managed to branch out but i cant??? like im not mad at my friends at all it is not their fault in the slightest a... View more

i turned 19 today and one of my friends is out without me and im just so lonely. all of my friends are my highschool friends and they’ve managed to branch out but i cant??? like im not mad at my friends at all it is not their fault in the slightest and i love them so much. i just wish i had other people too and i feel like its impossible to even start. i miss laughing and just being near people. its not like i never see anyone its just so little now compared to highschool and i cant adjust

Guest_74206195 feeling inhuman
  • replies: 1

hey all, 22NB here. I've never really had the courage to make a post here, but life has a way of isolating you and putting you through trial after trial without stopping, and frankly something needs to change before I eventually fail one of them for ... View more

hey all, 22NB here. I've never really had the courage to make a post here, but life has a way of isolating you and putting you through trial after trial without stopping, and frankly something needs to change before I eventually fail one of them for good. I've gone looking all over the place for somewhere to get help but there really just isnt one. ive never been given the chance to see a doctor or psychiatrist and every therapist ive ever had never knew how to work with me, i dont keep friends and my family simply won't hear it. and these days, i outright refuse to use any of those emergency hotlines anymore, not a soul I encountered on them ever cared about anything but whether or not i was going to die then and there. I just don't know what to do. even among my generation, I seem to be an outsider? i feel such little connection to the things that other 20-somethints talk about. i struggle to even keep my two feet on the earth. why then?why can't i seem to understand humanity? why can't i fathom surviving much longer? what did i do wrong to feel so far from the people i share a generation with? am i really the only one so utterly lost?

dino5 Moving houses - grieving my current home
  • replies: 6

Hi guys, I’m 22 years old. On Thursday night, me and my family were told that our house (that we rent) was going to be sold and auctioned off. Although the landlord has given us 3 months to prepare to move, we’ve managed to find a place on Saturday a... View more

Hi guys, I’m 22 years old. On Thursday night, me and my family were told that our house (that we rent) was going to be sold and auctioned off. Although the landlord has given us 3 months to prepare to move, we’ve managed to find a place on Saturday and are moving immediately on Wednesday. Even though it’s good we found a place so quickly, I’ve been grieving the thought of abandoning my current home and the memories (both good and bad) created in it. I’ve been crying non-stop last night. I worried about how we’re going to fit the stuff that we need in our new home. My dad reassured me that we will work out how to fit our stuff in the house and told me to not stress out too much but I can’t help it. I’ve been in my home for 10 years (since I was 13). This has been the longest I’ve stayed at a home since my previous one which lasted about 7 years. I’ll miss everything. The physical things such as having a front and back yard with actual grass and space, the rooms, how I’ve decorated my own space, the street…; and the sentimental things such as the moments created. As a result, I’ve contemplated saving up for a home loan so that we don’t have to experience these things in the future. This has only resulted in me grieving the house more as home loans are difficult to get, saving up takes a lot of time and sacrifices, and buying a proper house which is 100K-700K is virtually impossible (especially where I live). I feel jaded and at a loss of what to do. I still have many things to do unrelated to housing but now I can’t stop worrying about this. I’ve barely made any progress in cleaning out + packing up my stuff since the news. I know it’s for the better but I can’t let go of it.