Immediate support
Immediate support

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.

Start a discussion

FAQ

Find answers to some of the more frequently asked questions on the Forums.

View the FAQ

Forums guidelines

Our guidelines keep the Forums a safe place for people to share and learn information.

View the guidelines
Jump to
Start a discussion

Pinned discussions

Sophie_M How are you feeling about the social media restrictions in Australia for under 16s?
  • replies: 0

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 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

All discussions

Start a discussion

Guest_53949320 ADHD and Losing Things
  • replies: 3

I'm mid 40s and have been diagnosed ADHD, though still sceptical. However one symptom is I constantly lose things. The other day my expensive earbuds, and today realising that I can't find my laptop, which has a lot of info on the hard drive that I h... View more

I'm mid 40s and have been diagnosed ADHD, though still sceptical. However one symptom is I constantly lose things. The other day my expensive earbuds, and today realising that I can't find my laptop, which has a lot of info on the hard drive that I haven't backed up. I forget things on a daily basis but I'm really starting to get concerned that something else is going on. Medication just isn't helping. My life is very disorganised and I take ages to complete tasks if at all.

Aubergine It’s becoming so much and I find myself not feeling real
  • replies: 4

I don’t have a support system or yk any of that, no one to talk to I mean if I have my friends but I don’t wanna burden them with stuff. This always happens I just don’t know how to deal with stress and I end up breaking down in classes due to misund... View more

I don’t have a support system or yk any of that, no one to talk to I mean if I have my friends but I don’t wanna burden them with stuff. This always happens I just don’t know how to deal with stress and I end up breaking down in classes due to misunderstanding and feeling dumb. All of my friends are smarter and doing stuff but I can’t I just have this mental block I can’t do I it I just can’t. I’ve been thinking about ending it all but I’m I wouldn’t be able to do that I just think about it. I look in the mirror and don’t see myself but see this creepy imitation of what’s supposed to be me. I’m so scared for the future, I’m scared of failure. I just can’t do it anymore.

Guest_42570635 Just wanna chat
  • replies: 3

Find that I'm lonely and wanting someone to chat to

Find that I'm lonely and wanting someone to chat to

meeeeeeee sick, tired, overwhelmed and cant stop crying
  • replies: 2

omg im so stressed!! and im tired cause last night i was up till 10pm dancing non stop from 12pm and ive got so much school work due tomorrow and i just cant stop crying, help!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

omg im so stressed!! and im tired cause last night i was up till 10pm dancing non stop from 12pm and ive got so much school work due tomorrow and i just cant stop crying, help!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Guest_55730222 I moved to a new school and nobody likes me
  • replies: 2

hi guys. I just need someone to talk to. At the start of this year I moved to a new school, not knowing anyone. Things were going well, except everyone already knew each other very well, so it was hard for me to fit in. I had found a friend group qui... View more

hi guys. I just need someone to talk to. At the start of this year I moved to a new school, not knowing anyone. Things were going well, except everyone already knew each other very well, so it was hard for me to fit in. I had found a friend group quite quickly, the ‘popular group’, but I never really talked because everyone I would talk, everyone would kind of go silent, or it would be ignored. It wasn’t too bad until about 1 or 2 weeks ago, when all my friends stopped talking to me. I would stand next to a few girls in the morning before class (my friend group) and they would ignore me every time I said something or answer it but not really pay attention to me. I try to make conversation but lots of them just ignore me. Then one of my actual friends from that school who left last term ( just my luck), showed me messages between one of the girls in my friend group I was quite close with today. The girl in my friend group said that I am being annoying, and that our group no longer likes me. She said that I don’t talk and just sit there (which I do I’ll be honest but only because no body listens to me), and that I make no effort to initiate conversation ( which is not true). I once tried to initiate convo with that girl and she ignored me so like yk. Anyway lately all the girls in my group have been ignoring me, taking photos infront of me, it’s so bad and it’s made me full on depressed and had self harm thoughts. Please does anyone have any tips or something I am desperate.

cantdothis Why am I so bad at keeping friends?
  • replies: 2

I just graduated school, and I'm realising I never formed any close friendships. I have one best friend and one close friend that I will try to maintain contact with after school. I don't know why I am so bad at becoming close friends with people bec... View more

I just graduated school, and I'm realising I never formed any close friendships. I have one best friend and one close friend that I will try to maintain contact with after school. I don't know why I am so bad at becoming close friends with people because I have acquaintances and friends but no close friends. It feels like everyone is close friends but I have no idea what I'm doing. It's worse because I feel scared that all my friends that I'm "close" to, actually don't reciprocate my feelings and think of me as a regular friend. It scares me that I'll grow old and I'll be lonely. It makes it worse that all my friends have started drinking when they're going out but I'm still too scared to get drunk and I only started trying to drink a couple of weeks ago. I feel like I'm socially stunted because I can never find the right words, or am accidentally offending people, or I'll come off as weird so recently I've realised that I'll avoid talking in group settings. I feel like I have no common sense or critical thinking skills, and I have no spacial or geographical awareness. I feel like I'm a bad friend because I always forget everyone's birthdays and don't really buy them gifts, and I am a bad listener because I always zone out. Everyone tries to baby me because I'm so socially inept. I don't know what is wrong with me. Is there anyway to learn how to act like a normal person? I just want to have close friends.

Tiah_ A fear I've Never Told Anyone
  • replies: 2

I'm not really the kind to aerate my problems for the whole world to see, but I know people on here are usually quite honest. I know what I'm going to say may come across as trivial compared to so many of the stories on here (my heart goes out to you... View more

I'm not really the kind to aerate my problems for the whole world to see, but I know people on here are usually quite honest. I know what I'm going to say may come across as trivial compared to so many of the stories on here (my heart goes out to you all), but it matters a great deal to me. I think first and foremost i should make it known that I'm quite a big girl. I'm not morbidly obese to the point where I can't walk or my health is putting me at risk, but enough to have been bullied almost my whole life for it. I've done so many things to try and lose weight and it just never works, but I digress. Growing up, I saw all my thin friends get crushed on by guys, and then going into high school, boys always wanted them, but little to none ever looked my way. I've had my fair share of relationships, yes, but almost all of those were just because we were 12-13 years old and felt pressured to be in relationships. I dated a guy when I was 17-18, and as much of a shit show that was, he was my first real love. I want to be loved in the same way everyone else wants to be loved, but I fear it may not be in the stars for me. Anytime I've ever really expressed it to anyone, I'm always met with the same response: "You're young, you have your whole life to find someone", or "There's someone out there for everyone", or the infamous "Love will come when you least expect it." It's so draining. Yes, I'm 19, and I do have my whole life ahead of me, but it only makes the feeling worse. There are so many people (especially in my generation) who hate fat people just for existing.Because of my weight, I'll never get the genuine love I crave so badly. I've always been the girl who's good enough to have sex with but never appealing enough to be loved out loud. I sometimes feel like I'm just the dirty magazine a boy stuffs under his mattress so his parents don't see. Every time I see couples in real life or online, I get this feeling in my stomach. I'm happy for them, but I hate them for it. It even happens with people I know. Almost everyone I know is in love or has kids, which are the two things I want most in this world and the idea that I may never get either of them haunts every corner of my brain. I could go on for hours and hours about this, but I think it's safe to say my point has been made. Again, I'm sorry if this all sounds like one big first-world problem, but I'm so tired of being plagued with the same thoughts every single day of my life for years on end.

Jane University is so lonely
  • replies: 2

Because of my health I am isolated to protect myself from COVID. I started uni online to stay connected to other people. Unfortunately I have found university online to be more isolating as most of the university activities are not available to exter... View more

Because of my health I am isolated to protect myself from COVID. I started uni online to stay connected to other people. Unfortunately I have found university online to be more isolating as most of the university activities are not available to external students. I like my course but now I feel like I don’t belong here either. Has anyone managed to complete university online without feeling like a burden and unwanted.

Ellie7 Getting over someone
  • replies: 2

I live on a small island in Australia. I met this guy earlier in the year and it was casual fun to begin with. I wasn’t super into him at first but I started to like him not long after. We weren’t sleeping together at first but spent most nights toge... View more

I live on a small island in Australia. I met this guy earlier in the year and it was casual fun to begin with. I wasn’t super into him at first but I started to like him not long after. We weren’t sleeping together at first but spent most nights together. We were partying a lot and we didn’t really spend a whole lot of time sober together. But we got along really well and had a mutual attraction. I could tell he was into me. He is a local on the island and wasn’t living here at the time, just visiting. We spoke for a while after he left and then one day he just left me on read. He moved back to the island a few months after and I was nervous to see him but he reached out to me and I could tell he was excited when he saw me. He told me he hadn’t been with anyone else since me and him. After a while of him being back something changed and he started to distance himself. We still occasionally hooked up. I found out he had kissed another girl and when I tried to ask to talk to him he avoided me. When I eventually told him, he didn’t really reassure me of anything and I told him it upset me. Then the season ended here on the island as it’s only a 10month seasonal work. So I left for 2 months and when I came back he told me he didn’t want to get together again. But we’ve had a sleepover here and there after that and hooked up. It’s really hard here because there isn’t a lot of males to meet and a lot of single girls. I know the day is going to come when I see him or hear about him with someone else. It’s making me paranoid and sad. I just wish he liked me back and I don’t know what went wrong or why he changed his mind. I know I shouldn’t get with him again but I like him so much that I’m weak when he wants to. Most often he doesn’t even really talk to me when we see each other out which is a lot because it’s a small island. But occasionally he will. I just don’t know how to get over him and be ok with him liking or being with someone else

Mumma2267 17 year old son has left home
  • replies: 3

My 17 year old son asked to leave home after several months of feeling down and some medical illnesses that created low motivation and fatigue. He is a high achiever and he fell behind in school adding to his load and was often unable to attend schoo... View more

My 17 year old son asked to leave home after several months of feeling down and some medical illnesses that created low motivation and fatigue. He is a high achiever and he fell behind in school adding to his load and was often unable to attend school or attend Late not being able to get up. He would look low everyday telling me everyday he was screwed and there was no hope.He sees illness whether mental or physical as a weakness and says he can fix it himself. We tried to support him but everything we said appeared to be the wrong thing. After another heated argument he asked to go stay with his grandparents where he is currently, and making a go of it - attending school and is doing better which is such a relief. This has been very heartbreaking for us but we understand that this is what he needs and home is not working for him. We were sending him occasional messages letting him know we love him and funny photos just to keep the lines of communication open- he would reply occasionally but with neutral replies or questions back. In a 10 day period I phoned him once to chat about an excursion but then when the conversation moved to about him he lashed out asking “ what I wanted from him?…. And he ended up asking me never to call again and that he would never come home. He has been putting on almost a facade at his grandparents and school so I don’t know if it all just came out or he is angry with me for asking. This was 4 days ago- I know I just have to give him time and not call- I am heartbroken at the loss of connection - I think I used to be his “safe landing zone” but obviously not any more and he has fully blocked me out. I want to respect his wishes despite being so desperate to contact him- should I still send messages that I’m thinking about him? So lost to know what is best- he is sending a clear message that he wants to be away from us - it has only been 10 days but so hard to cope - we would love to be able to have some sort of contact even if he chooses never to come back but even this seems impossible right now. Any advice would be appreciated