Young people

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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 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

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 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!

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hate myself (young and alone)

replies: 5

I hate myself. I hate who i am as a person. I am very lonely. I often sit alone in the school bathrooms at recess and lunch. I feel as if everyone hates me. I have very strong mood changes. This is what a school day consists of for me: Argue with mum before school. Go to school and skip homeroom because i am 'not up to it.' Go to class and feel happy. Get to recess and sit with my one friend. Because she is my only friend i spend a lot of time with her. People call me names and say that i am a lesbian just because i hang out with her. I had that doing the one thing that makes me happy ends up making me sad because i am judged for it. Go to class happy. Next class sad and sit alone. Then comes lunch. I sit in the bathrooms alone for all of lunch and sometimes cry. Then go back and have an okay last class. Go home (i am alone for a while) and be happy. Mum comes home and suddenly i become passive aggressive and angry. Then i get extremely sad and depressed before going to bed. This happens to me day after day after day. I can't understand why this happens to me. I wish i was just happy all the time and don't understand why my mood changes so frequently and quickly. I can never predict how i will react at one moment and how i will react 1 hour later. I get very sad most days and do not get any help. My mum does not give me any help. I am never a good person to her and i hate it. I hate who i am so much.

Am I depressed?

replies: 8

Hey guys new here, look I feel like down most of the time I did the beyond blue test it said I was but I'm anxious, scared to see a gp, it s always on and off, sometimes I'm down but other times it's like a struggle with everything I've lost interest... View more

long-term friendship ended over nothing?

replies: 1

When I was in primary school, I had this friend who I always thought was so amazing and funny, and we would do anything for each other. We started fighting in yr 7 and 8 and now in yr 9 she completely hates me for no reason, I know we fought in the previous years, but majority of the arguments started from me being upset because of her lying or acting selfish towards me or other people, so really it should be me who hates her, not the other way around. My best friend is also friends with this girl, which makes most social situations awkward and difficult to contribute to, especially since she is so outgoing and loud and I'm the complete opposite. She recently invited my friend and a bunch of other people to go to the shopping center/mall with her, and when my friend asked if i could come, they ended up in a massive argument. Even if I was invited, I probably wouldn't go anyway because I am so introverted, but the fact that this is now becoming an issue for my friend as well makes me worry, I don't want her to end up in the same situation as me.

Need friends

replies: 1

I know this might sound pathetic to some people, but I really just signed up for this website to find friends my age dealing with similar issues. I am fourteen (turning fifteen on the 27th) and I barely have any friends in and out of school, I have one really close friend, but she lives so far away so I only ever see her at school. I have been having a tough time recently, dealing with bulimia (vomiting up to two or three ti) and I've been fighting with my dad, I have trouble telling people close to me because I don't want them to worry. I was wondering if anyone else was dealing with

Difficulty meeting potential friends outside school

replies: 3

This is my first post on here. I recently turned sixteen and attend distance education as of this year after my anxiety and depression kept me from attending regular school. I'm much happier in distance education, but it's not exactly conducive to forming friendships and I'm feeling more and more isolated and lonely. My family is mostly very supportive and I have retained a few close friends from my previous school - but I feel that I'm always the one initiating the conversations, and as my closest friend (and crush) has very similar and severe issues, I feel bad asking her to hang out all the time, both because I don't want to put pressure on her and because I feel that she doesn't enjoy my company. I've considered joining groups in my city - bookclubs and that sort of thing - but they all seem to be composed of people far older than me. When I was admitted to psychiatric care last year after my anxiety stopped me from going to school for quite a while, I made several friends and even dated a fellow patient for a while, though we're no longer together. That sort of solidarity was so important to me that at one point, I didn't want to go home. I suppose I'm asking how people my age make and keep friends outside school. If anyone has any suggestions, I'd love to hear them.

Hi Everyone!

replies: 13

Hi everyone! This is even making me nervous just trying to write about myself.. I'm Tasha, I am 21 years old and have been suffering from extreme anxiety and panic attacks since I was 13 years old. I am joining this forum as I feel so alone sometimes and my anxiety has took a turn for the worst recently and I feel like I need to share my experience with others who understand me. I am currently engaged to a very understanding partner and studying business at college(struggling) but cannot cope with face to face interactions, have not been able to find myself work and meet many new friends. Would love to chat to people who understand me!

Anxiety ruining my relationship

replies: 3

I have been with my boyfriend for 6 months and he is amazing in every way and I adore him but for some reason my anxiety is making me question everything. It's making me think I don't want to be with him when I really do. I don't know what to do about this and it's making every day a nightmare. I couldn't imagine my life without him and don't know how to make these thoughts stop

Murdered friend and work absenteeism

replies: 3

Hi all, Firstly, I suffer from ptsd and depression. Two and a half weeks ago I found out a family friend was murdered and it brought much shock to me. He was like an uncle and cared for me and my family. I work a fair bit as a casual, but since that incident I've started to slip from work, cancelling my shifts which I've never done before. My job is not easy, I sometimes deal with rude clients who makes me feel awful. My bosses will offer a lot of work and Ive been declining all of them which is not like me at all and I feel terrible that they may not give me shifts anymore. I feel like I'm relapsing into depression again. Thank you for taking the time to read this. I just wanted to get this off my heart.

i have an imaginary friend

replies: 16

hi, so this is my first post/thing/whatever and i don't know what to say or do, so please forgive me for being awkward. i also do not know where to put this so .... i have a pretend friend. i know she's not real. everyone involved in my life thinks she is. i have this whole story i've made up about this person; i've made up how we met, how we still talk on a frequent basis, what her personality is, what she looks like, etc, etc. it's gotten to a point where i've forgotten on certain occasions that she wasn't real - where i'd go to my contacts and wonder for a minute why her name isn't there. it didn't start out weirdly; i've always like spinning stories of people that i make up. it's something i do to keep myself in check, kind of like forced daydreaming. i've been doing this since i was a kid. but whereas i abandon the other 'stories' and make new ones, i've found myself building onto this one and making it feel real. i am still in school and i am diagnosed (unofficially, but professionally) to have minor social anxiety and minor depression. my anxiety comes in the form of me being loud and talkative out of fear of silent judgement. i have lied and exaggerated repeatedly to my 'friends' - to the point where i had almost tore a friendship apart. i feel like i'm finally losing my plot. my relationships with real people are crumbling amazingly fast and i'm clinging to a piece of my imagination. i just need to forget my 'friend' but i don't know how and i just need someone to tell me i'm not going insane

Becoming emotionally numb...

replies: 24

I'm beginning to lose my emotions, or at least, the intensity of my emotions have declined. I have no life passions/motivations and this didn't bother me so much before, but recently after some existential angst/depression (where I've logically concluded that life is ultimately meaningless for reasons too long to share here) I've become less and less motivated to continue functioning like normal. I'm currently 17 and I see no point in pursuing a degree in economics anymore (I only chose this subject out of mild interest that isn't deep enough to be called a passion) and now I am more or less going through the motions of this prosaic existence but no longer find myself feeling any satisfaction or even dissatisfaction. Occasionally I get a dull ache in my chest because I find everything is unstimulating/predictable/boring and I have tried therapy, but my therapist doesn't know what to do with me after I explained my reasons for being a nihilist. I believe that my nihilism wouldn't be a problem if I at least had some pleasurable activities I could partake in regularly, but nothing (that I can reasonably do at my age/budget) so far has given me pleasure and I can only assume that drugs/alcohol will help. Obviously I'm aware that this is unhealthy, and so I'm leaning towards something less harmful like antidepressants, however I can't access the prescription and money for this because I don't want my parents to know I'm depressed/anhedonic. Before you advise me to tell them, just know that they are from a somewhat "backwards thinking" culture that doesn't understand mental illness and depression very well, and will probably find it a burden or cause for stress if they have to deal with me. This is not because they don't care, but because they don't understand it and I'd rather not have to placate them when I barely know how to deal with it myself. I also have insomnia, and the last time I tried to explain it to them, it caused me a lot of anxiety and upset because I couldn't communicate to them in a way they could comprehend. I'd be grateful for some advice (and yes I do have a stable social life, I do normal teenage girl things like going to the movies and attending parties, however I'm almost always faking my excitement and honestly feel nauseated from being around other young people. I feel most isolated/lonely when I'm in a crowd as opposed to being alone because I feel like our differing life views just punctuates my social insularity further).

New to this Forum? Please read this first! replies: 0

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

hate myself (young and alone) replies: 5

Am I depressed? replies: 8

long-term friendship ended over nothing? replies: 1

Need friends replies: 1

Difficulty meeting potential friends outside school replies: 3

Hi Everyone! replies: 13

Anxiety ruining my relationship replies: 3

Murdered friend and work absenteeism replies: 3

i have an imaginary friend replies: 16

Becoming emotionally numb... replies: 24