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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

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talklp Depressive thoughts triggered after starting back at Uni
  • replies: 2

I need to get this off my chest before going about my day. My gf (20) and I (21) broke up at the end of last year (3 year relationship). Although not being the 'cause' of my depression, it certainly didn't help me get out of the rut I was currently i... View more

I need to get this off my chest before going about my day. My gf (20) and I (21) broke up at the end of last year (3 year relationship). Although not being the 'cause' of my depression, it certainly didn't help me get out of the rut I was currently in. Through posting on here and some time off and away, the thoughts and need for her, as well as my overall mental health, seemed to be better. I still think about her everyday, but there isn't as much contact between us and I was beginning to come to terms with it all. There is a lot more to all of this 'story' in my life but I will skim over it to where I am today. I go to the same Uni has her still, and last semester we had no classes together so I did not see her much, which helped keep her out of my mind enough to do work and be okay in general. However, I am in class with her this semester. It does not seem like a big deal on the surface level, because we are generally on good terms and still chat as friends etc. But today it really got at me and has all these previous emotions resurfacing. We were talking before the lecture, and it just got me thinking about how much things have changed, and how she is sort of the only person in my course that I am comfortable enough to talk to. She has a lot of friends at uni, so when they came in I was sort of brushed aside. She does not do this intentionally, and she is more supportive than most. But I know she feels weird about it all. It's sad because she used to be a big part of my life during uni time. Lunches. staying over after classes etc. I'm sort of just interested to see how this semester will play out. I managed last semester well not having her there or seeing each other because I never saw her. But this semester, having her there is just a constant reminder that things are not the same. It is only first class, but I think I just needed to collect my thoughts before I dwell on it too much and it tears me up.

R_C Struggling with the truth
  • replies: 10

It's my first post, and I'm not sure if there's anything wrong with me so I might just be wasting your time. But anyway I've been going through the HSC and I've been feeling really down, the only time I'm really happy at all now is when I'm with my d... View more

It's my first post, and I'm not sure if there's anything wrong with me so I might just be wasting your time. But anyway I've been going through the HSC and I've been feeling really down, the only time I'm really happy at all now is when I'm with my dog. Two of my close friends have been depressed and one recently hurt themself and is in the hospital. They are so much worse than I am so I feel like I'm a wimp or useless because I can't survive my easy life. As the title says I've been struggling with telling anyone about it, or even showing that I'm upset. I haven't told anyone or sought help up until this point because I thought I was just being selfish. I've become good at presenting a facade but my biggest fear it to be a disappointment to my family. Both my parents are really talented and so is my elder sister, but I'm not as good as them. I don't cry which is also why I thought I wasn't really depressed. Even talking about this now makes me feel like I'm wasting time. I guess I was just hoping for someone to help me communicate with my family about how I feel, and whether or not I should seek professional help.

Kdart outlets for sadness or anger?
  • replies: 2

in the last 2 years I've recently come to notice that my ability to not let go of anger or sadness has ultimately been the downfall of my social life and relationship, I was hoping people would have ideas of ways to move past feelings that you strugg... View more

in the last 2 years I've recently come to notice that my ability to not let go of anger or sadness has ultimately been the downfall of my social life and relationship, I was hoping people would have ideas of ways to move past feelings that you struggle to let go of? I tried music and song writing, which was effective for the first 2 weeks once hit my low point, but as my sadness has consumed my creativity, I'm kinda in a slump, any help is good help. Please and thank you.

bitconfused Why am I still unhappy?
  • replies: 3

I've started having some quite bad anxiety this year surrounding my bladder (I've got a conversion disorder), and I've been seeing a psychologist and things have been getting better. I started taking medication for my bladder a few weeks ago which ha... View more

I've started having some quite bad anxiety this year surrounding my bladder (I've got a conversion disorder), and I've been seeing a psychologist and things have been getting better. I started taking medication for my bladder a few weeks ago which has given me heaps more confidence especially at school which has been good. The issue is, even though my anxiety seems to be getting better I keep having these waves of sadness that come out of nowhere and really knock me down. For example yesterday I'd had a good first week back at school and then on Friday night I got so sad and I was crying and I couldn't calm myself down. I'm becoming really reliant on my mum because I'm scared to be alone and I'm worried because I can see that I'm being a burden and she's suffering too because of me. I can't figure out what's making me so upset, I feel really confident with school at the moment (I'm in year 12) and I have a great group of friends and family who are really supportive. I'm always a little bit worried about my bladder but since I've been on the meds I don't think that's it. Each time I get sad though it ramps up my anxiety because I'm worried I'll feel that sad again tomorrow or in a public place or something. I feel hopeless like it'll never get better again. I don't know, I know most people have it a lot worse than I do but I'm just so sick of it and I'm sick of hurting mum, she does so much for me.

lonelyminer37 Need someone to talk to
  • replies: 2

Hey everyone, I'm Jess (21) and I live in a small mining town in QLD. Last year, my partner of three years decided to end things with me because "he wanted to be single". I was absolutely devastated and really struggled to move on. Only a couple of m... View more

Hey everyone, I'm Jess (21) and I live in a small mining town in QLD. Last year, my partner of three years decided to end things with me because "he wanted to be single". I was absolutely devastated and really struggled to move on. Only a couple of months later, my younger sister was diagnosed with Leukaemia and she and m parents had to temporarily relocate 6 hours north of where we live so that she could receive treatment. I had to stay behind and look after our family pets, work and look after the house. Unfortunately/fortunately (depends on how you look at it), I worked with my ex. When I found out my sister was sick, he was my rock. He was the only one there for me (none of my so called friends even bothered to check up on me) and eventually, we started a relationship again. However, he was adamant on keeping this a secret as some of our mutual friends also worked with us at the time. Towards the end of the year, I finally got a new job in the mines which I was so excited about, and after I resigned from my other job, he stopped talking to me. I finally got up the courage to ask him what the hell was happening and what did he want from me. He told me he thought restarting a relationship with me was a bad idea and once again, he broke my heart. Two months on and I had started to finally move on with my life and slowly forget about him. Until he drunk called me late one night one his birthday telling me how much he missed me and wished I was there. I tried not to think too much into it because he was drunk, but he message me the next day and we started talking again. We met up again to hang out as 'friends' and HE kissed me. HE said he was wrong and had made so many mistakes regarding leaving me and that he wanted to try again (taking things slowly) which I agreed to. However, he recently started a new job at a different mine as well, and as soon as he started, he has completely stopped talking to me for no reasons whatsoever. He has again completely broken me and I can't seem to get over it. I feel depressed all the time, breakdown crying for no reasons whatsoever, and sometimes just don't know how to function. I don't want to seem weak because I know deep down that he is just using me and that I deserve better, but I just can't seem to move on. I also don't have anyone to talk to as all of my 'friends' from school stopped talking to me after school unless they need something. I don't know what to do as I have always been the strong one..

Hello9000 My girlfriend comes back from London
  • replies: 1

Hey guys, For the past 3 weeks my girlfriend has been in London. I miss her so much! She comes back on Tuesday. I want to do something special for when she gets home... Any ideas what I could do (Appropriate) for when she gets home. Food, movies etc.... View more

Hey guys, For the past 3 weeks my girlfriend has been in London. I miss her so much! She comes back on Tuesday. I want to do something special for when she gets home... Any ideas what I could do (Appropriate) for when she gets home. Food, movies etc. Thanks, I really appreciate it!

Calder Confused and unsure about what I am
  • replies: 2

Hi I'm pretty new to beyondblue but here it goes I've recently been struggling with my current relationship due to bad depression and I haven't been talking to my boyfriend for a while and was confused about how I felt about him sexually I've recentl... View more

Hi I'm pretty new to beyondblue but here it goes I've recently been struggling with my current relationship due to bad depression and I haven't been talking to my boyfriend for a while and was confused about how I felt about him sexually I've recently discovered that I'm romantically attracted to both genders but only sexually attracted to my own gender and I was wondering if anyone knew if there was a word for it thanks

hpdellibm Knowingly repeated a move that I knew would have bad consequences, but I did it anyway.
  • replies: 2

None of the names in this are real. Only for ease. A fair bit ago.. my friend (Joseph) liked somebody that I liked (Amanda), but she was in a relationship. Joseph was friends with the person's boyfriend (Mark). So eventually Mark and Amanda broke up ... View more

None of the names in this are real. Only for ease. A fair bit ago.. my friend (Joseph) liked somebody that I liked (Amanda), but she was in a relationship. Joseph was friends with the person's boyfriend (Mark). So eventually Mark and Amanda broke up and not long after Joseph got together with Amanda. This caused Mark and Joseph to create a feud between them and stop being friends. I promise this is important and relevant, you can probably see where it's going by the title. Joseph and Amanda lasted a long while. Amanda started messaging me and broke up with him (she knew I liked her). At the time, I was feeling mistreated by Joseph and another friend, so I didnt rly care.Amanda and I start getting close and eventually get together. At the same time I cut off ties with Joseph bc I was mad that I thought I was being mistreated. I traded a best friend of multiple years for someone I had known for one year. Amanda and I did not last and it took awhile for Joseph and I to talk again, but it was never really the same. Eventually Amanda and Joseph were thinking of getting together, some friends and I didn't like that, as last time they got hurt. They found out and got pretty mad (bc we were talking behind their backs about it). I felt I had betrayed my best friend twice. Now to current day Mark and I become closer friends coming into this year, he started liking a girl and I tried keeping my distance from her. Eventually I stopped distancing bc of our group and slowly started to like her. I got annoyed that Mark wouldn't pursue her so I tried to to convince him too. I started becoming good friends with her. Mark got suspicious and I think jealous, he was often hostile and sarcastic. I knew I should've stopped hanging with her one on one, I knew it was bad, I didn't tell anyone and I kept doing it. I betrayed my friend for a girl. I think I was mad I was being mistreated again because of the hostility, which was partly my fault anyway. It started getting bad, so we told him nothing was happening (true). He has since stopped talking to me properly since.I traded my friend for a girl knowing the consequences and now I feel terrible, why? I feel like I'm a bad person. I am honestly scared I will do the same thing in my new group. I always like people I shouldn't and end up hurting someone. Someone who knew us both was on the bus today. He knew and was acting different and I felt horrible for ages. Have I really messed up this time? I rly dont like myself rn tbh.

Edie_523 Motivation
  • replies: 1

Hi everyone, i wanted to ask on some advice. I am in VCE, in my late teens, i have a history of depression and anxiety and was suffering from severe depression most of last year. I have gotten better and no longer struggle to find a will to live and ... View more

Hi everyone, i wanted to ask on some advice. I am in VCE, in my late teens, i have a history of depression and anxiety and was suffering from severe depression most of last year. I have gotten better and no longer struggle to find a will to live and i now have the motivation to go to school because i moved schools and now go to a performing arts school which caters for what i want to do. However for quite sometime now i have been finding it very hard to have any source of motivation to do school work.. or any work for that matter. Even in things i enjoy doing. I do struggle to find motivation to eat, ill skip meals all because i can't be bothered preparing something, sometimes ill have a packed lunch for school but then i won't eat it when im at school and i could go a whole day without eating and not care less. However i do refuse to eat junkfood. I am failing in most of my classes and i don't seem to care, but i do really want to finish my VCE i just can't find any motivation to actually act on it. I know that if i put my head down and work hard on something i can come out with something really great! But part of me does not want to do that. As it is starting to come towards the middle of the year i have started to notice more and more of how much effort i don't put in compared to my class mates, they seem to put in so much effort and work and i'll have no idea how they do it. In every aspect of myself i feel fine, i seem to have this motivation in my head but i can't seem to act on it! Any ideas on why this might be the case? Thanks.

Cannie How to help my boyfriend be happier at uni
  • replies: 2

Hi everyone, It's my first time posting anything, so if this is in the wrong thread sorry in advance! My boyfriend (20) and I (19) have been together for the past two years and overall I think we have a pretty great relationship. We both care a great... View more

Hi everyone, It's my first time posting anything, so if this is in the wrong thread sorry in advance! My boyfriend (20) and I (19) have been together for the past two years and overall I think we have a pretty great relationship. We both care a great deal for each other and love spending time together. However we are essentially each others only friend. I have come to terms with this and am comfortable with one great partner to spend my time with, however latley my bf has been getting really sad about not having more friends in his life. He moved a short distance to live on campus at his university (Monash) and has been really excited to meet some new people in this new setting.Things havnt really been going as planned tho. I got really nervous at the prospect of him branching out and meeting new people (in my mind this meant I wouldn't be seeing bf as much as I had previously and would no longer be such a large part of his life) which made me pretty bad at being supportive and excited for him in his first week on campus. Fast forward to this week and I am feeling a lot more secure in the change and am really hoping everything goes well for him there, but bf hasn't made the progress he hopped he would during the orientation week. So far despite going to most social events during the orientation week bf hasn't made any friends only a few acquaintances, and is scared that once uni actually starts he will have lost his opportunity to meet new people. I should probably also mention that this is our second year at uni and bf did not enjoy classes last year at all. Luckily he has changed degrees so hopefully this will be a more enjoyable semester. If I am entirely honest I don't think we are the type of people who inspire friendship with others. As much as we love being with people we just don't look verry approachable and are pretty introverted, so this has been a bit of an issue making friends. Overall I just want some advise for how to help my bf feel happier while he is going through this. If anyone here has lived in campus at uni how did you make friends and is there anything you could suggest him trying? I hate seeing him sad like this and would love some advise on how to help him along Sorry for the long text. Thanks to anyone who actually got through it all!