This is an awesome thread! Thanks for starting it @Bella2! Everyone has some super cool suggestions, keen to try some of these out (:  When I'm a bit stressed I like to: - Plan my gap year holiday - Walk/play with my pets - Chat to my mates (usually they don't know I'm stressed, we just facetime and talk about dumb stuff but it really helps haha) - Attempt to write a song/poetry (eek!) - Play animal crossing (teehee) Stay safe everyone! Hope these suggestions help some people (: ... View more

Hey @RemyIsAwesome123, nice to meet you! That sounds like a tricky situation, especially as you're friends - it can be hard sometimes to tell if a mate is just being friendly or if he's into you. I get that - I was in a similar situation myself not too long ago, so please don't feel that you're alone! If you want my advice, I reckon you should come out to him (if that's something you're comfortable doing, no pressure, just go at your own pace! xx) and see how he reacts. That can be pretty telling about how he feels. Another thing to think about before you tell him is probably whether or not it's worth the risk, if you know what I mean. Like I have a crush on one of my best friends at the moment, but I don't want to tell her because for me, I hate the idea of making things awkward or even pushing her away a bit way more than I love the idea of us being together, if that makes sense? But! That doesn't mean you shouldn't tell your friend how you feel! It certainly could work out for you guys - it sounds like you might both be in the same place, which is pretty awesome. I reckon start by coming out and seeing how that goes (:  Hope this helps, good luck! xxx ... View more

Hey @Brian6787! Iso lockdown is hard, especially when you're trying to get to know people better. I'm NSW, so we're not currently in lockdown, but when we were me and my friends facetimed quite often to keep in touch. Maybe that could be an option for you and your friend? Otherwise there's facebook mini games, sending each other spotify playlists of your favorite music, netflix house party (I'm not sure how it works but it sounds like a fun time haha) and you could watch a movie at the same time with actors your both a fan of, or otherwise there's always the classic phone call :D Hope this is helpful! Fingers crossed your state's lockdown relaxes soon (:   ... View more

My other favorite pick-me-up songs are: Dead Air by CHVCHES I will wait by Mumford and Sons Keep me crazy by Sheppard Boa Me by ed sheeran and Fuse ODG Tubthumping by Chumbawamba And Sigh no more by Mumford and Sons! ... View more

@letitgo Ooh I love Queendom too!!! AURORA is awesomeeeee ... View more

Hi @WheresMySquishy, sorry it's taken me so long to reply! I haven't been on here for a while... it's good to be back! :D Wow it sounds like your last few years of school were really hectic! Sorry things were so difficult for you xx  That surgery sounds so nasty. Sorry you had to go through that. How are you doing these days?  How's your sister managing at the moment? She still at school? FND sounds so rough, that's really admirable that she's found a way to juggle school with it, go her! I'm doing school part time now. Most of the staff are supportive, though some are pretty hellbent on believing I'm making CFS up haha But I guess that makes sense in a way - when you've got CFS you don't tend to look sick, so I guess it's hard for people who don't know about it to understand. I don't really have a long term plan, but I was managing to keep myself chill about that until quite recently. Last night I could hardly sleep cos I kept thinking about how behind I am and how much schoolwork I have to do. I'll never be able to catch up now, but I'm hoping after I get my psychometric report back from the neurologist things will clarify themselves more and we can get a plan formulated. So kinda in a limbo stage atm, but that's okay. I've started writing a book series to keep my mind off it  and it's working! It gives me something else to think about on days when I can't do anything. Enough about me though, how is everyone else going? Would love to hear how you guys manage the life stuff with chronic illnesses! Love and happy thoughts to all of you, hope everyone is okay during these wild covid times xox ... View more

I really like: "Everyone is a bit scared, but we can be less scared together." "She believed she could so she did" ... View more

Hey thanks for the advice and support @Tiny_leaf and @Janine-RO, still not sure what I'm going to do but I'll work it out (: If anyone else reads this thread and can relate I'd love to hear what happened (: ... View more

Hi all, just feeling a bit bummed cos I might have to quit high school on account of my chronic illness cos I've fallen so far behind and just because I can't really do anything. I'm kind of stressed and upset bc (needless to say) this isn't exactly how I thought things would go haha. There are other pathways I can take, but none of them are exactly sounding good. How are the rest of you managing school/university with your illnesses? Anyone else had to pull out? ... View more

Hey @Anti1123, how are you going? (: ... View more

Great, thanks for doing that @Taylor-RO! Ooh I've never heard of those artists before, but I'll definitely check them out! Hope you're having a nice day (: ... View more

Hi everyone, not sure if there's already a thread about this so sorry if I'm redoing something that's already been made! I know covid is quite stressful for a lot of us, but music always seems to lighten the mood, so I was thinking we could share music ideas here and chat about what our favorite artists are! I love Bastille, the red hot chilli peppers, and Chvrches (and many others!), and two of my favorite stress-relieving tracks are 'come out and play' by billie eilish and 'You're too precious' by James blake. Can't wait to hear what your favorites are!  ... View more

Hey @Roseanaheart! Welcome to reachout forums, great to have you here! That sucks about your parents fighting. My dad walked out on us last year after quite a messy month or so, so I really get how much it sucks to hear your parents arguing and stuff. I get the guilt thing too, that's quite relatable, but please know it's not your fault! I know that's hard to believe sometimes but I promise it's not your fault (:  What have you been up to today? (: ... View more

@Ani_Faeth Hey! So glad you had a good day yesterday, it always feels great to get assignments off your back hey.  Yeah I totally get cringing at gay jokes - my school isn't exactly what you'd call supportive of diversity, and a lot of such jokes get made.One of my friends is very religious and for a while was super against LGBT+ stuff - she was upset when the plebiscite resulted in a yes etc, and we're quite close so it's a bit awkward. But she's more okay about it nowadays so that's good! How do your friends react to conversations about sexuality, gender identity etc?  Yeah, I guess you could say Dark Matter is horror, but it's not gruesome or anything and the supernatural themes are quite slow burn until you hit the middle (then it gets quite scary haha). It's also the most beautiful and saddest love story! But I'll say no more, I don't want to ruin the plot for if anyone here wants to read it! (Please do it's great!) (: Ooh I must admit I haven't read any of Bryce's books, but I've heard of him and his style of writing and he sounds really cool! When libraries re-open I'll definitely check his books out!  Also does anyone have any ideas of how one would tell their friends that they're gay? Not sure how to broach it (: ... View more

Hey @Tiny_leaf, how are you doing today? ... View more

@Tiny_leaf Oh gosh I'm so so sorry things are so shit for you right now. If I could I'd give you a hug. I'm sorry you feel like the hospital and medical people don't care/don't understand, that really sucks, but people do care about you, please don't think they don't! By the posts you share anyone can tell what a lovely person you are, and your friends and family are so lucky to have you. Your drawings are beautiful by the way! I wish I could draw like that. If you have any more drawings you feel comfortable sharing please send them through, I'd love to see them! Suicidal thoughts are awful, I used to get them often. I really do get how distressing and horrid they are, and I'm so sorry you're having them. It will get better though @Tiny_leaf! I know that's hard to picture right now, but I promise you it will.   If KHL's queue is full again some other websites you could try might be Headspace webchat, or Qlife webchat (I've spoken to Qlife about general life stuff as well as LGBT related stuff, they're lovely and supportive about both and their wait times tend to be shortish, but they have shorter chat time allowances). Painting your walls to look like mountains sounds beautiful, and when it's done it'll probably be very peaceful as well. I hope you feel better soon @Tiny_leaf, 100% here for you ... View more

@Ani_Faeth Ah okay well that's good! My mum has made a couple of jokes about it but other than that she just kind of waits for me to bring it up if I want to which is cool. I asked her to lay off the joking stuff though cos my head is still a bit like "WAH what is going on!" so I'm not really in the head space to be kidding about it I guess. Yeah I found out about it from a friend, so I'm just secretly like "yay it's pride month" haha Yeah I love reading! My favorite books are 'Sophie's world' by Jostein Gaardner, 'Rose under Fire' and 'Dark Matter' by Michelle paver. Dark matter is kind of fantasy in that it's got some ghosty stuff happening. It's quite scary! What are your favorites? ... View more

@Ani_Faeth thank you so much! Yeah I loved owls, especially tawny owls,  since I read Guardians of Ga'hoole about ten years ago (wow, it really has been that long! Crazy.) I like your username too!  That's interesting that we're both in the same boat about telling our mums too soon. I just blurted it out one evening in a moment of "why not she's my mum", and even though she was supportive (in fact she just said "yeah" and said she'd thought that since I was about twelve...) I still kind of regret it for the same reasons - I'm still a bit frazzled about it all and in an ideal world perhaps I wouldn't have told anyone yet. But it's not tearing me up too much - she was going to find out sooner or later so yeah it's just as well she knows. I'm all good thanks, actually had a pretty alright day! Just cruising along (: How are you going with everything? Happy pride month by the way everyone  ... View more

@WheresMySquishy wow that sounds rough. Interesting that you're better in trains than cars... maybe its something to do with the level at which you're travelling? It must be hard trying to explain it to people, especially with the varying triggers and the varying amounts to which the triggers affect you. Although CFS is very different to what you're describing and possibly quite a bit milder, I do understand what you're saying about how sometimes certain things affect you and sometimes not - often when I relapse it'll be from a stressful situation or from physically exerting myself too much, but sometimes it's completely random. Some days I have had nothing on the day before and I'm not stressed but I struggle to do much without having to rest for hours afterwards, but other days I'm able to cook a two course meal and do a block of study without too much trouble. I'm sorry that's happening for you, that sounds super sucky! Is it a lifelong condition or will it get better in time do you know? (:  ... View more

Yeah @Ani_Faeth, I completely get that. I feel the same about telling my sister, I think she'll be fine but I'm not sure, and anyway the idea of telling anyone else is, as you say, very scary. I have no designs on telling my dad either! Don't feel pressure to tell anyone before you're ready, this is one hundred percent your thing. I told my mum before I was ready and I regret it now, but I am glad she knows I guess. Yeah I totally understand, it is really unpleasant hey. I'm not sure if this is your type of thing, but Headspace does an LGBTQIA+ group chat every Tuesday evening from 6.15 til 9.15ish, and people just chat about random stuff as well as identity related topics. Everyone on the chat is either an ally or a member of the LGBT+ community and it's a really supportive and friendly environment. It might give you extra space to talk about how you're feeling with other people going through the same stuff (: ... View more

Wow I didn't know there was a Christmas thread here! I feel like I've found my people      ... View more

Thanks @WheresMySquishy , I really appreciate all these great ideas! And @Tiny_leaf I have heard of the spoon metaphor before but I wasn't too sure what it was until I looked it up the other day. That's a really cool way of explaining it to my friends and family, so thanks for telling me about it! Chronic illnesses are quite tricky, bc even with research and stuff often it's still hard for your friends and family to understand what it's like and why you can't do xyz anymore. Does anyone else have that?  ... View more

Hey @Ani_Faeth, totally understand the difficulties related to coming to terms with your sexuality - I really struggled initially with being gay, and though I'm getting into more of a place of self acceptance now, I'm still not ready to come out or anything yet. I really do understand how hard it can be to come to terms with who you are, even if you are surrounded by people who you know would be supportive. Is there anyone you could talk to about how you are feeling/have you told anyone you're bi? (: ... View more

Hey @Katora25 and @Ani_Faeth ! I've been in that same boat - been questioning my sexuality for a few years now but have finally realised and semi come to terms with that I am gay (yay)! I found Qlife really helped me (https://qlife.org.au/), I talked to them over webchat about how confused and stressed/scared I was, and they really helped a lot - talking to someone who has been through the same thing as me (I think all staff identify with LGBTQIA+ and they're all really lovely and helpful!) was really great and helped me understand and come to terms with my own sexuality. I also discovered I have some internalized homophobia so if you're worried that might be the case I can send some stuff through about that too. If you want some positive LGBTQIA+ friendly videos/media representation etc would defs recommend Alexis and Lilian (youtube), Tales of the city (the new one, it's on netflix!) and imagine me and you (also netflix teehee, it's a movie) (: Hope this helps, here for you - you're definitely not alone! xx  ... View more

Hi everyone! How do you guys explain your chronic illnesses to your friends? A lot of the people I know don't know anything about Chronic Fatigue so sometimes they think I'm just making stuff up :( But I'm not complaining, I know CFS isn't as bad as a lot of illnesses. Love to everyone during this tough time, especially my fellow Chronic Illness buddies <3 ... View more

Hey @Ani_Faeth! What's going on for you? Totally normal to find stuff confusing, here for you (: ... View more

Hi @Tiny_leaf, that sucks about the sitting and mental health/chronic illness relation stuff, sorry you're going through that. It is nice to know someone else gets it so completely though (: Ooh yeah for sure, sand must be so hard to walk on with a cane. I don't know many pebble beaches near me, which beaches do you like to go to? Air crash investigations sounds cool, I'll have to check it out (: Yeah for sure, who cares what people think, and what would it matter if you were disabled anyway!? Your cane sounds mega groovy.   Thanks @Taylor-RO, hello to you too! I think it was just good to talk about stuff and I had some prescription help too which has been really beneficial to me (:  ... View more

Oh gosh yes that's completely understandable! That sounds so frustrating! Chronic fatigue sucks but FND sounds like a whole new level of crappy. And depression is awful, I'm sorry you're going through that :( Some stuff went down last year and I wasn't doing so good. I've got some help and am doing better than I was, but it's caused an ME relapse that's not super fun. I'm sorry you're dealing with that too, sounds like you've got a lot on your plate. Yeah that tends to be along the lines of what my plans are, on days when just standing up is exhausting I try to just do what is absolutely necessary - everything else can wait until a better day. Like today I sat on the beach which was exhausting (cos sitting be like that ya know) so for now I'm lying down and I do not anticipate any great movement from here on in. But that's okay! Time to peruse netflix. Any suggestions? Your sparkly cane sounds pretty! I want one :D Hehe thanks I'm glad my training is paying off! :p  ... View more

Hi I'm a queer seventeen year old girl. I've struggled with internalized homophobia over the years and been really disgusted with myself for a while, but I'm feeling happier with myself nowadays. I came out to my mum last night. It actually went really well and I'm super happy about it! She hasn't mentioned it since then which I'm glad about bc I didn't really want it to be a big thing.  I used to go running in the woods, but I've never done a big hike through the bush or anything, though the idea is very appealing actually! Perhaps I'll do that when I'm well again (: Where do you like to go hiking @Khajiit? ... View more