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BB Social Zone

Talking about mental health can be heavy. We get that. BB Social Zone offers a space where you can chill out and socialise with other members.

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Sophie_M Big Blue Table - Right here on the Forums!
  • replies: 8

Hello to our wonderful forums community! We have decided to run an ongoing Big Blue Table thread ‘Forums Edition’ until the end of October! What is a Big Blue Table? Big Blue Table is Beyond Blue's signature event held during October, Mental Health M... View more

Hello to our wonderful forums community! We have decided to run an ongoing Big Blue Table thread ‘Forums Edition’ until the end of October! What is a Big Blue Table? Big Blue Table is Beyond Blue's signature event held during October, Mental Health Month. Big Blue Table encourages people host a meal with their friends, family or colleagues while fighting the stigma that surrounds mental health. So why are we running one here? The reason we are doing this is so people have an opportunity to connect with others and have the experience of sharing their thoughts and feelings over a meal, no matter where they are in Australia. We know Mental Health Month can be a vulnerable time for many and believe this thread could be a safe space for people to be heard and learn from others’ experiences. Our community champions will be here to support you along the way, and our moderation team will be around to answer any questions you may have, as well as to ensure the thread remains respectful and safe for everyone. We encourage you to choose from the following questions to start a conversation: What do you do to look after your mental health? Are you comfortable sharing your feelings and emotions? If not, why? What are you passionate about, and why? Who would be your dream Big Blue Table guest, and why? After you have shared your answers, we would love to hear about what you are eating or bringing to the table. You can even tell us a little bit about your setup and what you can see around you to really immerse us into your world. This is your opportunity to be as creative as you’d like! But remember, there is no pressure or ‘right’ response, whatever you bring to the table will be more than enough. We hope this thread allows you to feel connected, supported, and a part of the Big Blue Table initiative. Now… get cooking!

Sophie_M Welcome to the BB Social Zone - guidelines for posting in this section
  • replies: 0

Hi everyone, This section of the forum is a little different to the others, as you may have noticed in looking around the threads. Elsewhere on the forums, we discuss some pretty heavy topics: mental health issues, thoughts of suicide, trauma, abuse,... View more

Hi everyone, This section of the forum is a little different to the others, as you may have noticed in looking around the threads. Elsewhere on the forums, we discuss some pretty heavy topics: mental health issues, thoughts of suicide, trauma, abuse, relationship breakdowns. Here is the place to come to get away from that and have a bit of fun. Distraction can be an important tool to draw on if you're finding yourself overwhelmed by distressing thoughts and feelings. As this is a section for respite from difficult topics, we will remove posts made in this section that attempt to discuss personal issues. Please use a support thread in the appropriate section for these discussions. Happy posting!

Kazzl The BB cafe
  • replies: 20591

The BB cafe is open for business! Welcome all to a new chill and chat place for everyone on the forum. The BB cafe is whatever you want it to be. There are comfy sofas, tables and chairs, coffee machines, a kitchen stocked with everything. There's a ... View more

The BB cafe is open for business! Welcome all to a new chill and chat place for everyone on the forum. The BB cafe is whatever you want it to be. There are comfy sofas, tables and chairs, coffee machines, a kitchen stocked with everything. There's a pool outside, a bbq area, an annexe with comfy beds for a quiet sleep, tv, dvd, books and whatever else you would like to have here. Most of all, it's a place to meet friends and fellow travellers for a bit of company. Talk over problems, tell jokes, share your day, escape into a world of your making. Grab a coffee and pull up a chair ... So, with a nod to the wonderful Carole King (Hard Rock Cafe) ... Now if you're feeling just a little bit lonely Don't sit at home just mopin' Come on down to where the friendship flows freely You know the door is always open At the BB cafe Come to the BB cafe They will help keep your blues at bay At the BB cafe Important Message from ModSupport: The main intention of the BB Cafe is to encourage light conversation. Please look after your fellow community members by nuturing the BB Cafe as a place to escape some of the more pressing issues in life and save those conversations for personal threads.

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Neil_1 Siri says, "turn left at the next roundabout for the depression clinic"
  • replies: 1

Hi there You might remember me from bulletin boards at Beyond Blue from a number of months ago … I was once called the ‘long lost uncle’. Well it appears I’m back again. While I’ve been ‘ok’ for a while, I’ve never been fully safe and happy. I refer ... View more

Hi there You might remember me from bulletin boards at Beyond Blue from a number of months ago … I was once called the ‘long lost uncle’. Well it appears I’m back again. While I’ve been ‘ok’ for a while, I’ve never been fully safe and happy. I refer to my depression as the ocean and I’m the beach. It’s there all the time and it continually laps away at me; coming in a bit further at times and other times, it recedes back a little. But all the while, it’s still there. What it IS doing though is encroaching on my beach a little more as each year goes by. It’s getting worse. At present it feels like there’s a massive storm cell and I’m experiencing some massive tidal damage. You go along to your Doc, to your psyche and do all the things that you “should be doing to help yourself” and the very sad thing is, that at the end of all that, the depression is still there. I feel like crying, but the tears just won’t come. I am in the midst of writing up ‘my story’ as was advised by my psychologist. As I mentioned to her, how I keep a diary of my life (every day) but I also journal down my thoughts on my depression and how I am – thoughts that are straight from the mind when I’m in an incredibly low place – kind of like an unedited version of what’s going on in my head. My psyche suggested that to put all that down “and more” to try and create a book of some sort. So this has taken a lot of my time over the past number of months and I really feel like it’s coming along quite well. I think I mentioned this, as I read recently that another poster out there is also writing a book about their battle with depression. I really don’t know how many books there are out there in regard to this subject and also of people’s personal accounts of it. But hey, why not give it a shot and see what happens out of it. So there you go, the long lost uncle has come back for a while … this is my want, I guess … where I pop in for a while and try to make contributions as well as to seek personal assistance from like minded folk. No doubt will be in touch at some stage in the future and ps: it’s good to see Geoff still appearing here on a regular basis … and you know what I mean by that, in that, it’d be fantastic if “no-one” had to write or comment or appear on such a website as this, which would mean there’d be no such thing as depression, anxiety, nervousness, you name it, but because there is, it’s always good to see familiar names and people who have amazing skills in being so caring and supportive to others. Cheers Neil