Depression

Depression affects people in Australia every day. Share your own story and learn about other member’s experiences with depression.

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Jeriava How do I talk to my doctor?
  • replies: 9

I’ve been struggling with my life for the past 7-8 years but I finally made an appointment with a doctor. I feel really scared though because I don’t ever go to the doctor for anything, and I havent seen this doctor for so many years that I’m really ... View more

I’ve been struggling with my life for the past 7-8 years but I finally made an appointment with a doctor. I feel really scared though because I don’t ever go to the doctor for anything, and I havent seen this doctor for so many years that I’m really scared that they’ll judge me or won’t believe anything I say. I’m really anti social so I feel like I won’t be able to say what I wanna say or I’ll say the wrong thing causing them to just dismiss me and move me along without helping. I’m just tired of feeling alone, depressed and just worthless but I’m really scared to talk to them.

Chris_B Are you looking to support someone else with depression? PLEASE READ before posting
  • replies: 0

This forum is for people seeking support for their own mental health issues. If you're posting on behalf of someone else with a mental health issue that you're concerned about, please have a look at this section of our forums: Supporting family and f... View more

This forum is for people seeking support for their own mental health issues. If you're posting on behalf of someone else with a mental health issue that you're concerned about, please have a look at this section of our forums: Supporting family and friends with a mental health condition It's full of threads from people who have family members and friends going through anxiety, depression or other related conditions. Have a read through the threads there, and feel free to take part in the discussions. Below are also some helpful beyondblue resources you might want to look through first as well: Supporting someone Have the conversation

AGrace SELF HELP TIPS FOR MANAGING DEPRESSION
  • replies: 132

Hi Everyone, Here are some ideas you might like to try for managing symptoms of depression. Of course everyone's different, so let us know what works for you, and please feel free to add to the list... Mindfulness – through breathing or engaging the ... View more

Hi Everyone, Here are some ideas you might like to try for managing symptoms of depression. Of course everyone's different, so let us know what works for you, and please feel free to add to the list... Mindfulness – through breathing or engaging the 5 senses Distress Tolerance – Accepting Emotions and Self Soothing Distraction – Put the thoughts/feelings aside and come back to them when you are ready to deal with them Positive Affirmations – Have some affirmations written down repeat them to yourself daily Sleep/Exercise/Diet – All 3 aspects of our lifestyle can impact the way we think/feel Increasing Pleasurable Activities – Engage in at least one pleasurable activity per day

All discussions

Oscar5320 I’m really scared
  • replies: 4

Over the last few days I have probably had the worst days of my life and I didn’t know where else to go. I am a 21 year old and I lost my girlfriend and brother in the same week and I can’t handle it anymore but for some reason typing everything down... View more

Over the last few days I have probably had the worst days of my life and I didn’t know where else to go. I am a 21 year old and I lost my girlfriend and brother in the same week and I can’t handle it anymore but for some reason typing everything down seems to Make it hurt 1% less I just can’t do this anymore. I’m just so scared to what happens next.

me12345 depressed and wanna let stuff out... feel free to do so too
  • replies: 5

I have bad depression and anxiety, I see a psychologist for it but it's recently gotten a lot worse so I've started going on antidepressants. I'm not one to open up about things so for a long time I was letting everything build up, pretending that I ... View more

I have bad depression and anxiety, I see a psychologist for it but it's recently gotten a lot worse so I've started going on antidepressants. I'm not one to open up about things so for a long time I was letting everything build up, pretending that I was fine but in reality, I was really depressed with nobody knowing. It started to get harder to hide and eventually my mum sort of realised and now here I am. It's not that I like being depressed because we all know that it's a horrible feeling, but I like feeling sad. It's my comfort space and it's what I'm used and I think this is one of the reasons as to why I can't recover/start to feel better. I like to cry because I'm so beyond sad and I like when it's a cold rainy day and I all I do is lay in bed the whole day because I have zero motivation and I really really hate myself. I've only just started going on antidepressants and it's been really rough, it hasn't made me feel any better or worse but it's made my anxiety get worse and I really hate it. What my mum doesn't seem to understand is that the antidepressants aren't actually doing anything to my depression (she thinks they're making it worse). This is how I have always felt and always been but she is actually just seeing it whereas before I would bottle it all up and hide away in my room. I'm finding it annoying because it makes it feel like how I feel and all this sadness I have isn't valid which I don't like. There are some things that I wish my mum could understand and I get that she is trying to help but sometimes I just want to be left alone and at the moment that is all I want. I'm not sure if this is making any sense or if anybody is actually going to read this but yeah.

Froggy_you Am I depressed?
  • replies: 3

There’s so much going on I don’t even know where to begin. From living with an unreasonable partner to feeling so useless, I have a lot of crap going on in my life. My social anxiety has been getting so bad. Im giving interviews but my anxiety catche... View more

There’s so much going on I don’t even know where to begin. From living with an unreasonable partner to feeling so useless, I have a lot of crap going on in my life. My social anxiety has been getting so bad. Im giving interviews but my anxiety catches up during the video calls and I end up messing it all up so I’m not getting any jobs. Secondly, I learnt that everything I have done up until now in my career did not equip me for a proper job in the field so I have to start all over again. And I’m 31!!!! I moved to Australia a couple months ago so everything is new to me. I have no friends to spend time with. My cat died because of my moms carelessness back at home. I feel so lethargic that I literally don’t want to do anything at all! I have to learn some things career wise but I cannot get started. I just cannot bring myself to doing anything besides doing chores. I also have a messed up sleep pattern. It’s hard for me to both go to sleep as well as wake up and I never feel well rested even when I wake up. I don’t do much but I am still low on energy and it’s like, I don’t understand what’s happening with my body. I’m also extremes self critical about myself. Today I had a breakdown because I realised that I don’t have what it takes to just do the things I want. I keep envying the people who do what they do without worrying what people will think. I’m constantly worried about if I am making myself look stupid. It’s so difficult to even put my feelings in words at this time. I know this post is all over the place but I don’t want to think too much, I just want to put it out there and ask what you guys would do to cope with this kind of situation. I am so lost. I use to take meds for anxiety a couple of year back but I stopped and idk if I should be taking more.

Living57 Overwhelming depression
  • replies: 8

Since Easter i have been struggling with depression that seems to be getting heavier and heavier. I live in one state where a daughter and son-in-law live, I have another daughter, son-in-law and grandsons in another state. My struggle is wanting to ... View more

Since Easter i have been struggling with depression that seems to be getting heavier and heavier. I live in one state where a daughter and son-in-law live, I have another daughter, son-in-law and grandsons in another state. My struggle is wanting to be available for both of them. I've started thinking about moving house so that I live halfway between the two. Im only daunts me due cost and finding accommodation, I currently live in government housing its beautiful, I'm the first tenant here I dont know what to do. I'm also dealing with a sexual assault, the ongoing investigation, its left me isolated, confined to my house, I no longer trust the police, people, crowds etc Im not getting more than 3-4 hours sleep at night, my brain just doesn't shut off. I have to remind myself to eat. I struggle with mental health, childhood abuse and sexual assault my depression, anxiety CPTSD worse. It is totally debilitating, even the simplest things are hard. It takes away my ability to accomplish anything, I start but can't finish. I've spoken to my Dr, who I have a lot of trust in. I used to see a psych about the sexual assault but have stopped as I dont think its making much difference, I'm still having nightmares and flashbacks, after 2 years I feel I'm wasting his time. The one thing that's a constant in my life is taking my meds. As I said to my Dr im too bloody scared of what might happen if I stopped. I'm tired of the pain and struggle and trauma and rejection and loss. I'm tired of knowing that no matter how hard I tried, I was never healthy, never whole, never able to do the things I wanted to do, never had a real life. It's too much and I don't want to do it anymore. But I will, because I have to, just like when I was a child, when I thought it would all be better when I grew up, but now I know I will never grow up, not in the parts that hurt, that are unwanted, that are and always will be a tiny creature crying out with unmet needs. That's what I was born to and will never escape from. I find I'm thinking about death a lot, making sure all my papers etc are altogether. That people know where they are., but I'm not actively thinking about ending my life its just an overwhelming feeling of being trapped with memories of hurt and pain, unloved and unwanted. I have told my Dr this as well. I am really at a loss of where to turn or what to do. I go to bed at night and dread the dark hours that will lead to another day the same as the one before.

JS2000 Depression and grievance of my dog
  • replies: 3

Hi everyone, I'm a 14 year old kid and last saturday my 11 year old dog passed away, I've struggled with sadness partially throughout the last years but this has really pushed it to a limit, I cry whenever I see something that reminds me of her, and ... View more

Hi everyone, I'm a 14 year old kid and last saturday my 11 year old dog passed away, I've struggled with sadness partially throughout the last years but this has really pushed it to a limit, I cry whenever I see something that reminds me of her, and I feel so guilty that I wasnt able to hug her one last time before she passed. I wish I could have told her its going to be alright but she passed away in the night while we were sleeping. I am still in shock and I don't know what to do with myself, it is constant sadness right now and when I go downstairs and see anywhere she liked to sit or anything that she used to enjoy like dog toys, her food, her bed, I just break down. If anyone has anything I can do or any tips please help. Thank you.

xanaxc Idk anymore. I hate it here
  • replies: 5

I feel like im losing myself. I've been at home all day, doing nothing, being nothing. All my friends have been going outside and enjoying life where as I cant even get up and go grocery shopping because Im too scared of people, I hate talking to the... View more

I feel like im losing myself. I've been at home all day, doing nothing, being nothing. All my friends have been going outside and enjoying life where as I cant even get up and go grocery shopping because Im too scared of people, I hate talking to them, I hate the fact that they look at me I just hate it. I hate wearing certain clothes because it makes my insecurities pop out. I cant even properly sustain my friendships. My friends, they're crumbling apart and it's my fault, I'm the a**hole, I'm the one thats always insulting them. Why do I always act like an a**hole? There is no particular reason as to why I'm salty. Whenever someone expects a compliment I instead give them an insult as a joke. I can't stop, Whenever I think of apologising it disgusts me, I don't know why. I'm sorry I really want to tell them that but my mouth just says nasty things instead. People used to be like that to me so I treated them like how they treated me. It took me years to understand how to be empathetic but at the same time my old habit still ruins my life. Maybe I deserve to be nothing but a ghost. Walking around while everyone ignores me. I am not hopeful about my future. I have no more passion, desire and motivation left to spare. I've just lost it all. I don't know who I am anymore and I don't even want to look at myself in the mirror. I feel so disgusted by my ownself how could a person like me even exist?

Slippers I feel very lonely. No one to talk to.
  • replies: 38

The family house is being renovated, the floors are being polished and walls painted. My sister has let me sleep in her campervan. Unfortunately and I don’t know why the 240 volt power has died to the campervan, when I told my sister that she had me ... View more

The family house is being renovated, the floors are being polished and walls painted. My sister has let me sleep in her campervan. Unfortunately and I don’t know why the 240 volt power has died to the campervan, when I told my sister that she had me running around for 20 minutes trying to work out why it isn’t working. In the end she said to me “I thought you knew how to work the van power” I spent a miserable night freezing in the van last night, I have to spend 2 to 3 weeks in the van while work in the house is done and last night was the 2nd one. I feel lonely, my sister is up at the Central coast, my mother is in a local nursing home, and my cats are in a cattery while the house is renovated. I came home from work last night and plugged in the microwave from the house to a power point in the garage so I could cook and eat dinner. This morning I got up early and plugged in an old bar fridge, the fridge in the camper is not working and things will start to go off. After I ate dinner, I went to bed feeling sorry for myself. I do have a local sister but she has stolen things from the house before, she does not get on with the sister from the Central coast. She has a spare bed that I could sleep in but I do not want to break the ties of the other sister despite the fact she makes me miserable. If only I had someone to talk to. I cannot watch television in the van because of the power. I am at work today. This weekend I am looking at a house that I could buy, but I do not know whether I can afford is, the mortgage broker has told me that they have done their due diligence meaning I could afford the house. I feel like I am at the end of my tether with nothing to look forward to. I got a lot of worry go around in my head.

BlueArt Depression and loneliness. I feel so alone.
  • replies: 4

Hi everyone, I’m not really sure how to even begin to write everything down but I’m struggling a lot. I have struggled with depression for a long time but it feels like it’s getting worse. today was my last day at my job that I’ve worked at for 6 yea... View more

Hi everyone, I’m not really sure how to even begin to write everything down but I’m struggling a lot. I have struggled with depression for a long time but it feels like it’s getting worse. today was my last day at my job that I’ve worked at for 6 years. I wasn’t expecting people to cry over me leaving but I did think some people would care enough to come to my goodbye dinner after work. Barely anyone is coming and even some of those are maybes. I’ve worked with these people for so long and I really thought they’d put in the effort to come or at least say goodbye to me today, which they haven’t. ive always been that person that people don’t seem to like. I don’t have friends, I’ve had one very short relationship and I’m 26. I just never seem to be able to form friendships. I feel so alone. I’ve tried joining groups and sports but I always end up being that person off to the side. Like I just never get included, I try to reach out but it just doesn’t happen. I don’t know what to do anymore, I feel so pathetic. I don’t know what I’m doing wrong. I just don’t want to be this alone forever. It hurts so much. any advice is appreciated, I have no idea what I’m doing anymore.

Fiatlux Winter Blues
  • replies: 6

Hi everyone, Why does depression hit harder on cold gloomy days? Its only May and I am already feeling the cold. I am contemplating a cold winter indoors and weekends in bed, hiding from the outside. I am already exhausted this year. I work 5 days a ... View more

Hi everyone, Why does depression hit harder on cold gloomy days? Its only May and I am already feeling the cold. I am contemplating a cold winter indoors and weekends in bed, hiding from the outside. I am already exhausted this year. I work 5 days a week and I am exhausted and disinterested in getting up and out on the weekends. January 2020 I spent on a warm tropical island in Queensland. I would give anything to be back there. In hindsight I took it for granted. In normal economic times I have treated myself to a short holiday somewhere warm in the middle of winter. This year I feel despair that I just don’t have the will, energy or finances to get on a plane to somewhere nice. I feel guilty for even wanting to get out of here, leaving a mess behind me. My sons are both struggling with work and finances and all I want is to be on Daydream Island. I honestly don’t know if I can keep going this year. I am so scared of the future. I want to make a move but I am stuck. Too old to work at this pace, but too poor to stop. I wake up tired every morning and all I look forward to is staying in bed on the weekends.

Ilovehats New to this Forum.
  • replies: 4

Not sure where to start? I’ve made some huge life decisions due to being extremely unhappy in my marriage for over a decade thinking things will change but I’ve come to realisation that nothing will ever change unless I change it myself. My almost ad... View more

Not sure where to start? I’ve made some huge life decisions due to being extremely unhappy in my marriage for over a decade thinking things will change but I’ve come to realisation that nothing will ever change unless I change it myself. My almost adult child has moved with me and I’m having some physical health problems at the same time as well as being diagnosed with long Covid. I’ve joined BB as I’ve got to the stage where I’m waking up having panic attacks that we are going to be homeless in a few years when my money runs out. I’m working but on a single income it’s really difficult to balance the budget alone. The cost of living rising, no longer having a home and being part of a partnership is very scary. Add on Covid, a child experimenting with drugs and that’s my life. My GP diagnosed my depression years ago. I’ve been on anti depressants for 3 years and I want to come off them and start looking after myself and my mental health. I’ve put everyone else first for the last 20 years and I’ve got nothing left to give anyone I’m just exhausted , stressed and empty. Any advice to someone starting their journey please. My GP is no help not interested at all just gives me anti depressants and tells me to stress less and meditation.