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BeyondBlue Hello! Read this if you're not sure how to get started
  • replies: 0

Welcome This section of the Beyond Blue Forums is for talking about our experiences with depression. There are lots of chats about how it makes us feel, what it’s like to live with depression and what has worked to help in these times. Thank you for ... View more

Welcome This section of the Beyond Blue Forums is for talking about our experiences with depression. There are lots of chats about how it makes us feel, what it’s like to live with depression and what has worked to help in these times. Thank you for coming this far, we know it can be really hard to take these steps if depression is in your life - we see you and think this is a great step. To get the most out of this space we have a few tips: Get involved. The Forums work best for you when you get active and post where you can. Now, we know that can be really hard, especially when you are experiencing depression. So, if you can post something supportive to someone else here, that would be an incredible start. Speak from the heart. This community wants to know how YOU feel and what has worked for YOU. We trust that you have something unique to say and we can’t wait to hear it. Check in. Lots of the discussions in this section of the Forums have been going for years and they are some of the richest conversations we have. Keep checking in to get new ideas and offer your support. We know it can be tough to start, but when you are ready we want to hear your thoughts. If you need some time to get to know the community, that's okay! Have a look around and see where you want to get involved. Thank you for being here! Beyond Blue

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.

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

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M Hadrian I think I need some advice.
  • replies: 9

Hi everyone. I think I need some advice. I recently lost my loved one due to Demetia progression and a lack of support at the care facility. Once I discovered what was happening I tried to help them as best I could, but it was too late and the damage... View more

Hi everyone. I think I need some advice. I recently lost my loved one due to Demetia progression and a lack of support at the care facility. Once I discovered what was happening I tried to help them as best I could, but it was too late and the damage could not be undone. I have subsequently been diagnosed with depression and I havn't been able to return to work. I am taking anti-depressants for the first time in my life, but am so tired all the time now and shrugging to do anything useful and have lost interest in nearly everything. Any advice would be good thanks.

Banksia20 Job Blues
  • replies: 6

I have never been able to find a job I liked, even after being in the workforce for over 15 years and across multiple industries and positions. Eventually I become totally miserable in these positions and have no clue what to do next. I've done count... View more

I have never been able to find a job I liked, even after being in the workforce for over 15 years and across multiple industries and positions. Eventually I become totally miserable in these positions and have no clue what to do next. I've done countless career quizzes, researched hundreds of different positions, done so much introspection my brain hurts! Is it possible some of us will never find a job we like? What if we have very few interests? We spend so much time at work every week and through out our life, that if you dislike your job it can really bring you down and seep into all other aspects of your life. I feel so miserable every day and trapped. Despite all my efforts to change my situation, I feel I have no options. If I try for another job I feel the same pattern will emerge as the last 20 jobs before this one. Just destined to be miserable forever. Anyone else feel their jobs are meaningless, boring, repetitive, or perhaps don't align with their values? What advice do people have? And can you be happy in any job if you simply have the right attitude? I've got the job blues bad!

Alai I have lost interest in everything
  • replies: 2

I have depression for a long time. My interest in things are slowly reduced. I used to have lots of hobbies and I can enjoy doing them repeatedly without losing interest. I love game, sport, movies, travel, photography food, comics, novel, gadgets, p... View more

I have depression for a long time. My interest in things are slowly reduced. I used to have lots of hobbies and I can enjoy doing them repeatedly without losing interest. I love game, sport, movies, travel, photography food, comics, novel, gadgets, programming, physics etc. But I slowly losing interest in them through past decade and they have accelerate recent years. Now my only weekend activity is figure out what I want to do and always fail. I force myself to read, watch movie, play game but often give up after mins in. This have been happening since few years ago and it have given me anxiety as I feel like my time is wasted. I'm not young anymore. I feel like I'm a fully paralyzed patient who only able to hear the clock ticking until I die. I also slowly distant myself from my closed one. First are friends, then relatives and now my immediate families. I just feel exhausted to interact with them.

WatcherG More than Depression?
  • replies: 4

Hi all, I am hoping for some advice on what I should do about my "issues"... I was diagnosed with anxiety and depression a number of years ago (at least 8 years) - I have been on a variety of medications over that time, and two years ago I started ha... View more

Hi all, I am hoping for some advice on what I should do about my "issues"... I was diagnosed with anxiety and depression a number of years ago (at least 8 years) - I have been on a variety of medications over that time, and two years ago I started having "black outs" - keeping the story short, after MRIs and a sleep-deprivation EEG, the neurologists identified "slowing" on the left side of my brain... ever since then, I am really struggling to hold down a job... just last week I resigned from my 3rd job in the last 18 months, the last two only lasting 4-5 weeks in both. The last two jobs were - for me - high stress jobs in hospitals, after a career change from office work... I can't concentrate, have trouble sleeping, my mind jumps around so much, I spend whatever money I earn on "projects" which I change every couple of days... I have read about bipolar over the last couple of years, but when I have suggested it to the couple of GPs I go to, they dismiss it pretty quickly... I know self-diagnosis is not the thing to do, but I am sick of trying the same solutions that I have tried for a number of years... I just want to get back into work, be part of society again (I have no friends, only my wife and teenage children) and, most of all, get help!!

m00n Feeling really lost
  • replies: 2

The past 3 weeks have been really depressing for me. I broke up with my boyfriend who lives in the Netherlands, I keep getting rejected from jobs and my cat passed away from urinary problems. I have no friends, and I would always talk to my now ex al... View more

The past 3 weeks have been really depressing for me. I broke up with my boyfriend who lives in the Netherlands, I keep getting rejected from jobs and my cat passed away from urinary problems. I have no friends, and I would always talk to my now ex all the time. So I’m much more alone. I miss my cat very much, I’m glad he isn’t suffering anymore, but I wasn’t able to see him before he passed away I feel really lost and I spent all day crying my eyes out. Everything is just going wrong. I applied to a job at a process warehouse and I passed the interview. After I had completed all the medical work and completed a video call physical assessment (I did all the exercises I was told to do). Then 3 hours later, they said that they won’t be going though with my application anymore. I feel like my anxiety compromised it, as I tend to stutter and I am extremely shy and passive. (I even stuttered so much in the interview so it surprised me, that I passed it.. it gave me hope that they might of given me a chance.) I think of myself as very friendly and I will force myself to talk if I have too. But a lot of the times I’m quiet. I am fat, so that’s could’ve been the reason I didn’t get the job too, but I can still lift over 15kg, touch my toes and do squats. So it doesn’t make sense. I should just stop looking for work for now and try and relax over everything that is happening, but I am so tired of sitting at home all day. I can’t obviously find a job on my own, which means I’ll have to go to an employment agency. I went to one 2 years ago and they couldn’t help me find a job either, I feel unemployable because my anxiety is so bad. I had a job at maccas years ago, but I was only there for 5 months. I do think about studying, but I have no idea what to do with my life, I feel like I don’t have purpose and that my life won’t get better. I feel left behind by everyone. I’ve been diagnosed with generalised anxiety, OCD and Asperger’s syndrome (ASD). I’m 20. I’m sorry for writing so much but I really don’t have people I can talk too, my parents aren’t approachable and I don’t want to bother my family.

loml050592 Sick of Bipolar
  • replies: 1

Hi everyone, this is my first post. Just need to get some things off my chest, am feeling overwhelmed with my Bipolar. I have had mental health challenges for 30 years now, was diagnosed with Bipolar II 10 years ago. I work as a lived experience ment... View more

Hi everyone, this is my first post. Just need to get some things off my chest, am feeling overwhelmed with my Bipolar. I have had mental health challenges for 30 years now, was diagnosed with Bipolar II 10 years ago. I work as a lived experience mental health professional and enjoy having a career where I can have a positive impact for other consumers of mental health services. But, sometimes my own shit takes over and has a huge effect on me, which I am sure you can all understand. I have a lot of the very typical manic symptoms of frustration, rage, inner turmoil, racing thoughts quite often. Sometimes manic energy helps me with my work, but it always interferes with my private life. I have been going through a difficult period at work. I am a senior person in a team of about 20 lived experience workers. I have in recent months been negotiating a difficult HR issue with a member of my team and it is coming to a head at the moment. I try very hard not to have my mental illness interfere with work, but this situation has slowly worn me down to the point where I am now checking into a different clinic to have a rest myself. To make things even more complicated and difficult/disturbing for me, the person in HR that I have been working with in regard to this situation, is someone that I have now become quite fond of, and am now having intrusive thoughts about. This situation is such a mess. I feel like absolute shit about it all and really actually sick in my stomach. When I think of this person I get butterflies in my stomach. That would be okay if I didn't have a partner of almost 20 years. I just always feel so messed up. To everyone else I seem like I am doing okay, I have mastered the act of wearing a mask after 30 years experience at this. My head is so messed up though. I carry guilt with me all the time. As part of my mania I am hypersexual, and while I have maintained a monogamous relationship for almost 2 decades, I live an alternate fantasy in my head where I can act on my impulses. I now question if there is any sexual trauma in my past that I don't recall, a lot of my symptoms point to that, though it seems unlikely. I feel like I am babbling here but I just needed to unload this stuff, I am not sure that I even want anyone to read or comment or if this is just for me to get out. Would be happy to hear from others who may suffer similarly. How do you get through?

Scorchly My Version of Hell
  • replies: 4

Generally speaking, I feel down & lethargic through most of my day, my quality of sleep is poor & anxiety normally increases around bedtime. I can no longer answer the question, “what makes me happy/smile”, although there must be an answer, at any ti... View more

Generally speaking, I feel down & lethargic through most of my day, my quality of sleep is poor & anxiety normally increases around bedtime. I can no longer answer the question, “what makes me happy/smile”, although there must be an answer, at any time of day I cannot imagine it. During the worst times, what I refer to as Episodes, my world becomes dim & extremely bleak, I perceive it as a monotone existence. I have no idea of time; I cannot imagine when it started or when/if it will ever end. I feel very alone & isolated. I do not have any thoughts of life or events going on around me & the desperation I feel is extreme. I am rarely aware of the presence of other people, & even when I am, I do not know how to reach out for help. If there is a Hell, I believe I have already been there many times. My wife’s comment sometime ago was I appear to be reliving my worst nightmare 1000 times a day. This description is only my best guess as I rarely have total recollection of the event. Can anyone relate to this?

Marto_slash_Charlie_Mopps Motivation
  • replies: 3

I was a competitive Strongman. Competing helped to keep me motivated and driven. Unfortunately due to spinal concerns I had to give it up. When I gave it up I still had goals I was working towards and I know I will never reach them. Since giving up S... View more

I was a competitive Strongman. Competing helped to keep me motivated and driven. Unfortunately due to spinal concerns I had to give it up. When I gave it up I still had goals I was working towards and I know I will never reach them. Since giving up Strongman I have applied myself with the ambition of competing in Powerlifting (Bench only)... now that has become unrealistic. I am struggling to accept this and I currently have nothing to motivate me. I don't feel like I'm accomplishing anything. I don't feel like I contribute to anything. I just feel "here"

Tryingall First baby and wife has lost all motivation.
  • replies: 5

Hi, We recently found out that we are going to have a baby. I was thrilled about the news. My wife has suffered depression for a few years now and i it has increased dramatically now that she doesnt seem to care about anything anymore. She moved to t... View more

Hi, We recently found out that we are going to have a baby. I was thrilled about the news. My wife has suffered depression for a few years now and i it has increased dramatically now that she doesnt seem to care about anything anymore. She moved to this country for me, and nomatter how many people we meet, she never clicked with anyone, she doesnt like her job despite everyone at her work adoring her there. She has become increasingly negative and it in the past i suffered from depression and have been trying to help her. She went on antidepressants but hated them so stopped, tried a psychologist, hypno therapy, exercise, constantly trying new things and nomatter what she won't get better. More than anything she has wanted a baby since day 1 of marriage and i don't know what to do. Its too early to tell people about the bub, and i am so thrilled about it. But i am getting so caught up with worrying about my wife that i don't have time to think. She makes me feel guilty because we are renting, she earns more money than i do (but we are both on good money). I just need somethibg and i don't know what it is.

Brother Castiel Is there something I've not yet tried?
  • replies: 1

Hey guys, I have spent the last two and a half years in the trenches with OCD/Anxiety/Depression and tried everything that was suggested by the healthcare professionals. The obvious CBT and medication were constant during this time but I also tried o... View more

Hey guys, I have spent the last two and a half years in the trenches with OCD/Anxiety/Depression and tried everything that was suggested by the healthcare professionals. The obvious CBT and medication were constant during this time but I also tried other things such as a healthier diet, active exercise, mindfulness and grounding techniques, socialising with friends and family, change of occupation, change of work load, hobbies, learning a new skill (welding) and a significant amount of reading content on the topics. Yet despite all this I made zero progress and am no closer to improvement then I was when I started. The medical professionals also seem at a loss as to where to go from here as they are repeating things I've already tried. So my question to you is this, is there something I have not yet tried or is the inevitable outcome groundhog day? Thanks in advance.