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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: 1

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

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MikaelaJ I'm destroying everything good in my life.
  • replies: 4

I dont understand who I am anymore. In the past 18months I have become a person I loathe and am making choices that I don't want to? I feel like my world is spinning out of control. I've been with my husband for over 10 years and nearly a year ago I ... View more

I dont understand who I am anymore. In the past 18months I have become a person I loathe and am making choices that I don't want to? I feel like my world is spinning out of control. I've been with my husband for over 10 years and nearly a year ago I gave birth to our first child. Before I fell pregnant I was drinking large amounts and having blackouts. I was unfaithful to my partner and devastated as I have no desire to be with anyone else. He is a good man and I love him and was too scared to tell him because I don't want him to leave. Because of this I am utterly and totally confused as to why it has happened 3 more times?? Each time I have been highly intoxicated and blacked out, even regained focus half-way through something and realised what was happening. I don't remember how or why it has happened and absolutely hate myself for this. Since pregnancy, the guilt has been eating me up inside and I'm just waiting everyday for him to find out and leave. I love him so much and don't understand why I would do this to us??? I don't agree with my behaviour and think that what has happened is appalling, selfish, thoughtless, cruel and just plain mean. I'm not only ruining my life but my husbands and daughters lives. I feel as if they would be better off without someone like me in their lives. I can't handle life without them so do not want to tell him what's happened. I just want all of this to go away. Why would I do something like this to such a good person who I love? I feel like I am two totally different people? My actions are not who I am!

Captain Australia Question about situational depression versus clinical/chemical
  • replies: 9

My name is Simon, and four years ago I was diagnosed with an invasive head & neck cancer. The doctor told me how sorry he was, and gave me 6 months to live. He said if I wanted to fight, I had about 40% chance that the chemoradiation would get rid of... View more

My name is Simon, and four years ago I was diagnosed with an invasive head & neck cancer. The doctor told me how sorry he was, and gave me 6 months to live. He said if I wanted to fight, I had about 40% chance that the chemoradiation would get rid of the cancer, but it would cause me some chronic health problems. I fought, and I got lucky. (But with cancer, there's no such thing as lucky, not really). The post treatment side effects haven't been a party, and my thyroid was devastated by radiation damage, such that over 4 years I put on more than 50kg in bodyweight. I recently realised that I was probably suffering a reasonably serious depression, and it was only because I live in the light of the love of my wife and boys that I could muster enough power to do the barest minimum in self care. I didn't want to admit this, I'd say it's ennui, living in limbo (my cancer has a significant recurrence risk), I just didn't like looking head on into the idea of depression. I left home when I was 15 (emancipated child), my mum was a junkie and the domestic situation was .. bad. Untenable. I slung a pack over my shoulder and walked from Brisbane to Sydney. It was massively healing, escaping a horrible situation where everything was broken and I had no real hope. Recently inspiration struck me to do it again .. and it made me realise that I was broken, how I was waiting to die, not living. I realised that I had allowed myself to slip into a depression, where even surviving cancer, life stretched ahead of me sterile and uninviting. I felt adrift, separated from the world. The only thing keeping light glimmering in my life was my children. And ... ahh shit .. I realised .. I realised that I was underperforming as a parent. I was there, I cuddled, I loved .. but .. I was partly a ghost. I was no kind of role model. Anyway, it flicked a switch in my mind. Since then I've been walking daily, losing weight, attending to my health, and I feel strong, resolved. I wanted to share my story and ask if anyone thinks I might be exposed to diagnosable depression, or does it feel to you (as it does to me) that I've been stuck in a dark situational hole, but I've lifted myself out ? Thanks for your time and insight ---- if you are suffering, I'm so sorry. Cancer taught me all about suffering, I think it's unlocked an empathy in me that was there before, but uncultivated. I sincerely wish you well.

shrivelled_mushroom what if i’m just faking it?
  • replies: 12

hi i’ve been diagnosed with depression. but i look at all these other posts or hear all these stories about others with depression and their situations seem so much worse... i mean i go to a good school and i get good marks (even though my marks have... View more

hi i’ve been diagnosed with depression. but i look at all these other posts or hear all these stories about others with depression and their situations seem so much worse... i mean i go to a good school and i get good marks (even though my marks have severely plunged since i got depression) and my family is loving and safe and secure and my family is well off enough and i have enough to eat and a warm bed and no addiction or anything... what if i’m just faking it? i feel so guilty for saying i have depression when others have it so much worse. i have no reason to be depressed. i mean sure, sometimes i feel really sad or empty or mad or even suicidal but come to think about it it’s probably just the moody teenager inside of me. and the times i feel ok i’m always worrying that maybe i’m not depressed after all and my parents are just wasting their money on the psychologist and my friends and family are just worried for nothing. and then i feel selfish which leads me to feel depressed. and of course i don’t want to be depressed but sometimes i feel... almost relieved to be feeling depressed or something, like i’m proving to myself that i actually have depression which is selfish and spoilt and stupid and ironic of me. gosh i hate myself. i swear i’m just making this whole depression thing up and i’m actually 100% ok. like why am i wasting peoples time on this forum anyway? i have no extreme problems, my only problem is my selfish character. i don’t know what’s wrong with me and i can’t tell if i’m faking it or not. i probably am faking it all and just using it as an excuse for my dropping marks and withdrawal from friends at school. i’m such an idiot. sorry for wasting your time. can someone give me an answer... am i really faking this whole thing??

MsAnxious Depression and potentially losing a job
  • replies: 3

Hi all I have been dealing with depression and anxiety for a couple of years and am in the care of a psychiatrist. Recently I learned that my job is likely to be made redundant in the next 3 to 6 months. I have worked hard for this job and the income... View more

Hi all I have been dealing with depression and anxiety for a couple of years and am in the care of a psychiatrist. Recently I learned that my job is likely to be made redundant in the next 3 to 6 months. I have worked hard for this job and the income pays for our comfortable lifestyle. Without my job, we will need to drastically adjust the lifestyle. I have been feeling very upset since I learnt about the potential redundancy. My husband can’t understand why I am so upset. My mind is fixated on the likelihood of the job searches that I might have to go through, and the likelihood of not being able to find the same as good a job. Please I just need someone to tell me to get a grip and that all things considered losing a job is not that big a deal! For some reason I just can’t shake the doom and gloom. Any advice would be appreciated. Regards MsAnxious

Loosing_my_mind Need help
  • replies: 3

Hi, I feel so lost I don't enjoy anything anymore. I have bad social anxiety, don't leave my house, answer my phone or reply to messages... I had a hard time doing this... Can someone offer any advice

Hi, I feel so lost I don't enjoy anything anymore. I have bad social anxiety, don't leave my house, answer my phone or reply to messages... I had a hard time doing this... Can someone offer any advice

Soph_T The New Year
  • replies: 4

Hi, So if this doesn't prove how unlucky things are going for me right now, just know that I typed this all out and then as I was going to send I accidentally deleted it all. Very cool. Nothing has gone right in my life in a very long time. Regardles... View more

Hi, So if this doesn't prove how unlucky things are going for me right now, just know that I typed this all out and then as I was going to send I accidentally deleted it all. Very cool. Nothing has gone right in my life in a very long time. Regardless, I still had 50% faith in the idea that things would work out right for me. Despite being depressed for quite a while, a chain of just really unlucky things have happened to me recently. New Year's is coming up and I just don't know how to wake up and do it all over again. I have nothing going for me at the moment and I have no faith in the fact that I'll be okay. I think its been proven to me that there's no one coming to help me and I don't feel that I can keep pulling myself back up again. It's like sometimes when you don't want to go to sleep because you know you'll have to do it all again the next day, but it's a new year of the same nothingness. I feel very lost right now. I know, undoubtedly, that when I wake up on January 1st there will be nothing waiting for me. There will be no shiny car or perfect job...I will just be doing the same as I did on December 31st and December 30th...all over again. It doesn't so much represent another year of failed dreams to me as it does a limitless cycle that I can never seem to get out of. How could I ever be okay with doing this all again? Thanks for reading If you are into poetry then I really recommend this (this poem has helped me be a little more okay with being unsatisfied): https://allpoetry.com/A-Tear-And-A-Smile

Draven_J Immense Irritation
  • replies: 6

I am 25 Years Old, Trying STILL!!! To Get my Driver's License, but I have been Miss Diagnosed with Schizophrenia at 19, I am constantly having Driving Suspensions on my Permit, and Enforced to have Mental Reviews and Reports to VIC ROAD's Every 6 Mon... View more

I am 25 Years Old, Trying STILL!!! To Get my Driver's License, but I have been Miss Diagnosed with Schizophrenia at 19, I am constantly having Driving Suspensions on my Permit, and Enforced to have Mental Reviews and Reports to VIC ROAD's Every 6 Month's. I may be Restricted with my License If I Achieve One Soon Hopefully against my wishes also I don't have Direction for any Entry Job Suitable Pathways, besides RETAIL, and I don't even want a Career Ideally In that or maybe I do, I wouldn't want to do Warehouse and Hospitality Isn't for me either, The Rest of the Entry Job Industries aren't Ideal for me, and without a Bachelor Degree or Diploma's there's Limited Choice I am only Interested In Nutrition or Song Writing, but Not entirely sure If that would be suitable for me, and being 25* without having had a Prior Job Payed History, Only 11 Month's of Volunteer In a RETAIL Role that I don't Ideally want I don't even know entirely If I can handle a Bachelor Degree, with my Academic Capacity, I haven't done Year 12 VCE, I did Foundation VCAL, and I had my Personal Issues during 2012 - 2014 or something* Which Lead to that Miss Diagnoses* I mentioned above, even a Advanced Diploma or Regular Diploma would be a Shock, even a Cert IV would take Adjusting, as I'm not overly Interested In 98% of the Standard Academic Educational Curriculum, wither University or TAFE I've had a Dream to be Creative, but I don't have the Self Confidence to Pursue that with Society, and I never felt free to be Creatively Experimental at Home, Despite not having Issues at all otherwise

Kookaburra2001 Feel like I’ll never get better
  • replies: 8

At this point I don’t have the energy to try I’m exhausted I don’t wanna try it’s tooo painful I cried earlier when it was too painful to try and do the right thing aka take care of myself instead of just binge eating and doing nothing but watching F... View more

At this point I don’t have the energy to try I’m exhausted I don’t wanna try it’s tooo painful I cried earlier when it was too painful to try and do the right thing aka take care of myself instead of just binge eating and doing nothing but watching Fave shows and that release from the crying helped me shower and go shopping but it’s not enough and The release didn’t last long like may 6 hours before I started binge again aha help advice ? imma sleep not so sorry won’t be replying for around 12 hours

April30 Just want to run away
  • replies: 4

Hi, Feeling like I don't know how to cope with life anymore. I don't know what to do with my life, an honestly because of my anxiety and depression I don't want to do anything, just want to run away from life an go live in the bush.. But yeah can't r... View more

Hi, Feeling like I don't know how to cope with life anymore. I don't know what to do with my life, an honestly because of my anxiety and depression I don't want to do anything, just want to run away from life an go live in the bush.. But yeah can't really do that.. Ive just quit my job (for a few reasons..) and am moving back to my parents for a bit while I figure out what I'm gonna do, but I really just feel like I can't and don't even want to deal with life anymore honestly.. Also one of my best friends, I kinda fell in love with him, but pretty sure he doesn't like me back like that. Which obviously he doesn't have to. But it sucks. Cause I really like him, an I just don't really know how to deal with the feeling of loving someone but like knowing they don't love you the same. Just like why am I not good enough why can't I be what he wants.. An I know it's not really about being good enough or not, people just like different people.. But it still really hurts.. But it's just kinda a confusing situation.. I've told him I love him. An he said he loves me too. But I feel like from how he acts he means it more as just friends.. Cause he's never actually asked me out or anything.. I wish I had no feelings because I just care way too much about everything and get way too attached to people and it just hurts. Every time. An I can't do this anymore. Sounds real wussy.. But I'm so done..

Suicidaldepression Help for major depression and mood disorder
  • replies: 5

I have been depressed and suicidal almost my whole life . Im here because i recently want to get better now. I have never seen a doctor or phychiatrist or whatever i was told by family to see them at a young age because they know the trauma and thing... View more

I have been depressed and suicidal almost my whole life . Im here because i recently want to get better now. I have never seen a doctor or phychiatrist or whatever i was told by family to see them at a young age because they know the trauma and things i been through. What do i do i dont know whst to do nomore im sick of having to pretend to be happy everyday...