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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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Lilith16 I am sinking
  • replies: 16

I have so much to write but I am so exhausted and dumbed down by the depression. I couldn’t take my 5 year old to school today, I just kinda broke. I was supposed to help out in her class for the first time. I’m such a shit Mum. My husband came home ... View more

I have so much to write but I am so exhausted and dumbed down by the depression. I couldn’t take my 5 year old to school today, I just kinda broke. I was supposed to help out in her class for the first time. I’m such a shit Mum. My husband came home from work and took her late but you could tell that he was disgusted in me. He’d deny that, but it was pretty obvious. Mental illness is ok as long as I’m not effecting everyone else too badly I guess. im waiting until the 15th so I can go inpatient for over 3 weeks to get TMS. It helped last year but I have to leave my 5 and 3 year old. I’m a stay at home Mum. My 5 yo girl is showing signs of it affecting her, my 3 year old doesn’t understand yet but he’s a mummy’s boy. iwishthis was more articulate. I hate myself. I’m in bed. Look like something the cat dragged in and just don’t care. Husband is now working from home and I just feel disgusting around him. he tries to pep talk me. It makes me want to scream. Then that doesn’t work so he ignores me.

scat How do I help my daughter
  • replies: 5

My daughter is 27 years old. She is a very attractive woman who has never had a relationship with anyone. She seems oblivious to the looks she gets from men who notice her beauty. She has very few friends and shares a flat with a girl a few years old... View more

My daughter is 27 years old. She is a very attractive woman who has never had a relationship with anyone. She seems oblivious to the looks she gets from men who notice her beauty. She has very few friends and shares a flat with a girl a few years older than her. Her flatmate has a boyfriend who lives elsewhere. I have been told by a former flatmate that they are very toxic and negative about life. I wish my daughter would move back home to get away from her. Despite studying acting for 3 years, my daughter works in a dead end retail job. She is so negative about her abilities despite being approach by an agent who saw her on stage once and offered to represent her. She closes up in social situations and becomes anxious, even around family. She escapes into her world of video games all the time. Her job is at EB games which does not help. She suffered a complete breakdown last year when we took her to visit her grandfather for his birthday. Even though she has been in his home on many occasions she freaked out completely and wanted to leave straight away. Her grandmother died 9 years ago from pancreatic cancer and she has not been back there since then. She told us she felt no connection to any of us and informed us that she was only staying alive as a courtesy to us and would kill herself when we die. Her grandfather died in April and she had another breakdown when we went to his funeral. Tonight she is staying at home with us and this subject was raised by her again. I am trying to deal with the death of my father and now I have the worry of my daughter who wants to kill herself. She is so negative about the whole world and sees no future. I know she hates her job but because she has $100000 HECS debt from her previous studies she will not pursue any other education to improve her job prospects. I want to live to be 150 just so I can ruin her suicide plans. I talked to my doctor about getting help for her and he gave me tips on how to approach the subject but she completely shut down and threatened to never see us again if we kept talking about it. Her flatmate just uses the excuse that that is the way she is and we should learn to accept it. Well I refuse to do that and I am desperate for help

Draven_J INFORMATIVE SUPERORITY
  • replies: 4

"Not Everybody Is In the Same Boat" Either Due to, Ethnicity, Age, Direction, Acceptance from Society & Peer's, Nationality, Personal Intelligence, Stress Competence, Generation, Sociable Esteem, Support or Isolated Reality, Mental Health or NOT - Th... View more

"Not Everybody Is In the Same Boat" Either Due to, Ethnicity, Age, Direction, Acceptance from Society & Peer's, Nationality, Personal Intelligence, Stress Competence, Generation, Sociable Esteem, Support or Isolated Reality, Mental Health or NOT - There's many Area's where Life Isn't Fair with Diversity of Personality and Situational In - different Suffering Than their Is Societal Thinking, which differs In each Country, Plus Government Vast Legislation and Regulation and Rules Creative Personality's and Especially Musician's and Comedian's are more likely to have Depression and Suicidal Tendencies because, Creative People, are more likely to Suicide because their Smarter, Their more Introspective and Reflective, Their more likely to Hold & Grasp Minority Capacity and Possibility, Their not Interested In Conventional Regularity and Ordinary Direction, Their Sensitive, and bothered By their Own Over thinking and By the Mess of Society, Their not Weird People, Their Socially Selective, Not Socially Doomed, They Find Ordinary People Boring for Conversation and Relation to Intellect or Recreational Hobbies and Personality, Their Often Good Hearted, and Find Society Irrational and Stupid, Individuality and Meaning and Identity, not Just with Personal Selective Occupation, Over Second to Last Choice Liability Mundane Slavery. Image and Opinion's and Nature and Expression, Mean's more to Transparent Creative's, They can't Associate with the Average Joe, as their Dismissive and Vain and Vague and Dis Belief from Related Concept's, Their not only within Sub Culture possibility, But their 100% Misfit's from either Generic Masculinity Value's and Virtue's or at least Interest's and Ideologic Thinking, Resentful towards Status Quo or Social Norm's , Their Highly Detailed with Articulation and Aspiration's and Everything get's In the Way with People and Challenge's and Limited Time and Energy and Needing Money at Some Point. They can get Depression because Often Small Talk Is 85% of Society, and Philosophical or Meaningful Discussion about Conspiracy or anything Interesting Is never Shared on the Average. Creativity Is Therapeutic and Besides Creativity and Technology and Fashion and maybe Spirituality or Religion, Everything seems DULL and Depleting of Interest or Attraction. And anyone wither Creative or Academic, can be Mistaken as Autistic or Asperger's, Modern Society, Is Narcissitic and Superiority of Opinion.

t..c i've nearly made it, but tell me what i should do
  • replies: 3

I'm 16, finally entering my final year of school after probably one of the worst years of my life. Me and my ex-boyfriend (i'll call him S) just mutually broke up and we were together for 15 months. There is another guy but that is not the reason me ... View more

I'm 16, finally entering my final year of school after probably one of the worst years of my life. Me and my ex-boyfriend (i'll call him S) just mutually broke up and we were together for 15 months. There is another guy but that is not the reason me and S broke up, he never really put in enough effort to see me and he was always making excuses and it made me feel like absolute crap (this has been going on for like at least 6-8 month), but i mean he didn't want to see me or risk it cos of covid and i didn't see him for 4 months minimum, he hates calling and Face-timing so i barely talked to him and it put me in a very bad mental state and i think the only reason i stayed with him was because during lockdown i needed someone. Now when we broke up i also i needed to focus more on myself because next year i can't even describe how busy I will be. I have been working on myself lately, I've been going to the gym and trying to eat better but i was told last Thursday by a dietician that i have an eating disorder, because for example today i've had basically nothing and i just had dinner but i didn't want to eat it and now i feel sick from eating it. There are just some days i have the biggest mood swings. This other guy (i'll call him M), i met him at the start of the year in my maths class, he is the nicest guy i've met and he has been so helpful and we haven't stopped talking for the last like month. We went and saw a movie last week and he bought me a ring and i haven't taken it off. I was and still am so happy. We aren't together because me and S broke up not too long ago but man i really don't know what i am feeling. S would also tell me if i told him i have depression and/or anxiety that it is just a phase and it'll pass, I WAS LITERALLY HOSPITALISED, and M picks up the moment i feel slightly bad and he makes sure i'm okay. My questions are; Am i falling in love too quickly? I have already been diagnosed with depression/anxiety but is it getting worse? Or is this just my anxiety overthinking everything?

Chynapage Hygiene Help
  • replies: 2

Dear All, I am struggling with having a shower and washing my hair at the moment. Does anyone know of any services of places that are willing to wash your hair for you?

Dear All, I am struggling with having a shower and washing my hair at the moment. Does anyone know of any services of places that are willing to wash your hair for you?

airymoods Coming off medication
  • replies: 1

Recently and under strict guidance from my doctors I have stopped taking medication for bipolar disorder management. Unfortunately I don’t know anybody in my life that has gone through something similar and I have no one to relate to regarding this. ... View more

Recently and under strict guidance from my doctors I have stopped taking medication for bipolar disorder management. Unfortunately I don’t know anybody in my life that has gone through something similar and I have no one to relate to regarding this. Has anyone else gone through this? Did you feel any differently? What were some strategies to help with avoiding relapse? Any help would be appreciated.

Timmaye Need help, also want to help.
  • replies: 1

Hey new to this forum. Lived with one form of depression or another (depending on which doctor you ask on which day) since I was twelve. Was unfortunate enough to instill a core belief at 15 that there were many more cons than pro's to living and I s... View more

Hey new to this forum. Lived with one form of depression or another (depending on which doctor you ask on which day) since I was twelve. Was unfortunate enough to instill a core belief at 15 that there were many more cons than pro's to living and I should kill myself. I still can't shake that and battle it daily. I'm 32 now and have many coping strategies and alerts for how to fight the dark, that has kept me safe and for the most part sane-ish. I would like to help if I can. My most beneficial times in my life were not in a classroom but learning true torment and horror in places like a locked ward. I was blessed to visit such a place for a few weeks after a very close suicide attempt. Seeing how the mind can be turned into a true torture device humbled me as my condition's worst case was simply death, fairly mild in comparison to some people I met and befriended. I spent my time helping those around me in a way the staff could never have. I have survived some very bad times in my life and would like to find out if there is something I can do from what I've learnt that can help people feeling truly hopeless. Though I often leave not hope for myself, I challenge anyone to sit and have a conversation about the black hopeless despair with me and not feel at least a little more light at the end.

Bennyone Feeling lower than ever at the moment
  • replies: 1

To whoever is reading, I’m a 24 Yr old male, pretty big history of mental illness and had ongoing issues with depression and anxiety. I am feeling lower than ever at the moment after coming out of a long term relationship. I feel super alone at the m... View more

To whoever is reading, I’m a 24 Yr old male, pretty big history of mental illness and had ongoing issues with depression and anxiety. I am feeling lower than ever at the moment after coming out of a long term relationship. I feel super alone at the moment as now I am coming home to an empty apartment every day and being surrounded by my own thoughts. I have friends but they don’t really understand and even if they do, I shut everyone out because I hate talking about what’s going on in my head. This is the first time I’ve ever posted on a forum or done this because I feel so hopeless. Just constantly breaking down in tears and feeling like there’s no point anymore doing this day in and day out. I’ve seen doctors and been medicated for Major Depressive Disorder and anxiety for the past 10 years, and just don’t have the motivation anymore to go talk to someone or see doctors again. Come from a broken home and only really have a relationship with my mum but she is going through a lot and as I said I just, I can’t even explain it, it’s like I know how toxic this is to deal with this on my own and not talk about it or do anything but I can’t bring myself to open up to anyone anymore and get help. In my relationships I’ve had partners be very upset because they think that one day they would lose me because of my mental illness, and that breaks my heart, but at the same time I also feel like I don’t see any other future for myself except to do this day by day until one day I can’t take it anymore. I don’t know how to help myself when it’s like I don’t want to be helped anymore??

Hiraeth24 just wanting to sleep all day and night - no spark or joy from anything
  • replies: 2

Hi all, just seeking some comfort/advice i think. i have a psych, im on medication, i know the things i want to do. I'm not afraid to be alone but seem to seek validation of love from relationships because ive come to realise the trauma's and experie... View more

Hi all, just seeking some comfort/advice i think. i have a psych, im on medication, i know the things i want to do. I'm not afraid to be alone but seem to seek validation of love from relationships because ive come to realise the trauma's and experiences over the past few years have left me without an ounce of self-worth or self-esteem. i've just had a recent breakup from someone who was always hot/cold and on/off for a few months, but now im wondering was it because i didn't love myself and came across too needy that this is why the relationship ended. i don't get any enjoyment or spark from anything anymore. All my family is in victoria and i am in brisbane and with COVID - as well as my mum who is my closest person i want to speak to (getting too upset and stressed in my times of need because of her own trauma as well as being super healthy and now having to retire after multiple strokes. i feel exhausted, i feel empty. it feels like the road ahead is just unatainable. i have been filling voids with unescessary spending which just makes things worse as i have a large outstanding debt from exes and paying for everything that's going nowhere despite having a good job. most recently, i felt so low that i just wanted to not wake up. i hadn't been able to go to work for 3 nights and couldn't move from bed or eat anything. i suffer from anxiety too and i just feel like im constantly running a race with all this adrenaline built up. i feel like i've always been the stepping stone for past relationships- the empath who loves them wholeheartedly despite any flaws and then they up and leave and find their forever. that's hard. as that's something i've always wanted and i feel i deserve. is it just i'm not attracting the right people because i have so much work to do? i feel lost, i feel alone, and i feel frustrated.

John_E_S Recovering from depression
  • replies: 9

Hi all, I hope you all are doing well. I have been actively trying to improve my outlook on life lately. It is really hard but I feel I am very slowly improving. The part I am finding the most challenging are the peaks and dips. I have periods where ... View more

Hi all, I hope you all are doing well. I have been actively trying to improve my outlook on life lately. It is really hard but I feel I am very slowly improving. The part I am finding the most challenging are the peaks and dips. I have periods where I feel ok, even happy, but they are split by periods where I feel horrible and can only see catastrophe. These bad periods seem to be more common in the morning I have people I talk to but I feel I have been leaning heavily on them and really just usy re hashing the same comments again and again. Does anyone have anything that has been successful for them in getting through these troughs...