Depression

Binge Eating Disorder Recovery

replies: 3

*trigger warning* I’m going to mention specific numbers because they’re relevant. I’m a 22F. In November 2025 I met with a GP because I was constantly fatigued. She had my blood work done and as usual everything was “normal.“ She didn’t mention my we... View more

*trigger warning* I’m going to mention specific numbers because they’re relevant. I’m a 22F. In November 2025 I met with a GP because I was constantly fatigued. She had my blood work done and as usual everything was “normal.“ She didn’t mention my weight once, even when my symptoms aligned perfectly with the adverse effects of obesity. At the time I was relieved she didn’t bring up my weight. She advised for me to start seeing a psychiatrist and so I made an appointment for February 2026. At the beginning of 2026 I weighed myself and was 96kgs at 164cm. It was more than my usual 93-94kg fluctuation that I had been sustaining since I was 14. It triggered something in me to start taking my health seriously. I’ve been obese my whole life and grew up in an obese family. My parents are deeply mentally ill individuals and that led to a volatile, abusive home; a trauma rich environment. I was bullied for my weight by my parents, relatives, peers and was constantly made aware of it at the doctors office since I was young. It was only in my adult age that I realised the doctor wasn’t speaking to me, but to my parents who regardless, neglected to do anything about it and would blame me for being fatter than the other kids. When I was 13 I weighed almost 115kg. I decided then that I needed to do something about it. Without counting calories and just eating healthier and exercising more, I became 93kg in a year and felt amazing. Everyone noticed how I had changed physically but the reality was that mentally nothing had changed. Because I never learnt about nutrition or proper eating habits, all i knew was that if i eat less I wont gain weight. This led to a 2 year long binge-restrict cycle. When i was 17 I “broke out“ of the cycle and convinced myself that I had “recovered.” The reality was that I had just stopped restricting and bingeing on a routine and just incorporated both aspects into my everyday and with how I interacted with food. 17-20 I spent in denial. Back to 2026, I got diagnosed with OCD and ADHD. The binge eating was seen as a result of the unmedicated ADHD. I’ve spent this whole year coming to terms with my binge eating and sugar addiction. I learnt how to eat healthier and how to manage hunger. I started loving being active and I started loving myself. At the beginning of September, things started going extremely downhill. My birthday is in September and I spent weeks prior trying to figure out the ”best treat” to give myself so that I maintain my deficit but still get to enjoy my birthday. I ordered a slice of my favourite cheesecake that I hadn’t had all year, 440 calories. I sat alone in my room on the night of my birthday, put on a youtube video and took a bite: It tasted awful. I kept taking bites thinking it would start to taste better but it didn’t. I finished it regardless and went to bed, but I couldn’t stop thinking to myself: “what a waste of 440 calories.” I spent the rest of September in a binge-restrict cycle. On the 27th of September I called the mental health crisis number while in a binging episode because I didn’t know what else to do. I felt so helpless. On October 12, I weighed in at 65.6kgs. I was confused how that could be the case considering how i’d been eating. I binged that whole week. At the start of this week I had gained 5 kilos. I was always so confused as to how people gained their weight back after working so hard to lose it. It was my biggest fear and now I’m living it. I binged this whole week and have been binging today. I awoke the sleeping dragon within me and feel completely helpless against it. I feel like a fraud and a failure.

Switching medications

replies: 2

Hi, This is my first post, so I'm not really sure what to expect, but I feel like I need to get this out there. I'm hoping to connect with people who have been through something similar and might be able to share their experiences. I've been on medic... View more

Hi, This is my first post, so I'm not really sure what to expect, but I feel like I need to get this out there. I'm hoping to connect with people who have been through something similar and might be able to share their experiences. I've been on medications since I was 21, and I'm now 38. Over the years, whenever I've started feeling down again, my doctor would usually increase my dosages. It would help for a while, but after a few months, I'd find myself slipping back into that low place again. Recently, I've noticed my mood getting worse, my anxiety increasing, and my anger issues starting to creep back in. I realised things weren't going well and that I wasn't feeling like myself anymore, so I decided to see my GP. I actually went to a different doctor this time, and after discussing everything, she suggested switching me from one medication to another. I was instructed to taper off, which I did over seven days, followed by three days without medication before starting the new medication. I ended up seeing another GP after my pharmacist suggested him, and he prescribed me something to help with the anxiety while continuing the new medication. Initially, things seemed to improve a little, but after four or five hours, my anxiety would start spiking again, and I'd find myself feeling down. I went back to the GP, who increased my dose. I'm now on day three of the increased dose, and if I'm being honest, I'm still struggling. I feel numb and almost emotionless at times. It's difficult to explain, but some of these feelings remind me of how I was in my early twenties when I was first diagnosed with major depressive disorder and anxiety. It's quite frightening to feel those old feelings returning after so many years, especially when I'm trying to get the help I need and find something that works. I know it's still early days with the new medication, and I'm trying to be patient, but it's hard when you're feeling this way and just want to feel like yourself again. I'm wondering if anyone else has experienced something similar and how to cope. Thank you for your time

i think i flunked my test

replies: 3

hi im 26i dropped out of uni at 22 bc my struggles w study hit a peak. i got diagnosed finally w adhd after and doing the acer STAT test was the first time id had to do maths and do a timed assessment since highschool. i very painfully had to face ju... View more

hi im 26i dropped out of uni at 22 bc my struggles w study hit a peak. i got diagnosed finally w adhd after and doing the acer STAT test was the first time id had to do maths and do a timed assessment since highschool. i very painfully had to face just how long and how badly my adhd had been blocking my ability to reflect my knowledge onto paper. it felt like my whole life was a futile fight. i pushed through and studied meaningfully every day almost all day for two weeks (a first in my life thanks to my meds.) i was doing well and i was confident. 3/4 time through my actual test i realise im running out of time and im working way slower than in my trials and that i cant get my answers as clearly as usual. id forgotten to take my meds. i try to make the best of the time left but i left a lot of questions wo answers and i wish id at least random filled but i didnt. i tried so hard and because people kept asking to meet and i was busy for the first time in years everyone was curious so everyone ik knows about this test and im too humiliated to mention anything to anyone. i feel like ive ruined my life again and it could've been avoided so simplyi cried for the entire 40minutes until the my test and i tried to do my best but i couldnt finish the second essay and i just want to move on with my life and like become something. i dont know anyone in my life who has been so functionally ruined by mental illness and i feel suffocated and isolated at the same time. i feel so ashamed i dont even want to face myself. i worked so hard. i really did. and now its all for nothing. im sick of blaming everything on my disorders but they really are running my life and running it into the ground and noone around me understands even when theyre ill too because they still get their jobs and their degrees, they can build their lives and i can barely keep up a daily routineim tired of being a failure

Do people get a chance to talk with each other on here

replies: 4

I've been feeling so upset with myself mistakes I've made in life and have had some fear over the future this last twenty years has gone so fast.

Depressed Hermit

replies: 1

I have been having huge anxiety as a symptoms of my depression and it seems to be getting worse. I am fifty five this year and the reality of this bipolar diagnosis has really upset me after having a major episodes in 2000 and then again at the begin... View more

I have been having huge anxiety as a symptoms of my depression and it seems to be getting worse. I am fifty five this year and the reality of this bipolar diagnosis has really upset me after having a major episodes in 2000 and then again at the beginning of the year after losing my very close long term friend to cancer. Basically since he's been gone my reality of the fact that I am alone has really been debilitating for me. I realise all these past mistakes I've made in life and having broken a persons heart from a wrong turn that I made in my life which only now when looking back I can see how big a mistake it was.

Can you talk with other sufferers on here I wonde

replies: 2

Is there a place where we can go to talk with other people who may also be depressed?

Depressed partner leaving

replies: 20

I was in a six year relationship with my partner. We had what I thought was a loving, stable and solid relationship. When my partner became depressed the relationship also ended as they broke it off without much warning. My question is, do depressed ... View more

I was in a six year relationship with my partner. We had what I thought was a loving, stable and solid relationship. When my partner became depressed the relationship also ended as they broke it off without much warning. My question is, do depressed partners come back once they’ve recovered and they can access emotions such as love again? Do they disappear or come back for a friendship or to the relationship they once had?

Spiralling

replies: 2

My depression has been pretty much destroying my life. Combined with newly discovered AuDHD and an ongoing family situation, I've been flunking uni, ghosting friends, and have barely been able to work. I'm feeling very hopeless, stuck and embarrassed... View more

My depression has been pretty much destroying my life. Combined with newly discovered AuDHD and an ongoing family situation, I've been flunking uni, ghosting friends, and have barely been able to work. I'm feeling very hopeless, stuck and embarrassed- I know I shouldn't compare but all my friends have their lives together and are doing so well, and I am, by the very definition of the word, a loser. How can I muster the energy to suck things up and get through things so I don't keep falling behind? I've recently been too exhausted to even pretend to care, but at the same time no amount of break time helps. I'm at a loss of what to do.

I Feel Like I'm Being Ignored And Or Rejected On The Forums

replies: 11

Hey again guys. Liam here. So, let's see, what's been going on...well this is something I've wanted to really get off my chest, but...I feel like I'm being ignored and or rejected on the forums. I mean don't get me wrong, you guys have been incredibl... View more

Hey again guys. Liam here. So, let's see, what's been going on...well this is something I've wanted to really get off my chest, but...I feel like I'm being ignored and or rejected on the forums. I mean don't get me wrong, you guys have been incredible to me, but I just feel like I can't make a post without it being moved to one where I've literally posted numerous times...I want to talk about all kinds of things, mentally but the ones who run the forums seem to think I'm just talking about the same things over and over which, yes is true, but still...also I know what it is I'm looking for, after a long time of research, I finally found a word for what it is I'm looking for in a girl. I'm looking for a platonic partner. Now for those of you who don't know what a platonic oartner is, well here's the definition. A platonic partner is a person with whom you share a deep, committed life bond that functions like a long-term relationship, but without sexual or romantic involvement. So yeah, THAT'S what I'm looking for. Now the bad news? Well, I am still trying to find that person. My first partner, I broke up with her because she wasn't chatty and was rather quiet, and not to mention that she was so obsessed with me to the point where she wouldn't leave me alone. So I panicked. Then my second one, I didn't really have that much to do with her...she was way too obsessed with her own stuff and she was focusing way too much on herself...and finally my third one, while she is willing to hug me, she never answers my calls or texts...guys...I don't know waht more I can do...can you guys please comfort me right now because I'm crying from this... *Crying* -Liam

Withdrawal after a serious hospitalization

replies: 32

Midway through 2025 I was flown to Sydney to ne admitted to hospital with a rare and deadly serious bacterial infection of my windpipe. The short story is during early treatment I went into respiratory arrest, and near death transferred to ICU after ... View more

Midway through 2025 I was flown to Sydney to ne admitted to hospital with a rare and deadly serious bacterial infection of my windpipe. The short story is during early treatment I went into respiratory arrest, and near death transferred to ICU after intubation. I was sedated for a week and the tube was removed. Due to the rarity of my condition I was kept in isolation in the main during my three and a half month stay. My ongoing treatment as an outpatient will last a total of 12 months of antibiotic treatment, not including the IV treatment I was given in hospital. I have to return to Sydney from my county town every three months for follow up blood tests and a clinic visit for more medication. Since returning home full time I have become more withdrawn, to the point that I avoid going out if possible. Where I was very involved in community radio all I do now is one two hour shift on air a week. I wouldn't call myself depressed, although I have suffered bouts in the past. Life is different because of the after effects of the infection and the damage caused to my trachea after the stent that kept it open was removed. The possibility of tracheal collapse plays on my mind sometimes, if I am having a low energy day. That is a regular occurrence and an ongoing after effect. My friends and wife, although they mean well, don't understand what I went through mentally. They saw the physical side of my hospital stay and it was very difficult for them, particularly my stay in ICU. "That's in the past now" is what I have been told, however mentally it's not.

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