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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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Emotions26 Do not feed the monster
  • replies: 153

I am struggling to understand this website and find my way aroundI have replied to some peopleI think that two champions replied to my first two postsI do not know where they are now I have supported several posts of othersI have replied to one perso... View more

I am struggling to understand this website and find my way aroundI have replied to some peopleI think that two champions replied to my first two postsI do not know where they are now I have supported several posts of othersI have replied to one person I think today I am resonating with several posts in different areas but cannot remember where they are I am literally lost within this website as well as within myself I am working very hard at keeping the dreaded "D" at bay which I have battled with too many times.I have had this since young apparentlyI have had large gaps of time where I am mostly symptom free I think The monster is the dreaded "d"It is also a relative whom I have had to relinquish her hold over me.I have only learnt about this stuff recently so struggle talking about it. So I think of do not feed the monster as in do not think of her. Or do not feel guilty or upset or worry or a thousand other things Also do not feed the dreaded "d" as it lurks waiting I will not find this piece again

Guest_95566092 Too many problems!
  • replies: 1

1) I'm 31 Years Old! In regards to my Socio-Economics, & with Working.- I've never had a Payed Job, or any Payed Working History.- Not just Full Time, but even Casual, or Part Time.- I've never wanted Entry Job's like.- Sales- Hospitality- Factory- R... View more

1) I'm 31 Years Old! In regards to my Socio-Economics, & with Working.- I've never had a Payed Job, or any Payed Working History.- Not just Full Time, but even Casual, or Part Time.- I've never wanted Entry Job's like.- Sales- Hospitality- Factory- Retail- I've never wanted TAFE, Manual Labour, Construction, Apprenticeships, Diploma's- There's not even any Certificates that I'd want to do, even. - I'm also not a University, Self Motivated, Study Personality. I don't have eligibility, regardless. I only have a Year 11 VCE, & A Year 12 in Foundation Graduation, without a VCE & ATAR. I've never liked Academia. 2) My driving is not Regular. Even though I have a Licence, & a Vehicle. It's not optimal, the way everyone else is driving on the roads. I lack development, with my driving. 3) I'm tragically, wrongly Misdiagnosed with Schizophrenia, too. It's caused me 5 Hospital Admissions, since. 2012, 2014, 2015, 2021, & even in, 2026. It's a very COMPLICATED, where the whole thing is misguided, & my mistakes became the misconfusion, for my notions on reality, were more subjectively, decided against my own argument of sanity. 4) I have Pre Diabetes, & Cholecystectomy. My Gallbladder has been removed. 5) I need to fix 2-3 lower teeth. I have Gingivitis-Gum-Recessions, on my bottom teeth. I need a skin graft surgeries. 6) I'm also considered a Virgin incel, now that I'm 31 Years Old. I've never had any relationships, with the opposite sex, whether that's platonic, or with sensual intimacy.

scarlett-04 why am i getting upset over nothing or small things
  • replies: 3

i’m 22 and over the past few weeks. I’ve just been feeling more and more sad. I started a new job recently and yesterday I had a full on crying moment and couldn’t stop it only a few weeks before I was on the phone crying to my boyfriend about the sa... View more

i’m 22 and over the past few weeks. I’ve just been feeling more and more sad. I started a new job recently and yesterday I had a full on crying moment and couldn’t stop it only a few weeks before I was on the phone crying to my boyfriend about the same thing it was about nothing. I just couldn’t stop crying and I can’t stop now. I haven’t felt this way before. I don’t know why I’m feeling this. Maybe it’s the anxiety of a new job or something else but yesterday was too much. I felt bad asking for help cause I hate doing it and I felt bad for asking my boyfriend to come over even though he was busy. I felt guilty and I still do and I just wanna see him and I just want my parents I don’t want to do anything. My new job isn’t even that hard on me. I just feel like I’m doing nothing and I don’t want to do anything. I don’t feel motivated to go to the gym. Go out. All I wanna do is lie in bed just stay there. I keep a record of how many times I’ve cried over the year and even though it’s 5 August I’ve already cried 18 times and yesterday with two of the worst times and I can’t tell you why I think it was just anxiety and change and losing a friend waking up earlier than I’m so used to and then having to drive 30 minutes and I don’t start work for an hour after that. I feel useless and I feel tired and I don’t wanna do anything. I know I have a support system but I hate asking for it. I hate crying in front of my parents and my boyfriend and my friends. I hate being so easily emotional but I can’t help it. It’s who I am so I can’t change that I’ve tried, but I can’t. It’s too hard does anyone else feel this way. i feel like i am the only one some day

Chocolate59 So tired of trying
  • replies: 6

I've been there for everyone that I can & now my health is failing there's nobody there for me. So helpless. I'm a smoker so basically a lepur - judged for my addiction rather than who or what I am. So sad

I've been there for everyone that I can & now my health is failing there's nobody there for me. So helpless. I'm a smoker so basically a lepur - judged for my addiction rather than who or what I am. So sad

Duke_dbz I don’t know how to move forward anymore
  • replies: 0

For the past four or five years, I feel like I have been surviving rather than living.I moved to Australia with the hope of building a stable life and career. I completed my master’s degree, kept working, applied for jobs, attended interviews, learne... View more

For the past four or five years, I feel like I have been surviving rather than living.I moved to Australia with the hope of building a stable life and career. I completed my master’s degree, kept working, applied for jobs, attended interviews, learned new skills and tried to do everything people tell migrants to do. But despite all of that, I still haven’t been able to find stable work in the field I studied for.Recently, I came extremely close to securing a proper Data Analyst role. I cleared multiple interview stages, completed an assignment and reached the final round. I genuinely believed that this might finally be the opportunity that changed my situation. When I was rejected at the end, it broke something in me. It wasn’t just another rejection. It felt like losing the life and stability I had imagined would come with it.During these years, I have also dealt with multiple health problems and surgeries. I reached nearly 190 kg at my heaviest, lost more than 80 kg, went through bariatric surgery, complications and further surgery. I have fought addiction, stopped drinking and tried repeatedly to rebuild myself physically and mentally.I know I have survived a lot, but I am tired of only being told that I am strong. I don’t want my entire life to be about how much pain I can tolerate.Financially, I am struggling. I am a migrant without access to Medicare, and professional mental health support can cost an enormous amount. When you are already broke and trying to cover rent, bills, food and debt, paying hundreds of dollars for therapy does not feel realistically possible.I currently do part-time work and things like Uber or rideshare to survive. I understand that work is work, and I am grateful that I have some way to earn money, but doing this indefinitely feels like a prison. Every day is about making enough to survive the next week, without getting closer to the career or life I came here to build.I feel stuck between not wanting to leave Australia and being unable to find a sustainable way to stay. Going back feels like giving up on everything I sacrificed to come here, but continuing like this is exhausting me financially, emotionally and mentally.The loneliness makes everything worse. I don’t have a partner or a strong support system around me every day. People often give advice, but much of it comes from people who have never had to deal with migration, visa uncertainty, financial pressure, health problems and repeated career rejection all at the same time.I am not asking for motivational quotes or to be told to “just keep applying.” I have been doing that. I am asking for honest advice from anyone who has been trapped in a similar survival cycle and eventually found a way forward.How did you rebuild your life when you were exhausted, broke and unsure whether the country you had chosen still had a place for you? How do you decide whether to keep fighting, change careers, move countries or start again?Right now, I genuinely don’t know what to do anymore. I am trying to hold on and find a path that gives me more than just another week of survival. I could really use some understanding, support and practical advice.

L0st_mys3lf When one door closes another door opens
  • replies: 0

Some people say that when a door closes, everything behind it should be left there. When another door opens, it should lead to new beginnings, not back to old pain.Our relationship ended once. We spent a month apart before finding our way back to eac... View more

Some people say that when a door closes, everything behind it should be left there. When another door opens, it should lead to new beginnings, not back to old pain.Our relationship ended once. We spent a month apart before finding our way back to each other. We reconciled, but we continued living separately. Three years later, our relationship is stronger in many ways, and now he wants to make our future together official.The truth is, I love him. But loving someone doesn't erase the fear of being hurt again.My family knows about our relationship, and I can feel the unspoken tension. I often feel that they believe I should be with someone else. He feels that tension too whenever he's around my family, and seeing him uncomfortable hurts me just as much.Even though we both live independently and have our own homes, I constantly find myself asking, "Should I, or shouldn't I?" Deep down, I don't think we've always been completely honest with each other. We both recognise the flaws in our relationship, yet we continue holding on because we don't want to let each other go.The hardest part has been the dishonesty surrounding finances. Trust is difficult to rebuild once it's been broken.Our social life often revolves around going out for dinner and then we tried on the poker machines. In the beginning, We won what felt like a lot of money, and those early experiences gave us hope that we could do it again. Over time, though, what started as entertainment slowly became a habit.Sometimes love isn't the hardest part. The hardest part is accepting that a healthy future requires trust, honesty, accountability, and the courage to break patterns that no longer serve either person.

Guest_40067888 Feeling low
  • replies: 1

I’ve been on medication for about 10 years. I’ve recently had a change in the dosage of medication with in the last two weeks. I feel terrible. Don’t even think about thoughts any more just feels bad I don’t know if it’s the medicine

I’ve been on medication for about 10 years. I’ve recently had a change in the dosage of medication with in the last two weeks. I feel terrible. Don’t even think about thoughts any more just feels bad I don’t know if it’s the medicine

Zee Life
  • replies: 6

I just feel like I have no one, and when people say that they’re there for you, they’re not. Because when u need them the most, they’re busy or they don’t have time. You try to explain to them how you feel and how scary it was dealing with it all alo... View more

I just feel like I have no one, and when people say that they’re there for you, they’re not. Because when u need them the most, they’re busy or they don’t have time. You try to explain to them how you feel and how scary it was dealing with it all alone, and they show they understand, then the next day it’s back to normal. I just wish I could have someone always with me that whenever I need the help I can just turn to it or go on my phone and message it to them, and keep them updating so I don’t have to constantly tell the story all over again, or tell it to a new person. But no one truely understands you, or knows the full story and I think that’s what I hate most

SilverBunny Exhausted and It's my fault
  • replies: 1

It's so awful to have all the pressures of my own mistakes piling up on me. I'm awful for procrastinating, but even more so when I know that I'm spiralling. In a way, my diagnosis has only served to make me worse and give me something to blame my ina... View more

It's so awful to have all the pressures of my own mistakes piling up on me. I'm awful for procrastinating, but even more so when I know that I'm spiralling. In a way, my diagnosis has only served to make me worse and give me something to blame my inability to work on. I pushed all my work back, now I have two days to get it all done and I'm stuck in this awful state of paralysis-- I'm here, writing this, instead of working. I might be using this as a further obstacle to keep myself from just getting into it and getting it done. I'm so scared of failing that I just don't try, and now I just can't. I want to apologise to my poor mother who worked so hard at a thankless job to pay my fees, and I'm just throwing away that hard work. I'm trying to get on top of it. I really am. It's al I've ever wanted to do, but I just feel this crushing weight on top of me. I feel sick to my stomach whenever I get an email, worrying that my course providers have finally gotten sick of my poor attendance and my rare submissions and decided to remove me from the course. I did it to myself. I convinced myself it could wait and I would be fine and now I'm out of time. Please excuse my tragic venting and thank you for listening.

Jenny1 Partner 80 will not accept depressed blames me
  • replies: 2

How to survive 50 year relationship when partner denies anxiety depression even when having many episodes over the years. Always my fault and last two episodes wants to separate. Not an option at our age or what I want. I have read all the literature... View more

How to survive 50 year relationship when partner denies anxiety depression even when having many episodes over the years. Always my fault and last two episodes wants to separate. Not an option at our age or what I want. I have read all the literature and he refused to see anyone. I am currently sort of ok but worried about the future.

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