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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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Toughavocado33 Moving for uni, feeling lonely, adult things, depression and lots of sleeping
  • replies: 3

Hi there! I'm kinda struggling a lot. I moved states to attend uni to focus on my dream goal of doing art as a living. I moved into a sharehouse/boarding house almost and we live our own lives with little interaction. I sleep through the days, skippi... View more

Hi there! I'm kinda struggling a lot. I moved states to attend uni to focus on my dream goal of doing art as a living. I moved into a sharehouse/boarding house almost and we live our own lives with little interaction. I sleep through the days, skipping uni classes and have racked up a heavy amount of work to catch up on. I've missed one deadline - my first assignment. I don't know what to do. I don't have any motivation to do anything. At first I did. I went to the library and got out a mass amount of books related to my units and was so keen to get started. But everything went down hill. I don't have any family here and didn't move with any friends so I have no support network. I'm sorry angry with myself. I was a pretty successful high school student that that excelled in my studies but obviously with the change everything is messed up. I don't know if I should move back home, stick it out... I've missed the time where we can say we don't wish to continue uni anymore for the semester so I've already got a small debt waiting for me anyway. Everything is just a stupid mess. Thank you!

spaceyogurt Feeling down + anxious lately
  • replies: 2

Hi My first post here so kinda nervous. I have been feeling really down and anxious lately. I also noticed that I have been socially isolating myself for a while now. Its been affecting my studies as I cant concentrate much anymore.I feel tired all t... View more

Hi My first post here so kinda nervous. I have been feeling really down and anxious lately. I also noticed that I have been socially isolating myself for a while now. Its been affecting my studies as I cant concentrate much anymore.I feel tired all the time, and have no motivation to do anything. I'm not getting enough sleep as anxiety keeps me up till late, and I have to wakeup early in the mornings. I'm an introvert, and i also have social anxiety, which has prevented me from making close friends at university, all the friendships i've made here are very superficial, therefore im not comfortable talking to someone about my mental health. Most of the time I just feel like nobody cares. Im doing a psychiatry module at medical school right now, and its really hard for me as everything I learn makes me feel like its talking about me. And as someone who witnessed Domestic violence as a kid, it makes me really uncomfortable (get chills, cant focus) in the classes if DV is being talked about. I've tried doing some CBT worksheets from online, but I cant keep on track as I have zero motivation on most days,and exhausted at the end of the day. I have also been meditating lately, it helps a little on anxiety, but not my mood. I just wanted to vent a bit here as I am really overwhelmed by my emotions.

lise63 Struggling to make friends and uni + feeling depressed
  • replies: 3

Hi, so I am in my first year of uni and a university that none of my high school friends are going to. I basically know no one here and have not made any friends so far. I feel awkward and don’t know what to do in between classes so I usually end up ... View more

Hi, so I am in my first year of uni and a university that none of my high school friends are going to. I basically know no one here and have not made any friends so far. I feel awkward and don’t know what to do in between classes so I usually end up sitting in the library by myself and studying. I’m at the point where I’m even too nervous to go and get food by myself despite being on campus for 8 hours, so I am not eating. I try to talk to people in my classes but it seems like everyone already has their own friends and are not interested in me. I am feeling so incredibly lonely right now and my high school friendships are drifting aswell, as they are at different unis or working full time and never reach out to me. Lately I have been feeling sad all the time and the only thing I ever look forward to is going to sleep because I can escape my miserable life. I cant keep going on like this I feel so lonely and useless at uni and even at home. It doesn’t help when I ask my parents how they made friends in uni because they tell me not to worry and that it will happen naturally but since being here for 4 weeks I have not made a single friend. I have been feeling like my life is pointless and I want to go back to high school so badly because I was actually happy then.

Peppersgreen I really hate myself... i know its not right
  • replies: 9

Hello all, Thank you for reading this. I am so depressed all the time and I dont know how to stop it. I am not happy with anything, even though some people around me wouldn't agree with it. My life is not too bad compared to many people's out there. ... View more

Hello all, Thank you for reading this. I am so depressed all the time and I dont know how to stop it. I am not happy with anything, even though some people around me wouldn't agree with it. My life is not too bad compared to many people's out there. However I just feel lonely, negative, exhausted all the time. Seriously My chest always feels so tight, and I can feel the heat inside it. Sometimes I can't even breath... I dont know where to start... but I feel like I am such a horrible person to my family. I bring them stresses and worries and headaches and burdens. It's reallh hard to make my family understand me, everytime I try to talk about it, my husband and I end up in arguments.. and I am just speechless. I have nothing to say and feel like im back in the corner again. My husband isn't abusive by the way. It's me who has the problem. I dont know... I am just lost and very very very tired... i feel like giving. You know that feeling when you walk outside, you have to be positive, happy, energetic.. be a go getter one... Just so you can survive.. to blend in this world. once I get home.. I just hatred my real self...

sleepy_eye Seeking help, venting
  • replies: 2

Hi, sorry this isn't the right place for this. I was hoping to get some advice on seeking professional help. For the past week I've been feeling depressed and have been falling behind at work. I thought it might pass after the weekend but today it fe... View more

Hi, sorry this isn't the right place for this. I was hoping to get some advice on seeking professional help. For the past week I've been feeling depressed and have been falling behind at work. I thought it might pass after the weekend but today it felt so much worse. I took the afternoon off and have spent the whole day in bed. I feel frustrated because I don't know why I am feeling like this. And I especially feel guilty for not being able to do my work. Being a junior at my job, I've been struggling consistently with getting work done. But I've been getting better as I learn, so as long as I'm making progress it's fine. But recently it's been more an issue of motivation and focus. And when I start falling behind i just feel even more worse. Anyway I wanted to ask when should I decide to go see a doctor, or if there are any other options for me. I was thinking if giving it another week or so to see if I bounce back. In the past few years there have been several times I seriously considered seeking professional help. I guess I'm not really that surprised I'm feeling this way right now. But I never made the decision in the end. Somehow I managed to carry on, even if i was having the occasional breakdown. But now that I have a full time job, I realize I can't keep functioning like this. There's not a lot of people in my life right now I can reach out to. I've just moved to a new town too. I've also always struggled opening up to others about these kinds if things. So then, how long should I wait and try to get through everything before I should decide to go see a GP or therapist? And should my first point of contact be a GP? Sorry I'm really not sure why I'm asking any of this, I'm sure there's heaps of resources answering my questions. What I really want to say is I've never told anyone in the past few years I've struggled with on and off depression. Just knowing someone will read this is the closest I've come to having my feelings understood. I'm writing this now because I'm scared I'm going to just carry on once again without addressing any of my problems. I know otherwise I will just keep everything to myself. I don't know what any of this ended up being. Was mostly just a rant in the end. But I feel a little better getting it out like this. Thank you for listening.

theawkwardsensei_514 Hi:)
  • replies: 9

Hi! My name's Ainslie and this is my fist time on this platform. For the past 6 years I've been suffering from depression and in 2015 my best friend passed away when I was in primary school. Its been so tough for me to forget about the past. I miss m... View more

Hi! My name's Ainslie and this is my fist time on this platform. For the past 6 years I've been suffering from depression and in 2015 my best friend passed away when I was in primary school. Its been so tough for me to forget about the past. I miss my friend and its been so hard to heal even though I'm 17 right now. There are those times where I even get triggered of the smallest things during school and I hate showing my emotions. Even though I'm with a group of friends, I still feel empty and lonely and when someone tries to help, they don't understand how I feel. I'm sorry if I sound a bit selfish, but I came here to not feel alone:) (I'm an introvert) Thankyou so much for reading this:))

Hanz98 I don’t know
  • replies: 1

I hate getting out of bed, I hate talking to new people, I hate knowing I have to go somewhere especially because I’m afraid I might see or smell something that reminds me of the past I’m trying to get away from, I haven’t been shopping for myself in... View more

I hate getting out of bed, I hate talking to new people, I hate knowing I have to go somewhere especially because I’m afraid I might see or smell something that reminds me of the past I’m trying to get away from, I haven’t been shopping for myself in about a year, I can’t sleep most of the time because I keep replaying things that happened in my life, I breakdown in the worst of time, I regret making myself look like such a fool and always trying to help people when knowone understands or listens to me, I sometimes wish I was put in a box of some sort with no door and I’m just alone with my thoughts cradling myself, I feel that I need that we’ll actually want that but my family is always around and telling me to get out of my room, I wish I was alone but I wish someone understands me.

cgp_bs Just frustrated.
  • replies: 5

Hey everyone. Not a first time poster as I originally had made a post a couple of months ago but forgot my login details and which email was associated with it, so I decided to create another account, instead. Wanting to get a bit of advice and a ven... View more

Hey everyone. Not a first time poster as I originally had made a post a couple of months ago but forgot my login details and which email was associated with it, so I decided to create another account, instead. Wanting to get a bit of advice and a vent about my current experience. I feel frustrated yet anxious all the time. I had a pretty shit day today where I needed to get a set of keys cut and couldn't have the guts to approach the gentleman at the counter... I then moved to another cutting place and realised they were on lunch for another hour. I had already been sitting around for an hour and a half, at my local shopping centre. I walked to my car after an unsuccessful trip in sheer defeat, anger and frustration at myself... I punched my car door. I don't know why I did that. I've never done that before... and I feel like an idiot for doing it. I've already reached out to my GP for a mental health plan and are in the works of getting my sessions up and running but it's turning out that the waiting time is well over a month and a half. It's been not even a week and I can't stand this... I feel like everyday is pointless and I'm beginning to feel more and more depressed everyday. When I approached my GP originally, she very much came across like this wasn't an issue and just needed to see a psych... I feel like my situation isn't as important as others and though I'm sure many need it more than I, I can't help but feel frustrated at myself. I don't know what I can do to seek further help that isn't just going back to the same GP and telling them issues they already know and can't exactly speed up the process... What happens if this psych doesn't gel well with me? Especially after the last 5, I'm worried... and waiting nearly 2 months to even speak to this person is already a big struggle. I don't know what to do. I'm frustrated. Does anyone know what are some extra steps I can try? I've been to many psychs and CBT is a struggle to keep up with. I've been incredibly arrogant about things like meditation (which I know isn't helpful but I can't help it). I just want to know if I had other options that can help while I wait these 2 months... It's scary, I've never thought about suicidal plans or anything but it's been scary even having the thought of death pop up in my brain... I'm scared to tell my partner this... Thank you in advance for anyone even reading this.

Lost_husband Seeking fresh resource suggestions to help my bipolar wife
  • replies: 4

Hey guys, Hoping someone might be able to suggest some new and fresh resources I might be able to use to help my bipolar wife. In a nutshell, we've been together almost 15 years and unfortunately I didn't take her bipolar disorder as seriously as I s... View more

Hey guys, Hoping someone might be able to suggest some new and fresh resources I might be able to use to help my bipolar wife. In a nutshell, we've been together almost 15 years and unfortunately I didn't take her bipolar disorder as seriously as I should have from the word go and as a result our marriage is up and down like a yo-yo. I've promised her countless times that I would finally step up and help her but I quickly fall into old habits, get distracted by all the stuff I have going on at work and never actually step up to the plate and provide her with the support she so desperately needs. I finally feel like I'm in a good space to actually help her and am looking for any/all suggestions or which might help me truly help her. Cheers, Ready to step up

MishelLou Asking someone for help
  • replies: 2

I am in a position where I need support but can't bring myself to ask anyone, especially having to ask out loud. Have made and cancelled doctors appointments and just push through. It's been years of ups and downs and don't know at what point a chang... View more

I am in a position where I need support but can't bring myself to ask anyone, especially having to ask out loud. Have made and cancelled doctors appointments and just push through. It's been years of ups and downs and don't know at what point a change needs to happen.