Immediate support
Immediate support

Depression

Depression affects people in Australia every day. Share your own story and learn about other member’s experiences with depression.

Start a discussion

FAQ

Find answers to some of the more frequently asked questions on the Forums.

View the FAQ

Forums guidelines

Our guidelines keep the Forums a safe place for people to share and learn information.

View the guidelines
Jump to
Start a discussion

Pinned discussions

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: 0

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

All discussions

Start a discussion

Raynor Waiting for meds to work
  • replies: 5

Hi all, Im looking for some ideas. I was on anti-depressants for two years then my doc switched me to a different one which I had bad side effects from. I was working overseas and having tapered off the old one, I thought I was fine so decided to jus... View more

Hi all, Im looking for some ideas. I was on anti-depressants for two years then my doc switched me to a different one which I had bad side effects from. I was working overseas and having tapered off the old one, I thought I was fine so decided to just not bother continuing with the new one. Three months later, the depression has hit me like a truck. I’ve re-started the first medication and I’m trying to push through but I have a high stress job and zero energy or motivation. Does anyone have ideas on getting through the weeks until meds start working?

Whits Digging myself deeper and deeper into a hole
  • replies: 4

Hi all, I've never really used these kind of forums before so bare with me. Over the last few months I've managed to get myself into a pretty dark hole. I've taken months off work, putting pressure on my collegues and burning bridges, falling behind ... View more

Hi all, I've never really used these kind of forums before so bare with me. Over the last few months I've managed to get myself into a pretty dark hole. I've taken months off work, putting pressure on my collegues and burning bridges, falling behind on all my bills, getting into debt and almost getting kicked out of my uni course twice. I can go weeks on end without leaving my apartment, which I live in alone, without having any contact with anyone. I'm lucky enough to have a great support network, but most of the time I have no interest in seeing anyone or doing anything. Most of the time I'm not even depressed or anxious, just numb. I drink too much, sleep too much and spend most of my time watching movies and avoiding the world. I honestly just don't know how to get myself out of this. I'm now so anxious about going back to work in an office where in sure there has been eye rolls and comments made about my extensive time off and unreliability. I've let friends down on many important occasions by cancelling on them and I can feel them losing their patience with me. I just feel like a broken record. I'm on meds and starting to see a new counsellor next week, but my self destructive patterns have become so severe I just can't see how to get out of this. Any advice would be greatly appreciated

Dirigible Losing the strength to fight it.
  • replies: 4

Hi. Im Sue. Im 52. Ive had depression most of my life. Ive learned heaps through psychotherapy and did improve on the meds i started 20 years ago. However, i struggle with feelings of meaninglessness and hopelessness most of the time. I push myself s... View more

Hi. Im Sue. Im 52. Ive had depression most of my life. Ive learned heaps through psychotherapy and did improve on the meds i started 20 years ago. However, i struggle with feelings of meaninglessness and hopelessness most of the time. I push myself soooooo hard to eat, shower, exercise and do the basic stuff, but frequently (like right now) i just get sooo tired of pushing. Go for a walk, get out of the house, just do it, call someone, see the dr, do some craft, meditate - whats the point. Im so tired. What do you do when you push push push all the time and do all the suggested things but just run out of strength to make yourself do anything? I spend way too much time on my own and as of just recently i no longer do the very part time work i used to do. Im very relieved to not have the stress of having to work but I guess it's allowing me to isolate more. I'm just so tired. So tired.

Smith795 Need advice please ..
  • replies: 3

So I got diagnosed with anxiety and depression a few years ago and since have have on and off antidepressants. At the start of the year I felt like I was finally ready to come off tablets and have been doing well until recently. i don’t have suicidal... View more

So I got diagnosed with anxiety and depression a few years ago and since have have on and off antidepressants. At the start of the year I felt like I was finally ready to come off tablets and have been doing well until recently. i don’t have suicidal thoughts anymore but I feel like I’m lost everyday and have nothing positive to say. I have no motivation to get up in the mornings. I have recently gone through some difficult times in my life and I’m not sure if it’s just normal to feel like this or if it is depression? I moved from England to Australia and have since been struggling with money and a career path. My dad passed away three months ago from a long battle of cancer. I feel guilty and angry every day for being here. I couldn’t afford to come home for the funeral. I have missed my sister giving birth, my brother getting married and being there for my mum to be here. I feel so angry towards life and it’s affecting my relationship and everyday life. I either feel crazy, emotional and generally just numb. My behaviour is also massively effecting my relationship with my boyfriend. I don’t have a sex drive and tbh I haven’t had one for years. Being intimate is the last thing on my mind. I feel myself slipping back into a hole and everyday is now a struggle. I don’t want to go back on to medication because I want to feel free from depression but also they helped me before will they help me now ? Just after some advice please, do I go speak to a GP? Do I go back on medication ? Am I even depressed or is this just grieving ?

A_Human Existential depression
  • replies: 2

I really can't find a good reason why i should feel depressed. I had a good childhood with supportive parents, but I have struggled with anxiety and depression on and off throughout my life, and it has only gotten worse. Now that I have finished scho... View more

I really can't find a good reason why i should feel depressed. I had a good childhood with supportive parents, but I have struggled with anxiety and depression on and off throughout my life, and it has only gotten worse. Now that I have finished school and gotten a well-paying job that i can tolerate, I'm left with trying to figure out what to do with my life, and I'm really stumped. I really don't know what the point is. I have no friends. I have a good relationship with family but I hide behind a facade. I don't really have anything I'm good at, and there isn't really anything I'm passionate about. I just kind of take the path of least resistance because I have no sense of direction. I have this strong desire for something more, but i don't know how to satisfy it. I really dislike myself but don't know what to change, or who I would want to be. But most of all, I'm scared of death and want to live a meaningful life, but i don't even know if there is such a thing as an objectively meaningful life, or if that even matters. I don't have a clue where to start. Any suggestions on what I can do would be much appreciated. Thanks to everyone.

Backstreet What can I do?
  • replies: 1

Hello, this is my first post I'm sorry if it is a bit confusing. Just recently I got to know this girl from college, we started talking and hit it off, I really liked her and began flirting. It was around then that I found out my best friend also lik... View more

Hello, this is my first post I'm sorry if it is a bit confusing. Just recently I got to know this girl from college, we started talking and hit it off, I really liked her and began flirting. It was around then that I found out my best friend also liked this girl quite a lot and knew her before I did. I discovered however that this girl liked me and not my friend, this made me happy but also sad that I had pretty much come in and stolen her from my friend. I decided to speak to my friend about this and my intentions with the girl, I was extremely anxious about doing this and had lost sleep thinking about it. However, I worked up the courage to talk to him about it and we sorted it out and he gave me peace of mind. Fast forward a couple of weeks, I now discover that I am having second thoughts about this girl, which frustrated me because I was so adamant that I liked this girl and there was a foreseeable future with her. I'm not sure now that I want to be with her now, which is stupid because I had just sorted it out with my friend. I am now wracking my brain on what to do, whether to break up or to keep going and hope that the more I get to know her the more I'll like her. At the moment, however, I am finding myself wanting to be alone more and more, sinking into video games and smoking weed to ignore the problems. I feel like I'm stuck at a crossroads where both situations no matter what I do make me in the wrong. I know the best option is to talk to her about it, but even the thought of looking at her with the intent to do so makes me sick. Talking about the situation now makes it seem, petty and childish and I should just man up and do what's right but every time I think of it I just want to stop existing all together. Sorry if that was a rant or it went off topic but I don't know how else to express what I am feeling. Any opinion at all would be amazing help please and thank you.

Goatieguy Feel like giving up
  • replies: 1

I am feeling so lonely and depressed. I have been living with a depressed partner for 5 years and have lost the will to fight any longer. She is so nasty and hurtful. Nothing I can do is good enough. She talks over me and I am shut down any time I tr... View more

I am feeling so lonely and depressed. I have been living with a depressed partner for 5 years and have lost the will to fight any longer. She is so nasty and hurtful. Nothing I can do is good enough. She talks over me and I am shut down any time I try and express my feelings or hurt. I wish I was dead.

petals03 feeling alone
  • replies: 4

Wasn't quite sure what to post but I'll just be honest. I am a socially awkward girl who has low self esteem and sleeps too much. I feel no motivation to do anything and when I do go out with friends I become anxious and depressed so I end up leaving... View more

Wasn't quite sure what to post but I'll just be honest. I am a socially awkward girl who has low self esteem and sleeps too much. I feel no motivation to do anything and when I do go out with friends I become anxious and depressed so I end up leaving early and as I drive myself home late at night I have an emotional breakdown in my car and start yelling at the top of my lungs until I calm myself down. Sometimes I wonder if my friends would even notice if I werenot there. I'd love to hear how others have stayed positive in tough times and what's a good way of feeling less alone?

Confusedpotato I feel like I’m dreaming
  • replies: 5

For a while now I’ve felt like I’ve been dosing off into another world? Like just thoughts over take my mind. Sometimes staring at objects makes them feel really far away when I’m like this. 3 times now I’ve felt like I’ve been dreaming and that noth... View more

For a while now I’ve felt like I’ve been dosing off into another world? Like just thoughts over take my mind. Sometimes staring at objects makes them feel really far away when I’m like this. 3 times now I’ve felt like I’ve been dreaming and that nothing was real. I don’t know what’s happening. I am diagnosed with clinical depression and anxiety. Don’t know if that has anything to do with it but I’m just confused and worried. It’s an uncomfortable feeling. In the moment nothing feels real and people don’t seem real. It almost feels like a lie? Idk I’m just very overwhelmed. Would like someone’s opinion on it.

Changingfiles Struggling Mum
  • replies: 3

So here i am writing this trying to keep it all together. I suffered depression on and off since my teens. I am now 32. I have 2 young children, a husband and a father in law that lives with me. Ive noticed that my mental health is declining, i'm not... View more

So here i am writing this trying to keep it all together. I suffered depression on and off since my teens. I am now 32. I have 2 young children, a husband and a father in law that lives with me. Ive noticed that my mental health is declining, i'm not happy, i'm disinterested in doing anything, I just want to sleep at the time, i can't be bothered attitude has set in and im isolating myself. I keep the family going, i have a special needs child, my husband works shiftwork i work shiftwork, I do all the household jobs and cooking etc and the child rearing. We support my elderly father in law as well, meals, cleaning, company/social. I'm exhausted i feel like i just want to run away from all the responsibility on my shoulders I'm seen as a very strong person and i generally keep it all together but im struggling and im going down. I'm scared im really scared that black cloud it almost over my head. I don't want it coming back but im feeling it. Mother guilt is setting in, being the one the holds the family together pressure is so much. All it is it work and children cooking and cleaning. No life pleasure's or events or holidays. Same day in day out nothing to look forward to :-( Help! Maybe some advice on coping, what i can do, what i could change? Please note i have hardly any support and im not ready to open upto my husband.