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Depression

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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

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More_down_than_up Need to focus on myself before fixing my marriage
  • replies: 3

Hi, Depression & anxiety are taking their toll on me and more sadly my family. I am always so negative and unhappy. I seem to ruin each and every moment lately. More sadly my kids are starting to get caught up in it. My wife has always been so suppor... View more

Hi, Depression & anxiety are taking their toll on me and more sadly my family. I am always so negative and unhappy. I seem to ruin each and every moment lately. More sadly my kids are starting to get caught up in it. My wife has always been so supportive, but after so many years of the same behaviours and situations I think I have finally used up all my chances of her forgiveness. She now wants space, but I continue to keep trying to pull her tighter, which makes her push me away harder. I just look for affection from her at any opportunity (like holding hands in the car). I love her so much and would say I am obsessed with her. We are high school sweethearts and have been together for 20 years (married for 12). I have struggled with this illness for many years. I am now on 3 different types of meds. I have been told that I need to fix myself before I can fix our marriage problems, but I have it in my head that I just can’t be happy unless I fix my marriage problems first. My wife doesn’t want Marriage counselling until I sort myself out first, which my psychiatrist agrees with. How can I be happy in an unhappy marriage, but how can I have a happy marriage if I am unhappy ... they seem to go hand in hand ... I just want to be happy and to treat my wife and kids the way they deserve. Would appreciate any advice, thanks!

unsure_lost Confused. Lost. And unsure if what I’m feeling is depression.
  • replies: 9

I’ve been suffering for a while now and I thought I should try to seek help because I’ve always been too afraid. For about a year now I’ve been feeling an on and off sadness. It comes in waves. I’ll have the best day ever, and for some reason I’ll co... View more

I’ve been suffering for a while now and I thought I should try to seek help because I’ve always been too afraid. For about a year now I’ve been feeling an on and off sadness. It comes in waves. I’ll have the best day ever, and for some reason I’ll come home at night and cry myself to sleep. For a year now, there hasn’t been a week where I haven’t cried. I don’t understand. I feel so guilty because I have a life most would kill for. A beautiful family who loves me. Friends that love me. A lovely home. And yes I’m grateful- so grateful. But for some reason, I absolutely hate myself. When I’m out with friends I forget about everything going on internally and I have the best time. But when I come home reality just comes back and I feel the sadness wash over me. I hate myself a lot. I feel like I won’t amount to anything in life. Everyday just has no meaning to me. The only reason I’m living is because I don’t want my family to suffer when I leave because I know they love me. I’m a very insecure person. Despite people telling me I’m beautiful, I feel that I’m so ugly. But it’s not just my self-confidence- I feel lost. I’ve lost motivation for things I enjoy and I can’t do my uni assignments without procrastinating till last minute. I feel that nothing is worth it anymore. Despite being in the normal weight range I feel extremely fat. And I’ve noticed that sometimes I won’t eat at all whilst other times I’ll overeat a lot. Ive been sleeping more. When I don’t have work or uni I’ll stay in bed till 12 and sometimes I’ll even nap later at night. I just feel so drained sometimes. Sometimes even while I’m having fun with friends, the wave will come over me and the sadness hits. I always hide it though because I don’t want my family or friends knowing because I feel that I’m a burden. People already have their own issues to deal with and I don’t want to add to that. That’s why I’m posting here. Although I’m still telling others, it doesn’t feel that real through the virtual world.

Lovessweet How do I know if I’m depressed or not?
  • replies: 2

This is my first post and I’m scared to post here because I don’t know if I am depressed. I’m currently 22 but this has been a question I’ve asked myself since the beginning of high school. When I was 13/14, I noticed that I would get this empty feel... View more

This is my first post and I’m scared to post here because I don’t know if I am depressed. I’m currently 22 but this has been a question I’ve asked myself since the beginning of high school. When I was 13/14, I noticed that I would get this empty feeling in my stomach and/or a heavy feeling on my chest where it would feel difficulty to breath. I realised that I didn’t care if I lived or not but would never self harm because I couldn’t put the people I love through that. This didn’t occur often, it wasn’t constant, maybe for a couple of hours every month or two (maybe more, I don’t recall) and because of that I thought I would be fine and that it will past. And it kind of did. The feeling would sometimes creep up, but it never lasted long. Nothing in particular would trigger it, sometimes I would wake up and feel empty. Sometimes in the middle of doing something I would feel empty. But as I’ve gotten older, gotten more responsibility, I’ve gotten better at distracting myself from it. Until today which has been the most intense and longest I’ve felt this way (past the couple of hours mark which I know still isn’t much). And I realised something, I can’t talk to anyone I know about it. I have tried before and I tried talking to my boyfriend about it today. But every time the idea or thought of me being depressed is brought up, my mind begins to trivialise it. Oh I’m not depressed, I just get sad sometimes, stop being dramatic. And I push it away until the emptiness comes back again. The thought that my life is meaningless from when I was a teen never went away. Like I said, I would never do anything intentionally but I don’t think I would be happy or sad if I wasn’t here anymore. But at the end of the day I don’t know if I’m just really sad sometimes and I worry that if I do talk about it I will seem dramatic and trying to make a victim of myself or trying to seek attention because I’m not actually depressed. Ironically I’m also scared that if I talk about it to someone I know and they believe that I am depressed, they will try to help me and I don’t know if I’m ready for that either. Im sorry if I wasted anyone’s time (especially if I’m right that I’m just sad and not depressed) but at least typing this long thread up has distracted me from the emptiness a bit. Also thank you to anyone who actually reads through this full thing...

meatloaf Work cover 30% impairment assessment
  • replies: 20

Hi I am about to undergo an assessment for whole person impairment as part of my work cover compensation case. I ve been told I need to be classified as 30% impaired and that this is difficult. My injury is psychiatric and I'm in Victoria. Has anyone... View more

Hi I am about to undergo an assessment for whole person impairment as part of my work cover compensation case. I ve been told I need to be classified as 30% impaired and that this is difficult. My injury is psychiatric and I'm in Victoria. Has anyone been through this?

MelodyWasHer2ndName I need a friend…
  • replies: 10

I just need someone to talk to. I am struggling emotionally with a lot of things right now. I am in a long term relationship with someone (12 years) but I feel as if our relationship is falling apart. I don’t know whether to stay and try to fix thing... View more

I just need someone to talk to. I am struggling emotionally with a lot of things right now. I am in a long term relationship with someone (12 years) but I feel as if our relationship is falling apart. I don’t know whether to stay and try to fix things or leave. Either option will be equally hard. My partner has OCD and other ongoing mental health problems and I feel he takes them out on me. He can be rude, condescending and verbally aggressive when he gets upset about extremely trivial things. Things have been slowly getting worse and worse and I can’t cope. I’ve tried for a long time to be supportive but I’m at my breaking point. I still love him, I really do, but he always make me happy. Sometimes when I’m coming home from work, I get a sinking feeling in my stomach, fearing what kind of mood he will be in. Sometimes we have a nice evening together and get along great. Other times, the smallest and stupidest things will set off a fight between us. I have terrible self esteem which is why I find it hard to stand up to my partner. I literally hate myself. I wish I could be anyone else. I despise the way I look. When I look in the mirror, I see the world’s ugliest face staring back. I hate that I wasn’t born an attractive, confident, happy person. This is why I think I tolerate his behaviour towards me. I just can’t find the strength to confront my partner to tell him that either things need to change or that I might consider leaving him. I am seeing a physiologist and so is he (separately) but we can only have a session every 3 weeks or so to be able to claim the Centrelink gap benefit. Everything seems so hopeless. Counselling is so expensive and I feel we need more of it. I want us to go to joint counseling so we can sort our issues out together. I need help. I need support. But I feel like I’m on my own. If I turn to friends and family, they will make judgements about our relationship and I can’t trust any of them not to say anything to my partner. Please I just need someone who is a stranger to talk to.

musicfreak I have this empty feeling inside
  • replies: 1

I think I beginning to get depressed. In the past I have only had small periods of depression but this has lasted a while now. I nothing is helping me. I feel like I have this empty pit inside of me and I don't know how to fix it. I am too scared to ... View more

I think I beginning to get depressed. In the past I have only had small periods of depression but this has lasted a while now. I nothing is helping me. I feel like I have this empty pit inside of me and I don't know how to fix it. I am too scared to talk to any of my family and friends about because I don't feel a care trust anyone enough to talk to them. I am not afraid to admit to myself that I need help, I am afraid to admit it to the ones I care about. I don't want them to worry about it, by I know if I want help, I am going to talk to them about it. How do you tell someone that you are feeling depressed almost all of the time and nothing can bring you out of it?

DJRDIESEL When Do The Guilt and Dark Thoughts Stop
  • replies: 1

Hi all, This is my first time posting because I am having issues with everyday life and I think I may be on the verge of going back to a very dark space. I am 43, married for 22 years and I had depression for approximately 18 months. It started as a ... View more

Hi all, This is my first time posting because I am having issues with everyday life and I think I may be on the verge of going back to a very dark space. I am 43, married for 22 years and I had depression for approximately 18 months. It started as a small change but by the middle of last year I was a different person. In December my beautiful wife, who stop by me through all this, along with a few mates took some action. I finally recognized that I needed help and began the road to recovery. It has been some hard work but I have really invested in myself and learning what makes the the mind tick and where certain behavioral patterns come from. Over the last 3-4 weeks my life has been the best it has been, my marriage has been the best it has ever been and things were going great. Then my wife, in a caring way, said I was smothering her somewhat (very justified). Well, after opening up to her and telling her all about my emotions, thoughts and some things I had kept from her, this came as a bit of a slap in the face. Now, over the last few days we have been arguing. I am over analyzing everything she say's or doesn't say looking for validation that she loves me. I am stricken with guilt for what I put her through and scared I will loose her. I slip back to old behaviors and she straight away get angry and yells at me. I feel she should be a bit more understanding and help work me out of it. Now I feel alone, mad and sorry for what I am doing. I feel like I am good for no one and just make things harder for the people I love. For the first real time, deep down, I feel I don't deserve to be here anymore. Am I broken?

Guest_8790 depression sick of this life
  • replies: 4

how I wish I could turn back time when I never felt down and out. Sick of medication and not knowing what to do with the remainder of my life. tried studying and now been told not ready for placement due to my mental health. also teacher indicatef ca... View more

how I wish I could turn back time when I never felt down and out. Sick of medication and not knowing what to do with the remainder of my life. tried studying and now been told not ready for placement due to my mental health. also teacher indicatef cannit support someone for half a hour when I get anxiety moment. that was so hurtful ad it never took that long. also felt ashamed because she indicated that care has to be made for other students. I can understand that but I always left room discreetly when felt overwhelmed and it was not every day either. now course finishing two weeks and don't want to complete as have to wait till next year for placement. feel teacher did not understand how I felt as she is not a mental health worker. feel like giving up. upset confused angry yeah all that. not working have the indignity of being on new start at my age as worked for 36 years. where to from here? rusty or rusted

Cam084 Dont know what to do.
  • replies: 2

First time here and not very good at talking about my feelings. For the last 6 weeks or so i have been feeling extremely down about my self. I feel worthless . Depressed. Sad and tired. I feel that the world is out to get me and the walls are closing... View more

First time here and not very good at talking about my feelings. For the last 6 weeks or so i have been feeling extremely down about my self. I feel worthless . Depressed. Sad and tired. I feel that the world is out to get me and the walls are closing in on me. I constantly have anxiety attacks and break downs.

Alex_genetics Struggles living with bipolar and being in a relationship
  • replies: 1

Hello community I've been in many relationships over the years and have always struggled with the same problem, whenever I slightly dip into a depression, I want to reject my partner, I see all the problems with the relationship and make up problems ... View more

Hello community I've been in many relationships over the years and have always struggled with the same problem, whenever I slightly dip into a depression, I want to reject my partner, I see all the problems with the relationship and make up problems with her that I wouldn't normally do in my well self. I'm in a relationship at the moment and it has been going really well, except I can't stop the feeling of rejection when I'm feeling low. I love her deeply, but right now I just don't feel attracted to her. I found a YouTube vlogger who spoke of a similar thing happening to her, so I feel like I might not be alone. Does anyone have any advice or have experienced these kinds of feelings. I've dipped like this once in our relationship and it took until the depression had lifted for me to be able to clearly see her and love her for who she is. Is there anyone in this community suffer with similar symptoms. Thanks Alex