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: 1

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

Theo26 Frustrated with my situation
  • replies: 1

About 9 weeks ago I thought my meds weren’t working properly , id been on them for 10 years and I was just starting to get really irritated and stressed hence why I thought they weren’t working, so I went to my GP and we change them which was the big... View more

About 9 weeks ago I thought my meds weren’t working properly , id been on them for 10 years and I was just starting to get really irritated and stressed hence why I thought they weren’t working, so I went to my GP and we change them which was the biggest mistake I ever made. 5 weeks in and I just spiralled into deep depression and anxiety through the roof so I went back on my old meds and my GP gave me something to ease the anxiety and I know they take time to kick in and it’s only my fourth week back on the old ones but I have a family now to support which I feel is a responsibility which elevates my anxiety even more. Everyone tells me not to worry about work you just need to get well. My wife’s wage looks after all the bills but I still feel like I’m failing them. I’m starting to get frustrated. It’s like I’m right at the edge of the tunnel but just can’t get out over that last edge. I just want to feel my normal self again…

Guest_45016542 Injured at work. Light duties taking a toll
  • replies: 2

I hurt my shoulder a month ago and reported it to work almost 2 weeks ago when it didn't get better. They put me on light duties and after a week, I decided to see a physio. He determined I have a rotator cuff injury. I'm in constant (low level) pain... View more

I hurt my shoulder a month ago and reported it to work almost 2 weeks ago when it didn't get better. They put me on light duties and after a week, I decided to see a physio. He determined I have a rotator cuff injury. I'm in constant (low level) pain. He restricted my duties to the point where I literally can't do my job (I work at Coles in the online department). So, work put me in the bakery and I stood there for 5 hours putting stickers on bread. Couldn't even lift the bread because of my restrictions. I decided to escalate the claim to workcover because my shoulder is just getting worse. I wish I never even mentioned it. The physio and the GP had heavy restrictions (no lifting, no pushing/pulling, no reaching). But still saying I can work 8 hours a day 5 days a week. Make it make sense? Anyway, I got told yesterday they are putting me in the checkouts. And I can't. There's a reason I never applied to work on checkouts. Also, I still can't do anything on checkouts with my restrictions. I think they want me to give people cigarettes. Again, I can't do that. No reaching, no pushing or pulling (drawers). This whole situation is making me feel so useless and depressed. I wish my gp had just said no capacity to work. I'm a casual and next week, they've cut my hours to 5. I usually work about 20.I can't just find another job because I'm pregnant and only have about 12 weeks left of working before I have the baby

Sofreakinsad Family court
  • replies: 2

VERY long story short, but my abusive ex is dragging me through the family court. Currently two years in and I’m drowning. I am a single mother to a three year old, and I also study full-time. Life is stressful at the best of times, but this is slowl... View more

VERY long story short, but my abusive ex is dragging me through the family court. Currently two years in and I’m drowning. I am a single mother to a three year old, and I also study full-time. Life is stressful at the best of times, but this is slowly destroying me. He was just granted supervised visitation, even though there are concerns about his behaviour and they were unsure whether to proceed with it at all. He 100% meets exceptional circumstances, but it was still granted. I just feel so, so broken. I escaped domestic violence and now he gets to weave his way into our lives and continue the insidious abuse and nobody seems to care. I wake up around 1:30 every night and can’t fall asleep. I’m constantly panicked. I’m still being stalked, he’s breached intervention orders, threatened to kidnap my son, done other horrendous things, has an extensive history of coercive control and is now using the legal system as a means to continue abuse after he lost control due to an IVO the police put in place. I was told unsupervised visitation isn’t always granted, and I hope not in this case, but I can’t stop thinking about my son and how I feel our bond is breaking because I can’t be present with him. Years of therapy to treat post natal depression are coming undone. I was even told by a lawyer that I am collateral damage and to simply go to therapy. I really just don’t know what to do anymore. Venting has helped, but I’m just honestly drowning. And my soul is tired. I can’t do 15 years with him if it came to that. To me, it’s worse than a prison sentence.

DelSol So damn lost, i dont know where to start...
  • replies: 1

Hey guys,Need to find a starting point to 'feeling' better or at least working on that 'something' to feel happy again.So i'll start by saying im a husband and a father, to two beautful kids (7b & 3g) with a job that keeps us well fed and living quit... View more

Hey guys,Need to find a starting point to 'feeling' better or at least working on that 'something' to feel happy again.So i'll start by saying im a husband and a father, to two beautful kids (7b & 3g) with a job that keeps us well fed and living quite comfortably. Around about mid covid days depression hit me pretty hard, although this was an obvious build up of the Melbourne lockdown blues and just added workplace stress (container transport). During this time my wife and I were going through IVF also so stress levels were at an all time high, which i thought i could manage myself. Also during this time my grandfather had passed away due to ongoing sickness which really put me in the first hole in my mental state. A close friend had also moved north back home and for work (which not having many friends here to just catch up and chat sucks).What made things worse was my BEST friend taking his life and having to be one of the first few on site to help with things. This is where i think things may have taken a turn for the worst, i feel upmost regret in not helping anymore than i could have (ongoing mental stress within my friend but i'd reached out and visited almost every day, nothing more I honestly could have done but you can't help feeling this way).Now this sunk me into a hole big time but i let my busy work pull me through and time pass by. It still hurts every day to be reminded of what was and how it ended.So fast forward to last year and my parents (mother and step dad) have gotten a divorce, yet after discussing a male hand shake agreement that my SD would look after and not leave my mum in the dirt we would continue our relationship, to which he has proven this is not the case. So i have cut all ties. I can't help but to reach out as we have common interests and such, but we had an agreement.I also feel now as coming into a stupid busy period at work that everything is just hammering down on me emotionally and although I can manage on my own (which i have in the past) I'm just really struggling to get by now as it feels like a heavy Work,Sleep, Eat, Repeat cycle.With self harm completely off the table as my little girl is very dependant on me (and i have had those thoughts many years before she was born) i could never let her go, all i want is to find peace and feel happy each day again.How can I work on being happy each day and not feel like everything is such an effort?I've tried, but i think now i need that helping hand this time round.Cheers.

Ggrand DEPRESSION AND OUR DAILY ROUTINE. WE NEED TO BRING IT BACK.
  • replies: 46

Hello, A lot of us (me included). take to our bed for days on end when we are depressed. This is unhealthy for us...We need to look after us as best we can, I feel we should try as hard as we possibly can to make up a routine to keep us healthy and g... View more

Hello, A lot of us (me included). take to our bed for days on end when we are depressed. This is unhealthy for us...We need to look after us as best we can, I feel we should try as hard as we possibly can to make up a routine to keep us healthy and get us out of bed. I believe we need structure in our lives more so when we are depressed, A sense of structure is important to provide goal to your day, it gives a pattern to your day which supports your body's natural health structure. I think it's important to try to go to bed each night around the same time. Put away your phones,I pads etc, put on some soft music and drift away to sleep. Set the alarm to get up the same time each day, but don't just wake up, get up out of bed, open blinds, curtains the doors, let some sunlight into your home. Try having a healthy breakfast, lunch and dinner, keeping roughly the same times to eat and enjoy the meals, we need to eat healthy meals daily to fuel our bodies for healing. Try having a morning and afternoon cup of tea or coffee, maybe a couple of bickies as well, or my favourite cake. Try some light excersises throughout the day, or go for a short walk daily. even walking around your yard, just doing something will give our mind a rest. A daily bath or shower either morning, night or both, a bath or shower late at night might releases some stress and many relaxe us a little for sleeping. House work, not fun but necessary to keep our environment clean and healthy, set a day for washing, another day for ironing, try washing the dishes daily. Even if we just set a few of these goals to start with, it will still give us a purpose for the day, a purpose to get out of bed. Once we get into a routine we can then slowly add to our days activities to maybe add some social events, hobbies, things we like to do, things we enjoy doing. Recovery has to come from us, we can't give up on us. We have to try to help ourselves to mend our broken minds. All these activities will be doing mindfulness, getting our mind away from our dark thoughts while we are carrying out these simple but necessary tasks. All thoughts are welcome. Kindness only , Karen..(GG).

Earth Girl Dogs don't like me/scared of dogs these days
  • replies: 5

I use to be fine walking past dogs when I was in public, but in 2020, when I would walk past dogs they would often growl and bark at me. My sister told me that since that was the year of the pandemic, the dogs probably felt differently because they d... View more

I use to be fine walking past dogs when I was in public, but in 2020, when I would walk past dogs they would often growl and bark at me. My sister told me that since that was the year of the pandemic, the dogs probably felt differently because they didn't get to go out as much, but even now (not as much as in 2020), dogs sometimes still bark and/growl at me when I walk past them. Last year, I would sometimes walk past this border collie and it was fine with me, but once when I walked past it (I think one of the more recent times) it growled at me which surprised me because border collies are really calm dogs usually so I don't think it liked me. A lot of other dogs have acted scary when I walk past them or when they are standing outside of their house and see me. Just yesterday, I was going for a walk and I saw this man walking with his dog who was off leash and I was thinking to myself, it's just a dog, it's probably not going to do anything. The last time I walked past a dog who was off leash it came up to me to say hello and was friendly so this one probably won't be scary either. I heard someone running behind me so I made way for them and a little while later when the runner was now ahead of me, the dog started growing and barking at them and then it did the same to me and followed me. The owner shouted out its name and put it on a leash and then I felt better, but my heart was still racing a bit. I remember this guy and his mother who use to live near me who didn't like me had a dog who didn't seem to like me either. I remember thinking that it was almost like the dog knew its owners didn't like me and I found out several years later that dogs can actually tell when their owners don't like someone. It really hurt though because it felt like the dog was scared of me. I know this probably sounds really "oh no, dogs don't like me", but it's not a nice feeling, especially if they seem like they are afraid. I don't know why they don't seem to like me these days because before 2020, most of them seemed to be find with me and they wouldn't growl or bark when I walked past them. I kind of feel like there should be stricter rules about dogs being of leashes and not being let outside of the house without a leash on either. My parents use to let our dogs be outside without the leash on (which I didn't agree with, but I was afraid to tell them that I disagreed because they would have gotten really annoyed with me).

b_nderz Just not good
  • replies: 4

Ok, bad week, my finances went bad. Elevated my depression and anxiety.made me review my life and how I have no value

Ok, bad week, my finances went bad. Elevated my depression and anxiety.made me review my life and how I have no value

EmiJ Just a poem I wrote.. I thought others may like to share their creative words too.
  • replies: 7

I don’t care about these walls anymoreIt will never be my placeI don’t care for the mirror anymoreI can’t stand this faceI don’t justify myself anymoreI will just take on another mistakeI don’t have dreams anymoreNightmares have driven them awayI tho... View more

I don’t care about these walls anymoreIt will never be my placeI don’t care for the mirror anymoreI can’t stand this faceI don’t justify myself anymoreI will just take on another mistakeI don’t have dreams anymoreNightmares have driven them awayI thought I was building my path to the golden life on the highYet it was the path to my quiet grave where the roots twist and close behindEJ

Amanzimtoti frustrated
  • replies: 2

Not sure where to start.In a 12 year relationship which was excellent until she resigned from a very stressful job .I still work a 4 day week.We now argue a lot and somehow it is always my fault. I seem to be forgetful .She tells me things like "we a... View more

Not sure where to start.In a 12 year relationship which was excellent until she resigned from a very stressful job .I still work a 4 day week.We now argue a lot and somehow it is always my fault. I seem to be forgetful .She tells me things like "we are meeting them at 11am saturday".A few days later I ask "oh what time are we meeting them?" and the reply is "I ALREADY TOLD YOU".Okay,I forgot,just say 11am and carry on .But no,the argument expands and we dont talk for days.Yes,I love her and she is a beautiful person .I am in remission from cancer ,after 12 months of treatments and she has been so good to me.But she has a lot of family and friends and spends time with them without including me.My birthdays I dont get "happy birthday " calls or texts.No one enquired with me how I was going during chemo.She got heaps of calls offering her help.I have a lot more things to say but I dont think you all want to hear.I am surprised I am even writing this but I do feel like I need help.Thank you for listening.....

Poppy81 life is out of control
  • replies: 2

I have been struggling with depression recently on a bg of anxiety for years. I had a very scary childhood full of abuse, sexual and physical. I have been in a loving same sex marriage for 9 years but recently our circumstances have changed and I fee... View more

I have been struggling with depression recently on a bg of anxiety for years. I had a very scary childhood full of abuse, sexual and physical. I have been in a loving same sex marriage for 9 years but recently our circumstances have changed and I feel like my partner has been pushing me away more and more, I have tried talking about it with her but she doesn't like talking about feelings and says I ruin holidays that are meant to be happy talking about this stuff. I feel like I am messing everything up and I feel myself sinking lower and lower. I think Antidepressants just make me feel numb but don't fix anything. Could the Antidepressants be making me feel worse?