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

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

All discussions

Start a discussion

mpatt My breakup has made me feel worthless
  • replies: 4

I've been diagnosed with depression for the second time in 5 years, I've been feeling like this a long time before I was prescribed antidepressants again. I was afraid to go through this all again because it brings back memories of how bad I was 5 ye... View more

I've been diagnosed with depression for the second time in 5 years, I've been feeling like this a long time before I was prescribed antidepressants again. I was afraid to go through this all again because it brings back memories of how bad I was 5 years ago. Every day I think of how bad of a place I was in back then. I didn't want to say anything because I wanted to be strong in my relationship with my girlfriend as she had her own battles to deal with. My memory has been so bad that I forget things, which then eventually lead to her not trusting me. I would misread text messages from her and would reply incorrectly ( I have the auditory processing disorder, which I think she forgot I had), my responses and use of incorrect words would always work against me. My depression has been really bad in the past 3 weeks and only 2 weeks ago she broke up with me, I've never cried so much in my life. Every night for 2 weeks, I wrote her letters to try and get her back. I would stay up all night thinking of what to write. What hurt the most is that she would say " I'm scared, you're mentally not well" please leave me to alone, you're scaring me. Her hurtful words have scared me. She thinks I'm, not the person she fall in love with, I haven't slept more than 4 hours in over 3 weeks . I've put on a brave face for months during our relationship, but I've really been hurting so much. When I told her how bad of a place I was in after she broke up with me, she said you looked fine the other day. yeah, because I'm putting on a brave face and smiling. I wasn't sighing because I wanted to take a deep breath, I was sighing because I was struggling so much. Breaking up through a text has hurt me so much, every time I look at my phone I remember reading the text. Knowing she has already moved on and I'm here lonely battling with myself, I feel worthless. To have someone leave you while you're in a dark place mentally doesn't help, and to lose the love of your life makes it so much harder.

JollyDown Physician Heal Thyself - well that didn’t work!
  • replies: 10

Hi there. I’ve just found out I have Bipolar Disorder. I received my diagnosis 2 weeks ago - a birthday present for my 50-something birthday. Yay. I’ve been on (often self-prescribed) anti-depressants intermittently for many years. However since the ... View more

Hi there. I’ve just found out I have Bipolar Disorder. I received my diagnosis 2 weeks ago - a birthday present for my 50-something birthday. Yay. I’ve been on (often self-prescribed) anti-depressants intermittently for many years. However since the death of my mother 3 years ago I have struggled with grief, depression, and increasing irritability and mood swings particularly over the last 6-12 months. As a self employed medical practitioner and surgeon (and main income earner for my family) I’ve had to keep going despite physical or mental illness ever since my internship. I had to go back to work the day after my mum’s funeral. There is no one there to see or operate on our patients if we have to go home sick. So we push through. And self-treat in order to keep secret our mental health issues. Why have I finally been properly diagnosed? Because a close friend and colleague of mine picked up the warning signs of hypomania/bipolar and staged an intervention with the help of my sister, who is a very experienced mental health nurse. I had to promise to see a psychiatrist and stop prescribing for myself. So here I am. Bipolar. Stunned. Disappointed. Even a bit devastated at the diagnosis. My psychiatrist is lovely, but the immediate reduction of my antidepressant dose was torture. I refused a second medication at the start as I can’t afford to have a tremor (as a surgeon!!!). So I was commenced on an anticonvulsant and an antipsychotic medication. After 2 weeks of awful depression I was then happy to take anything to ease my anguish so agreed to add the second medication I'd previously refused to the mix. Yesterday I gave in to the multiple meds and filled a dosette. Yay. Have gone from taking one tablet a day to about 9 a day. Suspect I have gained a couple kgs already despite significant amounts of exercise and a healthy diet - double yay. But there is no choice, keep on going I must. Hide my diagnosis I must - now more than ever. It was just becoming acceptable in the medical profession to have reactive depression but Bipolar - no way!! Who wants to be seen by a crazy doctor? Who wants to be in business with or work alongside a Bipolar doctor? Who won’t scrutinise the Bipolar doctor constantly - watching out for signs of mania or depression? Hopefully I will improve rapidly on my meds so I can cope with the extra demands of emergency call-backs, writing and giving talks and completing difficult medical reports. Thanks for letting me whinge on line.

MAP Does anyone else feel like this?
  • replies: 5

I’m just wondering if anyone else has the same experiences that I do. Some days I’ll be feeling really really low and anxious. I’ll wake up before my alarm and lie awake for half an hour feeling anxious and worrying about work. When I’m feeling anxio... View more

I’m just wondering if anyone else has the same experiences that I do. Some days I’ll be feeling really really low and anxious. I’ll wake up before my alarm and lie awake for half an hour feeling anxious and worrying about work. When I’m feeling anxious I have tingling in my hands and feet and I feel like I have butterflies in my chest. I’ll keep feeling anxious until I actually get to work and then I feel a little better. On some days I’ll feel so sad that I find myself tearing up on my way to work. More than once I’ve just broken down on the train and couldn’t stop crying. On these days I know I should be going to my GP to get some help but because I work so far away from home I can never seem to get there. Then on some days I feel perfectly fine and happy and I wonder whether I actually need to go see the GP. On these days I seem to forget how bad the other days were or I feel like I can fix it by myself. Is it normal to feel this way?

sometimesiwanttodisappear Can some please help me?
  • replies: 3

My parents have been harassing me all this year to get a job, even though they know I have depression and anxiety issues ( they thing that its bullcrap). So last week I was forced to go job hunting and I applied for about 20 jobs, the majority replie... View more

My parents have been harassing me all this year to get a job, even though they know I have depression and anxiety issues ( they thing that its bullcrap). So last week I was forced to go job hunting and I applied for about 20 jobs, the majority replied that they will not be processing my application any further. I haven't even gotten an Interview yet, and all these jobs were simple retail and customer service jobs. I wanted to go to centerlink to see if they could help me but my mother said that because my family owes a lot of debt to centerlink I wasn't a lowed to go. My parents are always fighting over finances, my mother puts be down the majority of the time. My father says he wishes he never had children especially girls. I think it would be better if I just disappeared that way everyone would be happy. Then again its like I never existed in the first place. I dont even know what love is. I feel so under valued and I just wished I wasn't born.

Odysseydave Seeking the road back
  • replies: 2

I am looking for advice to find the road back to being a functional human. The last ten years have seen be become an unemotional blob that uses alcohol to balance myself. This has worked awesomely (not). I have lost my job and isolated myself from th... View more

I am looking for advice to find the road back to being a functional human. The last ten years have seen be become an unemotional blob that uses alcohol to balance myself. This has worked awesomely (not). I have lost my job and isolated myself from those tht were previously close to me. I want to be a normal person again but do not know where to start. I know deep down what I need to do but the negative voices are too loud. As far as the drinking goes, it's hard to get away from as the few people I socialise with are also heavy drinkers. I feel like I'm drowning and that most have given up on me. I don't know what to do as, being unemployed makes it quite difficult to get councelling.

Double_K Falling into it again
  • replies: 4

Hello, i have been going so well with everything until something happened at work. we had an incid not I was involved in and ever since then things have changed so, so much. I feel as though they blame me for what happened still. And there has been b... View more

Hello, i have been going so well with everything until something happened at work. we had an incid not I was involved in and ever since then things have changed so, so much. I feel as though they blame me for what happened still. And there has been been some other things that have set me backwards too.

Looking Is there any real help out there?
  • replies: 6

There are so many people that say they care about people with depression and anxiety and do nothing. For example, Beyond Blue has a contact form via email. You sit there for an hour telling them what is happening and all you get is a email response s... View more

There are so many people that say they care about people with depression and anxiety and do nothing. For example, Beyond Blue has a contact form via email. You sit there for an hour telling them what is happening and all you get is a email response saying how they feel for you and look for answers on their website. News Flash, I went to your website, did not find the answers, so I sent you an email. Been on antidepressants for 15 years. My GP has tried all the types. Nothing worked. Read about TMS and thought that might work. But TMS can only be referred by a psychiatrist. So get referred to one. Of course he knows some wonder drug that I have most likely already tried over the last 15 years and insists on trying those first. Both had bad side effects. But I course he knew better and accused me of lying about the side effects as he was not aware of them. Maybe he should learn to use the internet. So got him to approve TMS. Unfortunately it did not work. But I wanted a different psychiatrist and I was not connecting with that one. He accused me of being a racist. He was of Indian background and argued that was the reason for wanting to changing. He also accused me of lying to him. So this is how a mental health professional treats a person with mental health issues. As I have said, pills have not worked over 15 years. I had TMS on the right side of the brain, so wanted to try it on the left side. Of course new psychiatrist thinks he has some magic pill that all the others before him have been too stupid to think of. None, of them will listen to you. None of them care what you are going through. They are only interested in putting people into boxes and charging $170 per 15 minutes. Of course this means that they only work 2 days per week and have every second month off on holidays. I NEVER have a positive experience. I cannot think of anything that would make me feel good. I have bad days and worse days, nothing else. I sit in a chair most nights shaking and heart pounding. I feel like I need to run away, but can't figure out where to run to. Even driving a car means that I have this urge to pull over and curl up in a ball and I don't know why. I just feel like I need to hit something to take out my frustration in not knowing what to do. You can't live a life like this. How do you find someone that will actually care about you. The ones that people recommend are all booked up. It even takes you a month to get into a bad one. It all just seems hopeless

D_augustine Anyone else out there feel the same?
  • replies: 7

I love my kids and I love my husband but just lately I feel like is this it? Like everyday is the same, I just wanted more out of life and I’m scared this is it. I know is sounds awful and I’ve been felt this before and I try to shrug it off but it a... View more

I love my kids and I love my husband but just lately I feel like is this it? Like everyday is the same, I just wanted more out of life and I’m scared this is it. I know is sounds awful and I’ve been felt this before and I try to shrug it off but it always comes back. I’ve never really been single or just been me. I pretty much went from one relationship to another. I’ve always been someone’s somebody and now I feel so much responsibility for everyone else. I can’t make a move or do anything without the thought of my husband or kids. I wish I had more time to be selfish before when I was not responsible for anyone. Now I feel stuck, as if all my role is to be a good house wife work and be a good mother. I honestly don’t think I even know who I am anymore. How am I supposed to teach my kids to be happy in their own skin when I’m miserable in mine?

Guest_030 Hate life
  • replies: 3

Sick of my life. I'm sick of existing in pain all the time both mentally and physically. My depression is winning. I don't think anything can help. My medication doesn't seem to work. I've been seeing a psychologist but feel even that isn't enough to... View more

Sick of my life. I'm sick of existing in pain all the time both mentally and physically. My depression is winning. I don't think anything can help. My medication doesn't seem to work. I've been seeing a psychologist but feel even that isn't enough to help me. While I wouldn't harm myself I just pray everynight when I go to sleep that I just won't wake up the next day. Going through another day is unbearable I just needed to vent as I have no friends or support

BeKindRewind4Life Alone Forever
  • replies: 4

Hi, I'm new here, well not that new I was on before but my account went AWOL, the posts are still there so I know it's nothing I said. But... besides that. Does anyone here have an issue with meeting someone or talking to women. (I'm a guy). The deal... View more

Hi, I'm new here, well not that new I was on before but my account went AWOL, the posts are still there so I know it's nothing I said. But... besides that. Does anyone here have an issue with meeting someone or talking to women. (I'm a guy). The deal is, that I was put on disability for anxiety and severe depression many years ago, and even though, I tried, and tried, and ...... tried, to get a job, both by myself and through the almost pointless government job network, I never struck gold. Only employers paying below minimum wage, or hiring me to take over the job of two employees with that workload, taking the jobs only to be shown the door, one when I wanted to be paid legally, the other when the workload got too much, which happened rather quickly as the employer knew he was cutting corners and too cheap to get two people, like he had before me. All this has resulted in, well 8 years of being on disability, and unlike others I've been assessed as being unable to work, not because I can't but because well, I don't gel with the way the system works, especially the job network because I wanted them to help me get into a paid starting position like an apprenticeship or training to get my life back. Now at the grand old age of almost 36 I am ineligible for any programs to get help, I don't even get reviewed or offered assistance because I'm over 35, and I'm exhausted. I could work a few days a week but no one, will give me a chance, ever, I actually bought a house in a town with no jobs, (west coast tas) and very little hope of employment. I was shocked that there was a job going cleaning toilets here....so I took my half uni degree (left because my mum has terminal cancer and it was impacting greatly), my 4 year old Cert IV - Networking qualification and applied, because I'll do anything just to have the chance of a job....why? when not even centrelink wants to get me back into the workforce? even though I cope better now days and could manage my anxiety working a few days a week. Well simply put, I feel worthless, not to my self but to anyone I might even consider talking to with a romantic interest, I've convinced my self that any women who is still single at my age won't be looking for a man with a lower income, I sometimes wonder if the need to be with someone and feel less alone in this world isn't enough? I never even attempt to talk to anyone I like because, I'm ashamed of my life, my worth, and my value to anyone else.