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 chats on this Forum having 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

Tears1963 MY Life
  • replies: 3

I m a 55 year old caring for a 26 year old my daughter Rachel and she has Bipolar disorder plus Anxiety it hurts everyday cause I have Depression as well. And its like no one else understands us 2 funny people .

I m a 55 year old caring for a 26 year old my daughter Rachel and she has Bipolar disorder plus Anxiety it hurts everyday cause I have Depression as well. And its like no one else understands us 2 funny people .

froggy43 depression and lack of work
  • replies: 2

Hello i,m not sure whats going on with my inner self so need so help to understand how i,m feeling i,m 43 yrs old female who has worked my whole life no children and am married to a kind man and is my best friend,about 7 months ago I left my job to w... View more

Hello i,m not sure whats going on with my inner self so need so help to understand how i,m feeling i,m 43 yrs old female who has worked my whole life no children and am married to a kind man and is my best friend,about 7 months ago I left my job to work in a remote area with my husband this is something we have both done before but before I left I express I was not keen on this area do to it own problems but my husband told me he could do it without me so off we went and it lasted about a month and we were back home again. since then my husband has his own business and is busy but i can not find work the area we live in is not the easiest place to fine work and its really getting me down , i live in a rural area and some days only see my husband i have no friends down here because we have always moved around for work which seemed to suit and which I have no problem doing again with no children and use both having trades(i,m a hairdresser) theirs normally no problems,but my problem is my husband does not want to leave know and says i,m being selfish we have so much but i,m still unhappy am I being selfish?

DSPicableMe Lost in DSP
  • replies: 18

I've never been on these forums before, so I'll introduce myself, I'm 34 and about to have my 35 birthday. My mum has terminal lung cancer and will be dead in a matter of months according to doctors. I suffer sever sleep aponea, ADD, chronic depressi... View more

I've never been on these forums before, so I'll introduce myself, I'm 34 and about to have my 35 birthday. My mum has terminal lung cancer and will be dead in a matter of months according to doctors. I suffer sever sleep aponea, ADD, chronic depression and anxiety. Years ago, back before they shook up the DSP rules, I was doing consecutive WFD programs one after another. This was after leaving a job I was good at becasue my family was moving state. Over the course of these programs I became very depressed because of the futile activities people are requried to do. Eventually I broke, and got put on DSP. From then on I was put on and rejected from almost every job network because of the 'funding' related requirements, and not being helped with actually getting work or work experience. I could search for jobs on my own, but was usually rejected after a time for lack of experience. I've got two Cert IVs in IT, the newest which is 4 years old, yet I am so desperate for work that I apply for anything despite my level of education. Nothing helps, I've been trying 7 years and nothing helps. I was put on medication some time ago which allows me to function at 80% of any other employee, but now centrelink has reduced my capacity to work and I can't tell them I'm able to because a) the medication isn't PBS covered, and I'm allergic to what is b) if I lost DSP I would lose the medication and be unable to cope up too and if I got a job because it's what gives me the ability to function at 80%. In a few months I will only have my sister, other than that I will be completely alone, my other closest friend online also has cancer and she will be gone soon too. I know this sounds trivial, but at my age there is no real assistance, no help, I've been put on the scrap heap of society and if I only had a chance I feel I could get off it. It feels like life is becoming completely meaningless, and I'm about to be hit with a tidle wave of loss, and I just wish it would stop/slow down so there was more time to fix things. So..... Anyway....... that's me... Anyone else on DSP that really wants to join the real world but has been sidelined with no assistance?

HereIam 25, male, completely lost with career direction and life.
  • replies: 6

I feel like I've missed the boat. Everyone I grew up with has their shit together and I'm still living at home trying to find entry level jobs to apply for. I've worked as a security guard, a bush regenerator, a door to door sales person, a housekeep... View more

I feel like I've missed the boat. Everyone I grew up with has their shit together and I'm still living at home trying to find entry level jobs to apply for. I've worked as a security guard, a bush regenerator, a door to door sales person, a housekeeping attendant, and have also completed a handful of useless short courses. Nothing, and I mean literally nothing has ever drawn me in, sparked my interest, ignited a flame, in regards to wanting to pursue it. I absolutely dreaded every moment of the jobs I listed above and quit after 3-4 months each. As a result I have had varying periods of stability throughout my life so far and it causes so much god damn uncertainty and anxiety it ain't funny. I am a highly orderly and self reliant person and my current life position is making me very low, lower than I have ever felt before. Living at home with my parents, no income or savings, no close friends, dwindling happiness, no direction, just.. nothing going on in the mind. People ask me what I am interested in or what I want to do, and I honestly say I don't know and am given strange looks as though I am lying or looking for pity. But the truth is I.. just don't know. I never feel like I fit in anywhere I work and often feel that people perceive me as angry/tired/arrogant due to my basic nature of being very reserved and content. I open up around some people and especially when I am alone I enjoy singing along to music or playing my instruments while having a few quiet drinks. But everywhere I have been this far in life seems to reject that sort of approach. It's all extroverted and in your face. My parents are afraid for me lately as I am of myself too. Not in a serious "wanting to check out" sense, just that this all feels like shit just got very real very quick. I recently quit another job after 5 weeks. I was working aged care but genuinely felt it wasn't suited to me into the future so decided to pull the plug. Very confronting and challenging work, requiring a dedicated people person, which I can't offer at the moment. I've lost some other points I had on my mind sorry everyone. If anyone out there in this large community has any advice to offer me please don't hold back, I need all and any of it I can get. Thanks.

daisy8 Worsening depression after cardiac arrest
  • replies: 10

Hi all, this is my first time posting, i am a very private person and mostly try to cover my depression, I'm a little unsure how this forum is going to work for me, I'm hoping it can be a place i can be honest and open. I have struggled with depressi... View more

Hi all, this is my first time posting, i am a very private person and mostly try to cover my depression, I'm a little unsure how this forum is going to work for me, I'm hoping it can be a place i can be honest and open. I have struggled with depression for about 40 years, since adolescence, managing to be functional most of the time by hiding what i was feeling. disability and serious health problems overthe last 2 years hasmade my depression and anxiety so much worse to the point of not being able to function and having several hospital visits. A couple of months ago i suffered a cardiac arrest and resuscitation while in recovery from a thyroidectomy, since then my depression has worsened greatly and i am returning to hospital soon. Does anybody else have experience with a connection between depression and cardiac arrest? I don't actually remember the event but i needed cpr and reintubation, i ended up in icu for 2 days and had a boken rib and sternum, recovered now. Many people seem to report having a new lease of life after an event like that but i feel the exact opposite. I am being treated by a psychiatrist and a psychologist, but feel mostly that doctors have given up on me as i am not responding to treatment. Thanks in advance for any comments.

SYork How much do you share with those that love you?
  • replies: 14

Hi everyone, I’ve just joined and hoping someone has some insights. I’ve got chronic depression (not sure if anything else), diagnosed about 15 yrs ago but I reckon I’ve probably had for much longer. I saw psychiatrist/s and psychologist/s for a long... View more

Hi everyone, I’ve just joined and hoping someone has some insights. I’ve got chronic depression (not sure if anything else), diagnosed about 15 yrs ago but I reckon I’ve probably had for much longer. I saw psychiatrist/s and psychologist/s for a long time but not really at the moment and I don’t share a lot of my thoughts and feelings with my partner, family or friends. I sort of feel like because I more or less cycle in and out of varying levels of sadness, that I don’t want people to know about it and worry or know that they can’t do anything. The trouble is I end up bottling things up I suppose. Does anyone else feel like this? How do you balance sharing information with people and being authentic, with the other side? Do you think I just need to always have a counsellor, etc., a third party who isn’t personally invested? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. S.

bk117 20 Year old Male disillusioned with socialising
  • replies: 1

There was once a time in my life where I was completely terrified of talking and socialising with others, particularly girls - however in my first year of university I managed to come out of my shell and made what I thought to be friends, some of whi... View more

There was once a time in my life where I was completely terrified of talking and socialising with others, particularly girls - however in my first year of university I managed to come out of my shell and made what I thought to be friends, some of which happened to be female. It seems as I have developed the confidence to socialise people have begun to ignore me. During that same year I had a falling out with my main friends group and was left with only few friends who I had met at uni. Fast forward to this year and although on the surface level I have made friends, I have never felt more alone in my life, not only am I depressed but I feel extremely bitter almost misanthropic at times. The person who I consider my closest friend needs convincing to even sit next to me during lectures, she claims that IRL communication is not important for her which I accepted giving the benefit of the doubt. However today when she did decide to sit next to me, she essentially ignored me talking to another guy instead (no she is not interested in him, she is a lesbian). I'm 100% fine with her having other friends, but from her body language and tone she almost dislikes talking to me, I don't want to confront her about it but sometimes I feel like she is only pretending to be my friend. My other friends rarely make an effort to talk to me unless I'm offering them help with university work in which they are all to eager to talk to me until their issue is resolved. I hate sounding so nihilistic and cynical, I feel like I am treated differently than everyone else, I am not incredibly charismatic nor humorous, it's like all I'm wanted for is my ability to help others. I do enjoy helping others but no one ever seems to even do the courtesy of asking how I am... When I am one-on-one with people I seem to be able to get some friendliness, but as soon as there is another person in the equation it is like I don't exist. People I consider friends sometimes ignore me when I'm walking past, pretending to not see me - or take 2 weeks to respond to messages saying that they 'hadn't seen them'. My parents always say that you'll make friends and find a girlfriend because you're still so young but it just feels like my youth is wasting away as everyone else is having fun. Sometimes I have wondered whether I have narcissism for wanting to be at the centre of attention all the time, but is it too much to ask for others to acknowledge you for once?

alma17 Depression and Anxiety on Newstart: What happens after 3 months on newstart?
  • replies: 12

I'm not sure where to post this topic on this forum, I tried posting something similar on whirpool but the comments were vastly unhelpful, and some were just outright judgmental. I have been on newstart for almost 3 months, and I'm just wondering wha... View more

I'm not sure where to post this topic on this forum, I tried posting something similar on whirpool but the comments were vastly unhelpful, and some were just outright judgmental. I have been on newstart for almost 3 months, and I'm just wondering what happens shortly after this period? I am scheduled to see the job search provider sometime in July for the second time. I don't plan on staying on newstart forever, but the extra money is definitely helping me out in my current situation. Due to a lot of trauma, involving sexual assault and a very recent disconnection with toxic family, I have been unable to work. I've been consistently depressed and anxious, and honestly, seeing a counselor recently, made me feel even more terrible about mental health professionals. Although I am considered to be stream A (have a degree, have had work experience, etc), I still suffer with trauma and chronic physical pain/fatigue on a daily basis. I suppose I'm just wondering how long I will be able to stay on newstart, before the job agency makes me attends interviews and jobs I don't really feel ready for. Ideally, I would like to stay on newstart as much as I could, whilst being able to work on healing, without other job obligations impeding that. At this point, the financial strain weighs heavily on my mind and I feel that I ought to work, but I feel mentally and physically incapable sometimes.

DannyG Can’t make big decisions - anyone else feel this?
  • replies: 4

Hi everyone new to the forums, first post. i have depression, anxiety, bpd, social phobia. im having trouble making big decisions. Does anyone else have this too? I don’t trust my own opinions or decision making process, I think because I can’t tel i... View more

Hi everyone new to the forums, first post. i have depression, anxiety, bpd, social phobia. im having trouble making big decisions. Does anyone else have this too? I don’t trust my own opinions or decision making process, I think because I can’t tel if it’s really me or the illness talking. for e.g. I’m working a contract job,?the job has been advertised and I can’t decide if I should apply for it or not. Just when I think I’m doing well something sets me off. I got given the wrong coffee order yesterday and it made me cry. Like everything is so messed up I can’t even get a coffee right.

Catanddog I'm worried about my job due to my mental health absences
  • replies: 4

Long story short - depression and anxiety on and off since I was 10. 28 now, been with my current employer for almost 8 years. Managed myself for most of that, structure has changed with a lot more middle management in place now, which has added a lo... View more

Long story short - depression and anxiety on and off since I was 10. 28 now, been with my current employer for almost 8 years. Managed myself for most of that, structure has changed with a lot more middle management in place now, which has added a lot of stress and changes to my routines. Used to be a daily drinker, quit mid last year and been struggling a lot more ever since. Placed on SSRI by psychiatrist late last year, success with massive reduction of anxiety. Quite a lot of time over the last year taken off of work due to mental health. Brings me to now: stopped social outings almost completely, ordering food in, not taking care of hygiene, playing more video games because it occupies my mind. Previously when I've hit these depressive slumps I start getting anxious which alerts me to what is going on. SSRI = no anxiety so I've somehow reached the most depressed point I've ever been without even realising. In my mind this is how I wanted to spend my time. Depression is 10x worse in the mornings, I literally got excited the other week when I woke up with a cold so I wouldn't have to go in to work. Battle to get out of bed, when I do I rarely get to work on time. Impulsive spending is out of control. It's gotten to the point I'm scared to even tell work I'm not able to come in, my boss has stopped asking how I am. He seemed understanding early on but I guess he's reached his limit on tolerance. I'm a hard worker every second I am at work which is recognised. I have messaged my old sort-of boss I can trust who's higher up for her advice. Previously I could work the hours I needed, like if I needed a few hours in the morning to compose myself I could stay back later that night, with new management I am not able to do this anymore. I can't bring myself to go into work this week. I can't bring myself to tell my boss that I can't come in. I have booked an appointment with my psych for Thursday. I've got a mortgage and a car to pay off and I'm terrified if something happens to my job I'm screwed. I don't even know if I'm looking for advice, but typing this out has helped me process some of the crap running through my head at least. Aaahhhh