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

Sophie000 Mild Depression
  • replies: 1

Hi, I think I am mentally sick. I think I have anxiety or mild depression. I can’t enjoy my life recently, I couldn’t sleep well in the last 3-4weeks like very difficult falling asleep at the beginning and then woke up at midnight due to needing to g... View more

Hi, I think I am mentally sick. I think I have anxiety or mild depression. I can’t enjoy my life recently, I couldn’t sleep well in the last 3-4weeks like very difficult falling asleep at the beginning and then woke up at midnight due to needing to go to toilet then unable to fall asleep and my mind were full of reoccurring and worrying thoughts. I tried some natural stress relief pastilles and sleep formula but it only worked for the first few days. I went to work with strong headache; I felt a bit relieved with 2 days off. It is hard for me to concentrate at work and remember how to pronounce some words. My memory is not good recently too. But even at home, I have no interest in doing anything and always fired tired and lethargy. When I stay with my two little kids, I rarely feel enjoyment. It is more about my responsibility as a mum, and of course with love. I used to be active in chatting with other mothers to arrange play dates for my kids. But I don’t enjoy doing it now and avoid doing that. I am avoiding making new friends. Maybe because I am also studying part time too. I have hope for future but I am really not well. When I am writing this message and seeking help, I have headache too. I need some help please!

Santana How to heal from loss and loneliness
  • replies: 2

Hello.I'm in a bit of a bad place. The last three years have been rather traumatic, including a divorce, and the loss of both my parents. Recently my youngest child left home and the intensitiy of the loneliness is almost suffocating. In addition, I ... View more

Hello.I'm in a bit of a bad place. The last three years have been rather traumatic, including a divorce, and the loss of both my parents. Recently my youngest child left home and the intensitiy of the loneliness is almost suffocating. In addition, I took on a new job 12 months ago and the stress has been phenomenal. I am anxious all the time and I can't sleep. I am now experiencing severe fatigue and nausea everyday. I don't have a psycholgist at the moment as my last one closed her practice and it has been difficult to find someone else. Last November I stopped my antidepressants and at the moment I am feeling increasingly depressed. I don't want to go on antidepressants because mum had dementia and I've read that they have been linked to an increased risk in older people. So I am really stuck. I don't have much of a support system, just one or two friends I speak with ocassionally. But I don't want to dump on them too much. I am experiencing so much emotional distress at the moment... I sometimes despair. I hope maybe chatting here will help.

Helpful_soul At breaking point..
  • replies: 1

Hi everyone, I am writing on here as a last resort for some advice for my mum. At the end of last year my mum lost a good friend of hers which was also a family friend who we had known for close to 20 years. After their death we had found out somethi... View more

Hi everyone, I am writing on here as a last resort for some advice for my mum. At the end of last year my mum lost a good friend of hers which was also a family friend who we had known for close to 20 years. After their death we had found out something regarding my mum. She couldn’t handle with us knowing this about her as she has always had this “perfectionist” outlook on herself. Of course, at first our family were all upset and dealing with things in our own way. But we never treated her differently and have told her we have forgiven her and moved on. Since early February, our mum has been depressed (having panic attacks nearly everyday, just laying down all the time, not eating properly and she has lost about 8kg in 3 months). Our family are all at breaking point. As an allied health professional I have shown her empathy, I have encouraged her to move and make small steps and tasks everyday to help her to start to feel better. She listens but then doesn’t try to put anything into effect. Even with encouragement and so many different strategies. She still says “I’m trying” even though she does nothing to help herself. It is now getting to the point where we all don’t know where to turn. Mum has sought help from a psychologist (which we thought might turn it around, but it hasn’t), she has been to the hospital twice now (she stayed one night voluntarily) and then when she came home the second time she started feeling better because she realised the hospital can’t do anything to help her, she has to do the work. Here we are a few days later and she’s back to the same as she was and has been for the last 7 weeks. I’m really lost as to what to do for her because no matter what we say or do she doesn’t take anything on board and keeps saying if she feels like this in 4 weeks then she won’t be around anymore.. it’s very heartbreaking to hear and to see her continually going through this and not even trying to help make herself a little bit better. Mind you, she has a 10 month old grandson who she babysits 3x per week and she is fine when he is there. As soon as he isn’t she doesn’t want to do anything at all. I’m worried for my dad too as he is the one that is living with her and it’s having an impact on him too.

Earth Girl I think I have psychosis, not schizophrenia
  • replies: 6

I had a rough time growing up (family issues, got bullied badly in Primary school and got bullied worse in high school and college by a huge amount of people, I had stressed induced tummy problems and I was really isolated and shy so I could barely t... View more

I had a rough time growing up (family issues, got bullied badly in Primary school and got bullied worse in high school and college by a huge amount of people, I had stressed induced tummy problems and I was really isolated and shy so I could barely talk to anyone and didn't have any friends for all those years). Close to the end of 2012, I was having a psychotic episode and said really strange things online and then people from school saw it and were really angry at me for what I said and came to my house so my stress got so extreme to the point where I blanked out and couldn't even remember going to bed and the next day, my psychotic episode got even worse and lasted 1-3 months. My psychiatrist tried different medications on me until one of them worked and I got better again. I stopped taking my medication 5 years later because I thought I didn't need it and I was fine for a while, but then something stressful happened and I had another psychotic episode and I had two other ones that year as well from other stressful events. When I have psychotic episodes, I think I am a really bad person, that everyone is trying to kill me (including my family and doctors), that my tablets are poisonous and I can't tell what is real and what isn't or, if it's a less bad episode, I think I'm an angel and that everyone in the world is so innocent and I sometimes experience feeling both good and bad things about myself in some episodes so one minute, I'll think I'm like a superhero and the next minute, I go back to thinking I'm horrible. After my second episode, my psychiatrist asked me if I thought I might be schizophrenic and not psychotic because I had more than one episode and they also thought that I might have schizophrenia because I told them that people were talking about me a lot of the time in a mean way and they just said, they wouldn't do that, it's just your mind playing tricks on you even though people DO talk about me a lot and they talk about things I did about 10 years ago almost everyday. I think it's more likely to be psychosis because I don't experience feeling these types of thoughts all the time - just when I have episodes. My psychiatrist told me that I'm lucky that there was a medication that worked well for me because a lot of people don't have ones that work for them. So, does that mean that if my medication didn't work, I would live the rest if my life thinking everyone is trying to kill me? Because that would be beyond unbearable.

REC500 Thoughts on paper
  • replies: 2

This is my first post but after reading some of the posts I can see I'm not alone here. I was diagnosed with PTSD and depression around 2015 and have managed to keep things together until about 12 months ago due to the nature of my work combined with... View more

This is my first post but after reading some of the posts I can see I'm not alone here. I was diagnosed with PTSD and depression around 2015 and have managed to keep things together until about 12 months ago due to the nature of my work combined with a toxic work environment. I reduced my working week to 7 days per fortnight and am on medication however it still became overwhelming and I took leave without pay. I have not worked since October 2023 and am living off my savings. More often now I don't do activities and hobbies I used to enjoy and most things are a struggle and seem pointless. Low moods and lethargy are present most days. Some days getting out of bed seems pointless. It can also be tiring pretending everything is okay when it is not. I tell myself suicide would kill my elderly parents and devastate my grandchildren but that is starting to wear thin. I care about things less and less and feel immune to any emotional situations where I know I should care, or be angry or happy or concerned but I don't. Thats all.

Summerinvincible Foot fracture & mental health decline
  • replies: 12

I fractured my right foot 6 weeks & 3 days ago and it has been the hardest thing I’ve gone through which completely took me by surprise (I’ve gone through hard times before and was on antidepressants for over a year 5 years ago). I didn’t get the bes... View more

I fractured my right foot 6 weeks & 3 days ago and it has been the hardest thing I’ve gone through which completely took me by surprise (I’ve gone through hard times before and was on antidepressants for over a year 5 years ago). I didn’t get the best care from the public hospital here in Perth so I spent a lot of time worrying if what was happening was normal, or if it was nerve damage. I’m a single parent of a primary school aged child which was added stress as I couldn’t drive (right foot!) I can’t walk by myself yet but can at least drive now as of this week. So my mood perked up for a bit until I started the slow process of learning to walk again with crutches and moon boot. I was told it would take 6-8 weeks but it’s slow going. I wonder if I’ll ever feel completely normal again. I’ve tried posting in Facebook groups but they won’t approve me as they say I’m asking for medical advice (I’m not!) I just need to be heard. I wasn’t told anything specific about recovery except to “play it by ear” but luckily there’s lots of resources online from orthopaedic surgeons. I have crutches which cause pain in my wrists and squash the nerves in my hand so I have padded the handles with foam and got a wrist splint for support. Last night I felt really down as I felt like I’d caused damage after a walking session. It doesn’t hurt at the time, just sharp twinges afterwards which is worrying so I’m just lying in bed now. I feel like no one cares because I’m not dying and it’s not a long term condition even though when you suddenly can’t walk, the days are long. I feel really alone as only a couple of friends have provided practical help. One “friend” in particular disappeared completely. Thanks for listening.

beezandhoney Sister struggles with depression/ suicidal ideation
  • replies: 3

hello this is my first time posting in a forum like this, but I’m just trying to look for some answers.my older sister is constantly talking about how much she hates her life and how everything in her life gives her a pit in her stomach. like the sui... View more

hello this is my first time posting in a forum like this, but I’m just trying to look for some answers.my older sister is constantly talking about how much she hates her life and how everything in her life gives her a pit in her stomach. like the suicidal ideation is just always lingering in her mind. She talks about how she hates this society and how people function in it, (city life) and I agree with her honestly, but it’s the horrid feeling she’s fighting with everyday and I just feel hopeless, like I don’t know what to do next. she mentions how medication messes with her and makes her feel worse so im afraid to suggest she goes back on that again. Years of seeing psychiatrists just isn’t working for her so im not sure what else to suggest. My family and I offer her our support constantly, but it’s not enough, I feel. If there’s anyone out there who knows exactly what my sister is going through and is able to offer some advice/support, that would be very much appreciated. Sorry this got so long haha

StephenP12 Struggling with some proper strong mood swings
  • replies: 1

Yeah just really having some strong, fairly major mood swings. Which are starting to yeah I guess worry and definitely faze me. Too much Call Of Duty to borrow that word faze aha recently, anyway yeah that is hard to deal with. Anyone got good distra... View more

Yeah just really having some strong, fairly major mood swings. Which are starting to yeah I guess worry and definitely faze me. Too much Call Of Duty to borrow that word faze aha recently, anyway yeah that is hard to deal with. Anyone got good distractions in terms of music/podcasts even for example, just in general. Sometimes can push through it in fact kind of often, but not at the moment

MissNobody992024 I can’t do this anymore
  • replies: 4

You know how much it sucks when people say they know how you feel and they clearly don’t? I’m 25 and I’ve struggled with mental health all my life, I’ve tried everything and I still can’t get a job, I’m living with my alcoholic mother who makes every... View more

You know how much it sucks when people say they know how you feel and they clearly don’t? I’m 25 and I’ve struggled with mental health all my life, I’ve tried everything and I still can’t get a job, I’m living with my alcoholic mother who makes everything about her and I have nobody. I’ve had people constantly tell me that they are here for me but when it really matters they don’t care. I want nothing more to move out but to do that I need a job and even if I get one my mother has the maturity and responsibility of a 6 year old constantly smoking and drinking and considers me lazy no matter what I do. For the longest time I’ve felt like I’m not supposed to make it and I don’t know maybe I’m just not worth it but despite that I’ve done nothing but fight for everything but recently I’ve come to the conclusion that I just don’t want to fight anymore.