Depression

Depression affects people in Australia every day. Share your own story and learn about other member’s experiences with depression.

FAQ

Find answers to some of the more frequently asked questions on the Forums.

Forums guidelines

Our guidelines keep the Forums a safe place for people to share and learn information.

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

Neve year 7 stress
  • replies: 3

I think I have deppresionIn year 4 I moved schools and it was great but when I went to high school my mental helth dropt and I started to get freaked out by things like cars passing, getting strest out by simple mistakes or tests and always feeling l... View more

I think I have deppresionIn year 4 I moved schools and it was great but when I went to high school my mental helth dropt and I started to get freaked out by things like cars passing, getting strest out by simple mistakes or tests and always feeling like I have no perpous or everythink is an effort.

mills Dont need fixing just need comfort
  • replies: 6

I dont know what i excpect from this but im kinda just holding alot in so, well i have diagnosed adhd and anxiety but i feel like im faking it for attention but why would i be faking it when i hide it, everything has been feeling so difficult lately ... View more

I dont know what i excpect from this but im kinda just holding alot in so, well i have diagnosed adhd and anxiety but i feel like im faking it for attention but why would i be faking it when i hide it, everything has been feeling so difficult lately and im trying so hard to feel good and take it easy but that just makes me self critical because i have this need to be perfect but i dont really show it, other then fixating on the way i look because i gave up on everything else, but i didnt give up on diagnosing myself with like 100 different diseases and convincing myself i have cancer every so often, sometimes the voice in my head says things i dont want it to or has really intrusive thoughts that scare me, not to mention i just need a hug yeah that would be nice. i mean my dads an alcoholic, which is so emotinally draining bc i know he only drinks because hes depressed himself probs why mum divorced him which was like 6 years ago but it still roams my mind, and mum can barley regulate her own emotions so i feel bad going to her with mine, but like shes my mum i just need a hug yk. I dont think i have felt this depressed in a while and thats whats scaring me, its silent and slowly takes over me until i feel like it is me, i dont want to be a sad gf or sad friend, everyone goes through so much and the idea of talking to a friend only makes my heart hurt more. ive been constantly crying because i feel so empty and little things set me off or make me so irratated i want to scream like certain sounds, literally coughing pisses me off sometimes but im not gonna point that out cause well thats insane, yk what else is insanse how self aware i am, and the constant spirals my lack of intiative puts me in, i want to get better to prove to myself and to everyone that i can do it but i also dont, this feeling is what ive know for a long long long long time and its sickening dont get me wrong but i just want someone to notice im not okay and ive never been okay, i can barley remember half of my life because i disocciate so much and then when i feel like im in reality again i get drowned in feelings, i mean medications helps to an extant but i just want to be normal i want to be me, i want to enjoy the things i love without it feeling like an effort, i am sick of it all but most of all the cherry on top i am so so sick and tired of being me, why does it have to be so exhausting to do anything that used to put a smile on my face but now just puts more ache in my chest.

Guest_09902673 Bpd, loneliness, bullying, trauma
  • replies: 1

Hi I’m 21 just before I say anything this is a full rant about me and my life I just need to get this out because I have no one to talk to. my whole life I have never had a real connection with anyone. I was abused physically, emotionally and sexuall... View more

Hi I’m 21 just before I say anything this is a full rant about me and my life I just need to get this out because I have no one to talk to. my whole life I have never had a real connection with anyone. I was abused physically, emotionally and sexually as a child yes my (relationship with my brother and my mother are completely fine infact we are close.) during my young un primary school I had no friends I was bullied and isolated. in my high school years ( my first high school) I was stalked by my neighbour this triggered something in me where I wanted to be popular so bad because I wanted to be loved, edmired and had lots of friends. Instead I was bullied but somehow I still wanted their validation. I started doing drugs having risky sex, shop lifting and so on during that time I had a favourite person “I’ll call her Zoe” she was my first ever best friend I did have lots of favourite persons before her but she was so strong. She was manipulative, gaslighter and she walked all over me. After about 1 and a half years of being friends I had and stood up against her. This is when I started my 2nd high school my popularity was at its peak I had lots of friends but I had such a bad drug addiction that I barley remember that one year ( also I dropped out). kind of now it’s been a lot different I am betyer I’ve stopped taking drugs I no longer have suicidal thoughts or attempts but I’m struggling so much with friends and connections I’ve been backstabbed so many times and I give my all in friendships loyalty, listening, showing up, direct, fun, spontaneous everything but I don’t get anything in return I don’t know how but is this is what friendships are like because I am truly starting to think like Tha Thats all thanks sorry for bad grammar

Mario_Sonic Emotional Breakdowns
  • replies: 58

Hey guys, it’s Liam…so last Monday, I don’t know what happened but I was just feeling severely down…this caused me to suffer from a severe emotional breakdown, something which I’m all too familiar with considering the breakdowns I’ve had in the past…... View more

Hey guys, it’s Liam…so last Monday, I don’t know what happened but I was just feeling severely down…this caused me to suffer from a severe emotional breakdown, something which I’m all too familiar with considering the breakdowns I’ve had in the past…If you’re wondering how these breakdowns occur, they occur when I get overwhelmed emotionally, and then I just…start crying…my question is…what exactly can I call these things I have instead of emotional breakdowns? Also I have suffered severely because of these breakdowns…especially at school, one of the SSOs, he believed I was faking them to get out of doing work, but I was only having these breakdowns because the workload was too hard for me…that was when I was 17…I’m now 20…I feel like I can’t be emotional or cry… *Crying* Liam

phightingphan idk ikd ikd idk idkidk idk idk
  • replies: 6

School starts up again tomorrow. Safe to say I do not want to come back. To be fair, I don't think anyone wants to come back, but I like to imagine I am suffering over it the most. It makes me feel good when I know I'm hurting more than others. I hav... View more

School starts up again tomorrow. Safe to say I do not want to come back. To be fair, I don't think anyone wants to come back, but I like to imagine I am suffering over it the most. It makes me feel good when I know I'm hurting more than others. I have holiday homework I haven't done, big deal, right? Well... it is. I haven't read our assigned book for English Advanced, and my work for the book content/themes of it, which I can't finish tonight, because I haven't even read the book yet LMAO. I also have to work on my ancient history essay (which, might I add, is an actual assignment that counts towards my grade), but am I really willing to write 1500 words of rubbish I don't care about? No, not really- that's why I'm here. I like to complain about things I could've easily changed if I weren't lazy. To tell the truth, it really hurts me when I think about how there is something fundamentally wrong with me compared to everyone else. There is nothing I can do about it; I can only accept it and move on with my life, but it's so, so, so hard to. I grew up feeling different, and I was always aware of it, but it never truly affected me until it did. Until the years of being a social outcast of a child caught up to me in some of the most integral years of my development, teenagehood. Not being properly socialised as a kid will always come back to bite you in the ass, and I wish I knew that. I wish I were normal. I wish I could deal with my school problems like a normal kid. But I'm not normal, I will never be normal, and I can only sit and mull over my life until it ends. Or, get help. I could get help, I could just reach out and be done with it. I'm too lazy to do that either, or too scared, it's getting hard to tell nowadays. I don't just attribute this way of thinking to my life, but rather to my brain itself- there is clearly something wrong with my brain. I am probably neurodivergent or extremely depressed or both. And yet, despite it all, to everyone else, I will always be completely well-adjusted mentally! Sure, I'm an antisocial weird freak who is addicted to her phone and is incompetent and lazy and a living, breathing failure (these are not all my words), but I'm just a normal teenage girl. I love my life. God, I love living.

BLACKDOGG66 Social Visit Fatigue
  • replies: 2

I live by myself, and at times I do get lonely. I have recently had short visits (overnight) from both my son and best friend.Don't get me wrong, I’m happy when they arrive, but not long after I wish they would go.After they have departed though, I f... View more

I live by myself, and at times I do get lonely. I have recently had short visits (overnight) from both my son and best friend.Don't get me wrong, I’m happy when they arrive, but not long after I wish they would go.After they have departed though, I fall into terrible depression and feel adrift.Does anyone else feel like that?I have been diagnosed with Depression+, Anxiety+, cPTSD

KayKay123 How do I ask for help?
  • replies: 4

Im a teen and have been struggling for a while, suicidal thoughts and things like that. I am so tired of everything and burnt-out and just don't want to feel like this anymore, but It's so hard and paralysing to mention anything at all to my parents.... View more

Im a teen and have been struggling for a while, suicidal thoughts and things like that. I am so tired of everything and burnt-out and just don't want to feel like this anymore, but It's so hard and paralysing to mention anything at all to my parents. They're good people, but I'm just so scared and I don't know why. Does anyone know any ways I can tell someone?

vegivegi No matter how lucky I am or good the job is, I can't keep working
  • replies: 0

I've got a TAFE Diploma, and that was the closest thing to a fulltime job I've ever had. After that because I was on DSP, I worked at a bakery for five hour shifts. I finally managed to become an Au Pair in Europe i.e. my literal lifelong dream; I go... View more

I've got a TAFE Diploma, and that was the closest thing to a fulltime job I've ever had. After that because I was on DSP, I worked at a bakery for five hour shifts. I finally managed to become an Au Pair in Europe i.e. my literal lifelong dream; I got fired within two weeks for the funniest reasons ever*, and then in my rematch family I only had one hour of work in the morning and 4-5 hours in the evening - commute was walking across the room, massive break in between. And once I got back home I start working at the cafe two minutes walk from me - three hour shifts, 3-4 mornings per week. But no matter what, no matter how well it starts out, I always end up dreading every shift, getting home and then spending 10-12 hours dreading the next shift. Suicidal at times espesh in winter, in that "not going to do it but it would literally be easier to die than go to work for one hour" way. I can't even play the video games I want to after work because they take too much energy so I just stare at my idle game numbers going up. I missed out on so much Eurotrip stuff because I couldn't do anything after work but go straight back to bed. Crying a lot, including as I'm typing this. Two weeks into the cafe job and I messed up some stuff during a rush this morning, and it's too long to explain but I did some things the way she taught me (she's annoyed at me) and then messed up things she hadn't taught me how to do yet (she's annoyed at me.) This is how life is. Do things as told: angry at me. Figure things out by myself: angry at me. Ask for help/instructions/clarification: angry at me. I can literally do nothing right, ever, for anybody, and I never know why because they refuse to tell me. When other workers make mistakes, nobody is ever as angry at them as they are at me. Every person I talk to is a bomb waiting to go off and it makes me want to never go outside or do anything. I can try to get back on the DSP and my parents support me but I know they're scared of what will happen if I don't have a job/career as I get older but even three hours literally makes me want to die. (*One of the reasons was that I'd supposedly lied about being able to drive because during my first ever time driving in europe, I kept turning on the window wipers instead of the indicator. Because the cars are swapped around. And she bought me some driving lessons but the teacher literally asked me "why are you here, you already know how to drive?" and stopped the lesson to take me to a café. Well at least sometimes we can get comedy out of it right)

roses5668 I feel alone
  • replies: 2

Not quite sure the point of posting this, but I've been really struggling today for the first time in a while. I have depression and anxiety and am on medication for years now, but today the depression and sadness was a lot. I wonder if I'm alone in ... View more

Not quite sure the point of posting this, but I've been really struggling today for the first time in a while. I have depression and anxiety and am on medication for years now, but today the depression and sadness was a lot. I wonder if I'm alone in this feeling, but to me it almost feels as though someone died that feeling when your heart is heavy and to breathe hurts. It just feels like I need to cry all day. But my life is good, and when my partner asks why I'm sad, all I can say is "I don't know," and I know that frustrates him because he wants to help but can't. I feel as though I'm being annoying for feeling upset without any reason, and maybe it annoys him too, because I sit in silence crying, and it feels as though he doesn't care because he sits next to me in silence, saying nothing. But I know he does care anyway, that's not the point. The point is, I feel sad, and I'm scared it won't stop. I've been through this before, many times, but I'm still terrified and in some ways i just want to stop it all, i’ve tried before but i can’t do that again because it hurt too many people.

Kkkk Sum bullshit (don't read if it upsets/bothers U)
  • replies: 3

Just spilling this onto the internet hoping for enlightenment/guidance. I just try so hard (I think) to get help but I can't really beat my damnation (my lonely life). It's just funny how the 'law of attraction' just doesn't wanna work for me at all.... View more

Just spilling this onto the internet hoping for enlightenment/guidance. I just try so hard (I think) to get help but I can't really beat my damnation (my lonely life). It's just funny how the 'law of attraction' just doesn't wanna work for me at all. Like damn. Can I get anything?? Maybe ONE person who cares about me?? My mental frustration and agony is always being met with pure silence in the real world. Like pls. I feel arrogant for seriously mentally questioning life and existence but it's like I think the only thing that feels true to me. Maybe I'm a pessimist. But I've noticed for MYSELF (not others), that most of my so called 'life' (very easily triggered by that word rn) has been lived in numbness. Can't connect to my actual physical body walking, talking, seeing, eating. Feel like I just jinx every so called 'good' (hardly comprehend that word) thing from happening by just existing, but then again. Was I going to outsmart the system of whatever this realm is? Nope. Hurts my massive, depressed ego!! Daunting to just open my damn eyes sometimes. I feel pathetic but I also feel honest. Which is all I want. Even if that leads me to almost the worst thing. But mentally daunted. People say to get help but that's kind of meaningless to me rn no offence. I only have my phone. And the imaginable possibility of seeing a therapist which is a PAIN to organise for so many pathetic personal reasons. Like, isn't life supposed to be inclusive???? Why is seeking so called help so hard. I'm mentally ready to blurt out my traumas and life everywhere and hope someone can tell me what's going on but the actual world I'm in won't allow that? Don't got nobody to run to. Hate to upset people but I always do somehow. How am I a disappointment whilst never having been appointed? Someone reading this might question if I'm lying. Telling the truth. Over exaggerating, burdening people. You will never know!