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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

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Bexx Not sure what is best
  • replies: 3

Hello. I am almost 30 (this month) and have PSTD, generalised anxiety disorder and major depressive disorder. I have been in a long term relationship which has been unhealthy for both parties and not much of a relationship to be honest. I only just s... View more

Hello. I am almost 30 (this month) and have PSTD, generalised anxiety disorder and major depressive disorder. I have been in a long term relationship which has been unhealthy for both parties and not much of a relationship to be honest. I only just started seeking professional treatment about 6 months ago when I had a massive breakdown and had to be admitted to a psyciatric hospital. While my partner has said he still loves me, he has made it clear the behaviours we had before cannot continue as it was not fair or healthy and he will not stand for it anylonger. I understand this and agree but it increases anxiety to worry about falling back into the rut and also clearly identifying what is and what is not acceptable as his communication skills arent that great. I spent 4 months in a psyciatric clinic stabalising, and after discharge, I went to live at my parents as i was too much for my partner to care for while working full time. I have been recovering slowly from the last breakdown and then had to move house. A huge change as its quite far from my family (35km vs 1km, house vs apartment) and my partner is overseas for another month. I managed the move successfully by myself through all the bumps that were thrown at me, but I have only been able to sleep there a few nights. Over the past weeks i have had daily panic attacks and they are now so bad, i have regressed to the point where i cant manage on my own. I can barely eat and i have ulcers in my mouth and stomach. I cant sleep, i cant relax. I have come back to my parents but im not sure is this the best thing for me... should i stay here or should I go back to the psyciatric hospital? I know i need to learn more independence and my partner thinks my parents 'baby' me but i also think this is helpful because its less artificial than the hospital environment and when i improve i have the ability to do things for myself whereas in the hospital i have to wait till im discharged to be able to 'practice' things like cooking for myself and cleaning for myself. In addition to this, i can have my two dogs at my parents who really comfort me and i cant have them at the hospital. i am wondering what other peoples opinions are on this... am i better off with my parents or back in hospital?

hope4joy Is depression stuck at my core?
  • replies: 13

Hi everyone, I’ve just joined up to this forum because I’m feeling pretty alone with my depression lately. I’m in this weird place where I’ve done a fair bit of therapy and growth stuff over the last few years and have better skills in coping with di... View more

Hi everyone, I’ve just joined up to this forum because I’m feeling pretty alone with my depression lately. I’m in this weird place where I’ve done a fair bit of therapy and growth stuff over the last few years and have better skills in coping with distress and keeping active and talking about how I feel and looking after myself physically etc BUT at the same time I just seem to be getting sadder and sadder and in a way more and more isolated from meaningful connections with people. So despite all my new skills I feel further away from living and joy and life. Can anyone relate? I’m in my mid 30s and am scared that my depression will just keep getting worse no matter what I do. I used to have so much enthusiasm for trying to heal, but this year I’m trying to accept I might have a life-long mental illness. But how can I help the downward slide from getting worse...? Its like the treatments affect the superficial parts of my depression, but at my core it doesn’t budge :(

Guest_485 The Feeling of Worthlessness
  • replies: 3

How do you keep going, when it feels like everything is failing. How do you keep getting out of bed every single morning, when there is no point to it. I have read a thousand times that happiness and fulfillment are choices, and yet I have not chosen... View more

How do you keep going, when it feels like everything is failing. How do you keep getting out of bed every single morning, when there is no point to it. I have read a thousand times that happiness and fulfillment are choices, and yet I have not chosen this life. It seems to have chosen me. I work myself into the ground, days filled with busyness, rude customers and other people's problems, just so I can spend as little time as possible at home with my own mind. When I crave sleep, I can't get it. But when I do get it, it is so broken and plagued that I don't want it. I have an incredibly talented and supportive professional team behind me, and I recognize how lucky I am in that. But I am honestly at a stage where I feel so darkly alone, and I don’t think things can get better. I don’t know what to do anymore.

MissBenthos Dysthymia less severe?
  • replies: 12

Has anyone else with dysthymia ever thought that the description of it being a less severe depression doesn’t seem correct? I keep thinking it must be comparable to holding up a light weight. No problem right? But the longer you hold it up the more i... View more

Has anyone else with dysthymia ever thought that the description of it being a less severe depression doesn’t seem correct? I keep thinking it must be comparable to holding up a light weight. No problem right? But the longer you hold it up the more it feels heavier and the more your body aches. After holding it for as long as you have without being able to put it down for a rest, it eventually becomes unbearable. What do you think?

Elizabeth CP Lost motivation and direction
  • replies: 8

I feel guilty because I am wasting time and not doing anything useful. I feel like I have no purpose. I feel guilty because I have no excuse for complaining Other people have much worse situations. I normally am very goal orientated and feel bad if I... View more

I feel guilty because I am wasting time and not doing anything useful. I feel like I have no purpose. I feel guilty because I have no excuse for complaining Other people have much worse situations. I normally am very goal orientated and feel bad if I am not achieving things. I am marking time waiting for summer to finish. I hate the heat. I am scared in case fires start and I don't like going out in case I get sunburnt. I had a good job which I left in October. I had been struggling because my husband kept getting sick. He spent 6 weeks in hospital Sept-Oct '14 just after I started work and came home so weak he could barely walk from one room to the next. (we previously enjoyed bushwalking) He then had lots of doctors appointments and tests to plan for further surgery to prevent him having the same problem. I was very stressed and always worried about him. I couldn't afford to take off much time for carers leave because I hadn't worked long enough. My plan was to arrange a holiday and see how I felt after having a break. Unfortunately one holiday was cancelled because of the initial illness, the second holiday (which was timed to coincide with a public holiday and flexing my hours to limit the days off) I came home exhausted as my husband became sick the night we left and I got very little sleep as I had to look after him in the night. After his surgery in July we booked a 2 week holiday for September. The surgery failed and was repeated 5 times. After the last failure we decided not to contact the hospital or doctor as we couldn't cope with another failed attempt. We will just manage as best as we can. 2 weeks before the holiday I broke my ankle so the holiday was cancelled. At that point I decided to resign rather than see how I felt after a break.

Gravity New Year
  • replies: 5

Hi, My thoughts are all over the place at the moment due to how flat and depressed I feel about the new year, well it's really the whole Festive period in general, which also contains my birthday smack bang in the middle, so needless to say it's a pr... View more

Hi, My thoughts are all over the place at the moment due to how flat and depressed I feel about the new year, well it's really the whole Festive period in general, which also contains my birthday smack bang in the middle, so needless to say it's a pretty stressful and depressive time. So New Year's Eve came and went, I'd been feeling particularly down all day, withdrawn and just generally feeling worthless. No one had asked me to go out or do anything with them and I'm not overly fond of my own company because I'm not the biggest fan of myself and I'm generally by myself the majority of the time. long story short, I spent the evening watching tv, midnight came and went, about 10 minutes after midnight, I felt an incredible sadness hit me like a bus, as if the disappointments, frustrations and depression from the past 12 months had finally caught up with me. I'm worried that I'm now going to carry this feeling into 2016 and this year will turn out as badly as last year did for me mentally. I've been taken off my AD's mid last year as they weren't really working, I was still attending psychologist appointments, which were helping. Any advice anyone can offer up on how to beat this thinking would be greatly appreciated

Guest_2350 Confused feelings
  • replies: 13

Hello All, I am currently doing CBT and starting psycho therapy next month and one of the returning thoughts that keeps bothering me to a great deal, is my ability to maintain friendships and relationships. I actually used to be very good in keeping ... View more

Hello All, I am currently doing CBT and starting psycho therapy next month and one of the returning thoughts that keeps bothering me to a great deal, is my ability to maintain friendships and relationships. I actually used to be very good in keeping up friendships & acquaintances and I used to blog, send post cards, letters and emails, call and see the ones that were close enough. My relationships (friends, family, acquaintances) are literally scattered all over the world, mainly Europe and Africa and now also in Australia. I have moved many times. For the last few years I found it more and more difficult to keep in touch with people and I started to doubt the intend of people and their actual feelings for me. Where I used to be very giving and forgiving, I am now very reserved and suspicious and bitter. I have again and again thinned out my contact list, created and deleted blogs & facebook & other social media accounts again and again and I am just wondering if I am the only one who gets so confused, who does not want to be in touch, who just does not know. And I am also wondering why this bothers me so much and I think I am so stupid, as it is as if a rich person worries about what to do with all the money. I feel so ungrateful and just stupid. I'm just wondering if this is part of depression and PTSD and if it will eventually get better and I will eventually feel something again that does not confuse me. Thanks, Yggy x

Elsie77 Sad
  • replies: 3

Woke up feeling very sad today

Woke up feeling very sad today

KTOCD Feeling like nothing is ever going to get better. Had enough
  • replies: 12

Hey, im having a really hard time. I feel like I make some progress and then we just go back to the beginning again. Things shouldn't be this hard. Hating how things are at the moment. Finding it so hard to be positive about anything. Sorry but neede... View more

Hey, im having a really hard time. I feel like I make some progress and then we just go back to the beginning again. Things shouldn't be this hard. Hating how things are at the moment. Finding it so hard to be positive about anything. Sorry but needed to offload. Need some space to rethink how I move forward. Feel like I'm running into a brick wall over and over again. KT

Perfectly Scattered Perfectionism + lack of control = Depression
  • replies: 10

Hi everyone, I am new here. This year has been beyond awful for my family. My 8yr old son developed severe OCD (likely linked to Autism- doing assessments now). Me being so driven believed I could 'fix' everything for him by immersing myself in all t... View more

Hi everyone, I am new here. This year has been beyond awful for my family. My 8yr old son developed severe OCD (likely linked to Autism- doing assessments now). Me being so driven believed I could 'fix' everything for him by immersing myself in all the info on OCD and taking him to his Psychologist- following all the rules to successfully beat OCD. I put everything I had into helping him only to feel like a complete failure when we had to resort to medication even though I am fully aware of the role serotonin takes in mental illness- I am not against medication- I was just upset that I did not achieve my goal unaided. I realise medication was necessary in my sons case- he had began to believe everyone and everything were poisonous, life in general was torture for him. Question to everyone... Does anyone else put such high and un-achievable expectations on yourself that when they are not reached you fall into a depression? I have noticed a pattern of this throughout my life, has anyone found a way to stop it happening? At the time I never feel like what I am expecting from myself was out of reach- it is only once my depression lifts that I truely realise how misguided I was.