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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 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

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Ellmo Layers of meh are starting to weigh me down
  • replies: 2

Lots of 'low-level' frustrations in my life are contributing to feelings of disgust, disappointment and sadness. I'll try to list briefly. And whilst these issues in isolation are managable to overcome, I feel that everywhere i turn i'n faced with th... View more

Lots of 'low-level' frustrations in my life are contributing to feelings of disgust, disappointment and sadness. I'll try to list briefly. And whilst these issues in isolation are managable to overcome, I feel that everywhere i turn i'n faced with them, which has me feeling overwhelmed & hopeless. I had my first child 15mths ago. I've wanted another baby for almost a year. Hubby is beginning to agree that it's time for another baby, but doesn't seem enthusiastic about it, making me feel like i've beat him down. All my friends are trying too, so i feel pressure to compete (i have no idea why!) and also happy/sad feelings for my family & friends who have recently announced their pregnancies (4 close people around me). I wish it was us, yet I also have the feeling of cold feet & fear as we are finally getting more sleep (still deprived, but better) and I don't know what to do with my body. I used to be a gym junkie (which kept the blues at bay), but I feel frustrated that I can't find motivation to go to the gym. My husband has been amazing & taken i er cooking, but makes unhealthy food, despite my constant comments & requests (selfish, right?!), but I hate cooking, so i have to eat it. I have tried to eat healthy but my husband doesn't, and i just don't have the strength or willpower to continue, which makes me feel weak. I hate myself because I eat junk; I eat junk because I hate myself. I've expressed this to hubby (in tears) several times & asked for help. He says yes, then in the next breathe suggests KFC for dinner the next night! I miss feeling fit & strong & happier. Lastly, work. I returned in July & hate my job. I constantly feel like I'm drowning, yet instead of working harder to get on top of it, I distract myself with internet & drinking coffees because I feel so overwhelmed. I've asked for help but been told to work it out. I need this job for financial reasons & to get maternity leave again. I find myself struggling to keep my frustrations & feelings of shitfulness to myself. Hubby has noticed & gets angry back, despite me telling him all of the above. He basically warned me not to get fired then retreats every night to his man cave shed & i waste every night staring at the tv or phone by myself feeling trapped & frustrated. I don't know how to solve these problems. Logically it's 'grow the hell up & deal with your shit. Stop slacking, get some willpower' But I don't know how to go from here to there (the way i used to be).

spunkyturtle I am useless and worthless
  • replies: 4

So I found out I could apply for remission of HECS debt due to special circumstances, mental health. I applied to 6 Universities and 4 Universities refunded a total of $27,800'of HECS debt. 2 Universities have refused to refund the last $16,000 so a ... View more

So I found out I could apply for remission of HECS debt due to special circumstances, mental health. I applied to 6 Universities and 4 Universities refunded a total of $27,800'of HECS debt. 2 Universities have refused to refund the last $16,000 so a law firm took my case pro bono and we are taking them to the AAT. After months of pain stakingly building a case and going over how pathetic my existence has been I was basically told today because my psychiatrist and psychologist wouldn't help and provide a report, money is more important after all, the case has nothing much to base on because well medical documents mean nothing, the department of education have now lawyer end up so my lawyer is expecting them to be ruthless. Gee, I feel like a useless, worthless piece of trash. Stupid me, I thought I had legal rights, but I don't, what a waste of time. Next time I think I have legal rights I'm going to lock myself in my room and drink u til the thought passes.

Aqua-blue Scared and Confused
  • replies: 2

Hi all, This is my first post and I don't really know where to start. I was first diagnosed with depression when I was pregnant with my first child, 10 years ago. I believe however I have always had depression. I don't think it was particularly a nat... View more

Hi all, This is my first post and I don't really know where to start. I was first diagnosed with depression when I was pregnant with my first child, 10 years ago. I believe however I have always had depression. I don't think it was particularly a natal thing. That just happened to be when it was diagnosed. Over the years it seems to have become progressively worse. I have been on numerous medications but they only seem to be effective for a short time and then I need to go onto something else. I am frightened it is just a vicious downhill spiral. I have a loving family but I am afraid I am pushing them away. We have moved several times, trying different places to try to help me. This doesn't work, I can't escape my own head. I am self employed in a competitive, cut-throat industry and disappointments really knock me about these days. I have put a lot of my heart and soul into my work for 20 years but I am really suffering from burn-out now and I seem to have nothing to show for it. I don't have a saleable business and I have no super. I worry that I will become homeless and that my family will leave me. That might be an exaggeration and a figment of my own mental cloudiness but it feels like a very real scenario of where my future is headed. Over the last 15 years my husband has been made redundant twice. He has found it particularly difficult both times to find employment again. Age is not on his side and he feels it. He is very supportive but doesn't know what to do for me. My kids are also very supportive but they are young and I feel this is not a good thing, or a fair thing for them to endure. I hate the regime of testing a new drug and the associated therapy. It seems to work for a little while but has never had any long-term benefits. Each time I am back on the downward spiral, it's harder to come back. I feel like a petrie dish. I would love to be drug free and to just be able to manage this awful debilitating thing that is sucking the life out of me.

BBUser10 Hunger games has help with my depression
  • replies: 3

Hi just wanted to share something positive that has/is helping me determine if my mind is playing tricks or not . i watched the lastest in the hunger games movies recently and there is a scene in it were Peter ( recovering from being brainwashed and ... View more

Hi just wanted to share something positive that has/is helping me determine if my mind is playing tricks or not . i watched the lastest in the hunger games movies recently and there is a scene in it were Peter ( recovering from being brainwashed and poisioned) ask Katniss (who he loves but has been told in brainwashing not to trust) if she can help him trust her again by asking her questions when his mind is playing trick on him. The game is called real or not real I have adopted this whenever my mind tries to sabotage me into thinking my wife just puts up with me , it's working really well I just say things like ..."you think I'm weak and a bad dad ? " REAL or NOT real .. She answered NOT real (phew) this answers my fears and it so quick there is no arguments i encourage anyone who has not seen the movie to you tube it cheers

Small_Inside It's the stupid thoughts and self-doubts that get you.
  • replies: 4

I was having a good day today - my day off work - when I got a text message from my supervisor. I felt like he was accusing me without checking all the facts, so I wrote back, being somewhat defensive in the process. Probably too much so. As soon as ... View more

I was having a good day today - my day off work - when I got a text message from my supervisor. I felt like he was accusing me without checking all the facts, so I wrote back, being somewhat defensive in the process. Probably too much so. As soon as I had done it I felt that, even though I was justified in my feelings, I had done the wrong thing, that I would regret it. Then my supervisor called to talk to me about what I'd written. And somehow, despite there being apologies, I still feel that I have been accused, that I get no points for trying, that I've let people down (again), and that I will never be able to do my job properly (or any other for that matter) no matter how hard I try. And I feel upset that I put so much stock in how other people think of me. Do you ever have those days where you don’t like the person you seem to be? Where you feel guilty for your thoughts and feelings and opinions? Where expressing them makes you feel worse rather than better? Because you don’t feel you’re the type of person you SHOULD be. And you realise how pathetic the self-pity party is but you can't seem to stop it. I just want to be a person I can be proud of and I feel like I’m failing. Today is not the darkest of days for me, but the stupid thoughts just won't quit. They keep going round and round in my head and continue to make me feel cruddy, ruining my day. And now I realise I'm rambling and ranting and I feel like I shouldn't be making a mountain out of a mole hill. After all, there are way worse things happening in people's lives that make this look insignificant and ridiculous, right? Never mind, just ignore me.

JustMeOverHere Depression Relapse
  • replies: 4

Hello everyone, I have been dealing with depression since I was 11 or younger. I have severe anxiety, severe emetophobia, depression, and im an unstable and stressed first year uni student. But in all seriousness, I have maintained my strong persona ... View more

Hello everyone, I have been dealing with depression since I was 11 or younger. I have severe anxiety, severe emetophobia, depression, and im an unstable and stressed first year uni student. But in all seriousness, I have maintained my strong persona and will for the better of my family as I am the only out of 3 kids that suffers bad mental illness and they are unsure of how to help or are uncomfortable about the subject and don't understand. I live away from home at my uni campus but travel home every 2 weeks as I get majorly home sick within a day. My friends don't really understand me either and tend to just say "yeah that sucks" to everything. I was great for a while during last term but began a relapse and i was praying it was not a full relapse but with the way I feel more recently, I knowit's here for a while. I just really want someone out there to say they know how I feel and that they understand that I need to cry 20 times a day, embarrassingly enough in public sometimes as it's too hard to keep together. I can't begin to think of suicide as my parents have spent all this effort on me and my mum's having a hard enough time with her family side that losing a child especially to mental illness would not be fair. So here I am, perservering, just trying to stay sane enough to survive enough to live. Thanks for reading

helpsince07 Does it ever go away
  • replies: 4

Ive been depressed for almost 10 years now and its just so debilitating and exhausting. Some days and even weeks i'll feel good then it'll just hit me like a freight train I wont eat, I wont leave bed, I somehow manage to get up for work because its ... View more

Ive been depressed for almost 10 years now and its just so debilitating and exhausting. Some days and even weeks i'll feel good then it'll just hit me like a freight train I wont eat, I wont leave bed, I somehow manage to get up for work because its my only distraction. Part of me wants to get help but I wouldnt know what to say or where to start and feel like id just be wasting their time with my sob stories. My partner tells me I should see someone and to just snap out of it but its never that easy is it, and I feel that it puts such a strain on our relationship and I have to try and force myself to be happy sometimes, but most of the time I just wanna lay down in bed and cry until I fall asleep. Even now I feel awful typing this feeling like im wasting your time but this is the first time ive ever written my thoughts down and what comes to mind, thankfully ive never been suicidal but just over the feeling of darkness and misery that I feel all the time....:(

goodlifeseeker Where to start?
  • replies: 7

Hi Just wondering do beyond blue have places to go talk to people or do you get referred to other places? Been in and out of depression and anxiety since 2007 and feeling at an extremely unfamiliar low point right now and am looking for help not just... View more

Hi Just wondering do beyond blue have places to go talk to people or do you get referred to other places? Been in and out of depression and anxiety since 2007 and feeling at an extremely unfamiliar low point right now and am looking for help not just a pill. Thanks in advance to those who reply

menopausal Is it menopause or depression?
  • replies: 3

Hi, i have only just joined up on this forum, just wondering if i am alone, I am 52 so i think i am menopausal but i have just started a new job and moved to a new town a long way from my grown up children, i am feeling very lonely and depressed, I'm... View more

Hi, i have only just joined up on this forum, just wondering if i am alone, I am 52 so i think i am menopausal but i have just started a new job and moved to a new town a long way from my grown up children, i am feeling very lonely and depressed, I'm not sure that i am coping very well at work, i am missing my kids very much and every time i am alone all i want to do is cry or sleep, i hide this from everyone around me so no one really knows what i am feeling. I feel like i am empty on the inside, I am tired all the time, some nights i am awake half the night, i feel stupid at work and i feel that i am burdening my workmates because i can't do my job well. I have this voice in my head, that really hates me and at times just tells me that its probably not worth the trouble (I'm not suicidal, but sometimes it does seem and easy way out). I know that none of this makes sense but is there anyone out there that has these feelings too, is it menopause or depression?

Vanessa Struggling
  • replies: 4

Hi, im not sure what's going on. I've always "just got on with things" but for some reason I'm struggling at the moment. i constantly feel that I'm not good enough. I Feel awkward and uncomfortable around people and that they are judging me (ironical... View more

Hi, im not sure what's going on. I've always "just got on with things" but for some reason I'm struggling at the moment. i constantly feel that I'm not good enough. I Feel awkward and uncomfortable around people and that they are judging me (ironically the more that happens the more I start judging people in my head). I'm starting to isolate myself socially as I feel out of my depth. I never know what to say and have often gotten myself in trouble saying the wrong thing. i have primary aged children who I adore (and are the highlight of my life). I'm trying to hide my issues from them but just feel so alone and sad.

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