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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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Dusty5586 Who can help?
  • replies: 5

I dont know what the point of this is...there isnt anything anyone can do to help

I dont know what the point of this is...there isnt anything anyone can do to help

Shane0 I always feel guilty about how my moods effect my wife and kids
  • replies: 5

Hi I'm 28 and married with 3 kids. My life seems to be great and I feel like I have nothing to be depressed about. But when I do this i get myself in a continuous cycle of feeling bad because I feel bad. I always feel guilty about how my moods effect... View more

Hi I'm 28 and married with 3 kids. My life seems to be great and I feel like I have nothing to be depressed about. But when I do this i get myself in a continuous cycle of feeling bad because I feel bad. I always feel guilty about how my moods effect my wife and kids. The times I get really down anything makes me cry even. Especially when I think about stuff I did yesterday this makes me really upset and makes me wish I could go back and do it again. It doesn't matter what it is. Please does someone have any advice

d15c0nn3t Lost
  • replies: 2

I'm starting to feel that i'm being consumed by mental health issues, and I feel they have been with me for a very long time. It's almost like it's been programmed into me and i've just found a way to cope with it on a daily basis. Lately though I kn... View more

I'm starting to feel that i'm being consumed by mental health issues, and I feel they have been with me for a very long time. It's almost like it's been programmed into me and i've just found a way to cope with it on a daily basis. Lately though I know I'm struggling. Everyday seems to be a blur. I feel as if i'm living in state of of being out of body. Almost numb to what's happening around me or to me. It's almost impossible for me to feel any heightened state of emotion. In situations where I should feel happiness, all i can seem to produce is apathy. All day, every day, all i feel is nothing. It's impossible to connect with a fellow human being, and with those I feel comfortable with, I feel whatever connection we have is becoming non existent. I'm lost and I don't know what to do. I can't continue feeling or living my life like this.

Noodle17 How to maintain friendships with depression? and other stuff
  • replies: 7

Hi there! This is the first time I have reached out to a group like this before. I'm not sure what I am looking to achieve, I guess just to talk. I was diagnosed with anxiety and depression at 13 (I'm 36 soon) I'm an only child and have always been i... View more

Hi there! This is the first time I have reached out to a group like this before. I'm not sure what I am looking to achieve, I guess just to talk. I was diagnosed with anxiety and depression at 13 (I'm 36 soon) I'm an only child and have always been independant. Sometimes my depression is under control, other times it overwhelmes me to the point where I can't sleep, can't focus, I can't feel joy or even taste properly (does anyone else get this?) only sadness, emptiness, the feeling of not belonging. To most I am a confident woman. The reality is very different. Ive just learned to cover it up and when it gets really bad, I close the door and hide until the 2nd personality releases me. I have always had problems maintaining friendships, I find it easy to talk to people, but hard to connect emotionally with people long term. People begin to see me as uncaring and alouf. I've been the focus of gossip and spiteful was from female friends all my life. Perhaps because I don't have normal emotions and don't react the same way as they do. My forced confidence is mistaken for uncaring. Does anyone else feel like this? At the moment Its like my feelings of worthlessness and emptiness are so obvious to people that I would rather not see anyone. It's like I know I'll be found out if they look in to my eyes long enough, through my fake smile and air kisses. They will see me for who I really am. I am paranoid and desperately sad at the moment. I feel like I'm just a blip, worthless and pathetic. This long weekend I have spent on my own, Im finding it very hard being around people because I feel like a fraud, pretending to be normal. I'm trying to keep up my exercise and my work but I'm struggling big time. All I want to do is sleep. I know this particular cycle will eventually ease but I don't know how I can ever hold down friendships or a relationship. If anyone has any suggestions or similar experiences I wound really appreciate it. Thank you and sorry for the rant! x

Clues_Of_Blue It's like being two people
  • replies: 6

First of all, greetings. I've looked at the forums several times here, but this is the first time I've posted. I guess I decided to this time because I am no longer so far gone I can't manage to talk to people, but I still have a fight on my hands wi... View more

First of all, greetings. I've looked at the forums several times here, but this is the first time I've posted. I guess I decided to this time because I am no longer so far gone I can't manage to talk to people, but I still have a fight on my hands with my depression and kind of want to compare my experience with that of others. I know plenty of depressed people, but I also know my own personality and experience with it has differed somewhat from theirs, and a wider pool of people might yield a few that have had a similar run with it to myself. Perchance you know something I don't about dealing with it, or perhaps I know something you can use. I know a lot of people get lost in the pressing immediacy of depression and can't always recognise it for what it is, when it's happening. It hasn't been like that for me. I've always been been big on self-reflection and have a thoroughly comprehensive knowledge of myself (allowing for the fact there's always more to learn), and am someone who can step outside what is happening and analyse it. There's kind of a two-track process to my depressive episodes: my mind is perfectly functional and alert, and knows exactly what's going on, but my emotions are screaming and crying and flailing their proverbial arms. My body is caught in the middle, usually trying to keep functioning whilst very tired and fighting the urge to curl up and have a little cry, and my mind is left like a captain with a profoundly harried lieutenant trying to bring into line a boatload of underlings who just aren't competent enough to carry out an order. In many ways it's best that I have my mental faculties in order, but it's stupidly frustrating, even whilst going through it, knowing my emotions are completely out of proportion and that very little of what they're up to is matching up with my cognitive processing of a given situation. By which I mean I've bullied myself into doing what I had to in order to eliminate the things keeping me in the state I was in, but though they're less frequent I still have these bouts of acute depression for no real reason. Before, A+B=C, now I've changed things for the better A+B=Z, and I don't care for it at all. I guess it's kind of an inertia, the effects of everything I've had to deal with are still rolling along though the problem itself is largely resolved. It really is like being two people, sometimes. Do any of you find it like this?

AyGok Bipolar or depression
  • replies: 2

Hi I was wondering what the difference between bipolar and depression was some doctors say I have bipolar and some say it's just depression I'm don't believe I have mood swings but people say otherwise

Hi I was wondering what the difference between bipolar and depression was some doctors say I have bipolar and some say it's just depression I'm don't believe I have mood swings but people say otherwise

SinkingShip Long time sufferer, first time forumer
  • replies: 6

I've never joined or posted in any depression forums anywhere. As I sit here, watching TV, watching myself type this, it still feels a bit surreal. What am I doing here? What do I hope to get from this? Will anyone even talk to me? Will I be judged? ... View more

I've never joined or posted in any depression forums anywhere. As I sit here, watching TV, watching myself type this, it still feels a bit surreal. What am I doing here? What do I hope to get from this? Will anyone even talk to me? Will I be judged? Will it be seen as a weakness? Tears well in my eyes, and I find myself once again struggling. Heartbreak has brought me here. But first some brief history. I lost my mum many years ago sure to cancer, didn't properly mourn, moved around the country to further my career, burying myself in work, I was running. | Back in my home city, I kept trying to run, trying to cover the pain with alcohol and drugs until one day I broke down, and had the worst thoughts. Instead, I saw a doctor, again broke down, was diagnosed depressive, and placed on medication. Skip forward a few years, I'm a reduced dosage, in a great relationship, I started to let the meds run out, on purpose now I look back on it, to see if I could shake this on my own. After a few days each time I would go back to them as the withdrawals made me too light headed and weird. I lose my job, but stay on the lighter meds, things get tough, but I stay tougher. The meds run out again, I push through the head spins and feeling weird, I get through the other side, I am medication free, feeling ok. Then things start to crack, I'm having second thoughts, did I do this too soon. So I go back on them. Yesterday, my partner of 3+ years, ended our relationship. I haven't felt this pain since my mother passed and I fear I may go back down the road I was once on. I'm so lost, hopelessly lost. I feel like such a failure, a disappointment, and completely worthless. I'm so damn sad, and so damn angry at myself for failing this relationship. I know this pain is probably normal in a relationship, but for some reason, this feels different. This feels like someone is sitting on my chest and belting my head around with a leather belt, like punishment. I want to shake it, I know I have to shake it, but can't climb out of the hole, I just don't want to do anything but go back to bed.

Ruby__2 Mid life issues
  • replies: 11

Feeling very confused . Last child moving out going through menopause and husband and I have some health issues . I went to my doctor who said it sounds like I have anxiety /depression put me on anti depressants and I see a psychologist next week . I... View more

Feeling very confused . Last child moving out going through menopause and husband and I have some health issues . I went to my doctor who said it sounds like I have anxiety /depression put me on anti depressants and I see a psychologist next week . I have been a stay at home mum and haven't done paid employment for over 15 years . I am pleased that I have raised 2 beautiful children who can stand on their own 2 feet (both teachers )but I feel at a loss and worry about the future . My hubby has worked 2 jobs so I could stay home . He was assaulted at work and the ensuing worker's comp issues caused us to sell our home . We are renting and I want to help by working but feel washed up at 54.Any suggestions ? I suddenly don't feel in control of anything . I get tired of putting on a brave face and so I have retreated a bit . My husband is supportive and I am so thankful for that but feel he will tire of it . People tend to dismiss my sadness with "you'll be right "but I don't know how to be anything but a mum . I don't feel confident . Sorry to be rambling but what I want to know is how do I move forward . I feel like I have boxed myself in and others just see me as mum . My husband got us a new dog last year after our old boy died ( 19 ) but I think I am still grieving for him.Any ideas would be appreciated . I think I have been depressed for a long time , so long it feels normal .

TheNotSoDarkHorse Introducing me and my messed up outlook on life! (Rant)
  • replies: 9

Hi all! My name is Brandon. First off I would like to thank anyone who's reading this for taking the time to consider and attempt to understand my thoughts. What I wish to achieve from joining this community I do not know, but either way here is some... View more

Hi all! My name is Brandon. First off I would like to thank anyone who's reading this for taking the time to consider and attempt to understand my thoughts. What I wish to achieve from joining this community I do not know, but either way here is some background info about me in attempt to the clarify the reasons I joined this community: - I am 18 and feel 90 on an emotional level. I can't stop hanging on to some form of a nostalgic depression. It's comfortable but I know it's doing me no good. I can't stop thinking about dying, the legacy I'll leave behind and the child of me I left behind. When I was 6-7, I witnessed my mum getting beaten and abused on a regular basis by my at the time step-father. He threatened to kill us one night before we moved out of the house. I have a feeling these moments caused a bitter resentment to grow inside of me towards myself, my mother and him. I have always fantasized about killing him. - When I was 8-9, CPS came and took me away from my mum and gave me to my grandparents temporarily because she couldn't handle her own stresses as well as looking after me. I lived with them for a year of much struggle, growth and joy. - The last time I saw my mum was when I was 10, there was a custody agreement between my father and her that she would see me every second weekend on sundays. She eventually stopped showing up. My Dad and my stepmom don't understand how I feel, but I have always felt that since that day she never showed up that I have been abandoned. - I was bullied extensively throughout my childhood and teens. yada yada yada...Regular stuff really...Being called an albino, people constantly saying I look way younger than I am, calling me weak, physically harassing me, left out of group stuff and in general I just never felt like I've been on the same page with others my age especially when hanging out in a group. I just desperately want to feel connected to someone or something but I can't. -The only time I feel like the true me is when I am drunk beyond belief. Unfortunately, getting this drunk often results in me breaking down and being reminded of the past. - An associate of mine committed suicide last year which I felt shook me to the core. I often wish it was me instead of him. At least people seemed to care about him when he was here and when he was gone. - I just in general hate who I am and wish to change. I want to love myself and help others love themselves. Thanks for reading, K.I.T all.

seeking_help Depression and 'Part Time' Alcoholism
  • replies: 4

Hi There, This is my first time posting here at BB but have come here to seek help/advice. I have been dealing with anxiety/depression for about 10 years now and have been taking paroxetine for approximately the same time. I have developed excellent ... View more

Hi There, This is my first time posting here at BB but have come here to seek help/advice. I have been dealing with anxiety/depression for about 10 years now and have been taking paroxetine for approximately the same time. I have developed excellent strategies for coping over the years which really boils down to routine, healthy eating and exercise. However, I have a demon that I cant seem to make progress on: part time alcoholism. I say 'part time' because no-one know's I drink (including my wife) and it happens rarely. I officially 'gave up' drinking almost 3 years ago due to my inability to moderate intake and the effect it was having on my depression and thus home life. I went through a good year or so without having a drink as I had a stable 8-5 job where I got to go home to my wife every day. Things changed when I got a new job which involved significant periods of time away from home either overseas or within Australia. It's gotten to the point where I cannot control myself and every day that I spend away from home or travelling, I drink. I'm not just talking a beer or wine with dinner, I'm talking 15-20 standard drinks in a sitting by myself, every day. I've become so adapted to this way of living that I can seemingly 'get away with it' i.e. my colleagues I travel with don't know I do it and I manage to finance the purchase of alcohol in ways my wife cannot find out about. I know it's doing me damage and it is definitely affecting my professional performance which is adding to my depression and anxiety. Once I get home and get back into a routine I always seem to conveniently forget about my issues until the next time I travel. The frequency of my travel has increased to about 8-10 days/month rather than previously when it was 10 days every 3 months or so. I am finally at the point where I know I have a problem and want to quit drinking for myself, rather than for others and I would really appreciate any advice or feedback from people who have had similar experiences. Should I come clean with my wife or should I battle through this on my own? This is the first time I have shared this with anyone. Thanks in advance,