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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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v-strom Feeling quite depressed but things are actually pretty good
  • replies: 4

Hi folks, need some support. Life is pretty good. Just got married in Feb to an awesome woman who has been my rock. Live in a nice house, have a great son and step children and step grandchildren. Work is mostly good, some issues but not massive. Bee... View more

Hi folks, need some support. Life is pretty good. Just got married in Feb to an awesome woman who has been my rock. Live in a nice house, have a great son and step children and step grandchildren. Work is mostly good, some issues but not massive. Been struggling a bit lately with my ADD brain a bit I guess. But I've come crashing down. It's just not logical. Since the break up of my last marriage, I haven't felt this down. It's like I've hit a wall. Not sure what to do. I'm not having ideations at all, just really struggling to focus and lift my head up.

Misty_Morning My conflict with reality
  • replies: 2

Apparently stress is not caused by life events but is a response to how we think about those events...well thats great. So Im distressed to the point of exploding with exquisite misery over how to provide for my two children as I have another baby du... View more

Apparently stress is not caused by life events but is a response to how we think about those events...well thats great. So Im distressed to the point of exploding with exquisite misery over how to provide for my two children as I have another baby due in two months. So I become cynical and sarcastic, I say to myself..."Sure! If the fridge is empty Ill lose the baby weight quickly!", Getting the power cut off could be beneficial for the environment!","The ridiculous amounts of debt I got into while drinking myself into submission for four years was worth every drop! Didn't need my gallbladder anyway!", But it doesn't make me feel better, just makes me more bitter. So I try to look at the now, stop focussing on the future..I am actually sitting infront of the ocean with a world class spectacular view right now. But I'm heavily pregnant and exhausted and have been crying all morning because I feel like an incompetent failure and I hate my partner, so I could be looking at a mass grave for what its worth. Actually the ocean kind of is a mass grave of emptiness thanks to the human races desire to poison and destroy everything beautiful about this world. I have been sober for 7 months now, thanks to this pregnancy and I've learnt two things about myself. 1. I suffer from depression and I was self medicating with alcohol whereas I thought I was a problem drinker and that was causing the depression. 2. I now have a lifetime of dumb things I've done while depressed and wasted to process and sort out otherwise I'm going to start drinking heavily again after the baby, which I really don't want to do.

Diamond2 lonely and angry
  • replies: 3

I grew up having no friends, I was very lonely and wondered what it was like to go out and have a good time. Like others do. I come from a broken home I think my father hated having me ....I found love at 16 well ... we were both friendless with litt... View more

I grew up having no friends, I was very lonely and wondered what it was like to go out and have a good time. Like others do. I come from a broken home I think my father hated having me ....I found love at 16 well ... we were both friendless with little family so we somehow ended up together for 10 years.... the relationship was extremely abusive physically and emotionally.... I was guilty of being this way to ... one-day after work I was standing at central and decided it was time I called my father which I hadn't spoke with him in ten years. After we made contact I went to see him he helped me get out of my relationship safely. When I moved states to be with my father I was only here for not even six weeks and my mother passed away.... the last time I seen her was when I was 16, we had a argument....she said she hated me, I never seen her again after that day we'll not alive anyway. Every time I think life cannot get any worse it does..... I'm 28 with no education I have a terrible job that I hate .....I get the feeling people there don't like me neither .... I ask myself how am I still here most days. I sit alone every second I never conversate with anyone sometimes I can just hear the clock ticking and I feel like I'm going to explode. My drinking is out of control I drink everyday gee sometime twice a day a little before work then I polish myself off completely in the evening....I can't concentrate anymore sometimes when someone says something to me I can see there mouth moving but all I can hear in my head is why the hell is my life like this the end result is I never heard what the person even said. I dread weekends yet I can't wait to get away from my job neither it's complicated. I'm 28 now and lonely, I feel like I watch every second just tick by. How come I can't make friends why have I been bashed most my life from child hood throughout my whole life...I thought I needed to be alone not to be hurt but I'm starting to think it was better when I was in a abusive relationship....atleast I wasn't thinking gee am I really going to be taken by loneliness.... I'm not sure what to do, what to think and when will I just snap ..... I feel sick and scared about what else is going to happen .... I can't take no more.

Helps_everyone_else Forever alone!
  • replies: 2

I suffer from manic depression, I have for over 25 years. I'm on medication but I still struggle everyday!! I do a lot of self help techniques but also struggle with them. I have a lot of issues in my life that I don't have anyone to talk with them a... View more

I suffer from manic depression, I have for over 25 years. I'm on medication but I still struggle everyday!! I do a lot of self help techniques but also struggle with them. I have a lot of issues in my life that I don't have anyone to talk with them about, which is obviously making it hard to cope. I'm fighting a losing battle at the moment and any advice would be appreciated. Thanks

Sigwingal How to talk to my partner about my depression
  • replies: 6

Hi All, i am very new to this all and just thought I would ask how other people have gone about telling there partner about their depression. I believe I have had it for many years but only have started seeing a professional in the last few weeks. I ... View more

Hi All, i am very new to this all and just thought I would ask how other people have gone about telling there partner about their depression. I believe I have had it for many years but only have started seeing a professional in the last few weeks. I did see one a couple of years ago for a short period of time and depression was mentioned then but I guess I wasn't ready to hear it. This time around it was pretty obvious to the professional straight away what I was dealing with. Anyway I've been with my partner for nearly 5 years. He has seen it all. I had felt like this before I met him too so he has been dealing with it too I guess but I have never mentioned depression. I believe he just thinks that's me and I have a choice. I don't think he will ever understand but I do no I need to try and explain and at least let him no what is happening. It has effected us a great deal. Unfortunately he is the one I take it out on and well we are now in a unhappy place because of it. I guess this is what has lead me to seriously get help this time. For the both of us but I no I need it. I can talk to him about everything else just not this. Suggestions please.....

white knight Great expectations
  • replies: 34

The scenario. You, your wife and your dog have planned a round Oz driving trip. Your wife's best friend, her husband and their dog will be in their bus. You'll travel together. Early on in the trip they forge ahead, on each leg they go out of sight a... View more

The scenario. You, your wife and your dog have planned a round Oz driving trip. Your wife's best friend, her husband and their dog will be in their bus. You'll travel together. Early on in the trip they forge ahead, on each leg they go out of sight and you wonder if you break down that you won't have the help you could have had if he'd kept an eye on you and kept close by. You drive along an outback highway and it happens, engine oil seal gives way. A tow job. No phone range. Your friends don't know, they were 5 kms ahead. You hitch a lift 60kms to the last town and organise the tow truck. You wait at the van park until its fixed. Your friends text you when they are finally in phone range about 300km away. You reply that you are OK, the car needed towing and "this is why one should keep watch on the other party" You also tell them to continue with their holiday but you are fuming inside. There are many questions but these are the ones I need answering - it it unreasonable to expect your friends to automatically realise for safety reasons to stay together? - if you think so and they don't share that view, would that difference mean you could not ever be close mates? - is there a bare basics level of mateship that you expect from friends. As we are in our van waiting for our car repairs my dear wife wants me to remain friendly towards our "friends" which I would now find difficult. But I'll try. Well meet about 5 days from now. Here's the thing. Had the tables been reversed when I found out my mate was stranded or even settled back at the caravan park, I would have driven back there to support them. In fact on two occasions that happened on our trip. Is it unreasonable to base your friendship with someone upon your own values? How can you calculate acquaintance will make a committed "mate" in the long term? So you can save time and not waste effort on someone that would leave you for dead on an outback highway? Are we unfair having expectations? Two mates head off riding their trail bikes. One gets a flat tyre. The other says "too bad, its not my bike that has a flat tyre" and rides off. It would be a given that they'd help each other in such circumstances. But my sister hit the nail on the head. "Our father always went over and beyond the call of duty and always got hurt". Im tired of people hurting me. It has to stop. The walls are going up! I just have to find a way of doing that and putting on a smiling face at the same time Tony WK

hannahxox Travelling long term - Eating disorder and depression
  • replies: 2

Hey all. So I'll try and summarize it all. I'm 23 year old female from the UK, I came out to Australia in Feb with the intention of doing the year as I have the working visa. 3 weeks in I fractured my collar bone but was also feeling extremely depres... View more

Hey all. So I'll try and summarize it all. I'm 23 year old female from the UK, I came out to Australia in Feb with the intention of doing the year as I have the working visa. 3 weeks in I fractured my collar bone but was also feeling extremely depressed/lost/struggling with lack of routine in terms of eating/excercise and so the collar bone was the perfect excuse for me to come home. Once home felt relieved, then the depressed/lost/empty feelings returned, novelty of being home wore off had zero motivation to find work, went through phases of wanting to run away, tried to move out at one point - just always trying to run away from my problems inside my head. I then decided to try Australia again as I still had what felt like 'unfinished business' over there, so impulsively booked my flight back and now here I am, back to that same old feeling, lost in Australia. I've wasted so much money, I feel depressed, my eating habits are all over the place. I have never been diagnosed with anything but known for a long time I've had issues I've just been too afraid to confront them. I'm a vulnerable mess over here and it's reached the point where I need help. I just want to disappear into nothing. In all honesty I should have stayed home and got the counselling I know I've needed for the past 10 years of my life. I've tried so hard to push through but all I'm doing over here is crying every night, then either not eating all day, or overeating all day in an attempt to control the pain. All I really want to do, is go back to England, get professional help and really finally get my life on track. I know I don't want to be here anymore but I really need help in what you think is best? I have a great support system at home, my family love and support me and my own mum is a counselor so she will understand (I hope) but it's just the shame and guilt, and wasted opportunity, and failing Australia for the second time, that is stopping me. I'm not ready to face family (except my parents) and friends and explain everything. I just want the comfort of my own home and professional help without having to see anyone for a while. Please someone help with what I should do?

Solosombra Too tired to pretend!
  • replies: 3

Anyone else feel like this? Too tired to even lie to myself anymore, when I want to frown I force myself to smile, when I want to cry I laugh. But lately its been catching up too me and its getting harder to keep it up! Feel like I'm heading for a br... View more

Anyone else feel like this? Too tired to even lie to myself anymore, when I want to frown I force myself to smile, when I want to cry I laugh. But lately its been catching up too me and its getting harder to keep it up! Feel like I'm heading for a breakdown of epic proportions! Maybe I just need to take a step back and catch my breath for a moment before life decides to start throwing more BS my way??

creativesoul Ways I have found useful to beat depression
  • replies: 5

Hi all, I have only just joined beyondblue but have struggled with depression for much of my life. If you suffer depression, you will know it is not something that simply just goes away or that you can just easily switch off. As such, support from th... View more

Hi all, I have only just joined beyondblue but have struggled with depression for much of my life. If you suffer depression, you will know it is not something that simply just goes away or that you can just easily switch off. As such, support from those who are going through it or have been through it is vital in my opinion.I have suffered from depression over the years and it is always hard, but there are ways to alleviate the problem. I have never been one for antidepressants and refuse to take them, but I am not knocking them either - if they help, that is what is important, at least to help lift your mood. I prefer the natural route myself, but that is just me. Not judging, it's just the way I choose to go. One thing I have found help me a lot when I feel depressed is humour. I normally have a great sense of humour, but when you feel depressed, you don't feel like laughing much! I have a great collection of comedy, which I use to lift me up and get myself to start seeing things differently. This works, but you might need to keep at it a bit and start slow.Deep breathing and a simple walk can do wonders to change your outlook. The worst part about depression is how it skews your perspectives and makes you see things negatively, and not necessarily as they really are. Its so hard to see outside the 'box' you are in when you are depressed. Even worse, others who are not going through it or have not been through it, often don't know what to say or do to make you feel better, I know. So, be your own best friend! I have found, thinking on paper helps a lot - at the very least, make a list - a long one, of things you are proud of, happy about, things that make you feel good, or confident, loved, respected, and elaborate on each one in writing. Keep it to yourself, so don't be afraid to write down anything - it's your list, no one else will see it. Just doing this, puts you in a better frame of mind.Hope these help, and lastly, please realise it is never as bad as it might seem in your own mind. There are ALWAYS answers and ALWAYS people who care and can help, if you give them a chance.Grant

Brent01 Problems sleeping with depression?
  • replies: 23

Hey does anyone else have the same issues as me,i will wake up atleast 4 times a night and the last one which always around 3.30 am i cant get back to sleep for atleast an hour and i start work at 5.30 am each day its ruining me

Hey does anyone else have the same issues as me,i will wake up atleast 4 times a night and the last one which always around 3.30 am i cant get back to sleep for atleast an hour and i start work at 5.30 am each day its ruining me

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