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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.

Chris_B Are you looking to support someone else with depression? PLEASE READ before posting
  • replies: 0

This forum is for people seeking support for their own mental health issues. If you're posting on behalf of someone else with a mental health issue that you're concerned about, please have a look at this section of our forums: Supporting family and f... View more

This forum is for people seeking support for their own mental health issues. If you're posting on behalf of someone else with a mental health issue that you're concerned about, please have a look at this section of our forums: Supporting family and friends with a mental health condition It's full of threads from people who have family members and friends going through anxiety, depression or other related conditions. Have a read through the threads there, and feel free to take part in the discussions. Below are also some helpful beyondblue resources you might want to look through first as well: Supporting someone Have the conversation

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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iamtired Single mum not sure what to do anymore..
  • replies: 2

Hey everyone I’m a single mum of 2 age 4 and 6, the little one is part time school and the bigger one full time 9-230pm there both amazing and light up my life no problems there.im only 29 but I feel like iv lived a million lives already and I am exs... View more

Hey everyone I’m a single mum of 2 age 4 and 6, the little one is part time school and the bigger one full time 9-230pm there both amazing and light up my life no problems there.im only 29 but I feel like iv lived a million lives already and I am exshasted…I grew up with an absent dad and an extremely depressed mum who slept all the time and when she was awake we walked on eggshells, I looked after my little sister since I was 7 as mum couldn’t always. Mum and I have made peace later in life that’s all okay and she couldn’t help she was mentally struggling. It turned me into a people pleaser though because I didn’t want anyone to get mad and yell, I met my ex husband at 16 and quickly moved out with him and married at 19 as an escape, he was a narcissist though, mentally and physically abused and used me up, this man wouldn’t even let me wear clothes some days, it was again walking on eggshells to keep him happy, severe financial abuse, I fell pregnant quickly twice the list goes on, eventually I managed to pack the car and leave with the kids while he was at work, stayed with my grandmother for abit but i became her caregiver and had to eventually go back to mum and dads. At 18 I broke both my legs in a car crash which ex husband was driving I got a payout which he spent and its left me unable to work as much but iv become so tired and had a lot of other bad luck plus I’m a full time mum and I now live with my childhood bully my mum which is causing my mental health to go down I can no longer work at all and where would I put the kids I have no babysitting avalibe and little one is only at school 2 days plus house work ect, so I get abit of gov assistance but it’s not enough, I could do some more work from home if I had my own place but I can’t get a rental with no job and I’m nowhere near a mortgage I don’t know what to do or where to turn to get out of ahead I need to get out to improve my mental health for the kids and as time goes on it’s deteriorating fast! Gov housing waits are years.. should I just give up because I’m so tired

peacock Ups and downs
  • replies: 3

Hi. I first got diagnosed with depression about 30 years ago. I usually feel Good on my medications but every now and then I have blip that lasts anywhere from hours to days. During these times I cry a lot an feel very down. It affects my ability to ... View more

Hi. I first got diagnosed with depression about 30 years ago. I usually feel Good on my medications but every now and then I have blip that lasts anywhere from hours to days. During these times I cry a lot an feel very down. It affects my ability to work or do the things I usually enjoy. When it passes I feel back to normal but I live in fear of these bad days. I know what to do on these days, eg exercise, talk to my husband, ring lifeline but really I just have to wait for it to pass. Does anyone else experience these dips in mood? Do have any tips for getting through this? Thanks

Sla24- Feeling depressed and lonely
  • replies: 11

I have had depression for a long time now and have a lot of hurt and anger inside me from my past. My first baby was stillborn, I have been hurt by family members, in-laws and friends and lost my Mum a couple of years ago. Just feel so down and lonel... View more

I have had depression for a long time now and have a lot of hurt and anger inside me from my past. My first baby was stillborn, I have been hurt by family members, in-laws and friends and lost my Mum a couple of years ago. Just feel so down and lonely

DepressedFairy am so depressed I want to die
  • replies: 2

I am a 40 year old married with 2 kids( 13 yr and 3.5 yr old). In the recent months, my 3.5yr old son has been diagnosed as ADHD and my 13yr old daughter is also on the path to an ADHD/ODD diagnosis. I just cant stop blaming myself for this. what hav... View more

I am a 40 year old married with 2 kids( 13 yr and 3.5 yr old). In the recent months, my 3.5yr old son has been diagnosed as ADHD and my 13yr old daughter is also on the path to an ADHD/ODD diagnosis. I just cant stop blaming myself for this. what have I done wrong. Why both of my kids. Should I not have given birth itself. I just picture myself killing myself to get out of this. I dont know what the future holds for me. I have a sick narcissistic husband who gaslights me on every instance . No help in housework or taking care of the kids. Comes back from office, props himself on the easy chair with a beer and binge watches TV into the late hours of the night. Iam just so bogged down with this. nothing seems to help...

David35 my panic attacks upset mum
  • replies: 27

I'm 46, live on a DSP with my mum who had cancer the last few years. Shes ok now, apart from preventative chemo. In this time my panic attacks have increased, due to the stress and trauma of it all, as well as emotions from dads death due to cancer. ... View more

I'm 46, live on a DSP with my mum who had cancer the last few years. Shes ok now, apart from preventative chemo. In this time my panic attacks have increased, due to the stress and trauma of it all, as well as emotions from dads death due to cancer. The problem now is that mums okay, but despite me getting counselling, I'm still struggling.Last month due to lack of sleep, I had a panic attack driving to chemo. It got so bad I had to turn around, go home and get a taxi instead. The last session was better, at least I slept well. The thing is, I'm trying hard to reduce stress, have a woodworking hobby, but the smallest things trigger me. The main one is anything medically related. I'm so sick of medical appointments, we had so many different doctors to see, that the mere mention of one makes me angry. Today i regrettably threw a loaf of bread on the ground out of frustration. It's like a form of ptsd associated with medical system. Has anyone else experienced this? How did they treat it? Then there's the insults. Today I got told that I hope I get better before she dies! As if I didn't have enough self worth issues from being on a DSP. The pressure to be better is itself anxiety inducing and when I do have them the guilt she induces by breaking down, slamming doors and telling me there's no hope for you makes things even worse.Tomorrow she'll be sympathetic. But considering I've been with her every step (urologists, gynaecologists, oncologist, biopsies, cystoscopies, etc.) And went out of my way, is it too much to ask that I have time to heal? Every time I try to explain things, it spirals into a competition which she inevitably wins because she's the patient. But what about the carer?

Elephant86 The power of mindfulness and meditation
  • replies: 2

The story began when I was about 15 and I was sitting with my grand father and he taught me how to meditate for the first time I did not realise the gift that he had given me but it would be something that would giude and protect me the rest of my li... View more

The story began when I was about 15 and I was sitting with my grand father and he taught me how to meditate for the first time I did not realise the gift that he had given me but it would be something that would giude and protect me the rest of my life. There is an author by the name of Ian gawler who writes meditation books and methodes how to control your thoughts and the mind itself. The thing with meditation is finding a chair or a comfortable place to sit and closing your eyes and relaxing not really. It is about focus and imaginign your are on a beach or in the rainforest. It is important to find the kind of meditation that works for you what helps you to get into a calm relaxed state of mind. I will use me for an example every night before I go to bed I listen to music and I do meditation to help me get to sleep. Just a for laughs I listen to mariah in the morning and the temptations in the evening. At the start it is important to close your eye's for 10- 15 a day just so your body gets use to it . Then slowly build up on the the amount of time , let me be clear this is not a race and everyone develops in meditation in a different way so stay calm relax and take your time it should be a powerful learning process and you should laugh and enjoy it with friends if you like practising in a group of friends can be fun for all. The trick is to remain focused in your mind and place yourself in a safe place and imagine a rainforest or sitting at the beach in your mind and try to stay focused in your mind as long as possible. This is the analogy there are cars travelling on in both derection but you need to calm the mind and the thought to bring peace to you. The hardest thing to do is to control eradic thought but with focus meditation will help you to do this .It's exercise for the mind. In meditation your heart rate drops and respiratry rate drops and your body starts to heal and repair itself. This is important to help us a human to recover from disease. The good thing is it only have to do it for 15-20 minutes every day to see changers to your well being and over all health. Meditation shows you the power of the internal world we always focus on the external world though. There is great healing possibilities with doing continual meditation and healing. You slowly need to biuld mind resilance and focus on getting yourself better. This works hand in hand with physical exerciseas well. Also eating a healthy diet full of fresh fruits and vegtables.

luke_c had to resign from apprenticeship
  • replies: 6

hi i've been in a pretty tough situation lately, had to resign from my apprenticeship this week due to a combination of things. i was almost in my 2nd year as a fitter. i wasn't meeting the training requirements of my trade since my employer didn't h... View more

hi i've been in a pretty tough situation lately, had to resign from my apprenticeship this week due to a combination of things. i was almost in my 2nd year as a fitter. i wasn't meeting the training requirements of my trade since my employer didn't have the resources in place to train me and i was always getting put on adhoc tasks which i never done before and had no idea what to do a lot of the time, i felt like i was being held back by my co workers and wasn't allowed to do many things even though i had 6 years experience as a trade assistant prior to this job. But I think the biggest things was that i was bullied and belittled by one of my co workers and he was like that ever since i started. i first complained to my manager 6 months ago since he was doing things that were against company policy, we had a meeting we shook hands and i thought we could move on. the manager asked us to communicate more, which after that i kept making an effort to have a conversation with him but he didn't want to. 3 months later, behind closed doors, he was belittling me and treating me as if i were a child, while almost yelling at me when i was doing a task. I knew something wasn't right because to everyone else who worked there he'd say hello to them every morning but he'd never say hi or talk to me. i brought this up with hr, they listened to my complaint, they then talked to him the next day. the day after that they took his side as obviously he was concealing the real truth and pretty told me to put up with it and take direction. i wasn't happy with the outcome so i spoke to one or two of the office staff in private and they said he has been abusive to them at times and done things that were against company policy. fast foward to early this week, i walk in the canteen at 5:50am in the morning and again, he didn't say hello or talk to me (even though i shook hands with him a few days earlier). at 6am work started we had our morning meeting, he then started belittling me again calling me "the apprentice", it's like he thinks he's above me. i thought ok, i'll let it slide, but i was then sent to dig holes all day by the manager and it was eating away at me since i felt really depressed working here. i then resigned later that morning because after 10 months, i couldn't tolerate it anymore. i was sleepless later that night and it's only this morning i'm starting to get over it, thinking about that guy makes me upset and he's the main reason i resigned.

Elephant86 The power of reading and gaining knowledge
  • replies: 1

I think the best thing I did to help myself was reading as many books on different topics that i could. My favourites topics where history, science. The important thing is to question everything and be positivly curious you never stop learning and en... View more

I think the best thing I did to help myself was reading as many books on different topics that i could. My favourites topics where history, science. The important thing is to question everything and be positivly curious you never stop learning and enjoying the world of books. I beleive if you have the right infomation you can make the right decisions for your health. Always listen to professional advice where needed. The other powerful thing is playing sport to keep yourself fit and strong and focused on a positive outcomes. Beleive me at times I was terrified but by having the right knowledge I was able to build the right plan to help support my recovery. Mental health can be destructive but if you have the right tools you can face the adversity and have the right plan to step into a positive mindset. Remember you don't walk alone your support network is there to support you. You must not let your disability take your power you control your disability it doesn't control you. You walk into a dark dangerous forest but you think your not going to get out but there are good powerful creatures in the forest that guide and protect like the unicorn and the centuer they are your guides on your journey of your health. There is no need to fear when you have powerful guides to protect you from the eval around you. You must always beleive in the powerful good energy aand the healing magic. You know sometimes finding things that bring me back to peace and calm is important. Reading fantasy books is a good way of having fun while you read. I think I like harry potter to much. You must light a candle to lead you out of the dark and into the light. You must beleive in the power of positive thinking and I know there a mountain to climb. If you have seen the fellowship of the rings froddo had a team to beat the eval you must have a powerful support to help you on your perolious journey. You are powerful beyond measure and you have the power with in yourself to face your disability. You must see you disability in a positive light what gifts does it give me and what super powers do I posses. This is what you have to find out for yourself. You must be gratful for what you do have not what you don't have . The power of positive thinking is important and follow a positive light to good health The power is in your hands

Elephant86 The impact of mental health conditions on daily life
  • replies: 3

The impact that my disabability has on me is immense and I must not only be the only person that is going through it. There must be many of us that experience mental health impact at one time or another. The impact that my condition has had on me is ... View more

The impact that my disabability has on me is immense and I must not only be the only person that is going through it. There must be many of us that experience mental health impact at one time or another. The impact that my condition has had on me is that I will never get my licence because of grand mal epilepsy . I also have a bipolar which makes me sick for a month at a time but I choose to not let my disability deny me of a happy life. I have sorting a healthy activity plan where I do reading, cycling, meditation, cooking, family, dog time. Everybodies health activity plan is different and you do what is good for you but these are the things that help me cope with my condition. We as human beings have difficulties but it is how we stand up to our difficulties that determine our strength with in . I found my strength in writing. You must find what you are good at and play to your strengths. disability is a word but you choose how you rise above your situation. I hope you have a wonderful day today

caysee Challenges
  • replies: 2

I have been dealing with D and A and having some thoughts that scare me.... I'm not sure what to do.

I have been dealing with D and A and having some thoughts that scare me.... I'm not sure what to do.