Immediate support
Immediate support

Depression

Depression affects people in Australia every day. Share your own story and learn about other member’s experiences with depression.

Start a discussion

FAQ

Find answers to some of the more frequently asked questions on the Forums.

View the FAQ

Forums guidelines

Our guidelines keep the Forums a safe place for people to share and learn information.

View the guidelines
Jump to
Start a discussion

Pinned discussions

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

All discussions

Start a discussion

Giggyy family insults me and making my depression worse
  • replies: 6

My family is a very badly blended family and almost every day my stepmother and step-sister insult me about everything: my appearance, my hobbies, my autism, etc... and it is really making my depression worse because they affirm all of my own negativ... View more

My family is a very badly blended family and almost every day my stepmother and step-sister insult me about everything: my appearance, my hobbies, my autism, etc... and it is really making my depression worse because they affirm all of my own negative self-talk, to the point where it is making me suicidal. How can I deal with this level of constant bullying? I just hide in my room all the time (i won't even leave to get food or water sometimes) because i try to avoid them as much as i can, but the dinner table is where they just rip me apart every night, and my dad doesn't do anything about it. they call me "disgusting", "unlovable", "lazy", "ugly" and [r- slur] etc... (you get the idea lol). what can I do? I cant even try to recover from my depression because they keep making it worse. i don't really have any friends, and i don't like to talk to the 2 friends i do have about it because i don't like to put my issues on them (its not fair on them to hear me complain).

Yellow-Thorn78 My experience with medications and COVID
  • replies: 1

I am seeing a therapist about the development of forming and being aware of the feelings of others and myself. We looked at a brain diagram in relation to the thinking brain and the 'caveman brain' how it forms responses and how to go beyond instinct... View more

I am seeing a therapist about the development of forming and being aware of the feelings of others and myself. We looked at a brain diagram in relation to the thinking brain and the 'caveman brain' how it forms responses and how to go beyond instinctual processes like fight, flight, freeze and appease. We talked about what activities can exercise the 'thinking brain' and this term in this session ignited a series of memories that always feel like they're following me. It was my relationship with acne medication, COVID and the strain that I felt was imposed on me after my grandpa died. Medication is something that should be explored more often. I was on a medication to treat acne, of which my epidemiologist told me and my parents that a primary effect of the medication is exhaustion and depression. The odd thing was the only real way I came to my feeling was after my prescription was increased, and my parents said I felt off and description. The happiness I felt after getting off them was something I was not conscious about, which I feel carried over throughout COVID. And then I hit a wall. Surrounding all the topics listed above, my senior year level experience was terrible. It was in Term 3 Year 11 that my grandpa passed away. He lives in England, and so my dad was the only one to go to his funeral. I became irritable and mad at the world, and while I'm teaching myself to live and move forward, I couldn't and still can't wholly forgive the trampling behavior of former and even current friends and family. I wasn't only that I wasn't brave enough to say something felt off, but it feels hard to dissect into tinier pieces when it can spiral out of control. I often feel alone; I've never been in an intimate or best friend relationship, and I still don't completely know why it's okay to negatively chat about things. I can't really argue about how it feels sluggish, but it simply feels overwhelming. Everything, Nothing and I can conspire against me, and it leaves me without any steps into any conceivable direction. That's all I have to say really. Sorry if parts feel cryptic or go against the second point of the guidelines. Part of me says this is to vent and move on but it would be nice to receive different approaches I should go about if situations like these or even new arise.

sylvwah Done
  • replies: 17

I'm done. I stopped anti-depressants because they made me too fatigued and I still thought constantly of suicide. I no longer believe they can work. I dropped out of my uni course that I started this year because of anxiety I cancelled my psychiatris... View more

I'm done. I stopped anti-depressants because they made me too fatigued and I still thought constantly of suicide. I no longer believe they can work. I dropped out of my uni course that I started this year because of anxiety I cancelled my psychiatrist because at $300 a visit, it's just a pot luck on experimenting with pills and I think they are reckless. My relationship with my partner feels like a bomb has gone off. I feel like hiding from my partner and newborn baby. I can't look after my older kids l. I'm so tired. I can no longer be bothered exercising. I left the social groups I'm part of - board games and baby playgroups. I'm done. I don't want to talk to family or friends or do anything. I'm so ashamed of who I am. After 4 years of psychology and two attempts at anti-depressants everything is so much worse and everything I've been striving for has been a waste of time. I don't think there is anything next.

Malen PAIN!
  • replies: 15

I have SI Joint Dysfuntion, I had an RFA recently. Recovery was supposed to be 48 hrs. Its been 12 days now since the procedure and the pain is worse than the pain I had before the procedure, in some rarer circumstances it can take up to 6 weeks for ... View more

I have SI Joint Dysfuntion, I had an RFA recently. Recovery was supposed to be 48 hrs. Its been 12 days now since the procedure and the pain is worse than the pain I had before the procedure, in some rarer circumstances it can take up to 6 weeks for recovery. Im still on the pain killers I was on before the procedure, which is alot. Like one med needs a new prescription written each fortnight. Another needs a doctor with a certain license to presscribe it. Now we have been adding more common but still hard to get pain meds on top of that to try and get the pain under control. I should mention an RFA is where they go in and burn the nerves where the spine and hip joins, its supposed to eliminate the pain from the problem there. I probably shouldnt have had the procedure when I did as I was in the midst of a brief psychotic episode, not that I was aware of it. Ive been incredibly depressed which is making the pain worse.Pain and mental health often go hand in hand which sucks and is so not fair.

Guest_1243 Major life reset at 44. Where do I go from here?
  • replies: 2

Hi, thank you to everyone that responds to the messages on these forums. After reading the welcome post, I had a look through the forums to find other relevant stories and found there are some very helpful people here. I'm hesitant to post my own sto... View more

Hi, thank you to everyone that responds to the messages on these forums. After reading the welcome post, I had a look through the forums to find other relevant stories and found there are some very helpful people here. I'm hesitant to post my own story as it just still feels unreal. I'm doing my best to get a handle on it all, in some ways at least, but as things start to finally settle in, I don't know how to move forward. I just feel stuck.How I got here...I was diagnosed with depression and anxiety just before the lockdowns in 2020, this was related to work and something that developed over a long time, so I took a break. Me not working turned into a fairly practical situation at the time, as I could home school my daughter during lockdown, and my partner could continue working, so that's how it went. Although my extended leave from work wasn't easy, we could handle it. Several months into that I started to get quite sick, and weathered this (with my GP and Therapist)until I had a massive heart attack just over 18 months ago. This was a fairly significant event, thankfully my wife was home to call someone, and the ambulance were there and able to revive me when my heart stopped about 30 mins later.Coming back from this has been difficult. I was only 43 when I had the heart attack, plus having to spend 4 days in ICU with no visitors due to Covid restrictions was hard. So it rattled me. I didn't take the best care of myself, I wasn't reckless, but I could have done better after the heart attack. This whole situation was compounded by the guilt of what I'm putting my family through, so I wasn't exactly feeling like I was granted a 2nd chance at life or anything like that, I just felt terrible. This reached it's inevitable destination when my wife decided she wanted to separate. I don't blame her, it has been a very rough few years at this point.Finally, 6 months ag our house caught fire. Thankfully noone was home at the time, and everyone was ok, but we lost everything. We are insured, and that process is finally coming to an end, but we are not able to rebuild.So here I am. I went from stay at home dad, to 4 nights per month living in temp accomodation. The house is gone, my partner has left, and I have no physical possessions (besides my car and donated clothes). My life life has always centred on my home and family. What am I supposed to do at this point?

Patat Lost and Exhausted but looking for advice
  • replies: 2

Hello, I am 28 years old and for a long time I have struggled with negative thoughts, which have at times culminated in bouts of depression and anxiety. On the surface however, I have a pretty good life: I am in a loving relationship, I have some goo... View more

Hello, I am 28 years old and for a long time I have struggled with negative thoughts, which have at times culminated in bouts of depression and anxiety. On the surface however, I have a pretty good life: I am in a loving relationship, I have some good mates and a somewhat nice, if at times alienating, family. All of this makes me feel like these feelings of negativity are just self-indulgent. Why should I whine when there are people out there who are really suffering? This has led me to repress these feelings, to keep them hidden from family and friends, to disguise them behind a façade of jocularity and humour. I know this isn't right but I feel so awfully embarrassed about my own internal stuff, I hate the idea of putting all my that on my friends and family. When I get home from work I sometimes I feel like I am going to burst out crying , and I constantly catch myself whispering to myself that I should disappear. I can't sleep some nights, I just stare up at the celling thinking about how useless I am, how I have wasted my talents or potential and I am going nowhere. When I go on social media sites like Instagram I get so insanely jealous about other people: everyone seems like they progressing and following there dreams and whatever, and here I am, looking at my phone and going nowhere. Then I feel guilty about feeling jealous, which makes me feel desperately sad. But then it starts all over again. I feel exhausted and am at somewhat of a loss about what to do. Maybe I need to shake things up but I have responsibilities to fulfil for the sake of my partner, so I feel like I can't. Even writing this down and posting it on this forum makes me feel embarrassed. Anyways, I was wondering if anyone had any advice or tips to breakout of this ? Thanks for listening.

jampet2002 I am 50 and nothing to show for it.
  • replies: 1

I know what it is I need to do but I am so deep in a funk that I can’t see the light anymore. I am 53 and feel I have achieved nothing. I’m so damn tired. I’ve been to therapists but it’s ultimately up to me but when you hate something you remove it ... View more

I know what it is I need to do but I am so deep in a funk that I can’t see the light anymore. I am 53 and feel I have achieved nothing. I’m so damn tired. I’ve been to therapists but it’s ultimately up to me but when you hate something you remove it from your life. Harder to do when the thing you hate the most is yourself. I have no one to blame but myself for my profound sadness. for thirty years I have struggled with being profoundly deaf in the work space. I feel it’s something else as there a lot of very successful deaf people in the work space. I feel invisible as work - I’ve spoken in public forums in my workplace about my disability hoping to get noticed and be offered in a position in a section that focussed on diversity etc (maybe I such at manifesting! In the past I have emailed senior management about how happy I am with the departments inclusion and accessibilities for people with disabilities hoping to be noticed etc) but nothing .. am I being bratty? Probably .. I don’t know what I’m writing here - all I know is I am just damn tired.

DutchieSydney Self sabotaging behavior
  • replies: 2

Hi all - this is my first time posting as honestly don’t know what to do - I’ve been diagnosed with anxiety in the past, am on medication and have seen a psychologist. However, over the last couple of months my behavior has gotten out of control and ... View more

Hi all - this is my first time posting as honestly don’t know what to do - I’ve been diagnosed with anxiety in the past, am on medication and have seen a psychologist. However, over the last couple of months my behavior has gotten out of control and I can’t stop it - I am not not productive at work - I’ve recently started a new job and feel like I’m trying to fly without wings - I am a senior exec in marketing however I’m not involved with the rebrand or website development at work but can post social media content and send out emails…. I feel so disheartened so got a bad performance review yesterday as my output is not on par which I agree with but I feel I can’t do anything right and mistakes are slipping in as I cant concentrate. My house looks like a bomb site, I drink too many glasses of wine each night, spent too much money and I know I need to stop all of this but I feel I’m on a train that I can’t stop anymore… I’m planning to resign on Monday and focus on getting myself in a better headspace and then start up again whilst creating positive habits - if anyone has been through something similar - I’d love some input on what has helped you break this cycle?

Ofosol_4 I feel like I’m wasting my teen years
  • replies: 3

I am 16 years old and I’m scared to go out and not because of social anxiety. My parents start huge arguments over petty things I do when I am out. For example last night I was out at my best friends house and didn’t answer my phone for one hour beca... View more

I am 16 years old and I’m scared to go out and not because of social anxiety. My parents start huge arguments over petty things I do when I am out. For example last night I was out at my best friends house and didn’t answer my phone for one hour because I was watching tv. My parents have made a big deal out of it and yelled at me over dinner saying I would never be able to sleep out again. I feel like it’s not worth going out sometimes because of these arguments so I’m waiting 18 months till I’m 18 and I can do what I want even if they hate me for it. But I feel sad that lm wishing away what’s supposed to be some of the funnest and carefree times of my life.

-t- My depression is bad and it’s affecting me going to work
  • replies: 4

Hi, I’ve just lost my great nan in jan, I feel lost and hurt just so much pain. I hate work, I hate people my work doesn’t care and doesn’t seem to help besides when they “have” to.

Hi, I’ve just lost my great nan in jan, I feel lost and hurt just so much pain. I hate work, I hate people my work doesn’t care and doesn’t seem to help besides when they “have” to.