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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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QLD_JACK Is it a depression or sex addiction ?
  • replies: 2

Hope everyone is doing well! To start: any given point in time i have like 1000 running thoughts (not harmful just to clarify) they can be literally about anything, e.g. say i am walking in park and see bird my thoughts are: (beautiful, this bird is ... View more

Hope everyone is doing well! To start: any given point in time i have like 1000 running thoughts (not harmful just to clarify) they can be literally about anything, e.g. say i am walking in park and see bird my thoughts are: (beautiful, this bird is free, can do anything, but there is struggle to find food & water, how they live alone etc..) I mean literally you put me anywhere and i have something going on in my mind. I work full time everything is going really well in my life, except this one. Now the first part: at the end of the day or sometimes during midday i feel sad for no reason, thinking about whats going on with me etc. and i feel depressed for the smallest thing say, if something not going well with my friends, someone i know struggling or something bad happening around me. All of of sudden i am extreme sad and stressed, to overcome these feeling i used to drink and it just let me feel bit relaxed and temporary stop those feelings. But then i realised i am bit addicted to alcohol and i am giving myself excuses ot stress and depression to drink it. Then i decided to stop drinking for 100 days and yes i did it, i did not even touch it, after that period i drink socially like 1 or 2 drinks every friday night and without any reason. I am really happy with that. Now here is the second part when i stopped drinking alcohol i kinda unknowingly developing other addiction/habit i don't know what to call it. So say when i am stressed i really need to feel relax and happy i am either having sex with girlfriend if she not available or don't want, then i masterbet and i feel happy. Now i kinda liking that feeling more and more, it is not about the sex but the feeling after. Now i am more addicted to that feeling! The problem is it does not last longer and i want to do it more. Recently immediately after sex/masterbetting i tell to myself man, this is not right and i must stop, and i even promise to myself not doing it again. But say max after 2 days i do it again, same i either go and spend few may hours on dating app without much success then eventually i masterbet. (i also started watching porn etc). The amount of time i am wasting is huge and it started impacting on my day to day things. I am not sure is it a depression or sex addiction now? I Really want to STOP this, please help! Thank you!

Chris_W Struggling for most of my life
  • replies: 1

Hi Everyone, I have been suffering anxiety and depression for the majority of my life as a result of lack of family support on what I wanted to accomplish and shocking workplace bullying which acurred in the 2007/2008 period that still affects me to ... View more

Hi Everyone, I have been suffering anxiety and depression for the majority of my life as a result of lack of family support on what I wanted to accomplish and shocking workplace bullying which acurred in the 2007/2008 period that still affects me to this day. I am married with 2 step kids who are now 15ys and 18yrs old and I regard them and my wife as my saviours as I most probably wouldn't exist right now if they hadn't come into my life but now I feel like I'm the outcast of my family. I'm lucky if I get the time of day out of any of them. We are all sitting in our living room and they are all talking about what ever and I say something and they all kind of look at me and eachother and kind of ignore me and it is really setting me down the wrong path and don't know what to do. Keep well Everyone

Kidle Born without a gift or skill
  • replies: 2

Hi I am a middle age guy and for most of my life I have struggled to achieve anything … I have poor self esteem and it comes from the fact I can’t do anything well in life …sport, cooking , arts , music , trades , social zing , it’s all a struggle an... View more

Hi I am a middle age guy and for most of my life I have struggled to achieve anything … I have poor self esteem and it comes from the fact I can’t do anything well in life …sport, cooking , arts , music , trades , social zing , it’s all a struggle and now I am so tired of life as I don’t have close friends and much hope of finding anything I am good at …can anyone else relate .. my only peace in life is when I am alone and can’t muck things up

black_rose I hate my Bipolar Brain
  • replies: 17

I hate my brain, I hate having Bipolar and I hate the fact that this mental illness will be with me for as long as I live. I hate being over sensitive. I hate that I over react. I hate that I feel things much deeply than most people. I just hate my b... View more

I hate my brain, I hate having Bipolar and I hate the fact that this mental illness will be with me for as long as I live. I hate being over sensitive. I hate that I over react. I hate that I feel things much deeply than most people. I just hate my brain and wish sometimes it would just all stop. Today and for the past few weeks my anxiety has escalated. It's triggered the 'irritability' associated with my Bipolar. That's the professional term. Iritability, it's such an understatement. It's more like anger and pure rage, that's so difficult to control, you try and keep it to yourself, it's not fair on others. Then your partner says some thing that upsets you, any normal person would shrug it off. It wasn't meant the way it sounded it your head. Then it circles in your brain over and over in your head, slowly becoming this big thing, the next thing you know, you're over reacting you're lashing out at him and being horrid and agressive, all because your stupid brain made some thing out of nothing. This is the reality of irritability with Bipolar for me. Today sucked usually I keep it contained better, some days I can talk myself through it, today wasn't one of those. Today was a bad day. It's not something I am proud of, I'm deeply ashamed of this facet of my personality, something that until just now I realise, I'm so ashamed that I've never told my Dr about this 'dark side' of me. Clearly that needs to change. I need to mention it. Thanks for just letting vent and get it out.

B van G Dealing with anxiety and depression
  • replies: 1

I am interested in learning how to deal with depression, in particular, and anxiety.

I am interested in learning how to deal with depression, in particular, and anxiety.

Houses Confused
  • replies: 1

Hi I’m confused due to a situation where my son has left home with his girlfriend who has lived with us due to her leaving home . Her family hate him have threatened to kill him accused us of being bad people alcoholics etc which isn’t true. It seems... View more

Hi I’m confused due to a situation where my son has left home with his girlfriend who has lived with us due to her leaving home . Her family hate him have threatened to kill him accused us of being bad people alcoholics etc which isn’t true. It seems like a manipulation as they are a family who are very controlling. I’ve also had some stressful times at work recently and this bombshell has thrown me to the ruin as now I’m very upset confused feeling like Why do I keep being nice and caring when allI get is abused taken advantage of and now my 19 year old son has left me he is my only child and we have always been close. I’m very sensitive to this and concerned

Nimi Losing My Job Before Christmas
  • replies: 1

Hey guys, I hope you are all doing as well as you can. If not, that is ok too. We can only do so much. I am feeling like I am on the precipice of a depressive episode. I made a big move to a new state, have been living in a new place for six months..... View more

Hey guys, I hope you are all doing as well as you can. If not, that is ok too. We can only do so much. I am feeling like I am on the precipice of a depressive episode. I made a big move to a new state, have been living in a new place for six months... And in the last two weeks I have been struggling. I am about to lose my job and failed to get another one after a few trial shifts, and it has crushed my passion for the career I was in (vet nursing, if you are curious). I moved to this state specifically because I wanted new opportunities in this field, but after this loss I am terrified of my income. I am worried about losing all my money, and I feel scared about the future. I do not know how I will afford to continue living here.. it just feels so overwhelming. I feel like my brain hasn't caught up yet, or my body hasn't, like I am in shock. I know that support exists and things are never as black and white as they may seem, but this crushing feeling of failure is making it very hard to pursue another job, especially at a time like this! I just want to be happy and celebrate like my family and friends, but as I am sure a lot of you know, it is so hard sometimes to find that brave face. Thank you for reading..

Bellanana What if all jobs make me suicidal?
  • replies: 1

What if I can never work and I'll be struggling financially for the rest of my life? What if I'll never be able to handle the easiest job on earth? What if I'll always be struggling?

What if I can never work and I'll be struggling financially for the rest of my life? What if I'll never be able to handle the easiest job on earth? What if I'll always be struggling?

SayumH TW: Depression is really bad.
  • replies: 1

Hi, I'm Sam, 19 years old, 20 in a month. As you can see, I'm struggling pretty bad. Mainly with feelings of hopelessness and loneliness. I used to fear death like crazy but nowadays it's simmered down and what's replaced it is feelings of pointlessn... View more

Hi, I'm Sam, 19 years old, 20 in a month. As you can see, I'm struggling pretty bad. Mainly with feelings of hopelessness and loneliness. I used to fear death like crazy but nowadays it's simmered down and what's replaced it is feelings of pointlessness. When I don't fear death as bad, I sort of start to think of how pointless mine and everyone else's life is, how no matter what we do or achieve in the end, at some point we cease to exist. A key value I have for life is connections and relationships. While I do have plenty of people to call my family or friend/s, it still just doesn't feel like any of them really do care. Everything feels one sided, I message and initiate everything and either get responses hours or days later or nothing at all. I don't receive any messages asking if I wanna do something, play something, talk, or simply asking how I am, Nothing. All my 'friends' and family are nothing like me, I just disappear into the background. While I try to not let it get to me, it always has and always probably will. I'm at the point where I'm just sort of ready to give up and accept the fact that no matter what I try I will never come into the thoughts of anyone's mind. While I won't be committing suicide or anything, everyday is a bore and I can't seem to imagine that any difference would be apparent whether I was dead or alive. From an outsiders point of view I'm sure that's not the case, but in my head it sure as hell seems that way. I've spent the last 2 1/2 - 3 1/2 years in my bedroom on my computer no job no nothing. I have a warped sleep cycle where I start my day at 12 - 1ish pm. So half of the jobs I can't even make too unless I wanna feel like I'm on deaths door every time I wake up. I'm morbidly obese but starting to lose weight, but I still don't feel happy or fulfilled even when I have been able to make a change. I'm a recluse with no happiness. Everything I used to enjoy is becoming a task or something that is uninteresting anymore. I'm constantly just in a state of melancholy. Crying doesn't help, laughing doesn't help, like I just don't know what to do anymore. I don't have any dreams or aspirations other than to be married and a father at some point, yet looks like I'll be alone all my life. I don't speak to anyone about it because they can't relate, they don't know how depression or anything works. They don't know how to help, so I just keep it all to myself, and every time I do open up, nothing changes, it just becomes a drop of water in the ocean, like I never reached out. (pun included.) I've always prided myself in trying to put others happiness before me but I can only do it for so long before I forget about my own, which just so happens to be the case now. I hope you all are happy and surviving, thanks for taking the time out of your day to read my sob story, apologies for wasting your time.Thanks, Sam

KirSa Being Bipolar Feels Normal To Me - confused
  • replies: 5

tl;dr: I don't know what normal is... and that's a scary thought. I don't know what I should be aiming for now. How do I aim for normal if I've never had it? At age 20 - homeless & seeking crisis accomodation - required to have a psych eval - diagnos... View more

tl;dr: I don't know what normal is... and that's a scary thought. I don't know what I should be aiming for now. How do I aim for normal if I've never had it? At age 20 - homeless & seeking crisis accomodation - required to have a psych eval - diagnosed with bipolar and told I wouldn't live past 30 - given meds (epilim) and told I should find Jesus. Rejected meds and diagnosis - meds turned me into a zombie. Spent next 25 years cycling every couple of months from one failed job/relationship to another. In my 'mania' episodes (I guess - feels normal to me but I guess I'm just used to it), I'd lean heavily into looking for the meaning of life, and more specifically, religions, ideologies, philosophies, politics, economics, etc. I even joined a cult or two. I quite frequently find myself feeling I'm on the edge of discovering something completely game changing - for the entire human race - or the universe itself. Becoming a god (and you can too!). I inevitably become discouraged by both the complexity of the task I'm pursuing and the inability to find anyone 'on my wavelength' to comprehend it. Frustration and disputes... arguments, debates. Usually about unrelated things... I can't tell these fools what I'm really thinking, they'll think I'm nuts. I focus on some other injustice at work and put my energy into that. There's usually a heavy binge drinking session in there every couple of months too. When I can't take it any more and need to escape from my own thoughts... cool my head down. Usually a few bouts of this throughout the year and a job or relationship suffers and I end up unemployed and alone again. Commence deep depression and hopelessness - often for weeks, sometimes I pick myself up and go again hard after only a few days, then crash again in a week or two. Wanting to grasp onto that feeling of confidence and power I was so sure of not long before. Countless interests and hobbies over the years. Good at picking myself up again though... Quick to learn new skills too. So I've got that going for me. But, I'm confused. I honestly just thought I was an undisciplined binge drinker. I've been to many rehabs, and learned so much psychology and self help around motivation and achievement I've been told I sound like a motivational speaker. 47y now I'm diagnosed Bipolar Disorder 1 but I don't feel any different. To other people my lifestyle is ABnormal. But to me it IS normal. I don't know what normal is... and that's a scary thought. I don't know what I should be aiming for now. How do I aim for normal if I've never had it?