FAQ

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

Forums guidelines

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

Share your coping strategies

Positive_vibes89
Champion Alumni
Champion Alumni

We have times in our lives where we feel depressed. Depression can be chronic or it can come and go. " While we all feel sad, moody or low from time to time, some people experience these feelings intensely, for long periods of time (weeks, months or even years) and sometimes without any apparent reason" -Beyond Blue.

When you are feeling moody or low what do you do to cope? Let's all share our thoughts and strategies with others too so they can try them out when things get really tough. I shall start: When I was diagnosed with depression, I used frequent trips to the beach as an outlet. I took up body boarding, id go alone. There was something about the sea and water that bought me a sense of calm. Taking up my new hobby was the therapy I needed and it was fun. Doing a fun activity brought me out of my depressed mood. I also would go lie on that beach, close my eyes and listen to all the sounds around me. Eventually because of my new found hobby, I was able to come off my medication. To this day I am not medicated, instead I have my strategy. I also utilise the beyond blue hotline when I have a bad day. Just having a person listen makes a huge difference, feeling that somone cares for you. A complete stranger who does not know me or can judge me. I feel safe doing this and I always feel alot better after sharing my emotional burdens over the phone. I have that feeling of trust talking to the beyond blue phone support team. I am very greatful for the support beyond blue provides. Now it's your turn......what do you do?

12 Replies 12

Hello HereWeAre, thank you for sharing your strategies with us on the forum. I think sharing with others is a really good idea because for some, it might be a little tricky to start off not knowing what to do. I am also keen to try out everyone's suggested ideas too and see if they work for me. I hope you are going well and don't hesitate to reach out on the forum and call the beyond blue phone line if you need a good chat. Approaching christmas now, that in itself can be a real stressful time.

Awesome topic 🙂 I'm a short walk from the beach Positive_vibes89... agree whole heartedly. Water has some ridiculous healing properties for the soul.

I've gone down the rabbithole of good and bad (or sustainable and unsustainable) coping strategies. The bad ones were hard drugs, alcohol, compulsive sex, constantly being angry, withdrawal from the situations I was anxious about (almost always makes it significantly worse depending on the triggers we're talking about)... basically being a complete A-Hole.

These days I'm a bit nicer to be around. Connecting with a support network is the absolute number one best strategy. Just being heard, knowing you're loved and being told it's ok does wonders.

Lifting heavy things, music, meditation, swimming, walking and cooking are definitely some favourites. Working through some CBT modules is also a good go to.

The CBT app I have been using come from a site called “ Excel at Life”.
There are several app, articles and audio. It is all put together by a psychologist. The whole site is designed to work as a whole system. The apps link into the audios and articles. It’s possible to send the journaling to your psychologist. The site has won several awards.
well worth a visit.