Telling a total stranger about your depression

[deprees8]

hi every one depress8 here again,

i have quandary here i need to tell someone about my depression that does need to know as i am doing work for the dole(yes i am unemployed which is not helpful)  but the person in charge needs to know about my depression and they have already threatened to tell the government that i am skipping half of a day because i am depressed and going home. i have just written a letter and hoping to talk to them in private tomorrow and because i will be seeing them tomorrow/today and i need someone to buck me up and tell me i am doing the best thing or is there another way i can go about this. i am seeing the doc tomorrow/today to get a medical certificate but is there a better way that i can go about doing this or should i just do as the famous quote says "dame the torpedoes! full steam ahead. please help me out thank you all

[white knight]

Hi deprees8

Centrelink like many organisations require you to "play the game". This means IMO that you need to satisfy them in the way they need satisfying. Unfortunately there are far too many people that flaunt the system and are fraudulent and there is no way the authorities know if they are genuine or not. If you were to put yourself in their position things might make more sense to you. They deal with people daily that try to get out of their obligations.

But I understand that isn't you. So you need to always supply their needs like Dr's certificate and any other information they require. If you "damn the torpedoes" you might easily be financially cut off.

Tony WK

[hope4joy]

Hi deprees8,

I think Tony WK is spot on in that you need to supply Centrelink with what they require, and getting a medical certificate sounds like a good idea. Does your GP know about your mental health difficulties? 

Also, I don't know if this is applicable, but when I was on newstart a few years ago I couldn't cope with full time work because of mental illness - and i organised an assessment - it was a social worker or someone who came in to a centrelink office that was independent to centrelink, and along with letters from my doctor and filling out some form she assessed how many hours i could work, which from memory was 8-15 hours per week .That made it much easier to cope at the time not having the pressure of having to look for or try to work full time. Sometimes its just not possible health wise. 

Kind wishes, Christina 

[geoff]

dear Deprees8, by having depression not only puts you into a world of your own, but it does exactly the same with all of
us who are suffering from it, but how can we explain our condition to a large institution like centrelink, well the people
you talk to are those who try and enforce the rules, unless they have had depression themselves.
Before you go and talk to someone, you will need a letter from your GP stating that you have had depression for what ever
period is has been and that he/she wants for you to see a psychologist.
The other option is go to a 'job seeker' agency and explain your situation which maybe of some help to you, but also ask
them how you are able to overcome your situation. Geoff.
 

[deprees8]

hi everyone thanks for the support. i was going to tell the person at the workplace today that i had depression but something she said made me put the brakes on and not tell her and also about the fact that i had a doctors appointment  my fear is is that i will tell her and she wont believe me and i might do something dumb in the meantime. i tell myself thats the wrong attitude and it is. but i do have another doctors appointment next week (arhhhh) but i will be defiantly be telling her tomorrow and its off my mind and she can suffer the consequences if she doesn't believe me. so once again thanks for the support and i think i didn't word the query right (my bad) so peace and thanks fellow helpers you have given me the support and i will also like to thank my mum for helping me also today saying that i needed to tell her (the boss at the workplace) also that would give you a hint of my age. oh also i do have shorter hours by the government given my Educational difficulty but thats another story and one i might tell one day. 

[Stollie]

Yeah i have been where you are. I am now on a pension, after long periods of hostipal visits and countless other therapy. But my partner is going through it now. Unfortunately he has to go for interviews and trials, without acceptable help from disability workers. So we're trying to see the right peoplewhich hasn't helped sofar so still need to work on it.so we need to stick to it. ItIt's a long road.  Bit keep at the people are ment to help, because it's there job!

[TaraB]

Hey mate,

I was in the same situation afew years ago, I was to scared to go tell centerlink and the difficulty of firstly proving it, then applying for a sort of pension. Im on disability pension for major depression. You have to see a case worker and then centerlinks psychologist, but its definitely worth it in the end! 

Work places can be horrible about people having depression because all they think about is money. 

❤❤

[blondguy]

Hey Deprees

The workplace is a tough area and TaraB is spot on here...They are motivated by profit and 'just dont get it'

Many employers dont understand Depression or Anxiety....after trying to communicate to ignorant employers about my anxiety...I ended up (only when I had to) telling them I suffered from the symptoms of Claustrophobia even with not being in a confined space.....That did work...even though claustrophobia is still anxiety....they understand it a lot better.

Let us know how you are going Deprees

Kind Thoughts

Paul