Where to start?

[josh174]

All through highschool I felt that being depressed was just teen angst, and to a point there's probably some truth in that but lately after finishing highschool and seeing my few friends go off to uni while I look for work I've become almost constantly depressed. My parent thinks it's because I can't find work but they don't understand that I lack the motivation to do so and sometimes even getting out of bed is a struggle. They get pissed off when I can't get up early because I was crying myself to sleep at 1am. They themselves have depression, as do the rest of my family in some form and have never reached out to ask if I'm actually ok or if something is going on in the background. They just assume that I'm just lazy and that me spending time in my room is the reason I'm always blue. Everytime I think about self harm I keep thinking I'm overreacting, just seeking attention, but I still keep thinking about it. I definitely don't feel comfortable talking to them about it and I don't know if the few friends I have have the time as they're in uni or year 12. I don't feel comfortable talking to my GP and I don't know who to turn to. I just want to be able to get on with life. In the past it was a question of what's happening next month, but now I just wonder if I'll get through the day without silently having a breakdown.

[Sophie_M]

Hi Josh174, 

Thank you for coming to the forums and for sharing your story with us. It is a really brave thing to do and it is a wonderful step towards getting support and feeling better. It sounds like you are having a really tough time right now with motivation and feels of depression, we are really sorry to hear that.

We think it would be usueful for you to give our phoneline a call on 1300 22 4636 to chat about how you are feeling. Our great counsellors will be able to give you some helpful adivce and refer you to other services that can help you. 
Kids Helpline are always brilliant and help young people up to tha ge of 25. You can give them a call on 1800 55 1800 to get started. 

We hope that these services can be helpful. If you want to it would be great to hear back from you and get an update of how you are feeling. This is a great community and we are really happy to have you as a part of it.

Kind regards, 
Sophie M

[S_D]

Hey josh174,

Thanks for sharing what you are going through at the moment. That transition period between high school and adult life is a tough one. I'm so sorry to hear you've been feeling too low and finding getting out of a bed a struggle. I'm sure it doesn't help when you feel people are assuming you're being lazy when really you're doing the best you can in that moment! Is there any friend you can think of who you would feel comfortable sharing some of this with? You sound like a really thoughtful person and I can relate to worrying if my friends would be too busy. That said I've always found that when I did open up to someone it actually made our friendship closer and even my friends who have very busy lives were very happy to listen and help in any way they could. A lot of people really enjoy feeling needed / helpful and you reaching out to them would give them an opportunity to experience this :). Is there any particular reason you don't feel comfortable reaching out to your GP? One thing that's always stuck with me is when I learned that although many people experience depression it is fortunately one of the most treatable health concerns - it definitely doesn't feel this way when you're in the midst of it and the depression kind of has a way of tricking us into thinking that things will always be awful, except from my experience this is not the case, things do get better, and we become more resilient too! Another forum user on here recommended the audiobook on Youtube called "The Upward Spiral". I've just finished listening to it and it has heaps of great ideas for combating depression with neuroscience. Hope this helps!