Immediate support
Immediate support

Mental health conditions

Anxiety and depression aren’t the only mental health conditions. Share what’s affecting you and learn more about managing your mental health.

Start a discussion
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
Anxiety

Anxiety is the most common mental health condition in Australia. Share your own story and learn about other member’s experiences with anxiety.

Rascally Am I paranoid or very aware?
  • replies: 0

I feel someone is contributing to a lot of trouble in my circumstances. (I have a very poor health) this person works at a hospital & once boasted she could access any file. Her motive seems to be an obsession with my sister, with whom I was very clo... View more

I feel someone is contributing to a lot of trouble in my circumstances. (I have a very poor health) this person works at a hospital & once boasted she could access any file. Her motive seems to be an obsession with my sister, with whom I was very close to. She has stolen from me & given those things to my sister. Once she worked at at a law firm. I received a letter, demanding I give my sister money. I took it to that same law firm & they had no knowledge of it. This woman once told me she wished she had my family instead of her own. There have been many lies & manipulation for the last 20 years. My siblings do not interact with me at all. Even after I tried many times to meet with them, this person was always there & humiliated in front of my siblings. Do to my continual health issues, I feel she is interfering somehow. Things don't make sense. I really don't know what to do anymore. My family were a very close unit, we did everything together. "Character assassination" comes to mind, yet if so how do I deal with that?. I now live in total isolation, Acquaintances have approached me on a few occasions discussing how much trouble she caused in their lives. At times I'm fearful, a car was parked when I put my bin out. The young man was on the phone & said " yeah, here lights came on, she's here" I really do wish it was paranoia, but my gut instinct tells me otherwise. I have no proof & am a nervous wreck. If I do see her, she gets no reaction from me... none... what hurts are my siblings, celebrating birthdays, Xmas all getting together. Close relatives have passed & no one told me.. I don't get it. I was always there for them, we laughed & played all the way into our 30s. This is devastating me & because of the thievery, lies & betrayal, I can't move on.. I have no one

_kj confusion and anxiety in a new friendship/relationship
  • replies: 3

Recently my sister’s friend asked if I was seeing anyone. I’d barely spoken to him so I was confused why he was interested. I was fine to go on a date (I assume that was his intention) but I couldn’t do it straight awayI have anxiety, low self esteem... View more

Recently my sister’s friend asked if I was seeing anyone. I’d barely spoken to him so I was confused why he was interested. I was fine to go on a date (I assume that was his intention) but I couldn’t do it straight awayI have anxiety, low self esteem, and I’m shy. Interacting with others is difficult for me He said that was fair, but It took him a while to reach out, apparently he was waiting for the right time He was so nice, but it was small talk which I struggle with. He’d never start any conversations and went from replies every few days, to once a week, then nothing. Two months pass, I’m left on read, he’s gone? I check in to see if he’s still interested and he said he was “definitely keen” I’m told that’s normal, he’s busy, has anxiety, and overthinks. He goes quiet but it isn’t personal.I see him and my sister talking daily. But I message, he opens it right away then leaves it read. Maybe he responds days later if I’m lucky. He doesn’t seem interested in pursuing me but doesn’t act like he wants to be friends either. It’s giving me a complex Apparently his pushy friends burn him out, and he had an ex who would hassle him to reply more. So maybe he’s being cautious. But I’ve only ever given him space My sister said he probably sees me as a casual friend he doesn’t feel pressured into talking to all the time or right away. I don’t know how to take that. I decided not to contact him anymore to see if he’d reach out. Two more months pass, he didn’t He visited recently to help move furniture. He couldn’t hold eye contact with me, but had no trouble with anyone else. Little comments and gestures made me feel like he was interested, but when I spoke he seemed bored.When he was leaving he hugged my sister and shook my hand, but then awkwardly decided to hug me too. It’s confusing I message him later to say thanks for helping and now we’re in a conversation. Being left on read is inevitable and I’m not that resilient. I know I’ll spiral and shut down.I have some control when I don’t reply. But I’m torn between having control and feeling guilty about it, or giving that up and having my feelings hurt. It’s probably not that deep but I need to talk about it. Maybe this is normal in talking stages, but I’ve never been in this situation before and I’m over thinking every little thing and it’s wearing me down, I’m tired. I’m embarrassed. I don’t feel good enough. I’ve put in more effort than I can mentally handle and it’s not reciprocated. I’m at a loss

Guest_87363593 Anxiety
  • replies: 1

I have so much anxiety I have decided to let go of my boyfriend he has mental health issues and I can’t deal with the abuse any longer it’s so hard for me but I have to do this.

I have so much anxiety I have decided to let go of my boyfriend he has mental health issues and I can’t deal with the abuse any longer it’s so hard for me but I have to do this.

Depression

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

StephenP24 Re- what a mess of a situation
  • replies: 0

Yeah just an absolute mess of a situation. Gone and thrown about like as many kitchen sinks, can use whatever analogy there. But yeah just thrown everything at getting better. And it does feel like life is getting away from me- if have tried to go wi... View more

Yeah just an absolute mess of a situation. Gone and thrown about like as many kitchen sinks, can use whatever analogy there. But yeah just thrown everything at getting better. And it does feel like life is getting away from me- if have tried to go with, if have I feel like just gone with. Cos other people "wish to see it" unfortunately- shown in every single, like every single area of my life. That I don't need them involved, don't want them involved. Be it certain professionals, be it just baseless and pointless people trying to and failing at "sorting out my life". Will just be something always have done myself- with limited help, cos the help does nothing. In my own unit, living here- out and about actually fairly regularly. When energy is there- so with that said, and having gone on a chat here. And started to think against it- to come to the forum, and having more and more people "shut me down". One of them crossing the mind as make this post- something had to give

Earth Girl This is hard to talk about
  • replies: 4

So for most of my life I was almost completely straight (until I was about 22 or 23 I think), but before then, the only attraction I had towards other girls was really mild, like sometimes if i was talking to a girl and they were really nice to me, I... View more

So for most of my life I was almost completely straight (until I was about 22 or 23 I think), but before then, the only attraction I had towards other girls was really mild, like sometimes if i was talking to a girl and they were really nice to me, I felt... whatever you would call that type of thing, like sort of romantic attraction, I think? But back then, it rarely happened and I was mostly just attracted to guys. But even though I rarely felt attracted to girls when I was actually around them, when I had "particular alone time", I thought about other girls with a sexual attraction and then when I finished having "particular alone time", I felt really awkward because I didn't feel comfortable with being bisexual in any way at all. When I was in year 6, I was really excited about starting high school the next year because for some reason I thought that I was going to become the prettiest and most popular girl in school and be really thin, have great style, etc, but the next year, another girl was the pretty popular girl and I was like um, what the hell? That was suppose to be me! So I was really annoyed at her and then one day I thought, she may be pretty and popular, but... she hasn't done anything to me? So I stopped hating her and then I found out she was going out with a guy in one of my classes and at first I didn't mind too much, but one day, in P.E, we were doing this running thing where you had to get to this end point by a certain amount of time by running and walking and at one stage, while we were walking the girl, her boyfriend and another one of their friends came up to me and had a chat and her boyfriend said something to me that was kind of funny so then I had a crush on him (shy girls get crushes really easily) and the same thing happened the next day so then I started hating the girl again (my bad). There was another guy who I also liked in the year above us as well so I was trying to figure out which guy I liked more because liking two guys at the same time is hard. Later on during the year, I think I ended up having some type of girl crush on the girl who I was jealous of, it was confusing though because I wasn't attracted to her when I was actually around her, I just thought about her sometimes when I was alone (if you get what I mean), and then later I felt really awkward. (I'll write some more soon).

sconee am I always going to feel like this?
  • replies: 1

I’m from a small country town. this year I was living pretty much alone in my family’s rental house in the city to finish year 12. it was pretty lonely all year and I didn’t have a lot of friends. I did basically everything outside of school alone an... View more

I’m from a small country town. this year I was living pretty much alone in my family’s rental house in the city to finish year 12. it was pretty lonely all year and I didn’t have a lot of friends. I did basically everything outside of school alone and never felt like I made any real connections or that anyone ever wanted to hang out with me. I got homesick a lot and often wished I could just move home because I was convinced it would be better. I graduated a few weeks ago and have since moved home again, and I was excited because I thought I would be super happy and things would be way different. I pictured hanging out with friends and doing heaps of fun stuff, but now I’ve been here for about two weeks and I’m feeling miserable. my job hasn’t started so I have nothing to do all day, and my few friends are either away or too busy for me. I’m just sick of doing everything alone. I know I can and I know there’s nothing wrong with it but I just want friends to do stuff with. I’ve been crying all morning and I just feel so lonely and so disappointed that being home isn’t how I thought it was going to be. am I just being a sook? what can I do to keep myself busy and feel better? I don’t even know where to find more friends but I really want them. I think it’ll be better when my job finally starts but until then am I just going to feel miserable all day? how can I make the most of this time so I don’t look back and judge myself for how I was feeling and acting? is it just a period of feeling bad or am I always going to feel like this?

PTSD and trauma

A space for discussing post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), domestic abuse, sexual abuse and other trauma. Please note some content may be distressing.

Guest_79331030 Complex-PTSD
  • replies: 0

Massive trauma adding to my complex-PTSD from a hospital stay. These professionals are supposed to be people who we can confide in and trust them. My life hasn’t been the same since… Anyone else experienced a similar situation?

Massive trauma adding to my complex-PTSD from a hospital stay. These professionals are supposed to be people who we can confide in and trust them. My life hasn’t been the same since… Anyone else experienced a similar situation?

B97 My struggle with PTSD
  • replies: 1

Hi Beyond Blue community, I would like to share my story and battle with PTSD. I was a victim of domestic violence from my father, who suffered from bipolar disorder. After my mother and I escaped his abuse, I became her carer at the age of 13 as she... View more

Hi Beyond Blue community, I would like to share my story and battle with PTSD. I was a victim of domestic violence from my father, who suffered from bipolar disorder. After my mother and I escaped his abuse, I became her carer at the age of 13 as she battled a rare disease (AVM). This involved many traumatic events, including risky facial surgery, the smell of rotting flesh, bleeding from her mouth, and regular calls to triple zero. This horrible disease caused severe facial disfigurement as parts of her face had to be removed to eliminate the illness.Fast-forward to the present, my mother and I have been targeted by neighbours in a smear and hate campaign aimed at forcing us to move. We have been threatened, our property damaged, and harassed daily. I’ve had to take out personal safety orders and call the police almost every day. Sometimes, I’m too afraid to leave my mother alone at home while I’m at work. Unfortunately, this has been triggering my PTSD from the abuse I experienced in my childhood. It has affected my social interactions with work colleagues and others. I’ve struggled with suicidal thoughts and the overwhelming feeling of being stuck, as though nothing is improving.My goal is to escape this nightmare and start fresh, to prioritise my self-care and provide my mum with a safe environment where we can live in peace and rebuild our lives. I've had regular counselling and tried medication but until I escape this toxic neighbourhood I will never be free of this.

ABC01 Muscle-skeletal Pain from Trauma Question
  • replies: 4

Dear All, After suffering trauma this year, my body had started to tense up and lock up. I was given a muscle-skeletal relaxant and that worked for a while,as I was in alot of pain. But now the pain has returned. I still take the medication. My Psych... View more

Dear All, After suffering trauma this year, my body had started to tense up and lock up. I was given a muscle-skeletal relaxant and that worked for a while,as I was in alot of pain. But now the pain has returned. I still take the medication. My Psychiatrist has suggested physiotherapy for the pain. Massage specifically. Has anyone else had pain of this type and what techniques or strategies did you use to manage it. I mostly feel the pain strongly in the base of my neck, my spine behind my belly button and where my spine meets my tailbone. I am starting to get regular headaches too. I feel like The Princess and the Pea, where I can feel everything underneath me when I sit. Any edges on fabrics and so on. Any replies would be appreciated.Thank-you,ABC01

Suicidal thoughts and self-harm

This space discusses suicide and self-harm. Consider limiting the time you spend here. To use the section safely, read the pinned discussion.

Guest_57731469 Depression
  • replies: 1

Hi look I was married for 20 plus yrs I've been divorced 14.alone not dated nothing started talking to a guy on social media.so after him finally being able to break my walls down his now saying he loves me and now I m questioning it I've been abused... View more

Hi look I was married for 20 plus yrs I've been divorced 14.alone not dated nothing started talking to a guy on social media.so after him finally being able to break my walls down his now saying he loves me and now I m questioning it I've been abused in one way or another my whole life this is hurting I still self harm and I don't feel it not only that but I don't want to be here anymore some days are bad I want to just not be around.helo me please.i don't know what to do.

Guest_71150139 What do I do?
  • replies: 3

I’ve got panic disorder, ADHD and depression. I have been doing mindfulness, breathing, therapy, changed my antidepressants, going to see my psychiatrist next week for a medication review for the ADHD meds I stopped after having a panic attack that t... View more

I’ve got panic disorder, ADHD and depression. I have been doing mindfulness, breathing, therapy, changed my antidepressants, going to see my psychiatrist next week for a medication review for the ADHD meds I stopped after having a panic attack that took me to hospital. I’m privileged to be able to do all these things, but I still feel the world will be better without me and I crave to not be here…. i just don’t know where to go from here. I am exhausted and don’t feel like I can fight this anymore.

Lost-Cause Hello I'm brand new not sure I'm in the correct forum
  • replies: 1

I have reluctantly been burying my demons for far too long. I suffer from extreme PTSD and Anxiety plus some terminal illnesses and to top it off I woke up approximately 18mths ago paralysed from the waist down (I was ok when I went to bed) I have be... View more

I have reluctantly been burying my demons for far too long. I suffer from extreme PTSD and Anxiety plus some terminal illnesses and to top it off I woke up approximately 18mths ago paralysed from the waist down (I was ok when I went to bed) I have been learning the basics of walking again. I have not been outside in 14mths and I haven't driven or ridden in over 2yrs. I live alone and have no quality of life, I'm estranged from my 3 adult children I haven't seen my youngest in 16yrs. I miss them terribly and I have realised that I don't know them. It has been cloak and dagger with the other 2 as I couldn't tell the other I was seeing them because if their mother found out she would throw them out. I have given up and stopped taking my medication about 4mths ago, i go to bed hoping that I won't wake up. I have no quality of life and no dignity left as I don't have control of my bowel or bladder. I honestly don't know what else to do. I realise that there isn't a magic pill that solves everything and I don't know if I've left it too late. I would greatly appreciate any feedback. I was in law enforcement and a volunteer fire fighter so I've had to deal with and see things that no person should ever see.