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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.

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Anxiety

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

Rach28 stressed out by centrelink
  • replies: 1

hi everyone. thanks for reading this post it means alot. so.. im writing this post because currently on a exemption to not have to seek work/ study as im currently on centrelink jobseeker payment. ive been on this payment for the past 5+ years honest... View more

hi everyone. thanks for reading this post it means alot. so.. im writing this post because currently on a exemption to not have to seek work/ study as im currently on centrelink jobseeker payment. ive been on this payment for the past 5+ years honestly. i checked my MyGov profile account like i normally do to report/check for updates etc. Next week i have a super random phone appointment with a services australia office to 'help me'. they suggested that i could volunteer at a local disability employment services office. that sounds awful and i am not doing that! i just dont understand why they are bothering me during my exemption due to anxiety/depression. i just want to be left in peace to seek support from my psychologists and figure out what im going to do next in my time. Is anyone else struggling with centrelink not leaving you alone when your struggling with your mental health. right now my depression is quite high and my anxiety is severe. if you read my other posts you'll understand the circumstances that have caused this decline. i just want to scream right now. i feel like everything is out of my control and i just want a moment to breathe. i want a moment to figure out what i want without others telling me what to do. i'm sick of these appointments, phone calls, reporting. i'm sick of it and just want peace and quiet. is anyone else struggling with centrelink long term being unemployed. id love to hear from you so that i dont feel so alone right now in this awful feeling. thanks for reading x

Guest_04699229 Mum of 3 and a husband
  • replies: 2

I am constantly living in a state of worry, am I meeting everybody's needs in my household? I feel like I'm being lumped with everything yet told that I'm doing the bare minimum. I organise any and all family engagement, I shop and cook every week, I... View more

I am constantly living in a state of worry, am I meeting everybody's needs in my household? I feel like I'm being lumped with everything yet told that I'm doing the bare minimum. I organise any and all family engagement, I shop and cook every week, I work full time, I navigate play dates, I clean a house, I tidy a yard, I try to fill everyone's cup everyday but it never feels like enough, tolds it not enough. When I get down, I'm told, ask for help, but when I ask for help it's answered begrudgingly. Stuck between a rock and a hard place.

cvberwrld vent
  • replies: 1

hey everyonei just wanted some advice on something, i’m not sure if this is the appropriate place for it either but i’m studying a diploma of nursing currently and for about 3 months now, i’ve just been feeling very detached from it. i have veryyy li... View more

hey everyonei just wanted some advice on something, i’m not sure if this is the appropriate place for it either but i’m studying a diploma of nursing currently and for about 3 months now, i’ve just been feeling very detached from it. i have veryyy little motivation for continuing, i’m on campus four days a week and it genuinely feels like i’m on autopilot or something? that feels like the only way i can describe it 😭. i had a practical assessment recently (which i failed) and ended up crying in front of my assessor, it was like an uncontrollable type of cry. it just feels like a wave of self doubt, lack of motivation, and frankly just an overall disinterest in a way? i constantly remind myself of the reason why i started studying nursing in the first place, but as of now i genuinely feel like i’ve made a mistake or something. if anyone has any advice lmk thank youuuu :))

Depression

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

Guest_39004620 Lost my Mum
  • replies: 1

My Mum died in December 5 days before Christmas. I thought I was doing okay but I'm so exhausted and little things that wouldn't usually faze me seem to feel like huge problems. I'm normally upbeat and positive but right now I can't seem to find the ... View more

My Mum died in December 5 days before Christmas. I thought I was doing okay but I'm so exhausted and little things that wouldn't usually faze me seem to feel like huge problems. I'm normally upbeat and positive but right now I can't seem to find the silver linings. I've never felt like this before, I can't even make a simple decision.

OllieA_TransKid Why do I feel this way...?
  • replies: 1

I always feel as if i have to put on a smile for everyone. It's getting more difficult and people know about my mental health issues. I need advice to put on the mask again so people can stop worrying about me, and I feel like a burden. I just want i... View more

I always feel as if i have to put on a smile for everyone. It's getting more difficult and people know about my mental health issues. I need advice to put on the mask again so people can stop worrying about me, and I feel like a burden. I just want it to stop. My ex gf is harassing me online, keeps telling people i'm a bad person, she keeps sharing my personal info online like my birth name, my phone number, and my age. I have had 2 unknown numbers call me and say I am a bad person. I need the harassment to stop. She keeps telling people abt my life and is spreading lies abt me to her online friends who are doxxing me as well. I've blocked my ex on everything but she is still putting things in her roblox bio saying that i need to grow up, how she's "moved on" (she clearly hasn't if she's still talking about it) ect. and its just turned into harassment in my point of view. Idk if i should report her to the police bc she is threatening violence on my friends, bc i have a new partner and we told our friends to stay quiet about it bc i know my ex has very... violent tendances, lets js say, and they wont tell my ex if me nd my partner are together or not. When she does this to me, and is now harassing my friends, it makes me feel disappointed that I had dragged them into this, and now they're being threatened, as well. I know they aren't blaming me, but i feel like they should bc I technically brought this upon them, I was the one who had to ruin it. And if u haven't been reading my other posts, My ex is the one who broke up with ME and is now playing the victim... and the worst part, you might ask? She's blaming it on me...(JOKE) Thank you for listening to my TedTalk.

Mikhaela If you are my friend please dig up some of my mud to help me
  • replies: 2

hello community I can share this akthough it is a lot so brace yourselves, Warning does involve some sensitive topics. I am 12 and I have ASD (autism spectrum disorder) ADHD(attention deficit hyperactivity/ hypoactivity disorder) i have depression an... View more

hello community I can share this akthough it is a lot so brace yourselves, Warning does involve some sensitive topics. I am 12 and I have ASD (autism spectrum disorder) ADHD(attention deficit hyperactivity/ hypoactivity disorder) i have depression and anxiety and have to take 5 different medicines on a day to day basis and i am female. And i hate my life because I have had a PH addiction and don't know how to tell my parents so they can help me, I have not been eating because i think i'm fat, I think that nobody ever truly loves or cares for me, i always have to put on a smile and brace myself for the big autism burnout im going to get at the end of the day when all of that energy is gone. 5 minutes after im in school and im done. no more energy but i have to push myself and it gets harder and harder every day. I sink further and further into the mud every day pushing out but getting stuck further down. and if anyone ever offers me a shoulder im going to cry on it and im not going to stop. Also I have mainly male friends and they are mainly taller than me so they feel like protectors over me, i try to stop the thoughts of self harming. I dont want help i just want someone's shoulder to cry on. So if you are one of my friends. Please ask me if im ok let me lean on your shoulder and sob into it for 30 minutes. And if it's not me then still do it. You don't have to but it might save a life, you listen that's it you respond and don't say anything it is confidential you are taking some weight off of us. The mud is being scooped out. Please listen i want someone to cry on, but since i am the one i have to put a mask on for, they think i am mentally ok and they always make jokes about me being mentally unstable so i always have to awkwardly laugh, but they dont know that. I really want someone to scoop out the mud for me im drowning and have been so for about 3 or 4 years. even though i may be young i was a victim of bullying that was always overlooked because my bully used to be my friend and when i told someone in my class they didn't brush it off and say so what they actually seemed interested and sad. I have autism depression anxiety and adhd my life is the best yay mud is drowning me slowly litre by litre all i have is a teacup to scoop it out with but it's flowing faster than that. I can't stop it.

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.

Sunny_days Feeling Lost
  • replies: 2

I (23F) was in a relationship with someone I really loved (24M) until recently that lasted about 3 years where we lived together… I had been in past relationships before this one that had been quite bad in terms of emotional and physical abuse, so I ... View more

I (23F) was in a relationship with someone I really loved (24M) until recently that lasted about 3 years where we lived together… I had been in past relationships before this one that had been quite bad in terms of emotional and physical abuse, so I didn’t think that there was any issue with this one and I really thought I was going to marry him and have kids with him, so I feel utterly disillusioned. he had been very open with me about his previous relationships, and had detailed to me about six months or longer into the relationship that one of his previous partners had enjoyed watching porn with him and using adult toys to please himself, and that he liked that, and wanted to do it with me. I did not want to do this, but became quickly aware of the fact that this disappointed him, and he was upset with me and said I made him feel ashamed of himself… It was at this time that he also disclosed to me and showed me his extensive collection of porn DVDs, magazines, flashlights modelled off of porn actresses, and scrapbooks he made of porn actresses that resembled people he knew and were our friends. He had told me a lot of this had been because his ex-girlfriend had encouraged this. over time and after having struggles with him misplacing funds, lying about money, excessive gambling, and both of us having to skip meals, his porn collection grew and to an extent that I would estimate at about 500-600 porn DVDs. He had been open about wanting to please himself, and at the time I felt that this was only fair since I didn’t want him to feel stifled by me, and I felt that any feelings I had that were bad about it, were selfish and insecure, and any time I brought it up it made him very defensive and upset. this dynamic culminated in him sitting in the lounge room with a case of beer, a 2L tub of lube, and at least four fleshlights (that were correlated to the women he would watch) watching porn for days, at least twice a week, for about two years. This prevented me from having people over, opening the curtains, participating in any household task, or leaving my bedroom, and over time, made me feel like I had no control or choice. It became so much so, that I had multiple bad depressive episodes, all of which I felt ashamed about, and he called me ‘unattractive’ or ‘crazy’ for having, and would use this as an excuse to watch more and more porn. Since breaking up with him and losing my housing in the process, I feel so so lost.

Guest_01984308 PTSD ANXIETY DEPRESSION
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Hi, I'm new here & have PTSD Anxiety & Depression,I was in a DV relationship with a narcissist for 3 years & my ex-partner physically & mentally abused me.I lost contact with my friends I was isolated and thought I was going crazy. I have been suffer... View more

Hi, I'm new here & have PTSD Anxiety & Depression,I was in a DV relationship with a narcissist for 3 years & my ex-partner physically & mentally abused me.I lost contact with my friends I was isolated and thought I was going crazy. I have been suffering ever since. I have nightmares about the trauma caused and my mental health has deteriorated since. I keep thinking about it daily and can't get him out of my head. Some days are better than others and when I feel like this, I shut off from everyone. I don't speak to my sisters because they always blame me when something goes wrong as I have always been the black sheep of the family.

Cocolee15 I think something happened to me as a kid?
  • replies: 1

Hello to anyone reading, I have been diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder and I'm on medication of it.The problems is that when I was getting on lithium I started having these repressed memories or false memories of sexual abuse as a kid.These mem... View more

Hello to anyone reading, I have been diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder and I'm on medication of it.The problems is that when I was getting on lithium I started having these repressed memories or false memories of sexual abuse as a kid.These memories feel very real to me and during that time they were going on they were the only False memories or repressed memories I was experiencing I had no other symptoms.It's also true that I used to play rape with my toys as a kid and I knew to keep it a secret.These thoughts circle around my hand till they drive me crazy.Could there be some truth to them?

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_27628762 Lost
  • replies: 2

I’m a mum of 2 school aged kids, wife of 15yrs. Financially dependant on husband (for last few years). Always had anxiety / depressive tendencies since a child. Husband very driven, not understanding /empathetic towards depression, therefore unable t... View more

I’m a mum of 2 school aged kids, wife of 15yrs. Financially dependant on husband (for last few years). Always had anxiety / depressive tendencies since a child. Husband very driven, not understanding /empathetic towards depression, therefore unable to talk to when down. Distances themself. Recently lost close friend and potentially about to lose job. Quit important role recently due to loss of friend.Daughter different towards me and dad (nasty towards me, sweet with dad/husband). Husband doesn’t have my back. Very close with son as he has a kind heart.I feel at a loss. Leaving this world would damage my son, so I want to stay for him. Daughter may be too young to realise the impact of her actions. I feel like a terrible mum.I’ve given up the fight. I can’t go on. I have a plan to end it but can’t put my son through it.If I leave the family, I have no money or no where to go. I will be homeless, still with no hope (other than my son not being hurt). I’m completely lost and don’t know where to turn or get myself out. I have lost all confidence and self respect and lack any drive.If I stay, I’m a burden to my family so it’s only fair for them (husband & daughter) that I leave. No benefit to myself in staying alive. People always comment on me seeing the positive in every situation, which I try, however the end result proves otherwise.I’ve explained my situation to my husband last week, things improved for couple days, now he and daughter ganging up worse than before.I’m mid 4’s and feel completely helpless. Don’t know why I’m writing this or who to - just no where else to express myself confidentially.

sriracha Anxiety and self harm
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What can I do to stop? I’m not depressed, I’m not suicidal. I don’t want to die. But sometimes SH is the only thing that makes me feel in control of my life, like I don’t need to be so anxious and worried, because I’M in control of what happens in my... View more

What can I do to stop? I’m not depressed, I’m not suicidal. I don’t want to die. But sometimes SH is the only thing that makes me feel in control of my life, like I don’t need to be so anxious and worried, because I’M in control of what happens in my life. Does anyone know some things I can do other than SH? Things that aren’t actually damaging me?

Leo-child just wondering to help myself
  • replies: 4

does anyone have any ways to like reduce the urge to hurt myself like rubber bands dont work for me can my arm just ends up swelling up where it hits my arm and yeah i just need sidjestions how ever you spell that word { im very bad at spelling so so... View more

does anyone have any ways to like reduce the urge to hurt myself like rubber bands dont work for me can my arm just ends up swelling up where it hits my arm and yeah i just need sidjestions how ever you spell that word { im very bad at spelling so sorry in advance}