Staying well

What is your biggest (non mental health condition) achievement?

replies: 86

Was watching, "The Voice" last night and there was a young lass who didn't leave the house for two years because of panic attacks, how here she is on National TV singing in front of four judges. I sat back and thought that even if no one turns around... View more

Was watching, "The Voice" last night and there was a young lass who didn't leave the house for two years because of panic attacks, how here she is on National TV singing in front of four judges. I sat back and thought that even if no one turns around and picks her, she has already won - what a brilliant achievement that was. What is your biggest achievement? Mine is overcoming PTSD and functioning quite well but the mental health conditions aside, I would have to say completing my first marathon. A pure punishment of the mind and body and I completed this in the early days of my recovery when i was quite wounded and struggling. To be able to push myself to complete it gave me a massive burst of confidence that I can overcome the PTSD beast and get on with life. Mark

The Power of Prayer

replies: 4

Hi everyone I know it's a strange topic to raise and per the 2016 Census the most popular religion is in fact.. No religion! But for those that do have a religion, regardless of what that may be, I'm curious if when you are struggling do you fine you... View more

Hi everyone I know it's a strange topic to raise and per the 2016 Census the most popular religion is in fact.. No religion! But for those that do have a religion, regardless of what that may be, I'm curious if when you are struggling do you fine yourself turning away from your faith? Or more strongly towards your faith? My belief structure is both Catholic and Buddhist (yes I know, strange mix but it works for me). I found that last year when I was deeply in the throws of bipolar depression I turned away from my faith and sought solace in other things such as photography and bush walking. Once my condition became more stable I turned back to my faith and now although I'm in another bipolar depression it's controlled and more manageable and I find myself praying and meditating quite regular. This not only provides solace but I find myself stronger and with greater courage. This of course may be placebo, but the fact remains it is having a positive impact. I'd love to know others thoughts and if so, who and what your prayers consist of. Peace x

Successfully overcoming challenges

replies: 8

Have you ever paid off a car, a boat or a washing machine? Did you cellabrate? Well I might be unusual but just after the half way point, thats when I celebrated. This was on the basis that I owned more of my car than the finance company. I had equit... View more

Have you ever paid off a car, a boat or a washing machine? Did you cellabrate? Well I might be unusual but just after the half way point, thats when I celebrated. This was on the basis that I owned more of my car than the finance company. I had equity. If I had to sell the car after I paid off the finance company I'd have money left over. Overall, have I succeeded?. I think so. So here on this forum challenges like seeking self esteem, curing anxiety and depression and becoming 'normal'. It seems there is this determination to fully overcome ones mental illness, a personal quest that is expected even demanded...by ourselves. Talk about putting pressure on our lives! I put it to you. That a depressed individual that spent a long period of time out of the workforce finally finds employment, is successful and more successful if such s job was maintained . The fact that the depression remains as a continual challenge is a given. If the sufferer doesnt acknowledge successful steps unless they are complete steps i.e to rid their lives of depression as in this example, then success, accomplishment, might not ever be felt. That can only hinder your progress. Regular pats on the back, token personal rewards and self praise is essential from ourselves. Indeed it is of greater importance than from others because we cannot always depend on others 24/7...but we ourselves are always there. If we treat others remarks of praise as a rubber stamp of our own internal comments and relish in them, value them, then we'll feel successful. If we only rely on others and not ourselves to acknowledge our slow steps of improvement we could be seriously delaying progress bevause rarely does praise from others feel like it is enough, its never enough because we are damaged. Challenging yourself takes courage. Praising and rewarding yourself takes practice and habit forming attitude change. "I got out of bed, I succeeded" "Well I've had my shower and now I have to go back to bed...well, see if I can do an hour of gardening tomorrow...I'm successful today in what I accomplished." Success is a frame of mind. To identify success as being a thousand snippets of qualification rather than one giant hurdle to overcome. Overcoming that hurdle is unrealistic, then do yourself a favour and recognise that small completions of success is great. Then treating yourself to a chocolate and coffee will be frequent as success will be...often. Tony WK

What to write on my resume?

replies: 13

Hi everyone I wasn't sure where to post this so I hope people will see this, read it and hopefully provide some advice. I've taken approx 14months off work predominantly due to mental health issues. There's now a job I'm really interested in and alth... View more

Hi everyone I wasn't sure where to post this so I hope people will see this, read it and hopefully provide some advice. I've taken approx 14months off work predominantly due to mental health issues. There's now a job I'm really interested in and although I'm feeling anxious about it, my family, psych and GP are encouraging me to make a new resume and apply. I don't even know if I'd get an interview or the role but in any case they think it would be good for me just to bite the bullet and take the first step. So I'm going to do it. But how best to approach this and explain the gap on my otherwise 12 year continuous history? Any suggestions appreciated?

Jordan Peterson

replies: 2

Hey guys, I've been very interested in this guy - Jordan Peterson - recently. He's a Canadian psychologist and he has a channel on Youtube which has many videos I think would be interesting to depressed and anxious people. He talks a lot about the me... View more

Hey guys, I've been very interested in this guy - Jordan Peterson - recently. He's a Canadian psychologist and he has a channel on Youtube which has many videos I think would be interesting to depressed and anxious people. He talks a lot about the meaning and symbolism of religions (mostly Christianity) as they relate to life, and ties it in with his psychological knowledge. I'm not religious, but I appreciate that religions were made up and contributed to by many many people over a very long time, and all those people have injected their wisdom into the religions. So I think there can be useful messages in religions, even though none of them are literally true. Anyway, check him out.

teeny tiny goals app

replies: 7

For the last few months I've been trying out a new approach to my depression, by making all the tasks I should do day to day like tooth brushing and cooking dinner into a game. It's pretty much like a to do list, only I've cut up the tasks and put th... View more

For the last few months I've been trying out a new approach to my depression, by making all the tasks I should do day to day like tooth brushing and cooking dinner into a game. It's pretty much like a to do list, only I've cut up the tasks and put them into a bowl so which one you do at a time is randomised. Some of the tasks are once offs so I leave them out once they're done, others I put back in at the start of each day. It's fun and so far it's working for me. I'm adding social goals to it at the moment like 'start small talk with a stranger' and 'try to tell a joke'. It's a lot less pressure somehow knowing that it's just for a game rather than because I need to get out more. I was thinking I might try to learn some coding and turn it into a free app, but then I realised that most of the things that I click with do absolutely nothing for anyone else. Thought I'd ask here if anyone thought it might help them with their depression too?

Colouring book

replies: 7

I just had a go of one of those adult colouring books this evening. It was a really nice break from all the electronic mayhem and my stack of dense text laden books. Laid out on the floor like I did when I was a kid, and started colouring in a rabbit... View more

I just had a go of one of those adult colouring books this evening. It was a really nice break from all the electronic mayhem and my stack of dense text laden books. Laid out on the floor like I did when I was a kid, and started colouring in a rabbit! I am actually looking forward to finishing the rabbit. Anyone else tried these? How do other people unwind indoors in the evening that doesn't involve TV/Computer/Phone?

Pampering yourself

replies: 3

Being kind to ourselves isnt common among those of us with mental illness. We just dont believe we are worthy of any rewards. Why would we? We dont do anything right to be giving ourselves gifts right? The problem here is that everyone needs or can b... View more

Being kind to ourselves isnt common among those of us with mental illness. We just dont believe we are worthy of any rewards. Why would we? We dont do anything right to be giving ourselves gifts right? The problem here is that everyone needs or can benefit with pampering. We thrive on it because it feels good. We respond better after a holiday. We have a spring in our step if we buy clothes. We enjoy a chocolate bar after 2 weeks of dieting. This is what could be seen as normal in the act of balancing our lives. Balance of sacrifice with reward. The problem facing many MI people is that we are not always balanced. We are indeed extremes in behaviour...be it moods, speed of doing things , sensitivity, reactions even speech. In this instance we are talking about those that make huge efforts and are over concentrating such efforts to the point whereby they dont reward themselves. Over commitment. Low self esteem plays a major part. The need to claw back our lives towards normal. I know from my own experiences that another factor plays a part. That the obvious is missed. We could due to a low opinion of ourselves miss or dismiss the inner need to pamper yourself. So how do you pamper yourself...effectively? Too many parents feel obliged to share their time window shopping with their children. That in my view is rewarding yourself with an enjoyable activity and taking it away with the negatives that come with it. The tantrums or what they want. It just isnt quality time. Quality time is crucial to this plan. A good friend perhaps? I'd suggest spending an hour before meeting your friend, shopping alone. That will give you more to talk about and you'll be relaxed. A walk in a park can be as fulfilling and less costly especially for low income earners. The scent of a rose and the watching of bees and birds more surreal. Whatever you choose choose it for you. Give back to yourself some thankyou for effort. Do you reward yourself? How? Tell us what you do. It could help a reader come to terms with the concept of caring better for themselves. Tony WK

What I've learnt about dealing with depression

replies: 13

I didn't know I had Bipolar until I was 46 yrs and suffered wickedly deep depression ..often.My besty wasn't very supportive. She had a lot going for her and of course with depression and this beast of demons attacking my self worth and my god it's a... View more

I didn't know I had Bipolar until I was 46 yrs and suffered wickedly deep depression ..often.My besty wasn't very supportive. She had a lot going for her and of course with depression and this beast of demons attacking my self worth and my god it's a master at that although I had awesome parents, it wasn't enough to pull me through the extreme Black times of teenage yrs.I tried suicide 4 times and there was nearly another. I wanted out cause I couldn't see any light in this deep dark tunnel. You hear people say oh they just want attention....some may...but what they don't know is it takes a LOT of courage to go against a natural instinct to survive and try and end your life. So I decided to take on these demons after being diagnosed with BP and decided it's not going to control my life anymore and I'm starting to learn how to handle and avoid the dark deep downs. Majority of my lifes had a dull or dark cloud lingering. I'm usually a happy go lucky type but that's always been close by.IT takes work...hard work but it's worth it. What's better, feeling terrible or being happy and cruisy. Basically one of the main things I've learnt is not to dwell and not to allow too much self pity, it drags ya down massively. Try to get sleep and what I've learnt is if I'm down is to try and think hard what exactly it is that's pulling me down and why. Once you know what it's easier to try and work on changing it. Dad said years ago you need confidence in life...took me years but I realised not that long ago that you do need to like/love yourself. It really does make a dif. Also it helps thinking and looking for positives too even though it seems there aren't any, ...they're there...just hard to find when we're feeling blaggghhh. A friend said recently no matter how awful you feel, it doesn't stay that way. It's true. Time thank god does help us through hard stuff. When I was younger I didn't know to try and help myself or how but it's working out mainly what's wrong and going from there. I try to be completely honest with myself and accept where I go wrong. Not always easy but helps in the process. Happy to answer any questions and hope this is of some help. I believe we all have the tools to fight with, it's just finding and learning how to use em. Go easybeyondblue's clinically-trained moderators often work offline (invisible to you) on issues relating to suicide or self-harm. At the same time, general supportive comments from the community are encouraged. If you have concerns around suicide or self-harm, please phone our support service on 1300 22 4636.

Dealing with NEGATIVE emotions, thoughts, words and memories

replies: 26

Hi Everyone, We all have them right! Negatives in our lives that pull us down. They may be words others have spoken to us, things we tell ourselves, beliefs we have accepted over the years, wrong truths, what ever you want to call them we all have th... View more

Hi Everyone, We all have them right! Negatives in our lives that pull us down. They may be words others have spoken to us, things we tell ourselves, beliefs we have accepted over the years, wrong truths, what ever you want to call them we all have them. We could include the What ifs or Why me or any other phrase that has a negative connotation. I have started this thread so people can share their negatives and together we may be able to come up with solutions, ideas or thoughts that might help. My NEGATIVE thought might be "No one is going to respond to this post!" How do I know that? If no one does respond, does that mean I am stupid for thinking someone might respond? Our minds keep telling us stories, right or wrong. It is what I do with those stories and thoughts that count. I can feel defeated if no one responds, or I could accept this might not be a topic that interests anyone. We all deserve to feel as though we are of value and we don't allow our sense of worth to be based on what other people say or how we feel about ourselves when depressed and full of negativity. We are not worthless or useless, we are all unique and valuable to society in some way. This is an opportunity to share the negatives and for us to help each other find ways to overcome them. Cheers all from Mrs. Dools

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A Bouquet for Pearls - share your appreciation for other members

replies: 715

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