Immediate support
Immediate support

Staying well

Support each other to stay well, from mindfulness, sleep, diet and exercise to reducing drug and alcohol use and coping with difficult emotions.

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
Start a discussion

Pinned discussions

Sophie_M Sleep and Mental Health
  • replies: 0

Many of us have struggled with bouts of troubled sleep, and needless to say, these periods of nocturnal restlessness can be utterly overwhelming and exhausting. Sleeplessness can filter into every aspect of our lives: our ability to be present, remem... View more

Many of us have struggled with bouts of troubled sleep, and needless to say, these periods of nocturnal restlessness can be utterly overwhelming and exhausting. Sleeplessness can filter into every aspect of our lives: our ability to be present, remember things, regulate our emotions, or to feel excited and energised… it can change the way we think and feel in such a significant and impactful way. Whether it’s due to big life changes, global pandemics, financial or work stressors, health concerns (like menopause), how much ‘you’ time you have, or even unprocessed emotions you weren’t aware were there – so many things can impact how you sleep. All of this goes to show that not only do your daily habits, routines, and experiences play a huge role in maintaining healthy sleep cycles, but so does your mental health. And frustratingly enough, your sleep also impacts and informs your mental health and daily habits. Like most things, it’s a very easy cycle to fall into. So, it’s imperative that we are gentle and compassionate with ourselves on our journey to understanding what is making us so hypervigilant and unable to rest in the first place. Studies show that journaling or mindfulness practices throughout the day, healthy food, movement, sunshine, connection with loved ones, and support from health professionals can help us to feel more grounded and able to rest. But we are curious… what has worked for you? When do you notice that your sleep is most affected vs. when you get the best rest? And is there a way you could practice regulating your nervous system more throughout the day to help promote better sleep at night? We would love to hear your thoughts! Let us know if you have any questions and be sure to check out our page on ‘Sleep and Mental Health’ for more guidance and insight into a more supported and restful night’s sleep: Sleep and mental health - Beyond Blue - Beyond Blue Looking forward to hearing from you! Kind regards, Sophie M

Just Sara A Bouquet for Pearls - share your appreciation for other members
  • replies: 715

Every now and then, members share a beautiful Pearl of Wisdom. How often do you think to yourself; "OMG that's great! I wish everyone could see this." Presenting someone with a bunch of flowers is a generous way of acknowledging their insightful word... View more

Every now and then, members share a beautiful Pearl of Wisdom. How often do you think to yourself; "OMG that's great! I wish everyone could see this." Presenting someone with a bunch of flowers is a generous way of acknowledging their insightful words. I hope this thread stays active through members giving out praise regularly to people they feel deserving, and therefore keep generosity of spirit alive within the pages of BeyondBlue Forum. My bunch of Red Roses (my choice) goes to Wishful for the following sentence; 'Personally, I see no reason to be praised in me, but I'm learning that seeing through the eyes of others can be more accurate!!' I so hear you Wishful. Just beautiful... Try to keep your leading comments short to focus on 'their' words. Choose specific flowers (or a gift if you like) to present to them. Sign off respectfully and sincerely. I hope this takes off... Spreading the love...Sara

All discussions

Start a discussion

amamas EMOTIONAL PAIN
  • replies: 7

Hello fellow travellers How to deal with emotional pain in a healthy way? I don't know, do any of you? Cheers Amamas

Hello fellow travellers How to deal with emotional pain in a healthy way? I don't know, do any of you? Cheers Amamas

SeanA The What, The How and The Why
  • replies: 2

I originally wrote this article for my martial arts blog.It went around my head for quite few days as it relates to life in general so I have changed it to relate to us, our thoughts and our direction.The basic idea is that any human endeavour is dri... View more

I originally wrote this article for my martial arts blog.It went around my head for quite few days as it relates to life in general so I have changed it to relate to us, our thoughts and our direction.The basic idea is that any human endeavour is driven by three questions. What, How and Why.‘The What’ is about you. What you want.‘The How’ is about action taken by you to get what you want.‘The Why’ is about others. Your effect on the world.No real problem, or at least not yet.Here is the reason: You see, 99% of endeavour is about the What and the How.What do I want?I want a better job.I want a better car.I want to visit another country.I want more money.Easy to create this bucket list.‘The How’ is the action plan for achieving ‘The What’. It is your daily activity and how you achieve goals.The Internet is full of advice on how to achieve. Follow this plan, implement this system, get this result. And results usually follow even if you have to change the systems to suit you.But the result is still empty. That’s the reason for most entrepreneurs wanting more, bigger and faster. Sort of like a treadmill.The ‘Why’ is what’s missing. It’s usually only confronted later in life. Or after trauma. Questions like:“Why am I doing this?” “What is the reason I am here?”True purpose and meaning in life comes from a clear “Why.”The good thing is that a clear ‘Why’ makes the ‘What’ easier to define. With clarity comes ease of decision making. It’s easier to say no to time wasting activities that slowly bleed you dry. Finding your ‘Why’ is hard. No advice or process makes it easy. One way to start is to identify the things that you care about. The health and safety of you and your family must be a priority. But what about giving life meaning? It has nothing to do with the accumulation of wealth or how good looking you are. Or even how good you are at your sport.These are all fun and do give you a heightened sense of self in the short term. But internal struggles continue even if you are surrounded by wealth and success. The rich and famous get depressed as much as the majority (sometimes more).Now having said all of this, the urgency is not on ‘The Why’. You really can put it off. All you do is lose yourself in a flurry of activity and accumulation of stuff. The days and years roll by.But ‘The Why’ will become very important to you one day.One day you will stop in your tracks and contemplate ‘The Why’. This, I guarantee.Ready to start thinking?

Chris D Helping Eachother a Must Read Thread
  • replies: 14

Hi All, This is for anyone and everyone suffering or have been though a mental illness and whatever else people have gone through in the past. I thought of this last night while trying to get to sleep and in my head it sounded good,inspirational and ... View more

Hi All, This is for anyone and everyone suffering or have been though a mental illness and whatever else people have gone through in the past. I thought of this last night while trying to get to sleep and in my head it sounded good,inspirational and encouraging to help others in similar positions. I will try to remember it as best i can. Here i go: We have all been through bad periods in our own personal lives as we grow older, wiser and have a better understanding of life. Here we all are, so many people with so many different illnesses and so many different things that has happened to all of us in our lives. Together at Beyond Blue on this forum we come together to band as one. We stand side by side with eachother walking with eachother picking eachother up off the lush green paddock ground when we are feeling down, we will not leave anyone behind. Any obstacle that we come across we will band together as one and know it down as we all keep marching forward across this paddock towards the ray of light that we are all hgeading in the same direction for. To all going through a rough time at the moment, i say this: YOU ARE NOT ALONE, YOU NEVER HAVE BEEN AND NEVER WILL BE. TOGETHER WE BAND AS ONE, TOGETHER ON ONE CAN BRING US DOWN, TOGETHER WE WILL KNOCK DOWN ANY OBSTACLE WE COME ACROSS, WE WILL NOT LEAVE ANYONE BEHIND. TOGETHER WE STAND SIDE BY SIDE WITH EACHOTHER. To all members: STAND TALL, STAY STRONG AND BE DEFIANT TOGETHER WE WILL OVERCOME ALL OF OUR SUFFERING that has brought us all here to Beyond Blue. To Beyond Blue i say THANKYOU. I hope this msg inspires everyone to overcome their own personal challenges in their own lives. Kind Regards Chris

Pixie15 Anxiety and depression
  • replies: 2

Hi, I am interested in trying to understand better the link between anxiety and depression. I suffer some anxiety which if I don't do all my self management things with diet, exercise, having a routine, keeping mentally active etc can sink me quite q... View more

Hi, I am interested in trying to understand better the link between anxiety and depression. I suffer some anxiety which if I don't do all my self management things with diet, exercise, having a routine, keeping mentally active etc can sink me quite quickly into depression. It seems it is different for my partner who suffers depression and seems to get an increase in anxiety levels when he is doing things. Anyway if anyone has any thoughts or suggestions?

joey emotional resolutions
  • replies: 4

My new years resolution always used to be 'to be better'. That was when I was unwell. It was a terrible resolution because although the sentiment was good it wasn't really something I could control and I always failed. I guess maybe when I finally di... View more

My new years resolution always used to be 'to be better'. That was when I was unwell. It was a terrible resolution because although the sentiment was good it wasn't really something I could control and I always failed. I guess maybe when I finally did get better I achieved it but even that year failed a few times along the way. So what have I learnt...??? Apparently nothing! This year my resolution was to be happy. Again great sentiment but really - what is that as a resolution. I think the concept of a new years resolution is wrong. We are to vague. And will always fail. We should be setting new years goals. Such as - Each week I will do at least one activity that if for myself and I enjoy doing. I will take the time to do this and to do it mindfully. - I will go on three trips with family and friends (or alone) so I have some memories or experiences for 2014. Even if the trips are not good at least I will of seen something, done something or learnt something. - I will enrol in at least one self education course because completing a course is good for my self esteem. Etc. etc. Soo... it's only 11am do you think it's too late to redo my resolutions. What did others resolve?

amamas QUITTING SMOKING - TAKE 2
  • replies: 11

Hey guys Thank you all so much for all your support last time (4 & 3/4) days. This time I'm hoping I'm a bit better prepared. I've got a list of things I can try when my pain feels too intense and I've registered with Quitline, which seems like a gre... View more

Hey guys Thank you all so much for all your support last time (4 & 3/4) days. This time I'm hoping I'm a bit better prepared. I've got a list of things I can try when my pain feels too intense and I've registered with Quitline, which seems like a great site for anyone out there interested in attempting this with me. I maybe crazy posting again for a while but hopefully this time I can at the very least go longer than last time. Cheers, Amamas

chociloni financial counselling?
  • replies: 3

I put a question mark after the topic as Im not sure if thats the service Im actually after. I know a guy who has bipolar, who had an episode and put $15 grand on his credit card during it. He told me there was some organisation that helped him waver... View more

I put a question mark after the topic as Im not sure if thats the service Im actually after. I know a guy who has bipolar, who had an episode and put $15 grand on his credit card during it. He told me there was some organisation that helped him waver the total debt on his cc, because he had a diagnosed mental illness. I dont have bipolar, but I have diagnosed dysthymic depression and an anxiety disorder, and I was wondering if there'd be something like this financial service that could help me. I have a $10,000 credit card debt, and Im not in a situation at the moment to be making repayments. It would be of great help if there was something that could take down my debt to a more manageable amount. Even though Ive been struggling with depression and anxiety for over 20 years, it often seems the system views depression and anxiety as 'not bad enough,' and there is more help for psychotic disorders. If anyone could offer any advice, thatd be great, thankyou:)

Suzbj I'm starting a new thread of hope! This is a collaborative thread for ideas of how to make 2014 count! 2014 be better than 2013!
  • replies: 19

I will begin this forum with a pledge to find at least three things every day to be grateful for. For me it may be the sunbirds in my yard, the fact I have a roof over my head that is pleasant and cheap, the fact that I have had the privilege to meet... View more

I will begin this forum with a pledge to find at least three things every day to be grateful for. For me it may be the sunbirds in my yard, the fact I have a roof over my head that is pleasant and cheap, the fact that I have had the privilege to meet all of you on this forum. That is my three for today as an example. What else will work to make 2014 count and better than 2013? Cheers and lots of love, Suz xx

Guest7765 smoking-depression-karate
  • replies: 3

Hello well I really want to quit smoking because every time Im at karate I always cough my guts up even hours later but my problem is ciggies help with depression and boredom so how on earth do you not smoke and feel good and relaxed its been like 7 ... View more

Hello well I really want to quit smoking because every time Im at karate I always cough my guts up even hours later but my problem is ciggies help with depression and boredom so how on earth do you not smoke and feel good and relaxed its been like 7 years since i wasn't a smoker and i forgot how it felt

amamas Daily challenge
  • replies: 4

Hey guys I've got a xmas present for you. I've recently signed up with this site and I'm finding it BRILLIANT!!! challenge.meyouhealth.com It's awesome as they email you a challenge every day, you click on the site when you've completed your challeng... View more

Hey guys I've got a xmas present for you. I've recently signed up with this site and I'm finding it BRILLIANT!!! challenge.meyouhealth.com It's awesome as they email you a challenge every day, you click on the site when you've completed your challenge. Please go and check it out - it is honestly amazing!! I find with my depression etc I get caught in negative thinking and crap. With this site I feel a sense of achievement every morning. Plus I get to connect and celebrate with others in a safe way. MERRY XMAS!!!