Dear Potat02,
Welcome to Beyond Blue and well done for reaching out.
I must say that straight away, upon reading your post, I thought 'Wow, such a caring young man who wants to help his family'. Although I am so sorry to hear that your dad's contract will be ending soon, and that your Mum is out of work also. Unemployment can put such a strain on families. And the fact that there are so many people going through the same thing, seems to make it that much harder to be there for each other and support each other through it.
But here you are, doing just that; seeing what can be done to be helpful and supportive. And that alone is such a wonderful gesture.
One of the things you can do, is check out the page here on BB that is specifically aimed at dealing with the current virus pandemic. I'll paste the link below:
https://coronavirus.beyondblue.org.au/?utm_campaign=hp_banner
Perhaps also you could have a browse around on the Centerlink website and see what payments your Dad may qualify for? Here is the link for the Centrelink website:
https://www.servicesaustralia.gov.au/individuals/contact-us
In the meantime, try to remind your Dad, and yourself and your Mum, that it won't be like this forever. That this WILL pass and things WILL improve. Just take things one day at a time. Keep active with physical fitness because that will help a lot with mental health, and use the phone and the internet to keep in touch with friends and other family.
As we say in the fellowship I am a part of 'Pick up the phone before you pick up a drink' ..... or anything else that may be harmful, rather than helpful. Sometimes just a chat with someone to get things off your chest for that day, can make the weight seem so much lighter.
And of course, that's what we here at Beyond Blue are here for too; you can come here for as much support as you want and need. Anytime. No need for an appointment. No dress code. And no payment required. It's free and available any time.
Anyway, I don't know if that helped or not, but I do hope it did help? At least a little?
Take care. I'll be thinking of you. xo
