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Meet your community champions!

replies: 13

Hi everyone, We wanted to share with you the way that our wonderful Community Champions are here to support you. You may have noticed that a few of our Forums members are labelled ‘Community Champion’. Community Champions are volunteers within the Beyond Blue Forums who: have the time, skills and empathy to support other members regularly; help to welcome new members; are actively engaged members that help set the tone of our community. Our Community Champions are regular contributors to many conversations across the forums. They are a consistent and friendly voice that have committed to sharing their experience and expertise with this community. They are not health care professionals or clinicians. Like you, they have an experience with a mental health challenge or diagnosis – either for themselves or someone they care for. This forum is for people who understand what it feels like and have a lived and living experience of mental health challenges. Our Community Champions help everyone feel comfortable and confident by demonstrating what excellent peer support is all about. Click here to find out more about how you can become a Community Champion! This incredible team are excited to introduce themselves below, and we are sure you’ll see them around the forums in conversations important to you.

HELP..Am I posting in the right section?

replies: 10

Welcome to those who are considering posting for the very first time, welcome. Thought I would repost part of the words that Chris B posted awhile ago, (2014) as I can hear that people are unsure if they are posting in the right section or worried that they are posting "the wrong thing". 1.A good title makes the difference Just like a headline in a newspaper, when scanning the dozens of threads to click into, it’s only natural that people will choose the ones that resonate with them most. A title that entices the reader, or asks a question, is likely to get a better result than something non-descriptive like “Depression” or “I don't know what to do”. If you think you’re not good at choosing titles, leave it till last. Spend time writing your post, then perhaps choose a sentence from what you’ve written as the title. 2.Join in threads that have already been posted We all have our own unique stories, but part of the reason for joining a forum like this one is because you know that you will have a lot in common with others who are posting. Before starting a new thread, have a look through the current topics being discussed and see if there’s a conversation you can join in with. It can be quite common to have a handful of very similar threads happening at any one time, with members seemingly unaware that there are others right there who are going through the same thing. Talking to other members on their threads is a great way of getting yourself known so that when you post a thread of your own, people may respond quicker because they recognize your name. 3.Choose the most appropriate section for your post Many people browse the forums looking for stories specifically to do with pregnancy and parenting, employment, grief, loss, separation etc. Going straight for the “Depression” section may seem like the easiest option, but this section is often the busiest, so your post is more likely to get lost among the threads. Making good use of the different forum sections not only helps keep the forum relevant, but you’re more likely to find others who are going through the same experiences as you. Also, if you're wanting to discuss issues of trauma, abuse, suicidal thoughts or self-harm, it's really important you post in the designated section to avoid triggering others who may not wish to read about these topics. Mostly..just come and chat, we are here for you. Our amazing wizards in the background will see your message ends up in the right spot. Sarah

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replies: 1

Hello, I'm 33 years old and live in au last 8 years. All my life I was always loner. Not by my choice but even though I tried to socialised I never made any real friends. People don't gravite to me so during my teen years I learned to enjoy my solitude and occupied myself with books etc. Also had a big hobby which is opera but even there where I was meeting people with same hobby never was able to create a friendship. I got married 5 years ago and have a beautiful 3 and half years old daughter. My husband was diagnosed with bi polar disorder and last 1 and half he had a manic episode which was the hardest time of my life. During his episode last 6 months I was going to bed with prayer that I don't wake up again and have to deal with it an other day. Our relationship got damaged and in September last year I had to call a police because our situation became unbearable for me. While my husband end up in jail my father who lives in Europe passed away but due to my situation I couldn't attend funeral. Now is my husband back home stabilized and wants to work on our marriage but I feel so demaged and enable to actually do anything. I am so isolated and have very difficult time to even leave the house to go to a shop or take my daughter to the park so we are all the time at home. I don't know what to do.. I am afraid talk to people but that isolation killing me inside. Also I want a good life for my daughter and be a good mother to her but I feel so useless and broken. Doctor offered me antidepressants but I am really worried that it will be just an other obstacle which I will have to later over come. My father was on medication last 2 years of his life and stop taking them 6months before he died and in that time his depression got worse than before. I hope what I wrote make sense, my apology for my gramma. Thank you for any thoughts

Hi. I'm Jax.

replies: 1

Hi, I'm at a point in my life where I feel I want to opt out. I've seriously tried to help myself a lot over the years. Self help, online help and professional help. But I keep coming back to where I am now. I'm finding it really difficult to even write this here, as I don't really see it helping. Last night (through trying to self help and understand why I'm this way) discovered that I have an 'INFJ' personality type. It has made sense to me and has shed a little light as to why I'm like the way I am. I was so down last night that I was going to end it. In the end I don't think it matters though. I feel like I'm the only one in this world who understands myself and the whole world tells me I'm wrong, I'm faulty and broken. This upsets me. I feel as though I'll never connect with anyone. I want to connect and have friends, a normal life (whatever that is) but I dont think I ever will. So I'm struggling to find a genuine reason to stay.

New member ... hello

replies: 2

Hi, just reaching out to introduce myself. I’m a mum of two, my young son has ASD and I find daily life with him very challenging. I cry a lot. He can be quite aggressive and say the most horrible things when he is heightened. He can be such a kind gentle boy and it breaks my heart to see him so confused and angry, I want more than anything to help him and protect him. Outwardly I think I appear pretty proactive and ‘together’ to most people, but I’m deeply depressed and feel very alone. My closest friend of 16 years has been my beautiful cat. I work from home and so we have been together every day since I adopted her. She died in January and I’m really struggling to cope without her. She was my comfort and my safe place when my son has his meltdowns, and now I’ve lost my best friend. I just desperately want her to be back here with me.

First Time Poster

replies: 1

I haven’t been diagnosed with anything yet but I know that there is something going on with me which isn’t my normal self. I live by myself, I have two dogs and two cats and I work long hours in an office job. A few years ago now I had a serious relationship break down and at this stage my partner left with her two nieces who had been living with us because we were awarded guardianship of them. The break up was a long drawn out break up which spanned over about 18 months and involved a lot of mind games, manipulation and control. As this relationship drew to an official end, I had become close with another woman (I identify as lesbian) and we were just friends but then it escalated into a romantic relationship. She had her own issues to contend with and as a result we ended up in a very emotional to and fro dance with sometimes us being incredibly close and other times her distancing herself. That being said I continued to pursue the relationship and saw enough good stuff to believe I was with someone who had my back. I am a very social person and enjoy one on one close personal relationships as a result I’ve been a serial dater for a really long time as I struggle with isolation at times especially living alone (and not being able to drive which I am in the process of learning) So recently my relationship with my current relationship took a turn and I came to realize that I perhaps am not as much of a priority as I thought. This triggered some of my abandonment issues, my lonliness issues and was further impacted by the fact that I sprained my ankle quite badly and was in a lot of pain and left me scratching around to catch ubers to doctors appointments. I have become quite emotionally unravelled, Im usually okay when at work because I'm in an office and surrounded by ppl & hustle n bustle all day but as it comes time to go home I become really teary and emotional and become filled with just not wanting to deal with the night ahead. My social circle is tiny to non-existent as most of my energy has been put into reltionships over the the years. I have recently made friends with a couple in my neighbourhood and we’ve had two social outings so far and I’ve created a group on Facebook to organize activities locally in the near future. Because I’m not a socially anxious person, I like being around people quite a lot. I guess I’ve just come here for a bit of extra support and people to talk to, especially when it’s late at night and these feelings creep up.

Never posted before, hope this helps

replies: 3

Hi, I'm a 29 y/o male and I don't really know how to phrase this message, but I thought I need to do something. I'm constantly unhappy in my life, but by looking at me you would never know. I'm usually the life of the party and the one that seemingly shows the most happiness around others - I want to be liked and have developed myself around that persona. I hit a tipping point recently (which led me to post this). I got off the phone with my wife and during our conversation I almost came to tears - I had to hold it back, which was incredibly hard and it was over absolutely nothing. I've never thought much of it because I had a good upbringing and don't have anything really to complain about, so I feel bad even considering that I should have anyone devote attention to me - "like what the hell is wrong with you, you have nothing to complain about". But I find over the years I've relied on alcohol more and more particularly when really unhappy or anxious (I have had an anxiety attack in the past), but have also thought I can suck it up, it'll pass (and it usually does, I feel less unhappy some days than others and some i even feel happy), but I always turn to alcohol to get me through the hard times. To date it's never impacted my work and I function extremely well at work - in fact I have a great job that I'm good at and pays well. I've started to drink more and more though which long term compounds the issue I think. Do I have a problem? I guess I just want perspective and context - is this normal? Should I suck it up (and I'm ok if the answer is yes)? I've never spoken to anyone about this or ever posted online.

Introduce myself

replies: 1

Hi, everyone first post. Im a guy who recently just turned 30 and I don’t have many friends or girlfriend for that matter. I’ve joined clubs and classes to meet people but still not much luck. And I occasionally get anexity which does not help but I’... View more

Hi everyone, I’m a new online member here.

replies: 2

Hi all, So, I won’t go into complete detail about my mental illnessness because it started when I was only 11 years old and I am now 23 years old so as you can imagine, a tremendous amount of things have happened and gone on throughout the years. I’m hoping to get online support here as I’m hopeless at speaking on the phone. I do have a psychiatrist who I see fortnightly but honestly it’s not enough for me. I need additional help and support. I’m unable to leave my house by myself and it has been this way for many years now. I don’t have friends and I’m also an introvert so it doesn’t really bother me about not being social in person. My family are also not helpful or supportive and they also suffer from mental illnesses, so basically I’ve been alone with myself for a long time. I’m a 23 year old female living in Melbourne, VIC. My nickname on here is Humancat95 So yeah.. Not much else to say for now about myself or whatever. Thanks for reading this

First step...finally.

replies: 1

Hi all I'll get right into it then. Im almost 29 and basically have suffered from depression since I was about 14 and the last 6 or 7 years, its close friend anxiety has joined in as well. I'm generally the life of the party, funniest guy in the room but I have suffered from this in silence, have never told anyone apart from my current girlfriend who is supportive and understanding. I recently opened up to another person as they suffered from something similar and I thought I could help them with my experience and we were a good support network for each other until one day said I was too much and needed a break from me giving no real reason (which is driving my anxiety wild as you would imagine) it was a big kick in the guts. My life has been a pretty good one, heathy family, lots of friends, enjoy a few hobbies etc but with the flick of a switch I can instantly hate myself, causing more anxiety, which in turn can grow into anger and embarrassment. Its basically a daily battle of which I either win or lose and im honestly just tired of it. Its exhausting to do this day in day out. I've tried different lifestyle changes over the years, nothing seems to really kick it for good. Im just tired and want to chat with people who have some sort of idea what I'm going through, as it is such a bizarre and misunderstood disease. Cheers

Severe anxiety attack

replies: 1

Today while working I had a severe anxiety attack at a shopping centre . I had to get back to work car to lay down my heart rate was in regular my palms were so clammy my legs and arms were tingling all over I was so scared I felt like I was dying called work they took me to dr who called ambulance as I couldn't walk my heart rate was through the roof at this stage . After all test were done drs said anxiety can have all the symptoms of a heart attack. Just wished I knew what triggered this and how to stop it if it happened again

Depressed husband confusing me

replies: 3

Hey guys, really in need of some advice please. My husband has depression and it’s quite bad, I mean any form of communication with how he feels is you could say no existent. All I ever get is I don’t know, I’m sorry I can’t answer anything. We’ve been married for 3 months so this is where I’m at a hard place, let me start off by saying this guy is the sweetest most loving guy, he would always put me first and was the one that caught for our relationship meaning he would be the one to fix things or try to make things better when we argued. Now moving onto now he’s so distant he tells me he doesn’t feel anything not even for the kids.. for nothing. Plus he’s been doing a lot of things out of character for him, and towards me in one breath he will tell me it’s not me it’s not my fault and that he loves me but in the next it’s that I’ve pushed him away because of the arguments and that he doesn’t know how he feels about me or anything I ask him things all the time about us he can’t ansfwer them and really every response is almost different than the last it’s becoming so hard for myself to manage my everyday life because I feel so heartbroken and lost and I really don’t know what to do, he is my world we have always had a good relationship and now this is coming between us I try to support him and be “normal” towards him but I don’t know what that is anymore really he’s said a lot of hurtful things and it’s weird because it’s like he doesn’t feel anything can’t answer anything but as soon as he says something so hurtful like the last time he said he didn’t love me like he used to anymore he doesn’t feel a connection or he leaves for the night or days and doesn’t come home it’s like when I react with anger and hurt something inside him is triggered and he tells me it’s not me he loves me he’s sorry doesn’t want to hurt me that it’s just his head.. can someone please give me some advice he tells me he loves me all the time but than tells me he doesn’t feel love for anything and when he does it’s not the same as before. I’m lost here

Meet your community champions! replies: 13

HELP..Am I posting in the right section? replies: 10

🙏 replies: 1

Hi. I'm Jax. replies: 1

New member ... hello replies: 2

First Time Poster replies: 1

Never posted before, hope this helps replies: 3

Introduce myself replies: 1

Hi everyone, I’m a new online member here. replies: 2

First step...finally. replies: 1

Severe anxiety attack replies: 1

Depressed husband confusing me replies: 3