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Sophie_M Meet your community champions!
  • replies: 10

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 Be... View more

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.

Aaronsis 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 th... View more

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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MilkoMum Hi from Nervous Starter
  • replies: 3

I need some kind of support. I am overwhelmed and anxiety is critically high. I have lived with depression and mild anxiety for a decade. I have lows but have been able to manage it fairly independently. 2017 has really pushed me to a new level. I wa... View more

I need some kind of support. I am overwhelmed and anxiety is critically high. I have lived with depression and mild anxiety for a decade. I have lows but have been able to manage it fairly independently. 2017 has really pushed me to a new level. I was diagnosed with early stage endometrial cancer on 6 March. I am going to see a gynaecological oncologist to get a plan which will include a complete hysterectomy and 6 weeks off work, not being able to do anything. In July 2016 our house was destroyed by fire. We are in the process of rebuilding and I can say that it is an extremely stressful and expensive and is a constant source of worry. We will be homeless again in July. In July 2009 my sister died. We took her 2 boys into our family. We already had 2 children. Her partner damaged the eldest child and we have been in a 7 year process with Care and Protection Services to become the boys forever family. In January 2009 my mum died of breast cancer after a 5 year journey. I was her primary carer, she was a single parent and was my everything. I know it is not rational but I feel completely cursed. Everything I touch turns to shit. I feel terrible that I have brought this misery into my family's life. I just feel so alone and have a constant sense of foreboding that something is going to go wrong. I feel like no one else understands that is in my life. They get sad and get over it. I feel like I am the pill in their lives that is hard to swallow. I have no energy, I cannot concentrate, I don’t care about anything, I only do things to make other people happy because they expect me to cope because I pretend so well. All I want to do is sleep, because sleep is peaceful and I am not consciously in my life anymore. I hear things but I don’t listen anymore. I am not present as a parent and I hate myself for it. I am overweight – probably the reason I got the cancer in the first place and feel like eating is the only way I can make myself feel better. Today is a bad day and this will pass but the bad days and bad moments seem to be getting closer together and I am exhausted. I know there is reason for feeling overwhelmed but it has just gotten so much bigger than me and I don’t know how to help myself. I am so sad and lonely in my grief. I wanted to reach out and hope there might be some other kind of high-functioning, don’t want to give up, but just not coping at the moment type of person out there. xxx

Kay_roe Want to be active and sleep better
  • replies: 2

Hey I have been having depression and anxiety off and on for the past 2 years . Before I had it I used to go for a run everyday and go for a bike ride and go to the gym , I used to have a lot of energy . But now I am always tired during the day I alw... View more

Hey I have been having depression and anxiety off and on for the past 2 years . Before I had it I used to go for a run everyday and go for a bike ride and go to the gym , I used to have a lot of energy . But now I am always tired during the day I always feel lazy and at night time I can't sleep , I've always had something wrong with my sleep I always go to bed late at 2-3 am in the morning and then I sleep in till around 10am-11am everyday , I just really want me energy back . Last year I took a massage course and I'm now qualified , I want to start up a home business so clients can come over , but I don't know why , I just don't want to set it up but I do , I know it doesn't make any sense but I think I'm not motivated to do it .

JeffF1 What should I do first?
  • replies: 5

Of course I'm one of you and that's why I'm here. Recently had a lot problems. I started doing over on whatever I do such as over thinking, over eating, over spending, over drinking and so on. My main concern is over spending... now I have few debts ... View more

Of course I'm one of you and that's why I'm here. Recently had a lot problems. I started doing over on whatever I do such as over thinking, over eating, over spending, over drinking and so on. My main concern is over spending... now I have few debts and I need some urgent money as well for my kids. Should I go to mental counselling or my GP or financial counselling? Appreciate your kind advise. I'll need some money for my kids, then repaying debts. I am working but not enough. I want someone help who can guide me through my financial problems including my mental issue. I believe my financial issue is due to my mental issue (anxiey + depression). Thank you.

lobstereyes I'm new here!
  • replies: 1

Hi everyone! Thought I'd give this a go because I'm a bit all over the place these days, I sometimes feel like my meds are actually laughing at me. I'm from Scotland, I started off as a backpacker until I met someone in 2015 and I've been in Melbourn... View more

Hi everyone! Thought I'd give this a go because I'm a bit all over the place these days, I sometimes feel like my meds are actually laughing at me. I'm from Scotland, I started off as a backpacker until I met someone in 2015 and I've been in Melbourne ever since. I've had episodes of depression since I was 13 when I was bullied at school. I saw a psychiatrist briefly under hospital orders and refused to cooperate and let myself get help (adults were the enemy!), and I've now been on various different medications since the age of 16. That's almost 10 years! It's 2017, has no one invented a magic wand yet?! When I first got to Australia in early 2015 I started getting this weird, annoying, scared feeling whenever I left the house or had to speak to people I had never met yet. Going to the supermarket was a nightmare, having to walk somewhere in front of traffic was a nightmare, I had no idea what it was. Then BAM my friend who also suffers from depression suggested it might (probably, definitely) be anxiety. So now I have that too. It's great. I am loving life. I honestly can't remember the last time I woke up and felt good. My joints ache throughout the day, I have headaches, I have no patience for rude customers (I work in a bar), I hate everything, and then when I get home my partner just doesn't get it. He suffers from anxiety too, but just lacks the whole "be there" thing that I so often crave. So I guess I'm here to get virtual hugs and reassurance that I'm not alone. I would also mostly like to help other people, I think that's probably what I'm supposed to do. Yknow how we're all meant to have a "thing" in life? I'm now in my mid-twenties and don't have a career or "thing" so I think that's probably it. I'd like to study again and get some qualifications in counselling so that I can help kids going through the same shit I did, and young adults who haven't found their path in life yet while juggling mental illnesses. I'm rambling. TL;DR I'm Laura, I'm here to offer help and advice and also use your help and advice when I'm having a dark period.

Mich1701 I've got no one.
  • replies: 6

Hi I'm having a really hard time lately. I have no one I can talk to. I've pretty much lost all my friends. My husband just doesn't get it. All I want to do is nothing. I've had depression for years and I'm over it and everything else. And now my gra... View more

Hi I'm having a really hard time lately. I have no one I can talk to. I've pretty much lost all my friends. My husband just doesn't get it. All I want to do is nothing. I've had depression for years and I'm over it and everything else. And now my grandson has just woken up so I have to go get him. I am going insane!

Pingu Abandoment
  • replies: 5

Hi, I have a lot of issues and I hoped to be able to come on to beyond blue and work through them in a supportive environment and come here when I am at my lowest. I wanted to share my journey and use this service to the best But alas. My first orien... View more

Hi, I have a lot of issues and I hoped to be able to come on to beyond blue and work through them in a supportive environment and come here when I am at my lowest. I wanted to share my journey and use this service to the best But alas. My first orientation post was never posted, though a comment I made on another thread did go up. So due to my ongoing issues with abandonment, knowing that no one loves or cares about me, and the certainty thing will never ever get better. I have decided to have this rant in hope that someone actually see's it and hopefully help's the next person that come along who isn't worth saving like me might be face with a disclaimer or a note saying "We don't really care, we just want the money that come with pretending to care" Oh and making the forums easier to access would also be a great help because I have to bounce around 3 or 4 pages to get into it. I know that it might just be me Anyway... Thanks

Automaton A broken automaton with a heart (as opposed to working humans without souls)
  • replies: 77

Hi everyone, Autistic and struggling with depression -- nothing new here... Starting independent life as an adult has been overwhelming to say the least, many 'real life' traumas, but crux of my current state has to be, after growing up in perceived ... View more

Hi everyone, Autistic and struggling with depression -- nothing new here... Starting independent life as an adult has been overwhelming to say the least, many 'real life' traumas, but crux of my current state has to be, after growing up in perceived and felt, warm, supportive family love, my parents' sudden withdrawal, indifference, and plain coldness towards me -- particularly my mother's -- without inciting cause. This became especially apparent at my coming out with a disability. It seems all they have concern for is how I serve them, now, as an object of gain, or salvageable investment, and any weakness shown makes me more useless in their eyes, to be discarded later. This shocks/confuses me to no end, as I never thought such a thing, such a change in my own parents, was possible. It makes me wonder whether my autism has made me blind to these changes all these years, while growing up in my family. They may as well be different people, wearing the faces of my parents. My family is dead, or worse; they have been killed and raised from the dead -- they have been zombified! I feel that to never have parental love is extremely hard, but it is so much easier than to have plenty of it, and then be stripped of it for life by the same people who gave it to you in the first place. It is certainly not a trivial thing to deal with, to have to know with utmost certainty that your own parents no longer love you, and that your entire family is gone and you're left all on your own, with your difference/disability and personal limitations, to cope with the feral 'real world'. In honest truth, we all need some genuine love and support, and a safe haven, no matter how strong we believe ourselves to be -- in fact, from my own experience, in spite of it... Anyway that pitches the main reason for my being in the depths of the mess I am in now, and what brought me here -- struggling with PTSD, OCD, depression, phobias, panic attacks, and anxieties. There are of course at least a dozen other serious traumas in my independent fight for survival, fitting in, and acceptance, but if I started writing all that, you'd be reading from dusk till dawn, and I'd rather not recall them all at once... (I know you'll appreciate it...) Glad to be here, sharing. Hope I can help others as much as I can receive useful advice and support.

Greybird Where do I fit in?
  • replies: 15

This is my first post here. I am not new to any of this but it has been a long time since being on a forum. I am somewhat nervous about writing down my stuff but here goes. I am around 60 yr old, have suffered depression for most of my life. I have s... View more

This is my first post here. I am not new to any of this but it has been a long time since being on a forum. I am somewhat nervous about writing down my stuff but here goes. I am around 60 yr old, have suffered depression for most of my life. I have severe depression, anxiety, social anxiety, PTSD and I'm a Transsexual. I have many issues around these major ones. I don't feel like I am mentally ill but of course I am classified as such. I have had all sorts of treatments with all sorts of professionals. My symptoms always remain though some things have helped at various times. I struggle on a daily basis to make life worthwhile, I know I am self critical and have issues around self worth and the ever constant feeling of being different and feeling like I'm an alien (I'm sure you are not strangers to these things). My history is very long and not easy to tell but I will spare us all by not fronting you with it. I am here for support I think, I am tired of a lifetime of struggles but want to find some enjoyment in my latter years and some understanding so I don't feel so alienated. It isn't easy fitting into society and I'm not very good at it though I am intelligent, compassionate, funny and a listener (you can't survive this long without having some good traits). I don't even fit into the "Transgender" community as I'm an "oldie, with old style values". I have no trouble being myself in public and no one would know differently until I tell them, when I make new friends I do eventually tell them as for many to not tell them is akin to lying to them, as I said, need understanding, not judgement. I did something silly just recently, I started a new diet (ketogenic) and lost 20Kg and was very happy, just the change of eating no sugar, wheat/cereal and eating good unsaturated fats brought about clarity of mind and a vigor I had not known for over 35 years. To me it felt like my depression/anxiety etc. had disappeared... (oh and I had also given up cigarettes, alcohol and pot) so the last wall to come down was my medication... that was the silly part... I did it far too quickly and of course a serious relapse. So back on the meds and feeling subdued with tail between my legs. In what appeared to be mania to my friends I said a few home truths that cut close to the bone and was firmly chastised by my friends for it. I realise I am not up on social etiquette and I was over the top, I learned a hard lesson but left me feeling terrible and somewhat confused.

Smalltownperson More fragile than expected
  • replies: 2

Hi there I moved back to a small town last year, determined that I would manage it differently this time. I joined a couple of groups, ran sessions through U3A in areas if interest to me (and apparently to others), met some great people, and felt rea... View more

Hi there I moved back to a small town last year, determined that I would manage it differently this time. I joined a couple of groups, ran sessions through U3A in areas if interest to me (and apparently to others), met some great people, and felt reasonably content. Stayed out of gossip, exercised, and made a rule to have at least one conversation that gave more than I received (easy, sometimes. If I am out walking and meet someone walking their dog, all I need to start the conversation is to compliment their dog...it goes easily from there.) I am dealing with a shoulder injury that prevents me from swimming and gardening, two of my favourite past times. It's a drag on several levels. Just recently I began to notice that I was a bit more fragile than I expected to be. Small things have started to distress or disappoint me. It has hit me that no matter how many things I join, how much I go looking for conversations, how much I exercise, I still end up on my own most of the time. Dating sites have proven disappointing, in fact sometimes awful. But I would be the first to admit, I miss male conversation (particularly about sport, which I also love) and company. It is a bit of a buyer's market, even more so in regional areas than the city, I think. None of my friends or family are single, none of them live within easy reach. Not sure where to go from here. Any thoughts would be appreciated.