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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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EsCee Lonely but not alone
  • replies: 3

HiThis is my first post. I'm surrounded by people in my job, I am a single mum of 2 teens but I gave up everything I dreamed of to get married and have kids. I've given it my all and am now a single mum and the 2 teens are at that typical teenage sta... View more

HiThis is my first post. I'm surrounded by people in my job, I am a single mum of 2 teens but I gave up everything I dreamed of to get married and have kids. I've given it my all and am now a single mum and the 2 teens are at that typical teenage stage. I don't take their attitude as personal but it does hurt and I can't set goals for myself because I can't afford it, or I feel guilty for doing something for myself.I used to love my job but leadership is new and doesn't value my contribution. I will move at the end of the year but it means starting new and having to build new relationships and trust in the new organisation. I have friends but feel like they are superficial not deep and understanding friendships. I am rarely alone but feel empty and lonely.

Shanks I don’t really know what to say
  • replies: 6

I don’t really know what to say on here. Guess I’m here to just say hi and that I’m tired of being sad all the time and having no friends. I guess this is me trying to reach out and ask for help. I don’t really know anymore, I’m so lost.

I don’t really know what to say on here. Guess I’m here to just say hi and that I’m tired of being sad all the time and having no friends. I guess this is me trying to reach out and ask for help. I don’t really know anymore, I’m so lost.

ImaMommy Not a loser
  • replies: 4

I have started to feel such deep loneliness lately. I don't have family who are loving kind and trustworthy. I am raising my teenage children alone with no support from their fathers. I manage well mostly however my depression and feelings of despair... View more

I have started to feel such deep loneliness lately. I don't have family who are loving kind and trustworthy. I am raising my teenage children alone with no support from their fathers. I manage well mostly however my depression and feelings of despair have been really cruel and isolating. My youngest child has behavioural issues which are highly upsetting. I don't have anyone to step in and say "listen to your mother, she loves you and wants the best for you". I'm trying to break generations of abuse, neglect and violence. This is my first post. I feel like a loser but I wanna stay alive. If someone else I knew needed this space, I wouldn't think they were a loser. I would tell them they are brave x

Dozer Adult ADHD & Co-morbidities
  • replies: 1

Hi, I was first diagnosed with PTSD, depression and anxiety in my late 40s. At the time I knew something wasn’t right and I took steps to find out what it was, how I got it and how do I fix it. After a few breakdowns and psychotherapy I was on the me... View more

Hi, I was first diagnosed with PTSD, depression and anxiety in my late 40s. At the time I knew something wasn’t right and I took steps to find out what it was, how I got it and how do I fix it. After a few breakdowns and psychotherapy I was on the mend and life went on swimmingly until about 2 years ago. The black dog snuck back in and life was turning to shit all over again. Earlier this year I wanted a complete review but finding a psychiatrist in regional Vic was a challenge and finding one for some immediate help was impossible. Immediate help from someone I knew of was only available as an in-patient in Melbourne. I thought I’d be back home in a few days. Wrong! Four weeks later after a complete assessment, change of medication (I’d been on the same thing for 15 years without review) and a treatment of TMS, I was home again. I also had a discharge report and referral to a psychologist, also in Melbourne. The efficacy of the TMS, albeit fantastic treatment, was short lived. Most recently, the degree of anxiety and depths of depression have been the worst they’ve been for 13 years. I had decided that I would admit myself to hospital again for remedial/top-up TMS under the same psychiatrist. I had discussed this with my psychologist and the admission booked for mid-October. And now the kicker! During this time I was assessed and diagnosed with ADHD and a report provided to my psychiatrist. I’m sorry about the long winded intro but this is where I am and I’m all at sea. The anxiety and noise in my head is becoming unbearable. I now see that a lot of what went on to get me to where I am now can be or is attributable to ADHD. But it doesn’t help much. My motivation levels are at an all time low, guilt and shame at an all time high and interest in anything that I previously found rewarding/pleasurable etc non-existent. I once had confidence that after further TMS, things would improve but a new diagnosis of ADHD has knocked that confidence on the head. I’m confused about the relationship between ADHD and the comorbidities I have and what treatments may be available. I have grave fears, yes, probably unfounded, that I’ll be stuck in the position I’m now in with crippling anxiety and depression. And whilst I have not had active thoughts in relation suicide, the thoughts of ‘stop the planet I want to get off’ are becoming stronger and louder. Basic things aren’t being done because I simply can’t do them - take a shower, take out the bins, do the lawns and tidy the garden, go out and get some groceries. I’m overwhelmed and can’t see a way out. Is there a way out? Once I thought I was better but all the bad stuff came back at me with a vengeance. I have fears that any improvement after hospital will be once again short lived and I’ll end up in a position worse than I’m in now. Is there help? Can my situation be improved? Will I be able to function normally? Can I return to a positive and fulfilling life?

Si12345 Just a brief introduction
  • replies: 2

Hi everyone. It's nice to be here and to just.. speak.To be honest I haven't really 'spoken' in a long time, not beyond the social niceties and polite conversations. But that's the nature of life as you get a little older (fast approaching 40 in my c... View more

Hi everyone. It's nice to be here and to just.. speak.To be honest I haven't really 'spoken' in a long time, not beyond the social niceties and polite conversations. But that's the nature of life as you get a little older (fast approaching 40 in my case), where most 'help' is targeted towards youth (and rightly so in most cases - but still). Overall I live a pretty good life though, professionally pretty successful... but the darkness and the loneliness is always there under it all. But I imagine that is relatively common.Anyway, I look forward to getting to know you all.Si

SilentIllness98 I really need to vent
  • replies: 4

I honestly dont know how I have gotten here. This year has been the worst one I have had by far. Starting with a gradual decline in health with creeky knees and widespread pain in the body. I have had mutiple scans and bloodwork. Had to wait 6 months... View more

I honestly dont know how I have gotten here. This year has been the worst one I have had by far. Starting with a gradual decline in health with creeky knees and widespread pain in the body. I have had mutiple scans and bloodwork. Had to wait 6 months to see a rheumatologist. I have recently seen one and have been sent for more testing. His opinion is fibromyalgia and inflammation arthritis. My nan on the other side if the world has been diagnosed with stage 4 cancer and its too far along to remove and hoping the chemo and radiation can shrink it. My best friend has mentally declined, to the point where I am calling ambulances for her and gping to hospital after she overdoses for the third time. Telling me and my family her goodbyes. Two days ago I was in a car crash that has shaken me, my body is now covered in hives that are still there. Slowing going away i hope. But now i feel bugged up. Like my body was open to everything. My work are unhappy with the amount of time I have had off and my partners too. But I cant control any of this and financially we are struggling. Im 27 and have a 3 year old boy. Just dont know how to handle everything anymore.

joshakajay All but given up hope of getting better, often feel like I’m unhelpable
  • replies: 3

Well I don’t know where to start, but this story feels like a deeply hopeless and grim one. I am a 35 year old male who was diagnosed with anxiety at age 23, and have been suffering with depression since my late years of high school after severe dail... View more

Well I don’t know where to start, but this story feels like a deeply hopeless and grim one. I am a 35 year old male who was diagnosed with anxiety at age 23, and have been suffering with depression since my late years of high school after severe daily bullying which lasted for the entirety of my schooling years (resulting in me leaving school during year 11) which has progressively gotten worse over the years to the point where I have absolutely no friends left, I do not have any social life at all, I haven’t worked a full time job since that age of 23, I rarely leave the house. I have never lived anywhere else besides with my parents because I simply can’t afford to, it drives me crazy living at home and I know that it is detrimental to my mental health and putting a strain on my relationship with my parents. I struggle to keep up with regular hygiene such as showering and brushing my teeth which I often only do every 1-2 weeks because I feel like I don’t have the energy for it most of the time. I just feel a complete lack of any sort of motivation or desire to help myself even though I am stuck in a pit of despair, loneliness, emptiness, lack of purpose, lack of connection, a desire for connection but no desire to leave the house to do anything about finding it after feeling like I’ve spoken to many psychologists and psychiatrists and haven’t gotten anywhere. high dose antidepressant medication. I feel hopeless, I feel at a dead end in life, with no options left. The smarter part of my brain knows that there is always options, however I just can’t seem to get myself to help myself. I am not a functioning adult or member of society by any means, this isn’t how I want my life to end. I am terrified of my declining health, mentally and physically, and although there aren’t any major red flags health wise yet I fear that due to my extreme depression and lack of physical activity/poor hygiene that I will eventually become sick/ill living the life I am living in this home. If I didn’t have my parents I don’t know how I would even function in society, if I would be able to keep myself in a stable home/employed or if I would one day end up homeless. I realise this has been a very long opening post but I don’t know where else to put any of this.

DoctorRocks Lonely man staring down 40s with nothing to show for it.
  • replies: 5

Hello, I don’t know why I am here writing, but I am really struggling. They say all you need is “health, wealth, and love” well I don’t have none of them. Sorry if this turns out to be an incoherent mind dump. I am a 38-year-old fat, balding male, an... View more

Hello, I don’t know why I am here writing, but I am really struggling. They say all you need is “health, wealth, and love” well I don’t have none of them. Sorry if this turns out to be an incoherent mind dump. I am a 38-year-old fat, balding male, and I am so lonely. I have been single for three years, I am in a new city and only know people from work. I’m on every dating app and can’t even get a like, let alone a date. I did the wrong thing and downloaded my tinder statistics, yes you can do that. On girls I swipe right on only 0.04% of them will match and reply to an introduction. Which is brutal. Its weird I feel more like a fish out of water than ever, I wouldn’t know what to say even if I got a date. I feel like a bore, and if the two dates ive been on in the last few years are an indication I just interview girls to death. Please don’t tell me to “just be myself”, that’s the problem! A lot of my friends are married, have kids, divorced even. Even a couple of my exes who I am still good friends with have kids. It just makes me feel like I have wasted my life, and my opportunities. I feel like time is running out to get my crap together, find a partner, have a kid, get a house. It seems things that are basic for most people I can’t figure out. I feel like I am still waiting for my life to begin. I feel like I have wasted my life, and every time I try and fix something or get ahead, it always goes wrong. I am totally broke. I was getting ahead with some shares and crypto, but the current economic situation has wiped out my merger advances. So, I am unlikely to get another shot at that house deposit, so that is unlikely to happen. How many 40 single 40 years olds get loans to house? Not many I imagine. Not that I am bad with money, I have just been in low-paying careers my whole life up until last year. I was an academic, spent time doing postdocs in the UK which pay less than minimum wage here in Australia. That career fell through thanks to COVID, so now I am in WA doing FIFO. In all honestly, I should have done this from the start. So yeah, that’s me a depressed, fat, lonely, broke, looser staring down encroaching middle age with nothing to show for it. If you took me today and 20-year-old me, we are practically the same person; single, broke, the bottom of the ladder. I just wish things were different and I could meet somebody, and get my life on track.

Mario_Sonic Looking To Get More Friends
  • replies: 10

Hey, I have been suffering with depression since 2019 and I've been diagnosed with schizophrenia since 2022. I was suggested to come on here by my Nan considering that I don't often go online to talk to people, as I had a tricky struggle with social ... View more

Hey, I have been suffering with depression since 2019 and I've been diagnosed with schizophrenia since 2022. I was suggested to come on here by my Nan considering that I don't often go online to talk to people, as I had a tricky struggle with social media, specifically Instagram which caused me to turn on social media completely. I'm here mainly to meet some new friends, even though I have my best friend who lives in the city and one of my other mates who I see at a group I go to. But sometimes I feel like it's not enough. I'm hoping to meet some people my age as I'm 20, and looking for more friends, and hopefully a girl mate, down the track. What I mean is, I want a girl my age who I can hang out with in a similar vein to my best friend, but who can also give me a hug from time to time.