Good to be here

[Sawyer]

Hi Everyone,

I've been meaning to get involved with BeyondBlue for a while, I think we can all agree that the work they do is pretty incredible. I was directed to these forums after asking how I could get involved and after glancing through the forums I have to say i'm blown away by the stories and support that you all share here. Talking about mental illness, and beginning to reduce the stigma around issues like depression and anxiety, encourages the sort of Australia where individuals will no longer feel embarrassed for sharing their struggle, or admitting that they need support.

So a little about me. I have always been interested in mental health awareness and treatment, even before I started my studies. I am a post graduate psychology student now. And I struggled with depression for several years, which spiked quite severely during my undergrad. It took me a long time to realise how to get out of my situation, it seemed like the world hated me or so I thought. But I realise now that while bad things happened in my life, it was my choice to let them affect me the way they did. 

That was a year or two ago, and now i'm proud to say that happier than I have been in a very long time. I feel more confident with myself, as individual and within relationships and this has really reflected positively on my life in a lot of ways. 

I am looking forward to talking to many of you through the forums and I will do my best to be regularly available. I am always happy to chat or offer advice to anyone who is struggling or just needs someone to listen. 

Nice to meet you all, 

And I hope that my personal and professional experience, can be of service to this community.

Kind Regards,

Sawyer

[geoff]

dear Sawyer, hello and thanks for posting your comment, so welcome to an enormous group of people trying to help each other with their own depression and those of others.

Congratulations for your post graduate psychology degree, and this must be a great achievement, so I hope that you will love your time being on the site, as we always welcome people who can help out with this ever growing site.

Can I say that I always believe that anybody dealing with depression and consulting with those suffering from debilitating illness, have actually experienced their own depression issues, and when I had to seek out any counselling this was my first question I asked them, 'have you suffered from this illness yourself', and if they said NO I wouldn't see them again.

I did this because a text book can't tell anybody what depression feels like, because they don't know, they may say they do, but unequivocally they can never put themselves into a fake depressed self, whereas if they have been through it, then they know exactly what it feels like.

Sorry but it's great to have you on board. Geoff.

[Sawyer]

Thankyou Geoff,

I agree with that personal experience with these types of issues has definitely taught me a great deal, while my education has provided with the more technical knowledge, strategies and gave me the self efficacy I needed to pull myself out of that situation.

However I agree that it can be harder to truly empathise until you have experienced it personally. My personal experience changed my views on the issue itself and how they should be targeted, insight I don't think I would have otherwise.

[white knight]

Hi Sawyer,

A warm welcome here.

I've actually found that helping others has been part of my recovery. It's worked that way for me.

Tony WK

[Jacko777]

Hi Sawyer,

Welcome aboard, you can undoubtedly be a great asset to this site and a great help to those that visit. It's terrific to hear how you have taken control of your thoughts and your life, you have your self to thank and no one can take this away from you. Becoming aware that I was making a choice in every moment was a key to my recovery too. 

Your posts so far have been fabulous, very thorough and supportive, I hope you do hang around. I'm constantly blown away as well!

Jack

[Sawyer]

White Knight,

I definitely agree. Sometimes the best way to solve our own problems is by helping someone else with there's. A big part of why I decided on psychology was that when I was younger I found helping other people with their problems distracted me from my own, and brought back the rational, controlled side of myself that I couldn't seem to hold onto when dealing with what was going on in my life.

Jack,

Thank you for the warm welcome, I look forward to hanging around and helping where I can. I have to ask though, what is your profile picture of? haha, I can't seem to figure it out!

[Jacko777]

Here is a large version...

http://www.3dartspace.com/reaching-tool-artwork-10000-days/

It's a cover of a Tool album, I love the artwork, the band and the album, shows all the layers of the body including a blast of cosmic energy coming at ya!

Jack