Hey there! An introduction and some questions about helping out

[Aftermath]

Hello,

I'm a young adult that went through a very rough patch of depression and anxiety from mid 2013 to the end of 2016. I cut off contact with old friends, refused all commitments and lived off money my parents were sending me for studying interstate. I was attending university and have since suspended my course since the start of this year because of my condition. I returned home to family during this suspension, took medication, attended therapy and really took some time to think things through. I think that while I haven't completely recovered, I definitely improved much since my darkest days. Right now I find myself with some spare time in the day as I'm only working during the early hours of the morning. I'd really like to get involved with the community of people supporting mental health and help those who are going through an experience similar to what I went through.

I heard from a family acquaintance about her experience with BeyondBlue so I would like to see what I can do to help here. I see opportunities some for volunteering at events, but unfortunately I live in the ACT which is probably too small for anything really. I have some recollection of people talking about volunteering their time operating the telephone helpline, forum or the chatroom? Am I just talking out of my ass or is this true? If so how can I lend a hand there? Is there anything else that I can do?

As a side note, I'm wondering if anyone could check if I have registered for blueVoices. I signed up yesterday, but I can't really see anything to show any results of this and when I go to the blueVoices page it asks me to register again. Confusing!

[Sophie_M]

Hi Aftermath,

Welcome to the forums.  Someone from the Blue Voices team will get in touch with you privately to find out what is happening with your membership there.  When you're logged in to the website, you should be able to access the Blue Voices area by clicking here. 

With regard to event volunteering opportunities, keeping an eye on the Volunteers Hub for opportunities is your best bet.

Our telephone support service is staffed by professional counsellors, but our forums here are for peers and we would welcome your presence here to provide support for others.  You will see a number of people here badged as 'Community Champions' who have formally volunteered their time to support others here.  You can read more about this programme and the volunteers in it here in this thread.

 

[MsPurple]

HI Aftermath. I am glad you have shared your story and you are wanting to help others, who have been in a similar situation. I wanted to do the same thing. I started like yourself and wanted to pay it forward. I started on the BlueVoice section of beyond blue. I still try do regular volunteering and do surveys when for them when I can. I also go on the forums and try offer advice to other users. I find the forums a really good place to talk to other users, help them out and also get support when I am having a rough day. I suggest going on the forums and replying to a few threads and to see if you enjoy it. It would be really good to get to know you more and to see you on the forums

[Aftermath]

Sophie_M, Thanks for the information! I clicked on the BlueVoices link but it just takes me to the homepage. It looks like something went wrong and I didn't register properly, so I'll try again.

MsPurple, I'll definitely spend more time on the forums and do some reading and replying. I'll contribute on the conversation and discussion here so I'll see you around

[geoff]

hello Aftermath, I think you have made the right move by deferring your uni course, because if for any reason you could be struggling then uni is not going to help you out.
Sometimes your registration may not happen immediately, only because the staff maybe doing something else, but if you've filled out the form then it should come through.
To answer the phone line for counselling when people ring up for help, these people are trained to do this and have to attend seminars etc so they know what to say, no one can just do it, but they can reply on this site, where Moderators have to check your comment before it's posted, that doesn't matter because if you want to help those who are suffering it's still a great way to help out and we appreciate your involvement. Geoff.