Hi everyone..

[Melissamv0303]

My name is Melissa and I'm 22. I struggle with depression, anxiety and binge eating. I've joined the forum to hopefully get advice and help others if I can. I'm hoping by utilising this forum I can learn a thing or two about how our brains work. I'm currently studying a certificate online, hoping to get back into a career after 3 years of unemployment.

Thanks for having me here

Melissa

[Peppermintbach]

Hi Melissa,

I hope you don’t mind if I extend a caring welcome to you. It’s wonderful to have you here.

How brave of you to post. You’ve clearly been through a lot and have had some very difficult times. Depression, anxiety and binge eating would have been (and be) very tough.

Well done on studying online and wanting to build a career. I hope good things come from your studies.

You’re most welcome to come back at any time to tell us more about yourself and any struggles too (if you want to). There are many compassionate people on the forums.

Lovely to talk to you.

Caring thoughts,

Pepper

[quirkywords]

Melissa,

I too welcome you to this caring forum. This is a friendly and support place to ask questions ot just express your feelings.

You have a lot to deal with. if you look at other threads you will find posts that will help you.

Well done for studying online.

There are a quite a few threads about how the brain works .

Everyone has a different way of coping with depression and the thing is to work out what works best for you.

Take care

and welcome again.

Quirky

[Miss_TB]

Hi Melissa

I remember being in a very similar situation when I was 22 (I’m now in my 30s).

What I learnt about myself during that time was not being employed / knowing what career I wanted made me feel completely out of control and depressed. So I would do weird stuff around eating to try and get back in control.

I then got a job I hated, which led me to a job I sort of liked, which led me to another 2 jobs until finally now I am in a job I love and can look back and see I have slowly made a career for myself.

The best advice I got at a time, was being employed makes you attractive to other employers and being in a job you hate makes you motivated to find another job but stops you coming across as desperate to employers (versus if you were unemployed). Working also helps you manage depression even if you hate your job. So see if you can just go for any crap job knowing a better one is waiting for you in the not too distant future!

[geoff]

welcome Melissa, I'm sorry that you are struggling with depression, anxiety as well as binge eating but you have come to the right site where it's friendly and most of us have also had to combat the exact illness for many years.

One thing that happens is that we all learn from each other and to gain information in regards to this illness means that we prosper in one way, and that's good mental health.

Well done for studying a certificate online but please browse all the different sections that interest you, there is so much for you to look at and we can benefit from your experience as well. Geoff.