Monthly Forums Update: Reflecting Back on September

[Sophie_M]

 Hi everyone,

We continue to be impressed by your efforts in nurturing supportive and empowering conversations within our community. While every member’s journey is unique, we hope all users can connect with elements of others’ stories and feel supported through times of distress and of wellness.

For anyone needing more immediate support than the forums can offer please get in touch with our Support Service where a professional mental health counsellor can provide counselling support, information and referrals –  they are available 24/7 on 1300 22 4636 or at https://www.beyondblue.org.au/get-support/get-immediate-support for online chat (3pm-midnight AEDT) and email (responses within 24 hours).

Community Voices: What are people talking about?

Coping with grief

The world keeps turning & people are starting to get back into things but my world has stopped. We have a 6 year old who is low functioning Autistic who keeps pointing to pictures of Dad wondering where he is. I talk about him & try to explain as much as I can.-Kezza2002 (Read more here)

I went down the street this morning to get a coffee and I saw a lovely mum playing with her toddler after probably dropping some of her other kids at school. The beautiful little kid was reaching out to their parent and it reminded me of how much things used to be like that with my kids. I am so sad. I don't know what to do with this sadness. Maybe it's mine forever. - AndiSolo (Read more here)

I lost my beautiful Mum 9 weeks ago...loosing a parent is something no one can ever prepare you for...this year has been such a tough year, first coronavirus, I lost my job, moved from Brisbane to Canberra in June to be with my partner, just before loosing my Mum, now I’ve started a new full time job and I find myself struggling to deal with it all...one minute I’m OK, the next I feel completely overwhelmed, lost, lonely and sad 😔- mjwa1984 (Read more here)

Challenges at Work

I’m struggling really badly with anxiety at the moment and I can’t tell if my job is causing the anxiety, or my anxiety is making me think it’s my job. Juliet_84 (Read more here)

I constantly feel inadequate at work. I feel like my co_workers are better than me.It does take time for me to learn new things...and l am slow. I try my best. I am constantly worried about making mistakes. I just wish l could feel equal to my collegues. Leeroyo1 (Read more here)

Over the past 3 months I have been struggling with my mental health, resulting in constant low performance at work. I fear that I will soon be asked to resign or fired due to this. Kay-la-la (Read more here) 

Struggling as a new mum

I’ve always had a bit of anxiety for as long as I could remember, but after becoming a mum it’s a whole new ball game, I cannot stop worrying about his safety, his health, my health, if I’m feeding him enough, if I’m doing the right thing. I constantly obsess over the smallest things. I can’t enjoy fun times as a family as I am constantly worrying that things will turn bad. I need to get better for my family Clo94 (Read more here) 

My baby is 2 weeks old, and while I love her, i hate the new mum life. I was massively under prepared. I feel like I cannot deal with the no sleep, I hate her screaming and and me not knowing what she wants, i hate that i dont have time to do even the basics, eg shower, clean house Sarah89 (Read more here)

So I finally welcomed my newborn almost 4 weeks ago ,it's been a hard slog with some postnatal depression but found myself not being able to fall asleep during the day when the baby is sleeping with the result being just 2 -3 hours in the early evening,Ive tried sound therapy, supplements,juices,eye masks,teas,wine.Now it just seems when I try to fall asleep I become hyper anxious . Angienewmum (Read more here) 

Valued Contributor Award

Our Valued Contributor for the month of September is ‘Tranzcrybe’!

Tranzcrybe has been nominated for their comforting, supportive, and thoughtful posts across the community. Thank you Tranzcrybe!

To read more about what a Valued Contributor is and how you can nominate a fellow community member, please refer to our thread Nominate a Valued Contributor here: https://www.beyondblue.org.au/get-support/online-forums/welcome-and-orientation/nominate-a-valued-co...

Community Champions

Please extend a warm welcome to our newest Community Champion volunteer SarahZ!

To read more about our volunteers, feel free to have a look at our thread ‘Introducing...the community champions’: https://www.beyondblue.org.au/get-support/online-forums/welcome-and-orientation/community-champions

BB News

Beyond Blue has developed a guide to help you support the small business owners you know or work with.

Download the ‘Supporting small business owners’ guide here or visit the Heads Up website for more information!

There's also a new 'Languages other than English' page on the Coronavirus Mental Wellbeing Support Service site which provides links to in-language information and an animation. At the moment our content has been translated to the following languages: 

Looking after your mental health (Punjabi - ਪੰਜਾਬੀ)

Looking after your mental health (Vietnamese - Tiếng Việt)
 
Looking after your mental health (Arabic - اَلْعَرَبِيَّة)

Looking after your mental health (Chinese Simplified - 简化字)