I think I am depressed and I don't know how to tell my parents. Help!

caicai · ‎14-08-2018

I am almost sure that I am depressed and I am also bisexual, and I don't know how to tell my parents either of them.

Peppermintbach · ‎15-08-2018

Hi caicai,

I hope it’s okay if I extend a very gentle and caring welcome to you to the forums 🙂 How brave of you to post...

I feel depression can be so debilitating as I, like so many others here, struggle with it. That said, there’s also help available...

It must be such an emotional time for you as you figure things out like your sexuality. I have friends in both the offline and online realm who are LGBTIQ, and it has been quite the journey for all of them...

When it comes to coming out to your parents, I’m not sure what suggestions would be helpful. I’m hoping some of the lovely LGBTIQ+ members chime in here as they will probably be more helpful than me...there are quite a few here and they are truly fabulous people 🙂

In the mean time, I was thinking you might like to check out the following forums and threads:

- sexuality and gender identity (one of the BeyondBlue forums)

- the transcendent rainbow cafe (an online social space for LGBTIQ+ members here)

You should be able to find both if type the names in the BeyondBlue search bar 🙂

Plus you’re most welcome to write here any time if you feel comfortable doing so (no pressure or obligation). You can vent, share your feelings, ask questions, etc...just whatever helps you. We are here to listen and support...

Kind and caring thoughts,

Pepper

LavenderTea · ‎15-08-2018

Hey caicai,

Thanks for posting... you rock!

Trying to have a conversation about one of those things can be scary enough, let alone both of them.

If you feel like you can only talk about one thing at a time, that's okay, but it's also okay if you want to talk to your parents about both.

I'm not sure what your relationship with your parents is like, but there are a few ways to start the conversation with your parents.

Pick the right time.Pick a time when all of you can be present, and sit down and listen so that you can say everything that you need to say
Pick somewhere that's comfortable for you so that you can reduce some of the anxiety around the conversation. You can start this conversation at the dinner table, or while you're all sitting down watching some TV for the night. Or maybe there are other times that you and your parents are together when you can chat to them.
To help talk about the depression, you might want to complete the K10 on the BeyondBlue website. This is a tool that can help you assess your symptoms of depression, and it's something you can print off and have with you if you need help explaining what is going on for you
As for telling your parents that you're bisexual, I don't have any experience in this, so I don't know how much help I can be, but we do have a thread on Sexuality and Gender that might be a bit more helpful.

Here is the link to the K10 (copy and paste): https://www.beyondblue.org.au/the-facts/anxiety-and-depression-checklist-k10

And this is just a link from headspace about mental health an sexuality. What can happen is that, there are increased stressors for individuals of the LGBTIQ+ community that can influence the development of depression, so this might just be helpful for you to suss out whether it's somewhat related or not. https://www.headspace.org.au/assets/Uploads/Resource-library/Young-people/Sexuality-and-mental-health-web.pdf

Hope this is a helpful starting place.

LT.