Depression

Depression affects people in Australia every day. Share your own story and learn about other member’s experiences with depression.

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Jeriava How do I talk to my doctor?
  • replies: 9

I’ve been struggling with my life for the past 7-8 years but I finally made an appointment with a doctor. I feel really scared though because I don’t ever go to the doctor for anything, and I havent seen this doctor for so many years that I’m really ... View more

I’ve been struggling with my life for the past 7-8 years but I finally made an appointment with a doctor. I feel really scared though because I don’t ever go to the doctor for anything, and I havent seen this doctor for so many years that I’m really scared that they’ll judge me or won’t believe anything I say. I’m really anti social so I feel like I won’t be able to say what I wanna say or I’ll say the wrong thing causing them to just dismiss me and move me along without helping. I’m just tired of feeling alone, depressed and just worthless but I’m really scared to talk to them.

Chris_B Are you looking to support someone else with depression? PLEASE READ before posting
  • replies: 0

This forum is for people seeking support for their own mental health issues. If you're posting on behalf of someone else with a mental health issue that you're concerned about, please have a look at this section of our forums: Supporting family and f... View more

This forum is for people seeking support for their own mental health issues. If you're posting on behalf of someone else with a mental health issue that you're concerned about, please have a look at this section of our forums: Supporting family and friends with a mental health condition It's full of threads from people who have family members and friends going through anxiety, depression or other related conditions. Have a read through the threads there, and feel free to take part in the discussions. Below are also some helpful beyondblue resources you might want to look through first as well: Supporting someone Have the conversation

AGrace SELF HELP TIPS FOR MANAGING DEPRESSION
  • replies: 132

Hi Everyone, Here are some ideas you might like to try for managing symptoms of depression. Of course everyone's different, so let us know what works for you, and please feel free to add to the list... Mindfulness – through breathing or engaging the ... View more

Hi Everyone, Here are some ideas you might like to try for managing symptoms of depression. Of course everyone's different, so let us know what works for you, and please feel free to add to the list... Mindfulness – through breathing or engaging the 5 senses Distress Tolerance – Accepting Emotions and Self Soothing Distraction – Put the thoughts/feelings aside and come back to them when you are ready to deal with them Positive Affirmations – Have some affirmations written down repeat them to yourself daily Sleep/Exercise/Diet – All 3 aspects of our lifestyle can impact the way we think/feel Increasing Pleasurable Activities – Engage in at least one pleasurable activity per day

All discussions

darce Getting Help
  • replies: 2

I'm trying to finally get on top of my depression and have recently been back to my doctor to change my meds and she said I should start going to a psychologist again, but I don't know who to go to, as i've only gone to talk to someone back in my hom... View more

I'm trying to finally get on top of my depression and have recently been back to my doctor to change my meds and she said I should start going to a psychologist again, but I don't know who to go to, as i've only gone to talk to someone back in my home town and now that I live in the city (Melbourne) I don't know where to start. Been looking online but it's so hard to know if someone is actually good from their bio's alone, and my doctor didn't know of any that weren't booked out for months. Just trying to find someone good because I've had bad runs with psychs in the past and I know that it really takes a lot out of me to actually talk to someone, like I seem to have a major setback in my illness for a few days afterwards so I don't want to go through that with someone who may not be good

Allymay94 Waking up feeling weird in the head.
  • replies: 5

Ok everything I’m gonna say think of it as not psychically. So I sometimes wake up and my head feels like there’s a loud sound inside it (again not literally) I don’t know how to explain it I don’t feel pain, I don’t know why I would be scared, I don... View more

Ok everything I’m gonna say think of it as not psychically. So I sometimes wake up and my head feels like there’s a loud sound inside it (again not literally) I don’t know how to explain it I don’t feel pain, I don’t know why I would be scared, I don’t hear noises or have any psychicall symptoms just want to hold my head and I squeeze my eyes tight! My heart would sometimes be pounding and other times not. I tend to be ok falling asleep I just lose track of my thoughts quickly and have I have more awareness of my pre sleep visions which can sometimes cause me distress. But anyway my head all of a sudden after waking up just feels like it’s vibrating (not literally) kinda like I’m stuck in my own head but I’m not actually thinking of anything besides “calm down your fine” it doesn’t last to long and I can get back to sleep fine. I tried to explain it to my psych but she didn’t really give me any idea what it is. Hope someone can help thanks

Leigh1987 Should Depression be renamed?
  • replies: 12

Hi all, I just wanted to share a few thoughts I have about depression being a misnomer. One frustration of depression is the internal experience differing from what it looks like on the outside. Friends have said to me for instance that I am refusing... View more

Hi all, I just wanted to share a few thoughts I have about depression being a misnomer. One frustration of depression is the internal experience differing from what it looks like on the outside. Friends have said to me for instance that I am refusing to enjoy life or have fun. However from my perspective I am just incapable of enjoyment while I am going through a depressive period. I think this stems from the incorrect view that depression is the same as being sad or low. After all when they felt low they engaged in positive activities and felt better. Thus they don't understand the experience of the condition as opposed to simply being depressed. As our understanding moves away from viewing depression as a feebleness of the mind and towards seeing it as a condition that impacts on both mind and body I really do think we should consider reterming it altogether. This would help move away from misconceptions and towards a more nuanced appreciation of the illness. It would help alleviate at least one frustration experienced by sufferers. Thoughts? Feelings?

Gonetroppo Lock down
  • replies: 3

Hi everybody, I came on this site some months age, stuck around for a while then wandered off. I've come back over the last couple of days. Life has been a little tough. I moved from Adelaide to Melbourne last November and have spent 6 of the 10 mont... View more

Hi everybody, I came on this site some months age, stuck around for a while then wandered off. I've come back over the last couple of days. Life has been a little tough. I moved from Adelaide to Melbourne last November and have spent 6 of the 10 months I've been here in some form of lock down. The isolation has been difficult to deal with (I live alone). I usually spend a lot of time on my own and generally prefer to be by myself. I don't really form strong social networks. I usually get my social contact through work but obviously I don't have that right now. It has been difficult to link up with health professionals, so only been only the meds to get through this. I have been able to hook up with some doctors which has made life a lot easier. I still struggle and the hardest things to deal with are sleep and work. My sleep is all over the place at the moment. In fact, I can't remember the last time I fell asleep before 3 am. The other thing is work. I don't function well in an unstructured environment and home lacks the structure I need to stay productive. Before I moved here, I lived in two bedroom apartments and I always used one room as an office. I'm in a single bedroom here so I don't have a dedicated space for work. I have fallen behind on a lot on work tasks - something that is causing some stress. I've been trying a lot of things to fix this but haven't yet come up with something that works. Anyway, that's my life right now. I guess it could be worse.

Padden There’s no point
  • replies: 3

There’s no point. We live and then we die. my husband is dead. He was my everything and now there’s no point in continuing. I wish I could die. I have spent my whole life trying so hard to be a good person, someone lovable but now there’s no one. My ... View more

There’s no point. We live and then we die. my husband is dead. He was my everything and now there’s no point in continuing. I wish I could die. I have spent my whole life trying so hard to be a good person, someone lovable but now there’s no one. My family have not supported me at all since my husband died. I have no one to talk to or share anything with. People might say, let me know if there’s anything I can do but what can they do. They can’t bring him back, they can’t make it hurt less. There’s nothing so I say nothing and hurt on my own. I can’t do this. This isn’t a life and I don’t see any hope that it will get better. Every day I wish I could die. what is the point in trying to feel better. Terrible things will happen and there is so much pain still to come in my life.

Lagela How to get husband to understand it’s a condition.
  • replies: 18

This has been a long journey and still undiagnosed. I’m just coming out of number 5 MDE, all suicidal but no attempts. I have realised that my husband has been one of the hurdles in me getting the support that I need. I have been scared for a long ti... View more

This has been a long journey and still undiagnosed. I’m just coming out of number 5 MDE, all suicidal but no attempts. I have realised that my husband has been one of the hurdles in me getting the support that I need. I have been scared for a long time to get help and felt like I am to blame and have to save the relationship before myself. it actually feels refreshing to have this realisation but I do need help with it. Because I do value my marriage - it’s great when things are great. sorry for the ramble - not the clearest mind today.

marnieelizabeth i need help
  • replies: 3

I’m so depressed i’ve barely left my bed in days. i got a letter from my phycologist who suggest going from full time 5 days a week to 3 days a week to see if i managed better. i can count on one hand the amount of days i’ve gone to work in the past ... View more

I’m so depressed i’ve barely left my bed in days. i got a letter from my phycologist who suggest going from full time 5 days a week to 3 days a week to see if i managed better. i can count on one hand the amount of days i’ve gone to work in the past 2 months, i’m scared i’m going to lose my job but my mental health is crippling and the longer i put off going back the harder it is to. i feel so lonely and weak. it’s just getting worse but i can’t bring myself to reach out to the ones close to me, i physically just can’t do it and i’m so scared that my depression has gotten this deep

Niks85 The news of man with bipolar being attacked by police has affected me
  • replies: 10

Yesterday I turned on the news because I heard that a man struggling with bipolar was attacked by police while being arrested and is now in a coma. It's seriously affected me because I have bipolar and I know what it's like to seek help at hospital a... View more

Yesterday I turned on the news because I heard that a man struggling with bipolar was attacked by police while being arrested and is now in a coma. It's seriously affected me because I have bipolar and I know what it's like to seek help at hospital and wait longer than 24hours for a bed like this man did. I feel so awful for him it's left me feeling down

Original_nickname Depression.
  • replies: 9

I don't know how to start one of these so i will just get into it. I enjoy barely anything anymore and I am constantly isolating myself. I can eat a lot like a lot for one week and then go without food for three days with little water. It's hard to s... View more

I don't know how to start one of these so i will just get into it. I enjoy barely anything anymore and I am constantly isolating myself. I can eat a lot like a lot for one week and then go without food for three days with little water. It's hard to sleep taking around 2 hours to fall asleep. I self harm sometimes and have daily thoughts on suicide. I get angry very easily My Stepfather used to pick me up by the ear and chuck me into my room, he even used to hit my head and tell me to toughen up a lot. I don't usually talk about this anymore because the last time I did (which was to my parents) they said "everyone is feeling the same" and walked away. I also believe i have ADD, I get distracted easily, find it really hard to do school work and I am always loosing things only 5 minutes after putting them away somewhere. I also don't know what to say at the end so i will just say, bye and thank you for your time.

cv02 Depressed about my pretender life
  • replies: 12

I'm 36, wife and two young kids. I have an undergraduate degree, a masters in accounting and am a CPA working for a bankp1. It sounds great on paper but everyday I feel like a pretender to the degree that I have been diagnosed with depression. I work... View more

I'm 36, wife and two young kids. I have an undergraduate degree, a masters in accounting and am a CPA working for a bankp1. It sounds great on paper but everyday I feel like a pretender to the degree that I have been diagnosed with depression. I work as a management accountant which does not require any skills whatsoever and now I feel like I know nothing. Like I cant remember anything I've ever learnt and it has gotten to the degree that I'm scared of making mistakes. Even small mistakes where "it's ok to fail because it's just another step of learning". I feel lke I'm worthless. I look at my kids and cry because I feel like they have a worthless father who will get made redundant and will end up as a loser. This unreasonable thought is affecting my life and my work even though nothing has happened yet!! All I know is that I dont want to do it anymore but I dont know what else to do. I have read things like "do what you are passionate about" but I'm not passionate about anything other than my wife and kids. But this won't pay my mortgage or put food on the table. Not sure what to do..