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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BeyondBlue Hello! Read this if you're not sure how to get started
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Welcome This section of the Beyond Blue Forums is for talking about our experiences with depression. There are lots of chats about how it makes us feel, what it’s like to live with depression and what has worked to help in these times. Thank you for ... View more

Welcome This section of the Beyond Blue Forums is for talking about our experiences with depression. There are lots of chats about how it makes us feel, what it’s like to live with depression and what has worked to help in these times. Thank you for coming this far, we know it can be really hard to take these steps if depression is in your life - we see you and think this is a great step. To get the most out of this space we have a few tips: Get involved. The Forums work best for you when you get active and post where you can. Now, we know that can be really hard, especially when you are experiencing depression. So, if you can post something supportive to someone else here, that would be an incredible start. Speak from the heart. This community wants to know how YOU feel and what has worked for YOU. We trust that you have something unique to say and we can’t wait to hear it. Check in. Lots of the discussions in this section of the Forums have been going for years and they are some of the richest conversations we have. Keep checking in to get new ideas and offer your support. We know it can be tough to start, but when you are ready we want to hear your thoughts. If you need some time to get to know the community, that's okay! Have a look around and see where you want to get involved. Thank you for being here! Beyond Blue

Jeriava How do I talk to my doctor?
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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.

AGrace SELF HELP TIPS FOR MANAGING DEPRESSION
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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

emi39 I feel sad all the time.
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I'm 21, I feel sad, and panicky, and stressed and sick all the time. My family shrugs it off because 'mental health doesn't exist, we didn't have it back in my day.' I get dismissed because it's not physical. I've been struggling for the past 10+ yea... View more

I'm 21, I feel sad, and panicky, and stressed and sick all the time. My family shrugs it off because 'mental health doesn't exist, we didn't have it back in my day.' I get dismissed because it's not physical. I've been struggling for the past 10+ years. It's been worse right now. I try everyday to get better and I do everything I can, but they always say I never do enough. They just watch me, but then say 'it's unfair if you kill yourself because you're not thinking about the people around you.' They never think of how I feel. I've been in so much pain, it hurts all the time and no one listens. I'm trying to so hard, but so hard is never enough. Especially when you're stuck with people who only care about themselves. Every time they have a problem, I make it my problem too, so they don't have to carry a burden, but when it's me, they just give me more problems that they make me deal with alone.I just wish one good thing would happen, but everything always goes wrong or gets worse.

Guest_43538314 Money Matters
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Hi. I am depressed about money as i feel let down by my husband. My husband and I both work. I work fulltime and he has his own business. Most of the daily life, school and sports costs fall on me. My husband is very tight with money and I end up pay... View more

Hi. I am depressed about money as i feel let down by my husband. My husband and I both work. I work fulltime and he has his own business. Most of the daily life, school and sports costs fall on me. My husband is very tight with money and I end up paying for all of the food, electricity, health insurance, sports registrations, sports uniforms, school uniforms, birthdays, Christmas, etc. He contributes nothing financially to these things. If I ask him he says that I buy too much and people do not want presents or complains about the cost of sport. I do not know how much he earns and he knows how much I earn. He puts all of his money into investments for our future but for 15 years I have seen none of these benefit us. I am in my late forties and I want a house for space and stability for our family but he does not want to. I have sacrificed for the past 15vyears a d I am over it. I feel he is just stringing me along.

ChrisAspro Thoughts?
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Hi, As a bit of background. I am 41yo man who had a head injury back in 2011 which resulted in severe epilepsy, which has put me in the hospital more than once. The last one in 2023 put me in intensive care, fully intubated and med induced coma to st... View more

Hi, As a bit of background. I am 41yo man who had a head injury back in 2011 which resulted in severe epilepsy, which has put me in the hospital more than once. The last one in 2023 put me in intensive care, fully intubated and med induced coma to stop the seizures. Lost control of the right side of my body, was completely non-verbal and they thought i was gone. Couldnt even remember who my family was, they were complete strangers.I have lost who i was, i cant even really remember who i was anymore, or who i am. I have had people say to me "i know your not the same, brain is a bit damaged with all the seizures, but i still see you as the man you use to be".I have been told that i just tell people what they want to hear to make them happy, because i feel obligated to, and i am not honest to my word, which sounds to me that i have and am a false character/personality.People are fed up with me. I constantly feel empty, voided, no future prospects, no proverbial light at the end of the tunnel.I get told that i play the victim all the time.I struggle to hold on to/remember some converations that only happened a few hrs ago to a few days. I get told i am off in my own world and am not present in life.I live with my brother and his wife, who also looks after Mum.He has given me opportunity after opportunity, and i just fail. My brother has provided the opportunity to put a little tiny home on his property, however being on a disablity pension they wont loan the money. I struggle to deal with people and have a very small tollerance level and easily agitated, for which i have lost jobs regardless of my medical issues let alone get a job. So now, the thought pattern... "i dont want to keep being a burden, i dont want to keep getting in everyones way and bringing them down, what do i do?", "do i leave everything behind, my cat, furniture, etc and just f*** off and disappear".I dont really have a lot of friends, and i feel like a burden to my family and people around me.

dr4maqueen Mental Health Help
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Hi guys, I was just wondering if I could ask people for advice/feedback. I've been struggling with depression for a very long time and haven't been able to receive much help due to money struggles and family problems. But lately I have felt very moti... View more

Hi guys, I was just wondering if I could ask people for advice/feedback. I've been struggling with depression for a very long time and haven't been able to receive much help due to money struggles and family problems. But lately I have felt very motivated to actually get help as I have made very good friends for the first time. Basically, there is always something going on in my life and I feel just going to therapy or something will not really help at the start. I was wondering if mental health institutes were actually useful or just a scam or bad to go to. I feel like I really need the space to just work through this to get over the really bad part of it right now to be able to come back to normal life. I unfortunately also turn to drugs and alcohol as an escape and also feel I need the environment of not being able to get anything to help me overcome this too. If anyone has any advice or suggestions I would really appreciate it!!!

phightingphan idk ikd ikd idk idkidk idk idk
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School starts up again tomorrow. Safe to say I do not want to come back. To be fair, I don't think anyone wants to come back, but I like to imagine I am suffering over it the most. It makes me feel good when I know I'm hurting more than others. I hav... View more

School starts up again tomorrow. Safe to say I do not want to come back. To be fair, I don't think anyone wants to come back, but I like to imagine I am suffering over it the most. It makes me feel good when I know I'm hurting more than others. I have holiday homework I haven't done, big deal, right? Well... it is. I haven't read our assigned book for English Advanced, and my work for the book content/themes of it, which I can't finish tonight, because I haven't even read the book yet LMAO. I also have to work on my ancient history essay (which, might I add, is an actual assignment that counts towards my grade), but am I really willing to write 1500 words of rubbish I don't care about? No, not really- that's why I'm here. I like to complain about things I could've easily changed if I weren't lazy. To tell the truth, it really hurts me when I think about how there is something fundamentally wrong with me compared to everyone else. There is nothing I can do about it; I can only accept it and move on with my life, but it's so, so, so hard to. I grew up feeling different, and I was always aware of it, but it never truly affected me until it did. Until the years of being a social outcast of a child caught up to me in some of the most integral years of my development, teenagehood. Not being properly socialised as a kid will always come back to bite you in the ass, and I wish I knew that. I wish I were normal. I wish I could deal with my school problems like a normal kid. But I'm not normal, I will never be normal, and I can only sit and mull over my life until it ends. Or, get help. I could get help, I could just reach out and be done with it. I'm too lazy to do that either, or too scared, it's getting hard to tell nowadays. I don't just attribute this way of thinking to my life, but rather to my brain itself- there is clearly something wrong with my brain. I am probably neurodivergent or extremely depressed or both. And yet, despite it all, to everyone else, I will always be completely well-adjusted mentally! Sure, I'm an antisocial weird freak who is addicted to her phone and is incompetent and lazy and a living, breathing failure (these are not all my words), but I'm just a normal teenage girl. I love my life. God, I love living.

Guest_88201383 Struggling
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I'm really struggling with depression at the moment due to my illness 

I'm really struggling with depression at the moment due to my illness 

RiseAboveIt Depression & Psychotic symptoms
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Hi I have been psychotic for a few years now. At night I hear lady singing and touching my blanket to wake me up! Obviously no one is in my house and that scares the living $hit out of me! I regularly hear ghost trying to crawl into my bedroom, just ... View more

Hi I have been psychotic for a few years now. At night I hear lady singing and touching my blanket to wake me up! Obviously no one is in my house and that scares the living $hit out of me! I regularly hear ghost trying to crawl into my bedroom, just like horror film. Once or twice, I managed to confront frightening voice and face it - nobody was there! Anger is more useful than fear - basic psych 101 - arnie said that in that awful terminator film. I am on anti psych meds and regular therapy. There is no cure so I have accepted my condition. BUT what can I do about Depression which I hear is treatable! Just looking for ways people here have perhaps found way LONG TERM to keep their depression in check or even beat it ? Please share your experiences... Thanks in advance.

Guest_58469905 breakup
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Hi i’ve recently been broken up with about 8 months ago now and i keep getting panic attacks day and night about not being able to get back together and i spoke to him about it and he said he wishes my life gets better and continues to block me, i ha... View more

Hi i’ve recently been broken up with about 8 months ago now and i keep getting panic attacks day and night about not being able to get back together and i spoke to him about it and he said he wishes my life gets better and continues to block me, i had a boyfriend at the time that knew i missed him and i recently broke up with him because my mental health was getting the best of me and i feel horrible for leaving him im not quite sure what to do now im stuck in a depression state.

JacintaMarie Is it okay to want to get another job
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Hi How are you? Is it okay to want to look for another job. Is it not grateful to want a change from doing the same job for 15 years? Plus too, as nice as the bosses are, they're not really about improvement. All they do is just internal stuff, they ... View more

Hi How are you? Is it okay to want to look for another job. Is it not grateful to want a change from doing the same job for 15 years? Plus too, as nice as the bosses are, they're not really about improvement. All they do is just internal stuff, they do do work, just reinvent the wheel, or another way to do the work.They don't do anything to help the customers, I'm amazed we haven't had complaints.Am I not grateful for just staying in same job, I proberly will as I'm not good at getting a job. Too many people. I think I'm the only one at work dissappointed in the bosses, just sad, & I am trying to do other stuff to take my mind off work, but I think I just need to get another job. At least try too - to find sonewhere where the people like learning, their not lazy & work has a purpose. My workplace isn't going to adapt, update or improve

Bonnie B My husband's depression and anxiety is affecting me
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My husband's depression and anxiety is really affecting me badly. I can tell by his body language that he is spiralling into a depression again however he denies it. It really upsets me because no matter what I do or say, nothing makes a difference. ... View more

My husband's depression and anxiety is really affecting me badly. I can tell by his body language that he is spiralling into a depression again however he denies it. It really upsets me because no matter what I do or say, nothing makes a difference. I feel really upset and anxious about it today, normally I can cope with it by getting on with my life and being as kind as I can to him. But today I want to scream at him. I won't though because I know that nothing will make any difference. I just have to survive some how and wait for days, weeks, months for his depression to lift. I just feel like sitting down now and having a big cry, I feel so helpless.