Immediate support
Immediate support

Welcome and orientation

Welcome! If you’re not sure where to start, that’s OK. We’re keen to know more about you and what you’re looking for on our Forums.

Start a discussion

FAQ

Find answers to some of the more frequently asked questions on the Forums.

View the FAQ

Forums guidelines

Our guidelines keep the Forums a safe place for people to share and learn information.

View the guidelines
Jump to
Start a discussion

Pinned discussions

Aaronsis HELP..Am I posting in the right section?
  • replies: 10

Welcome to those who are considering posting for the very first time, welcome. Thought I would repost part of the words that Chris B posted awhile ago, (2014) as I can hear that people are unsure if they are posting in the right section or worried th... View more

Welcome to those who are considering posting for the very first time, welcome. Thought I would repost part of the words that Chris B posted awhile ago, (2014) as I can hear that people are unsure if they are posting in the right section or worried that they are posting "the wrong thing". 1.A good title makes the difference Just like a headline in a newspaper, when scanning the dozens of threads to click into, it’s only natural that people will choose the ones that resonate with them most. A title that entices the reader, or asks a question, is likely to get a better result than something non-descriptive like “Depression” or “I don't know what to do”. If you think you’re not good at choosing titles, leave it till last. Spend time writing your post, then perhaps choose a sentence from what you’ve written as the title. 2.Join in threads that have already been posted We all have our own unique stories, but part of the reason for joining a forum like this one is because you know that you will have a lot in common with others who are posting. Before starting a new thread, have a look through the current topics being discussed and see if there’s a conversation you can join in with. It can be quite common to have a handful of very similar threads happening at any one time, with members seemingly unaware that there are others right there who are going through the same thing. Talking to other members on their threads is a great way of getting yourself known so that when you post a thread of your own, people may respond quicker because they recognize your name. 3.Choose the most appropriate section for your post Many people browse the forums looking for stories specifically to do with pregnancy and parenting, employment, grief, loss, separation etc. Going straight for the “Depression” section may seem like the easiest option, but this section is often the busiest, so your post is more likely to get lost among the threads. Making good use of the different forum sections not only helps keep the forum relevant, but you’re more likely to find others who are going through the same experiences as you. Also, if you're wanting to discuss issues of trauma, abuse, suicidal thoughts or self-harm, it's really important you post in the designated section to avoid triggering others who may not wish to read about these topics. Mostly..just come and chat, we are here for you. Our amazing wizards in the background will see your message ends up in the right spot. Sarah

Chris_B Introducing...the community champions
  • replies: 22

Hi everyone, Some of you may have noticed that a few of our members are labelled ‘Community champion’ and have a beyondblue National Roadshow bus badge, like this: This thread explains who these members are and what they do. Community champions are v... View more

Hi everyone, Some of you may have noticed that a few of our members are labelled ‘Community champion’ and have a beyondblue National Roadshow bus badge, like this: This thread explains who these members are and what they do. Community champions are volunteers within the forums who: Have the time, skills and empathy to support other members Make an effort to welcome new members Are regularly and actively engaged members that help set the tone of our community as a place of hope and recovery. Click here to find out more about how you can become a Community Champion! As this is a peer support community that includes members under the age of 18, it is important that we ensure our peer support community leaders have a current 'working with children' check as part of due diligence. In an online environment with anonymous posters, it also provides Beyond Blue (and the community) with some security as to the identity of who is posting as a community champion. We ask our community champions to spend at least 2-3 hours a week posting and responding in the forums, but in reality they go far above and beyond this. Like me, they’re not psychologists or counsellors, just regular folk like yourselves who have experience with anxiety and depression. I’ll leave it to our champion volunteers to reply below and let you know a bit about themselves. PS. If this is your first time on the forums and you'd like to introduce yourself, please start a new thread rather than replying in here.

All discussions

Start a discussion

Ehmel Newbie
  • replies: 2

Hello Everyone,I am new to the blue voices so am here to introduce myself. I am a mum, wife and psychology honours student. I found myself on this path after suffering a sudden and extreme PTSD attack after the birth of my second child. If it weren't... View more

Hello Everyone,I am new to the blue voices so am here to introduce myself. I am a mum, wife and psychology honours student. I found myself on this path after suffering a sudden and extreme PTSD attack after the birth of my second child. If it weren't for my husband advocating for me then, I don't know where I would be now. As well as finding out that I had been living with PTSD, undiagnosed for over 20 years, I learnt that my "quirks" were actually severe anxiety and OCD. I wasn't actually a high-achieving, leader type, I just operated out of fight or flight constantly making me a chronic people pleaser. There is a lot more to this story, but suffice to say, through this I felt called to study psychology, and I love it. I can not wait for the day I can help others and I hope that this will afford me the opportunity to do that in a meaningful way, as well as advocate for mental health by telling my story.

Foxbat Where to turn
  • replies: 2

Hi Everyone, please excuse the length of my first post but I am desperate. I am here to ask if anyone has been in the same situation as I currently find myself in. I have been struggling to get a GP to help me and have been suffering with a plethora ... View more

Hi Everyone, please excuse the length of my first post but I am desperate. I am here to ask if anyone has been in the same situation as I currently find myself in. I have been struggling to get a GP to help me and have been suffering with a plethora of symptoms for many years now. I am currently on my 7th GP (who has also asked me to find another GP). I am very sensitive to medications and was diagnosed last year with Serotonin Syndrome (SS) by my psychiatrist but GP had no clue how to treat this and hence told me to find another GP. I was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes shortly after commencing SSRIs years ago as my blood glucose levels spiked but since then (after a change in antidepressants in 2019) my blood glucose levels have always been in the non diabetic range. I ceased SSRIs in Dec22 and many of my symptoms/side effects have dissapeared. Jan 23 I started an MAO and in March I ceased 'all' meds incl MAO due to side effects. However, I still have many symptoms. I can't sleep, I still have constant headaches, my eyes feel like they are bulging out of my head, my joints and muscles ache and have now been told I now have peripheral neuropathy. I have been complaining about low blood oxygen levels for years but GPs didn't believe me but have never checked. They still don't believe me yet my feet and toes are hurting . I have an appt with an endocrinologist in a couple of weeks. I have had over 200 medical appt's in the last few years and don't know where to turn to get someone to believe me. Is there a doctor (anywhere in Australia, yes I am that desperate I am willing to travel) that deals in the aftermath of years of SS or even knows what it is? I read everywhere, to seek advice from a 'health professional' but I seriously cannot find one. I am extremely desperate for help as my future is not looking bright.Again sorry for the long post.

Nefro Busy mind
  • replies: 7

Hi all,I am new here,I am a wife,mother of 3 and grandmother of 3.lately I my mind has been so busy with everything that is going on in my life.i have fears of things that I need to do during the week or events coming up,it's like a work myself up wo... View more

Hi all,I am new here,I am a wife,mother of 3 and grandmother of 3.lately I my mind has been so busy with everything that is going on in my life.i have fears of things that I need to do during the week or events coming up,it's like a work myself up worry about what might happen..what can I do to ease my thoughts and fears

Just_an_ordinary_bloke Where to start?
  • replies: 3

Hi there Just wanting to see if anyone else has been in a similar situation. For years I have struggled along just hoping that it was just a phase. But when I finally actually get the courage up to ask for help by a GP, I felt like I was an idiot for... View more

Hi there Just wanting to see if anyone else has been in a similar situation. For years I have struggled along just hoping that it was just a phase. But when I finally actually get the courage up to ask for help by a GP, I felt like I was an idiot for raising my concerns. So I left it and just tried to make changes. Fast forward to now and again even though I had made changes in my life. I still feel like I’m swamped by feelings of depression and anxiety. Again I brought up my concerns now with another GP and I feel like its a similar situation. Anyone else been in this sort of situation and what’s the best way to ask for help?

Panthora New to the forums and can't seem to access replies
  • replies: 6

Hello All,I will post again to introduce myself, but I need advice on accessing the replies to posts. I see red text which gives a number then the word "replies", however clicking it does nothing, there is no live link. Nor can I see any other possib... View more

Hello All,I will post again to introduce myself, but I need advice on accessing the replies to posts. I see red text which gives a number then the word "replies", however clicking it does nothing, there is no live link. Nor can I see any other possible way to find replies. In addition I found in the FAQ a mention of "nested replies" which might work but I cant see any way of accessing that either. I already checked in my settings. I hope one of you can help.Thanks in advance,Panthora.

Panthora Hello, I am here to fill my lonely afternoons
  • replies: 3

I am retired and have had mental health issues, mainly depression, since I was in my twenties. Gradually over all those years I have learned to manage things with medicines and being aware of symptoms coming on, so I rarely have a crisis any more. Th... View more

I am retired and have had mental health issues, mainly depression, since I was in my twenties. Gradually over all those years I have learned to manage things with medicines and being aware of symptoms coming on, so I rarely have a crisis any more. That makes me very lucky, but still my afternoons feel empty, so I joined these forums to give me a distraction. Maybe I can find some help and give some help at the same time.

amygdaline Hello
  • replies: 2

Hi everyone. I'm a middle aged male, recently separated with 2 young kids. I've managed moderate to severe depression (and to a lesser extent anxiety) for most of my adult life. My depression doesn't change who I am, during an episode it just tends m... View more

Hi everyone. I'm a middle aged male, recently separated with 2 young kids. I've managed moderate to severe depression (and to a lesser extent anxiety) for most of my adult life. My depression doesn't change who I am, during an episode it just tends me towards grinding anhedonia and anergia. It has probably made me a hopeless husband, but I'm a great dad. After separation, it's been impossible to get any quality time with the kids because my wife has weaponised my mental health against me (ie. unsafe, incompetent, etc). So the black dog is back again. Anyone else been in similar situations and pulled through?

Peaceful Mayhem Is it selfish to say: Why me?
  • replies: 2

I am a mid 30s female and have high functioning anxiety and depression. I lost my best friend to suicide just after finishing highschool which had a huge impact on me. I've never been able to make friends easily anyway, but after that whenever I find... View more

I am a mid 30s female and have high functioning anxiety and depression. I lost my best friend to suicide just after finishing highschool which had a huge impact on me. I've never been able to make friends easily anyway, but after that whenever I find myself in a downward spiral, I push anyone who care about me away.When my parents split, my father attempted to end his life numerous times. And on Xmas eve, both my parents attempted. As a result, I absolutely hate Christmas and happy family situations.I have been bullied at work by people in managerial positions. I decided to stand up and make it heard, but all it did was shine a spotlight on me and my mental health issues as the "problem".My partner and I of 14 years split up on new years eve. Mutual agreement, but still very heartbreaking.I am constantly asked when I am going to have kids - Like it is a compulsory part of life. But after everything that life has thrown at me, why would I WANT to have a child? To pass on my mental illness and insecurities onto some poor kid... to please people who wanted to end their own lives at one point regardless of the effects it would have on their own children.... to bring a child into this messed up life of mine....I cant even sort my own life out. Back to the question, am I selfish for cursing the world and saying: Why me? *note: yes I have seen psychologists and am taking prescription medications for all of my problems. I'm not suicidal. I just need to vent somewhere to someone. I live in QLD and have no family and no friends here, all I have is my cats - as wonderful as they are, venting to them just doesn't seem to have the same effect Thanks for listening ♡ ☆it's okay not to be okay☆it's not weak to speak

BPDgirl88 Hi all! New here.,
  • replies: 1

I’m new here., so just wanted to introduce myself, Im Allaine., I got BPD and long standing battle with SH and Suicide. Had numerous attempts and the number still keeps going… I have issues with impulsivity and abandonment which I’m trying to address... View more

I’m new here., so just wanted to introduce myself, Im Allaine., I got BPD and long standing battle with SH and Suicide. Had numerous attempts and the number still keeps going… I have issues with impulsivity and abandonment which I’m trying to address.., currently doing some therapy that should help me get thru but am keen in knowing other therapy that everyone have done that helped them… so ye., hi y’all and hope everyone’s doing fine…

cyanideapple I need to vent
  • replies: 9

hello all, this is my first time posting here. I'll try to keep this short and to the point, although I don't really know where to begin. I've been going through a really difficult time lately and it's becoming really overwhelming for me. My relation... View more

hello all, this is my first time posting here. I'll try to keep this short and to the point, although I don't really know where to begin. I've been going through a really difficult time lately and it's becoming really overwhelming for me. My relationship with my family is really bad, particularly with my mother. She is always looking for a reason to argue with me and demands so much of me. For as long as I can remember she's always been a terrible parent. As of lately my relationship with her has become much worse. She constantly belittles me, and compares me to my sisters in law. She makes me feel absolutely worthless, to the point that I feel guilty for even existing. I'm starting to find it very difficult to get out of bed in the mornings, and I no longer find pleasure in activities that I normally enjoy. I'm beginning to spend much of my time between work hours playing video games and avoiding having any sort of social life. I feel like I cant talk to my friends about it because they either won't understand me, or I'm worried that they'll begin to think differently about me. Unfortunately I'm stuck living with her and my eldest brother for the time being, so I feel like I have no escape from this madness. I'm able to hide my emotions quite well, so none of my friends or colleagues suspect anything is wrong with me. I just don't know what to do, and I don't know how much longer I can continue like this before I reach my breaking point. I'm sorry if this all sounds like rambling, but I just need to vent somehow!