I have no family where I live & recently moved into a place without internet. On Newstart but on Centrelink Medical Cert at the moment. Issues.

I’m on prepaid, it runs out tomorrow- will have no internet at all then until I can recharge.

want to listen to music and podcasts, this place is so quiet (except for the crying baby next door)

TRIED & TRIED to enquire cost of a “dongle” (can’t afford a connection)

Can’t get through as th yer not to asking calls

Pls, any idea how I can get a dongle/get through to internet providers?

if I could, I’d buy a laptop as part of an internet package but I can’t take on that expense

As I will have zero connection after tomorrow please try help me with answers today

Hi Mid-lifeNmid-pandemic and welcome to our forums

There are a range of options however because I don't know where you are in Australia it's difficult. You'll need to try to find out what stores are open in your state by checking your state's COVID-19 government website.

Some stores that you could buy are dongle from are - telstra, JB-HiFi, Good Guys. Some have really good deals. Also some telcos are often extra prepaid data during lockdown. You'll need to enquire about that too. Are you able to purchase more prepaid online (using your phone) or from a supermarket before you run out or check on the extra prepaid data some are talking about. It depends on which telco you're with.

Sorry not sure of your complete circumstances about being able to get to a store.

Kind regards

PamelaR

I suffer Anxiety and depression in a big way, before the Covid19 started and now its even a bigger, I'm finding it hard to focus, and struggling all day everyday just like everyone else.

So glad that I can come here for assistance good on you Beyond Blue.

Best Choices and Pax66,

Welcome to the forum and well done for your first post

This a supportive place and if you browse this thread you get some ideas. There are also articles on th Beyond blue main website just click on the the home icon on top this page.

Feel free to post here and ask questions if you want.

.

Hi Sophie

I had noticed the site on the website a few days ago and checked it out. Very helpful. Still waiting to hear about it in the media ...

Hello everyone....🤗.

I have had my tv and radio switched off for two weeks now..Hearing all about people getting sick and dying is to heartbreaking for me to listen to...

I use my tv only for DVDs and my stereo for cds of my choice...

I have downloaded the government caronavirus app and will look at that every few days to see any new rules...

This is helping me with my anxiety..also I like to watch YouTube..and listen to sleep stories at night before sleep, which helps me to get off to sleep, usually before the story ends, the longest ones are an hour...and the shorter ones 20 minutes.....They are beautiful calming stories..I prefer Dan Jones as his voice is soothing...

Im okay with self isolation because my anxiety/depression keeps me at home most days, I am missing the weekly visits from my mh supporters a lot which is impacting me some.... I prefer them to be safe instead of visiting me and their other participants..

This virus will end..Then hopefully we can all try to go back to a some what normal life again..

Please stay safe...and keep your beautiful you as healthy as you can, physically and mentally...

We’re all in this together..and we can all rise together..

My Care, love and hugs to everyone...🤗💜🦋.

Grandy..

Hi Sophie

Great news - thanks for the update! I've been watching how the website has been evolving - you're all doing great work. Hope some of this can be done at home....

Welcome Best Choices and Pax66 - Quirky has given you a find welcome and suggested some great ideas!!

Summer Rose (tongue in cheeks, PamelaR says) - don't hold your breath :)

Ggrand - hello Karen. Long time no speak.... Let's just say I've been through a bit and thankfully come out well on the other side. Good on you for limiting your news intake. That's really so important at times like this. The media continues to be scaremongering. I also note that on the life interviews with government officials the media continue to ask questions that are, to say the least, ridiculously stupid - they haven't been listening and are unable to analyse what's been said. So I'm so pleased to hear you are doing what you are doing. Hope others take note of this. It's so important to help reduce one's anxiety, at the same time staying informed.

Kind regards

PamelaR

Hello Pamela..

Its so lovely seeing you again...I’m sorry that you went through what you did..but so very happy for you that you came through the other end well...

I like many others missed you..Welcome back beautiful lady..

much love...💜.

Grandy...

Hi Pamela and others

Commercial tv news covered the launch of bb's new coronavirus service tonight. Woo-hoo!

Such a wonderful opportunity for bb to increase its reach and help members of the wider community who may necessarily have needed support in the past.

Kind thoughts to all

How awesome is that Summer Rose. Thanks for letting me know. You're so right - getting into mainstream in a big way is so important. Maybe this will mean better funding in the future for BB.

Hi All, first time poster here. I have anxiety and am on antidepressants to manage this, which thankfully have been working well. I am lucky to still have a job (I work in the aged care industry). I'm not scared of getting the virus, but I'm so scared of passing it along to the elderly people I care for unknowingly.

I also live alone, and am struggling a little bit with the isolation and all the restrictions on not going to be able to go anywhere (especially the gym!). What are you guys doing to keep yourself busy during this time?

SWannesFan, welcome to the forum and thanks for making your first post here.

Many people have listed ways they cope in earlier posts.

There is a thread How to take a Practical advantage of isolation which has ideas of positive things people are doing to cope.

Welcome again.

Hi all ,

Its all a little bit crazy at the moment. All my self care activities that kept me mainly on the straight and narrow have all but stopped due to self isolation and restrictions. I refuse to watch the news due to it being anxiety provoking and work ( im a nurse ) is just as stressful . It was once a place of sanctuary and order and a place I was someone else , someone I liked being . But no more . I find myself thinking humans are the virus , the plague , the fungus of the planet . We are truly the most self centered materialistic, glutinous, cruel and think nothing of wiping out another species, cutting down rainforests, abusing animals etc etc. Covid19 doesn’t scare me , I do everything I need to protect my loved ones and the ones I care for but if it’s my time to go then so be it . It will finish a job I’ve wanted to do in a long time. I just wish the human race will learn from this and evolve . Learning a very hard lesson that we are guests on this planet 🌎

SwanniesFan1 I live alone too with my cat. She's good company when she sits on my lap. I made a list of things to do. Music, movies on my Tablet, online workouts I do twice a day, read, Ted talks, meditation apps, relax, Google, clean. I have a support worker who rings me.

Take care.

I agree with Matchy it is confusing with different states and different rules.

CMF I think when in doubt stay home .Do you mean there are 3 of you at your work? Is that because it is deemed essential? I suppose you are doing social distancing. hat makes you feel uncomfortable? Do you feel you should be working from home?

I think it is confusing for many as rules/guidelines change every day . I suppose we have to trust common sense keep up to date with changes, and hen in doubt stay at home.

I feel for people who don't have a home.

It is so confusing that must be so hard for some folk to navigate...and it does seem to vary from State to State...so unless it's your own State Premier repeating the "bans and rules about going out" ad nauseum with stony faced negativity.....you don't get the exact situation..

e.g. we are told we can visit a friend socially but only 2 visitors at a time; while being told that going out in your car is banned except for "essentials"...so visiting a friend socially is not allowed at all....? Or is it..?

I think I can go for a walk (recommended by my physiotherapist) but if I walk too many blocks I may just cross over into the "next suburb" which is banned. Police have been stopping walkers and demanding they return to their "own village".

also...when I walk, I have to sit down and rest for a little while (due to a bad hip and back) before I walk back home. This is now banned too...I am not allowed to sit on a bench (alone) in fact the seats have been roped off...both outdoors and in our town's major shopping mall.

Hello everyone,

The leaders, doctors, police are all doing their best to flatten the curve and lessen the pandemic. No one has had experience of this before so they rely on experts, what other countries are doing and up to date information.

Moon, it is confusing but when in doubt we err on the side of safety and caution.

I used to love going on walks and I still go on a short walk everyday.

I also have discovered low impact exercises on youtube for beginners that involve no equipment and no jumping.

The phrase "we are all in this together" can help us.

Take care

Hi SquireHarbour and shout-outs to Quirky, Comfy (CMF), Summer Rose, Pamela, Sophie M and new posters.

I'm sorry your outlook on things is worrying. Looking toward the future can bind us with fear when we think the worst. Our mental health is always primary, especially in difficult circumstances.

Fear is the enemy during this time.

I listen to the rain hitting my roof as I write and give thanks the drought's gone. (From my area anyway) Our dam was dry as a bone and now it's full, supporting an abundance of birdlife and animals as well as our human population.

It was a very long haul waiting for the rains to come, but we survived. This is how I see C-19; we only have one choice and that's to wait, take one day at a time and pray for those affected.

I have my health, home, family and friends. I'm blessed. Emergencies remind me of how important the simple things in life are. People are coming together with support just like they did to see them through two world wars.

Humans can be amazing when there's a crisis, just like we are on these threads atm.

You're going to get through it ok. We all are...

Hugs from Sez

We are deemed essential. 4 of us in the office but distanced and only because. I can't work from home as i am a receptionist. i meant 3 of us 'visiting' at M's. I won't go, he'll just need to understand. As i said, he could com to mine as i will be home on my own. If everyone starts saying, oh, it's only 1 extra person etc it will be crazy. Also, i don;t want o be pulled over and have to explain myself.

Yes, a nice quiet day is on the cards :-)

I just arrived Australia for my university study in February, I tried to adapt to the mode of teaching and tried to be engaged in any social activity that can meet some new friends. Being busy with the school work and the social activities, I didn't have time to feel home sick. However, it started to change when my school switched to online teaching in late March. Now, I have more time to think and reflect. I feel very lonely for most of my time as I live alone, without friends and families. I am afraid to be sick as no one here to take care of me and comfort me. However, I have no choice but to stay here for my nursing placement and examinations.

I don't know when will this pandemic end, when can we have social activities again, and when will the border be released, so my family can come and visit me. I hope this hard time will pass soon, so I can meet my friend and families again.

So I have PTSD, anxiety is my foremost issue, becoming homeless again is my concern. Having a paradoxical reaction to medication, leaves me with one calming/coping method, that is riding my motorcycle (alone). Before I am ridiculed/scoffed at, treating psychiatrists and psychologists have recognised as well as encourage this firm of therapy. I am carer for my 12 year old grandson who also has PTSD and is classed as a high needs challenging behaviour. Taking a ride on my motorcycle calms him and when his behaviour escalates. Now my anxiety levels are heightened as I naturally don't wish to be fined or incarcerated for merely making both our lives more liveable. Due to this fear pandemic I'm unable to organise respite (which I enjoyed 6 hours per day whilst school was operating). Anyways, that's my situation, is anyone else facing this dilemma?

I am not scared etc about covid19. I originally trained in microbiology and immunology and my science background helps me have a better understanding of the nature of risk than many people. But I do appreciate that others don't have that advantage or have reasons to feel worried for loved ones with susceptibilities.

Please remember there is actually very good news for Australia. The restrictions put in place have already put us in a good strong place. We are way ahead of Europe etc.

I am lucky in many ways - tho I have no work as a casual our household income is comfortable. I have a loving husband etc.

but I suffer from chronic depression and had not been that long out of a long hospital stay & very much trying to recover when this pandemic hit. I was someone already suffering mental illness before the pandemic. I am also an extrovert. Many of my recovery and stay well strategies depend upon direct social contact and these are now stripped from me. And no, the vast majority of electronic means do not help - they just add to my distress because they remind me of what I no longer have. I try to do my best with routines but I am increasingly finding it harder and harder and have to have some/more stay in bed days - the only way to not feel overwhelmed. I would love to get into my study which is normally absorbing but "the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak" that is, my mind is just so not there most of the time... I fear I may deteriorate to the extent that I will end up in hospital again...

I wld love to hear fr others who also have chronic mental illness who are suffering too from the social restrictions...

Hi Birdy77,

I absoulity loved what you wrote "Earth 🌏 has sent us all to our rooms".

That one sentence I will share with friend and family.

One a personal level, it gives me a spiritual context to our isolation, helping with my anxiety, stress and paranoia.

Hope you've had a great day.

Regards,

Doran

Hi everyone,

I feel this is a very strange time. I don’t think there’s necessarily a “correct” emotional response.

I, for one, seem to be on a daily emotional roller coaster ride...up, down, everywhere...

But I just wanted to spare a moment to just express my gratitude, respect & appreciation for people who work at the frontline. These people who are exposed to significantly elevated risks to provide necessary & life giving services to all of us.

So thank you:

• Nurses
• paramedics
• doctors
• pharmacists
• scientists/researchers
• supermarket workers
• public transport drivers - train, bus, tram, etc.
• Allied health workers & other hospital staff
• Support workers
• Carers
• Etc

It’s not much, but thank you. I’ve been wanting to say that for some time.

Although I believe the best thank you is just staying at home as much as we can, & following state health advice as best we can :)

Kindness and care to all,

Pepper

Hi,

Bit of a silly question, but what can you do to fill the time when you don't really have many hobbies? I'm a single woman who lives by myself which is making me feel so incredibly isolated - more so than usual. Normally on my days off I'd try and get out of the house, maybe go to the shops, head to the beach or occasionally catch up with friends. I've never really had any specific hobbies because nothing really seemed to give me much enjoyment in all honesty.

I've been trying to be productive on my days off from work but I feel like i'll run out of things to do - especially when the weather gets worse. I could work more if i wanted but its already truly exhausting. I'm trying to read books, do some art, watch some tv shows but what else?? Gardening is already done, I can't do home improvement because I rent. Also as much as I'd love to get myself a pet to help with loneliness, i cant because of my long work hours.

I guess my plan is to try and exercise more, but days certainly are long when you're trying to find things to do. All that time to think really makes it easy for negative thoughts to creep in.

I'm trying to keep in touch with friends online but every time i'm on there it kind of brings me down. It's post after post of people trying to have fun and make the most out of things (which is great) but it seems as though everyone has someone - whether it be kids / housemates / partners. It's so difficult when you only have yourself...

Anyway, hope everyone is staying safe out there and trying to take care of themselves as best as they can.