Hi all,

I am 24 and have had anxiety since early high school and have begun to feel increasingly depressed in recent years. I would say my symptoms are moderate although I still feel pretty lousy when I am in that all too familiar rut. When feeling good I am a very carefree and social person but when I am down I am so far from being the person I usually am and that is the part that frustrates and upsets me the most.

When I fall into a rut I lose motivation, I feel stressed, have no energy, isolate myself, am irritable and lose optimism about the future. This can last for weeks at a time but then I start to claw myself out and start exercising again and going out and start to feel good again but then before you know it I am right back into that same rut again and my routines go out the window. Sometimes I know the triggers and sometimes I don't it just hits me out of nowhere which is the most confusing aspect. It feels like I am climbing a mountain and every time I am just about to reach the top something triggers me to fall right back down to the bottom and the whole process starts all over again.

Anyways just thought I would post this because it is awesome to have a safe space like this to get things off your mind and everyones advice is so helpful so am open to any tips that have helped you all on your journeys

Thank you for reading!

Hi Stefan164

Welcome to bb and thank you for sharing your story.

I’m sorry to learn about your ongoing struggles with depression and anxiety. I feel your frustration and exhaustion.

Please know that many people do recover from these conditions with professional help.

I’m wondering if you have ever sought professional help?

If not, a great place to start would be by talking with your GP. If you make a double appointment you will have time to really talk and your GP can prepare a mental health care plan for you.

This plan typically includes a referral to an appropriate mental health practitioner and enables access to Medicare rebates to help cover the costs of some treatments.

If you do have professional support, it might pay to review your treatment plan. Lifestyle changes can also really help. Plenty of exercise, healthy diet, good sleep routine, reduced alcohol intake and social connections can really help.

There are many people here able to support you on your journey. Again, welcome aboard.

Kind thoughts to you

Stefan

I just want to welcome you to the forum and thanks for writing your first post.

It can be hard to talk about ones feeling but as you know this is a safe and friendly space.

Summer Rose has made helpful and support suggestions.
if you do go to a GP you may want to cut and paste what you have written in your post to show the GP as sometimes we can find it hard to express our feelings.

Also keeping a journal like a mood diary can help you see a pattern, are you worse in the morningsetc

Feel free to post here as much as possible.

Thank you for your advice and thoughtful response Summer Rose.

I have briefly visited a psychologist in the past which helped me become a bit more self aware allowing me to understand that what I was going through was in fact anxiety. I am not seeing anyone at the moment but have recently made a mental health care plan with my doctor as I hopefully plan on seeing a psychologist again one day

Lifestyle factors definitely do help but keeping to and persisting with routines is something I still struggle at

Kind thoughts to you also

Thanks quirkywords

a friend of mine has recently put me onto the resilience project and I have found the journals they provide to be helping my mindset slightly in recent times

Hi Stefan

It’s great to know that you are in the hands of your GP and that you have a plan.

I hear you about the struggle to stick with routine. You are not alone, my friend.

Some days are just harder than others. Sometimes we can push through and sometimes not. Please don’t be too hard in yourself.

I want to encourage you to celebrate your “wins” and be kind to yourself on more challenging days. You are doing all the “right” things to bring about positive change and I’m hoping you will find the more “wins” you achieve, the easier it will become.

Kind thoughts to you

Hey Stefan,

I haven't heard of The Resilience Project before. What about the journals do you like? Who would you recommend them for?

It's great that you're hear and reaching out. I'm only new to BB myself but it already feels good to connect with people who know what I'm going through.

Hey girlonsafari,

Welcome to BB

The journals get you to focus on gratitude, empathy and mindfulness and each day has a new page with different questions or prompts for you to fill out. I fill it out before I go to bed and I feel like when I am in a particularly negative mind set filling out the journal forces me to focus more on the positives

https://theresilienceproject.com.au/

Here is the link to their website if you wanted to check it out