Taking action

Reach out to your family, mates, or co-workers

The best way to get started is talking to someone you trust. Sometimes just saying things out loud can make a huge difference to how you’re feeling and lighten the load.

Try talking to a trusted mate, your partner, a family member, or a work colleague about how you’re feeling or any physical changes you’ve noticed, like feeling tired, or not wanting to get out of bed in the morning. 

Read our tips for having the conversation

Talk to your GP

Your GP is a good source of information and can assess whether the feelings you’re having are symptoms of anxiety or depression. If you don’t have a regular doctor, now is a good time to find a local GP who you can talk to about how you’re feeling.

There are a number of different health professionals on hand to provide advice or services if you're experiencing depression or anxiety. 

Learn who's who and what they do, and find out how much it costs to get support

Make an action plan

Your GP can be a great person to work with to develop an action plan. Your action plan can cover a wide range of options, and can be as simple as writing down how you’re going to make some positive changes.

This plan could include things like exercise, stress management, improving your sleep and maybe working with a psychologist who can help you to address things like negative thinking and how to deal with hassles in your relationships.

Making a safety plan could save your life

If you or someone you know is having thoughts or feelings about suicide, making a safety plan can get you through the really tough moments.

Your safety plan involves setting up a structured plan for when you’re experiencing suicidal thoughts, feelings, distress, or crisis. Everyone’s plan will be different, but all will step you through each part of your plan to get you to a safe place.

Get started at BeyondNow

Consider whether medication could be useful

For some men, medication might also be helpful, but only if your depression or anxiety is severe or hasn't improved with other treatments. Most people using medication report a significant improvement in how they feel, and have a greater capacity to get back to doing the things they used to enjoy. 

Any decision about the use of medication needs to be made in consultation with your doctor, after careful assessment and consideration. 

Find out about all the treatment options for anxiety and depression.

Alcohol and drugs just make things worse

Try not to drink or take drugs to block out how you're feeling and what is happening – this is not a positive solution and usually makes symptoms of depression or anxiety worse. 

Find out more about how to get on top of your alcohol and drug use