I don't know.

Hi Tess,

Please make an appointment with your GP. Do it for you.

Are you taking medication for depression/anxiety? If not, maybe your GP can prescribe some for you. He/she may refer you to another psychologist in your area, ask him/her for a Mental Health Care referral which entitles you to approx 6 visits via Medicare (a MH nurse told me about that of which I had no idea about, wish I'd known sooner).

There are MH crisis teams in most areas which are fantastic. This is what they're trained to do & can be a godsend.

Please don't ever feel alone. Please if you are able, make that GP appointment & take that first step ok. Let us know how your day goes.

Hi @Former-Member,

It's great that you're reaching out for help.

I second @Coffeelover's advice. Getting yourself to a GP and getting a referral to a clinical psychologist is a good start. The GP will do an intial assessment to ensure that it's appropriate for you to see a psych. This is also how you can get access to the medicare rebate. The difference between a clincial and counselling psychologist is that a clinical psychologist can formally give you a diagnosis. A diagnosis can be helpful to understand what's going on, and how to treat it.

If you're feeling uncomfortable about opening up to a psychologist, an idea could be writing down your concerns and then take this with you to your appointment.

Do any of your friends and/or family know about how you've been feeling?

Hope this help a little.

Tess

Just read your post,and it was as if I had wrote it as it depicts me in my lifetime, except for the psychologist and mental health which I realised was useless and blind faith and trust in idiots who know no better than me.I have suffered depression and anxiety bad the past few years but had it I realise since I was a teenager.

When I have had crippling depression had to go to bed to "feel safe",and I get very paranoid about people and everyone hates me.I avoid people and people I know due to my unemployment and situation and experiences with these people.I grew up obese etc so was always sensitive and people have used this as a weapon to hurt me.This is one of the reasons I never wanted kids due to the taunting at school.Can you pinpoint your stressors or experiences why you feel this way?I have no answers buttons but the only reason I am here today is through my love of walking and reading books etc to allow the mind to rest from these thoughts.I am really hard on myself and put myself down, so I have excluded some people from my life who were toxic or unhealthy relationships.I have no answers as one of my problems has been my isolation due to anxiety and depression.Maybe find something you enjoy and social inclusion.