Lived Experience Forum

[Amy101]

Hi my name is Amy101, 

I have just signed, up to this forum.   I live in NSW and have had depression since my 20's now I'm in my late 40's and still have depression, though it isn't as bad as when I was in my 20's I still have periods of depression. 

I have a wonderful support network, though I still feel lonely, I struggle to make friends, even though I'm a friendly compassionate  person, I can't help but feel excluded in a social setting. Does anyone else have this problem, it really gets me depressed. 

[Eve7]

Hello @Amy101  and welcome to the forums. There are lots of friendly people here willing to share their lived experience.

I have depression and often feel left out in social settings and it can be quite lonely at times.

Welcome once again and have a look around the different threads. 

💙

[tyme]

Hi @Amy101 ,

Welcome to the forums. Thank you for reaching out and sharing what has been happening for you. Depression is a strange thing. It can pop it's head at any time and cause all sorts of issues in life.

I have had experience of being lonely. I later learnt that I was lonely WITHIN myself, rather than in relation to being around people. Loneliness was something I felt. Then again, I was too depressed to want people around! 

I am a very understanding person and love to help people. But I really struggled with making and keeping friends. They would want to connect with me, but I really couldn't be bothered. It was too much of an effort. But I did feel lonely.

It's been a long time since. Nowadays, I live on my own, do my own thing, but NEVER feel lonely. I have found meaningful activities to engage with and don't feel my life should be made 'happy' or 'sad' because of other people. I wanted to take the lead in my own life and if others wanted to 'hang around', they could. If not, it wouldn't affect me.

You are not alone in how you are currently feeling.

[Kyle1]

Yep. Although these days I seem able to make a good impression but typically people peeter out after a little while...

It is awfully lonesome.

@Amy101  

[tyme]

Hi @Amy101 ,

I've noticed you have been replying to messages via email instead of here on the forums. This means members are not able to see these posts.

Do you need any assistance with reposting them here on the forums?

You can tag each member by typing '@' in front of their name. By doing that, they will receive a notification of your response.

Hope this helps 🙂

[Amy101]

Thank you for your message, I appreciate your feedback

[tyme]

No worries @Amy101 ,

It can be a bit confusing at first. 

The people here are so welcoming and so awesome. If you have any questions, please ask away.

To be honest, for me, I found these forums so helpful in supporting me to interact with people. Because of my depression, it felt like I 'forgot' how to interact. It seems now, I have much much better communication skills - I really have to give credit to these forums for that because when writing, you can edit and delete parts.... I was always scared that if I talked, i'd 'mess it up'.

SOooo happy you can connect with us.

[Bow]

Hi @Amy101 

Welcome to the forums.

I think perhaps it’s pretty common for folks with depression to feel lonely. Depression causes us to withdraw, lose interest in things that we enjoy. I struggle heaps with it. Struggle to make friends despite being a friendly caring person. I often feel misunderstood cause of my mental illnesses and things that I have experienced in life. 
My case manager connected me with a service for folks with mh issues, that provides them with social outing opportunities, but even that is hard for me! 

I really liked what @tyme had to share