furbacchione

A word from personal experience. Don't want to scare people off counselors as some of their incites have been very helpful but... If you think you've hit the end of your rope and want to get a counselor try to get one on the side and don't get a referral from your doc that's on record. If your life and disability insurance company gets wind of it they will black list you.

Turban Explorer

Jobs that demand a medical won't warm to a depression history either. Everyone self-manages depression to some extent - only the vacuous feel happy all the time - whether its via booze, meditation, acupuncture, pills or exercise.

I've certainly been more depressed in Cairns than I have been for years due to the job market here, the cost of living and the homesickness that resurfaces from time to time when everything else has gone down the shitter. My self-esteem has definitely been knocked for six by the endless rejections and employment bullshit. I run for half an hour a day, have a few glasses of red every night and go to acupuncture with a man called Ping Pan if it gets too bad.

furbacchione

Something I learned from the guy I went to see. He was a very cerebral sort of bloke. He explained the science behind thoughts and moods... Depressive and negative thought shouldn't be confused with being depressed, though they can lead to depression. The science behind dark thinking, as he understood it, often has to do with a person "training" their brains over time to think such ways. The neuronet actually adapts to that particular way of thinking if given enough time. To break it a person needs to retain the brain, in other words, breakdown the neurological pathways that have been established that lend themselves to dark thoughts and re-establish new neurological pathways that are more prone to think in "positive" ways, i.e. look on the bright side of life as opposed to looking for the negative...

Anyways that was the mumbo jumbo that made sense to me. If that fails... pop cork and get pissed... simple

What was funny when I look back on my first visit to the guy... I had asked the doctor to find a non aussie for me to talk to. Well this guy was an aussie but I thought at the time **** it and let him have it on how I felt about this place. The look on his face was priceless. All credit to him he kept it all very objective LOL.

Pollyana

Sounds familiar to me. As with so many things though, re-training the brain requires the person to first realise their brain needs to be "re-trained". I know there are some points in my life where I wouldn't have wanted to know anything like that and wouldn't have believed it could work. Yet when someone did come along at the right moment it all made sense and did me a lot of good. Now when I get black moods I have to try and remind my brain to think along the "new"patterns not the "öld"ones.

jad n rich

Interesting point.

So would for eg. immigration medicals have access to your Doctors records, or certain jobs, like police etc,

My mates 15 year old Daughter was seeing a counselor, at the first session he decided mates daughters mum was a huge problem and she should try and cut emotional ties with her. That was in first 45 mins, hadnt even met the mother. The daughter was a bloody terror and the mum was certainly not perfect but the thought of a rampaging hormonal 15 year old being given advice like that was dangerous IMO.

moneypenny20

Currently depression is not a cause for refusal from DIAC. It's the insurance companies around the world both health and otherwise who don't 'like' it.

Turban Explorer

It's a cause for a 'referral' to a specialist. The specialist decides just how likely your depression would be to cost Australia.

moneypenny20

Only sometimes, depending on level of depression and information provided.

jad n rich

So with privacy laws a insurance company/employer/immigration can access your medical records.

In OZ wouldnt they would need the full Medicare records as you could be seeing 6 different docs anyway.

Turban Explorer

20mg per day of a paroxetine prescription was enough to get referred (lowest possible meds). It definitely would have been better to have lied.

quoll

Call Lifeline 13 11 14 and it is totally anonymous - not helpful with specific strategies to ameliorate the negative thinking - for that you want a CBT or ACT therapist or read books like The Happiness Trap by Russ Harris or one of Michael Yapko's books on depression, but counselling and venting away can be helpful when you cant talk with anyone else IRL.

Just in case anyone is interested, Lifeline is now trialling an online counselling service for people who, for whatever reason, arent comfortable with the phone service.

sonlymewalter

See previous post for the link and information

furbacchione

Its not even depression. i wasn't diagnosed with anything, except maybe being pissed off and frustrated with idiots. The insurance company didn't even attempt to talk to the counselor. The only thing they latched onto was I had a referral on my medical record to talk to a counselor.

furbacchione

No but if you don't sign a disclosure statement allowing them access to your medical records you won't get anything. At that time knowing that the referral wasn't for anything even remotely serious I didn't think they would stoop to such levels. But in this country I found out later that discrimination is legal

odyssey

I dont know about it all really - I have depression on my medical records since I was about 24 - its on my life insurance etc - they got dr reports. I dont pay any more premium, I got into Australia and noone has ever batted an eyelid.

The only thing was when I was pregnant, they talked a lot about post natal and the chances of getting it and offered me options if it happened which it didn't.

I think a high percentage of people get depressed at some time or another. I am not entirely convinced that the whole dont tell your dr thing is actually valid - maybe it is but has anyone actually had a negative experience with it coming to bite them?

The depression I get is mild I think. It was post traumatic and seems to have abated . I stopped taking anti depressents the day I left for Australia - I really think sun helps me too. SAD SAD SAD