"Depression due to workplace stresses."

My last job role was as a warehouse all-rounder. I was feeling underutilised & not appreciated for my efforts. These seemly small problems had a major impact on me mentally; affecting my workplace attitude & my attitude towards my wife & child. I found myself isolating from my family after work, not contributing to household or parental duties & being easily aggravated by my wife & child; who did not deserve that kind of treatment. Worst of all, I started having thoughts of wanting to harm others, I was thinking about causing serious injury to my work colleagues. It was at this time I sort help.

To get help, I booked a doctors appointment but as the aforementioned thoughts of harming others got stronger, I did something uncharacteristic & got myself to hospital. There I was started on antidepressants & followed up with the previously booked doctors appointment. While monitoring my medication, the doctor pointed me towards Lives Lived Well & this where I meet Paula.

I resigned from my job, as I had enough & needed to get out of that environment. From there I entered into the New Access program.

After the first week of working with Paula, my problem was identified, the steps I took before entering the program were discussed, we evaluated the pros & cons of those choices & discussed steps to take moving forward.

The second week was a week of small victories, I was able to start contributing to household duties, improve my relationship with both my wife & daughter plus enjoy a family outing together.

Although I experienced minor success in the program so far, the struggle was still very real. While I was improving in certain aspects of my life; all the other responsibilities that come with life raised their head.

The third week was the setback week, finances were becoming a problem. I had quit my job but due to how I was feeling I didn't want to apply for centrelink. Turned out that my wife & I got really far behind in rent & affording food was also an issue. With Paula's assistance we were able to get enough food to help us out & the rental issue was cleared up by getting a loan from a family member.

The rest of my time with Lives Lived Well was pretty much routine, this is an abridged version of my struggle & how I came out the other side of all this in one piece.

At the time of this post I'm still dealing with some issues but I have the confidence that I am able to deal with these on my own. Paula of Lives Lived Well has helped me in ways I never thought possible. At the moment I'm currently changing careers & am signed up with TAFE to do a Diploma in Counselling.