This site presents a comprehensive, web-based repository of stories of 39 people living with depression across metropolitan and rural Australia. It is hoped that through sharing individual experiences and understandings of depression and recovery that people who visit this site will gain a sense of the multifaceted nature of the depression experience. Depression is a complex condition that causes real pain for many people, regardless of whether or not they have been diagnosed, and whether they view it as an illness and/or part of life’s journey. In order to understand the multifaceted nature of people’s experiences of depression better, we spoke at length with a diverse range of women and men from a variety of socio-economic backgrounds, sexual orientations, age groups and ethno-cultural backgrounds, that included Anglo- Australian, Croatian, Chinese, Jewish, Hispanic, Malaysian, Vietnamese, Ugandan, Italian-Australian, Chinese- Australian, and German-Canadian, among others.  We hope that by reading through some of the topics below, and exploring the interviews in 'People's Stories' you will find some answers to questions that you may have, or discover new ways of thinking about depression. This website is developed on behalf of beyondblue: the national depression initiative, a not for profit organisation in Australia, to promote the experiences of people who have lived with depression and/or anxiety, and aid those who may be experiencing similar problems.

Select from the key topics below, or choose from the full list of topics on the left.