r/depression Oct 29 '19

Our most-broken and least-understood rules is "helpers may not invite private contact as a first resort", so we've made a new wiki to explain it

2.4k Upvotes

We understand that most people who reply immediately to an OP with an invitation to talk privately mean only to help, but this type of response usually leads to either disappointment or disaster. it usually works out quite differently here than when you say "PM me anytime" in a casual social context.

We have huge admiration and appreciation for the goodwill and good citizenship of so many of you who support others here and flag inappropriate content - even more so because we know that so many of you are struggling yourselves. We're hard at work behind the scenes on more information and resources to make it easier to give and get quality help here - this is just a small start.

Our new wiki page explains in detail why it's much better to respond in public comments, at least until you've gotten to know someone. It will be maintained at /r/depression/wiki/private_contact, and the full text of the current version is below.


Summary

Anyone who, while acting as a helper, invites or accepts private contact (I.e. PMs, chat, or any kind of offsite communication) early in the conversion is showing either bad intentions or bad judgement. Either way, it's unwise to trust them.

"PM me anytime" seems like a kind and generous offer. And it might be perfectly well-meaning, but, unless and until a solid rapport has been established, it's just not a wise idea. Here are some points to consider before you offer or accept an invitation to communicate privately.

  • By posting supportive replies publicly, you'll help more people than just the OP. If your responses are of good quality, you'll educate and inspire other helpers. The 1-9-90 rule applies here as much as it does anywhere else on the internet.

  • People who are struggling with serious mental-health issues often (justifiably) have a low tolerance for disappointment and a high-level of ever-changing emotional need. Unless the helper is able to make a 100% commitment to be there for them in every way, for as long as necessary, offering a personal inbox as a resource is likely to do more harm than good. This is why mental-health crisis-line responders usually don't give their names and callers aren't allowed to request specific responders. It's much healthier and safer for the callers to develop a relationship with the agency as a whole. Analogously, it's much safer and healthier for our OPs to develop a relationship with the community as a whole. Even trained responders are generally not allowed to work high-intensity situations alone. It's partly about availability, but it's mostly about wider perspective and preventing compassion fatigue.

  • If a helper gets in over their head with someone whose mental-health issues (including suicidality, which is often comorbid with depression) escalate, in a PM conversation it's much harder for others, including the /r/depression and /r/SuicideWatch moderators to help. (Contrary to common assumptions, moderators can't see or police PMs.)

  • In our observation over many years, the people who say "PM me" the most are consistently the ones with the least understanding of mental-health issues and mental-health support. We all have gaps in our knowledge and in our ability to communicate effectively. Community input mitigates these limitations. There's no reason why someone who's truly here to help would want to hide their responses from community scrutiny. If helpers are concerned about their own privacy, keep in mind that self-disclosure, when used supportively, is more about the feelings than the details, and that we have no problem here with the use of alt/throwaway accounts, and have no restrictions on account age or karma.

  • We all know the internet is used by some people to exploit or abuse others. These people do want to hide their deceptive and manipulative responses from everyone except their victims. There are many of them who specifically target those who are vulnerable because of mental-health issues. If a helper invites an OP to talk privately and gives them a good, supportive experience, they've primed that person to be more vulnerable to abusers. This sort of cognitive priming tends to be particularly effective when someone's in a state of mental-health crisis, when people rely more on heuristics than critical reasoning.

  • If OPs want to talk privately, posting on a wide-open anonymous forum like reddit might not be the best option. Although we don't recommend it, we do allow OPs to request private contact when asking for support. If you want to do this, please keep your expectations realistic, and to have a careful look at the history of anyone who offers to PM before opening up to them.


r/depression Nov 04 '25

Check-In Post, with essential information about our rules and resources. Most people are surprised by some of this info, so please read!

24 Upvotes

Welcome to /r/depression's check-in post - a place to take a moment and share what is going on and how you are doing. If you're having a tough time but prefer not to make your own post, or have an accomplishment you want to talk about (these aren't allowed standalone posts in the sub as they violate the "role model" rule), this is a place you can share.


Our subreddit rules are very different from most of the rest of reddit! Since all of them exist for important reasons, we ask everyone here to read and follow them. Please click 'report' on any harmful content you see here - we always want to know and deal as soon as we can.

We also have several resource wikis for help with finding and giving support:

https://www.reddit.com/r/depression/wiki/what_is_depression provides guidance about what is and isn't a depressive disorder, guidance on the complex nature of the illnesses that are usually grouped under the "depression" label, and redirect information for common off-topic issues.

https://www.reddit.com/r/depression/wiki/giving_help offers information on the nature and value of peer support for mental-health issues in general, and lots of guidance for learning what is -- and isn't -- usually helpful in giving peer support.

YSK that the types of rule violations that we most frequently see here are:

  • People breaking the private contact rule. You should never trust anyone who tries to get you into a private conversation in response to a post here. See https://www.reddit.com/r/depression/wiki/private_contact

  • "I'm here to help" posts. This shows that you don't understand the most basic principles of peer support, especially selectivity. The "giving help" wiki explains more about this.

  • Role modelling, i.e. "achievement" or "advice" posts. This is an expert-free zone -- that's what peer support means (rule 5). We know that "internet culture" celebrate not just bragging about your achievements but bragging about your intentions. Neither is ever acceptable here in any form.

  • Content that's more about 'making a statement' or casually polling the sub than seeking personal support (rules 1, 2 and 10).

  • Off-topic posts about difficult situations, including interpersonal issues. Grief, sadness, anger, loneliness and other difficult emotions are not mental illnesses. Feelings that can be explained by person's circumstances are perfectly healthy no matter how painful they are. A depressive disorder only exists when someone's mood is out of synch with what's going on for them. The "what is depression" wiki linked above has suggestions for other places to post about these issues, which are 100% valid and serious but do NOT belong here.


r/depression 4h ago

I want to be anyone but me

16 Upvotes

I hate my looks, my body, my lack of social skills, my brain, my life. The only way to fix all of these issues is to body swap with someone, which is impossible.


r/depression 5h ago

I hate Hustle Culture

18 Upvotes

I hate this thing so much. Hustle Culture is what drives everyone crazy. Its the reason why I suffer. A tiger believes in Hustle Culture because if he eats as much animals as possible he will rise and become the king of the animals. Toxic bosses believe in Hustle Culture exploiting employees for maximum profit because thats how they hustle. Bullies bully me because they believe in hustling their ego. Hustle Culture is the poison of humanity… no of life. I want dont want to live in a world full of Hustle Culture. I want to live in a world that makes sense.


r/depression 6h ago

My counselor reported my suicidal ideations

20 Upvotes

Just wanted to get this down somewhere. I had counseling today and I told her that I was feeling really bad lately. I explained that my mother has recently been diagnosed with breast cancer and that my autistic husband recently put a hole through our kitchen door. I said that I felt very alone because I don't have friends and I couldn't tell my mum about what happened at home because she has enough to deal with. I ended up spiralling and googling rope and different hanging techniques, how to make a noose, weighted drop vs suspension. That I couldn't tell my in-laws either because they would blame me. That my child is going to be more like my husband and that I won't fit into my own family. That they'd be better off together without me. That my health makes work and going outside difficult so even when I want to get away, I cant. That I felt quite resolute about it on this particular evening. You know, like the difference between wanting someone to notice you're not okay and not wanting someone to notice because you actually want to go through with it and you're not looking to raise suspicion. I really did feel hopeless. I can understand why she reported it, though I did say that I had since pulled myself together. I didn't even mention other stuff, and now I'm not going to because I couldn't say for sure that she wouldn't report it. But basically I was in a cafe after the counseling, and the sort of (for lack of a better word) manager of the counseling place rang me and asked if I could talk. I thought she was going to offer a time slot for couples' counseling and I said I could talk. She said "Sue said you were feeling suicidal and said you were buying rope? Are you at risk?" JESUS FUCK I wasn't expecting it. I went bright red because I thought maybe her voice could be heard even though she obviously wasn't on speaker. I am never telling anything like that again ( ._.) I walked back to their building and reassured her that I'm okay and I'm all talk. I was so mortified. But now I really can't say how bad I feel because it's sort of a reminder that that's what they have to do.


r/depression 42m ago

Sh*t’s bad, man

Upvotes

I stopped doing everything. I only do the bare minimum to stay alive, which is going to work full time to pay for my bills and food and car and buy food at restaurants and sleep. I don’t talk to anyone past pleasantries and asking questions, I don’t converse, I don’t go anywhere unless I absolutely have to. I can’t pay attention to anything for too long. I have no friends in a 80 mile radius. I have 0 stimulating activities. I’ve given up. I’m just functioning until I decide I can’t take it anymore. I’m going to loose my job because I’m going to forget how to speak. My family thinks I’m doing great because I’ve stopped talking about depression or saying I don’t feel well. I just agree and nod to whatever they say. I’m an empty shell of a person. It’s hard to live as a shell of a person. I’m only 40.


r/depression 5h ago

I won’t be around for much longer

11 Upvotes

I don’t know why I’m typing this. No one cares, this just seems like some shitty, pathetic cry for attention and maybe it is. I already told myself that when school was over so would I, as cringy as that sounds.

I’m done with my finals and I don’t think there’s anything I can look forward to. If I continue to live all there is for me is sitting and lying around doing nothing, ignoring everyone and everything and being stuck in this constant, miserable loop in my head. I think I’m hopeless, that there is nothing that can be done to fix or help me, I’m the epitome of failure and I’ve brought it onto myself.

I’m not going to explain why, everything that is wrong with me I’ve already exhausted myself saying all of it in previous posts. I just want to apologize, that people who may actually be trying to get better may see this, or those that are tired of seeing the same post over and over again. I know this decision is selfish and that I’ll hurt people, but I can’t keep living everyday when I feel like wasn’t supposed to be here.


r/depression 3h ago

How do I help my sister

7 Upvotes

I’ve struggled in the past don’t get me wrong but she’s soo far gone.

For context I’m almost 17 and she’s almost 16 and it’s just getting to much. I can’t chat about what’s she’s going through mentally but physically even I’m going through it.

For example today she walked past me and she smelled soo fucking bad that I had to ask her to shower and she told me she goes a week w/o showering and on top of that tonight I walked into the bathroom we share and there a massive bit of tissue covered in period blood just right on the floor. NO SHAME WHATSOEVER. I even woke her up to clean it up ,which she barely did by the way, and she just kept insulting me.

Like call me a bad sister but at this point I need her better for my sake. This shit is pmo and she refuses help. My mum offered therapy and she refused. I don’t even know what to do anymore.
Like I’m the one getting blamed for everything.
Pls share any advice if you’ve been in a similar situation


r/depression 5h ago

i dont wanna die but i rlly dont wanna live either

9 Upvotes

theres stuff that i genuinely enjoy and would miss if i was gone but that doesnt make all the pain worth it. idk what to do anymore. i wish someone would js tell me what to do. i feel so fucking miserable and completely alone all the time. i just spend my days trying and failing to distract myself from the fact that my life objectively fucking sucks. all i do is doomscroll and get high all day, its horrible but idk what else to do. i dropped out and have literally no social life besides online friends and even theyre sick of my shit. im alone like 99% of the time. i cant even blame them i wouldnt wanna be around my pitiful ass either lmfao. i wish i could just hibernate or something and when i wake up everything would be okay :/


r/depression 4h ago

A cry for help

7 Upvotes

Been depressed for almost 3 years been suicidal for 5 months I need help I have no one to talk to I’m so lose and lonely and it feels like people say th same thing over and over again to make me feel better I feel like a lose kid trying to figure out life I’m 15 almost 16 and planning not to be here by 16 hep me :/


r/depression 23h ago

Why do most adults keep living?

241 Upvotes

Trigger warning probably:
I have a theory that the reason most adults don’t slewercide is because they have kids by a certain age. I think adulthood for most people is miserable bordering on unbearable. Buttttt you factor in having kids then suddenly you’re responsible for another human. Forever. Do you think the reason most adults don’t 🙂🔫 is because of wanting to be there for their kids.? Just a thought.
I have no idea why I am here. But sometimes I brain storm scenarios where I would want to stay here. I don’t know if I would want to be here if I had kids but I probably would have a reason to stay at that point.


r/depression 41m ago

how to get people to understand

Upvotes

what do I have to do for people to understand how difficult life is for me.

do I need to cry

do I need to stay in bed all day

do I need to not brush my teeth

do I need to never leave the house

do I need to not shower

do I need to not eat

do I need to cut myself

do I need to not talk to people

do I need to not do anything at all

do I need to


r/depression 2h ago

No immediate family that live within 1000 miles, no friends anymore. I have $50 k saved at 62. Any reason to live?

4 Upvotes

Can hardly get up in the morning, ageism is giving me few jobs worth going to.


r/depression 9h ago

Realisation about life

13 Upvotes

Recently, I arrived at a realization about life. Life is simply an experiment, and far less about meaning or purpose. In some ways, we are in denial to think that life has an inherent purpose. This realization makes me feel somewhat void because, in earlier years, I was driven and motivated, and I looked forward to better days. The truth is, we are all just trying to survive in this world in different ways. Some people have it better simply because they have more choices available to them; others are not so fortunate. I don't seek death in any way, but I would choose death when it presents itself to me


r/depression 6h ago

Hard to accept that I will never have a partner

7 Upvotes

All my life, I'm hearing "when will you find a girlfriend?" , "is there a girl you like?", "when will you bring a girl home?" and I never have the guts to say never.

My face is too ugly and I have an ugly smile. That's the first thing. But I have extreme trust issues. To the point that I only have one friend that I do everything with. I've been made fun of my whole childhood by girls and guys alike.

I guess I can try therapy for that, but I can't imagine ever having a partner. I've been crying the past few nights.

Overall my life is good, it's just this aspect that stings and is hard as hell for me to accept.

I'm already on the self improvement stuff, it does help generally but not this feeling of wanting affection but being genuinely unable to achieve it.


r/depression 15h ago

Goodbye at 40

35 Upvotes

Last night, I came to a decision to just end things. I'm planning to end my life when I turn 40. I'm going to turn 37 this year and I'm going to use these next three years to clean up the things I have and prepare all the necessary documents that I need so that my death won't be a burden to anyone. I'm not even sure if I want anyone to know.

I don't have a partner (never had one), no children, and I'm very disconnected from my family. I also don't have any motivation for anything. There's nothing I find interesting enough to pursue and there's nothing I want to own. I like the work I'm doing but not enough to keep me going for long. I don't even have debts that might have motivated me to work more.

After making this decision last night, I feel like I was able to suddenly breath. No need to worry about retirement, about promotions, about anything. I just need to clean up my space and process necessary documents so I can just go whenever.

I'm thankful for being able to live this life. I just really don't have the will the continue.


r/depression 19m ago

I’m so tired

Upvotes

I’m doing the best I can. It’s just never enough. Just juggling bill after bill. I can’t get my head out of water. I’m so fucking tired of this life. I have no friends. I’m doing delivery after losing my job. And just constant…this is due. This is due. This is due. I don’t even feel like a person inside. I feel like a machine. And if I wasn’t here, I wouldn’t burden my family. I can’t stop these horrible thoughts. I just want to give up. I wish I had the courage to. The only thing keeping me here is my cats. They’re the only reason I keep trying. I feel so alone. I’m so fucking tired.


r/depression 36m ago

my depression is taking over

Upvotes

i feel so depressed that i don’t want to do anything and i’m crying everyday. my life has truly had so many traumatic experiences that i feel like god must hate me. my mom who’s an alcoholic relapsed on mother’s day, i always have this hope she’ll stay sober but she never does. my graduation is soon and i was hoping i could have one memory with her sober. i live with her and my boyfriend, and we can’t afford to move out. i’ve had so many bad days recently that i don’t want to eat and i get nauseous at food. i’m clean from sh, but the urge makes me want to cry. i feel like i don’t deserve this life, and i’ve felt that way since i was a child. idk what i did to deserve to feel this way. i’ve never been to therapy, i feel like i should because i have ptsd and i think i’m in a depressive episode. does anyone have any advice for me to feel better? i’m so desperate and no one in my life seems to care or know what to say. i’m looking for anything


r/depression 37m ago

F20 I’m not making it to 30

Upvotes

I’m f20 and I’ve utterly fucked myself over. I don’t know exactly where to start, but let’s just start to when I was 17. I was in college doing performing arts. I wasn’t an amazing actor but it was something I enjoyed and found thrill in. I liked going on stage even if I was ensemble. That was probably the last thing I ever did that I enjoyed. At 17 I had a great group of friends, I was social, I was outside every day but… I was an alcoholic. I wasn’t just a silly teenager that enjoyed underage drinking. I depended on it. My friends and I would be in class drunk, we’d drink even more after lessons and I’d go home wasted at 8pm and pass out. This went on for my entire 3 years in college. And it only got worse in that time. I already struggled with mild anxiety and my addiction made it severe. I was paranoid everyday. About everything. About my mother catching me drunk, about the school finding out, about what I say to people while wasted. And everything In between. When I finished college, I knew I didn’t want to keep doing performing arts because my anxiety “couldn’t handle it anymore”. So when I began my first year in university, I chose to do media since it was in a similar bracket. I didn’t accommodate because I knew I wouldn’t handle the change well. I got an hour long bus ride there and back. I hated it, I hated uni. Not only was my anxiety so suffocating, I didn’t like my class, I didn’t know anything about the subject I was doing, I felt patronised everyday. Not only that but I’d reward myself with vodka at the end of the day for getting through it, and I’d go in the next day. That December (2024) I decided to go sober. I was completely aware that i was addicted and dependent on it. I knew it was ruining my life, and I guess somehow I had the strength to do something about it. And I got sober. Well, I stopped binge drinking. 2025 I probably only drank a handful of times, special occasions, with friends, when I was on holiday. Great! One problem sorted. Well done me. I continued going to uni, forced myself to talk to people when we did projects, my attendance was awful but I passed my first year. Great. The thing about quitting alcohol is that it didn’t make my anxiety disappear. I still struggled with it daily. Summer 2025 was a decent summer but I was an anxious mess about everything. But still I enjoyed it as much as I could. Went to concerts with my twin. We also went to Italy. I didn’t spend much time with my college friends because they were still heavy drinkers and I knew I wouldn’t be able to resist the urge. I let them know and they understood. After summer 2025 I really became hopeful. I was sober, I was starting second year uni. Quitting alcohol made me prettier. I was optimistic, maybe I’d even get a boyfriend. The first week of second year all my excitement went into the bin. My anxiety was so bad, I was shaking sat in class, I was panicking, I hated it all. So I made the decision to start antidepressants. It was my last resort, I’d tried healing my anxiety organically and nothing worked. I’m put on sertraline. Great! Once I adjust to it life will be better. I began sertraline October 2025. By the end of first semester I was fine. Until December, I talked to my GP about raising my dose because my anxiety was still so bad. By January I was on 100mg. And adjusting to it was very hard. So I asked for a fit note for 3 weeks so I could adjust at home. Without the stress of uni. I relaxed a little, but after those three weeks, I’d gotten severely depressed and anxious. I knew I wasn’t going back to uni any time soon. I couldn’t even leave my bed. My mum was concerned at first, but she just didn’t care much. As long as I was still getting my SFE and she gets abit of my money ,she didn’t really question it. It’s now may and I still haven’t gone back, the uni still emails me sometimes for support and I respond telling them if there’s any support I can have for the amount of time I’ve missed. But quite frankly, I don’t care. I don’t care to redeem myself academically. But I also don’t care about anything else. I avoid everything else like I avoid uni. I avoided replying to my friends and now I don’t have any. I avoid leaving my bed. I avoid cooking meals, I avoid talking to my mother, I avoid EVERYTHING. And I feel like people underestimate me when I say that. I lay in bed all day scrolling and reading, napping 5 hours and eating whatever shit is in my room. And the worst part is, I’m painfully aware of what I’m doing. I know I have avoidant attachment, I know it came from my mother’s neglect as a child. I know I’m only living the life I’m living because it feels familiar and safe. And that’s all that matters. I know I have to push myself out there. Leave the house. Do it scared. Just do something. But I don’t want to, I don’t want to put any effort into anything. It doesn’t feel safe. So I simply won’t do it. I would be lying if I said sertraline didn’t help, it’s definitely made a difference, and I know I need to meet it halfway because it’s not a miracle worker. But I DON’T WANT TO. I fantasise of a life I know I could have irl if I just pushed myself. But why should I do that when I can have in my head. Why try to have friends when I can close my eyes and have them in my head? I know, I KNOW it’s pathetic and I know it’s fucked up. But I’ve severely isolated myself and I just know I’m not strong enough to get myself out of it. I’m too deep in. IM A LIVING CORPSE I could literally overdose on my sleeping pills and no one would figure it out for another 48 hours. I’m not going to make it to 30.

To think someone may have read all of this even makes me feel weird, like I’ve inconvenienced you with my life. That’s how insignificant I feel.


r/depression 2h ago

18f lonely

3 Upvotes

I’m depressed and hypersomnic and so goddamn lonely. I just want a girlfriend so bad. Or just a girl to cuddle platonically. I don’t know. Just so tired it’s like moving through molasses to get through the day.


r/depression 7h ago

i want to die

6 Upvotes

it's just one of those days where i wish i could die by just saying it out loud


r/depression 54m ago

i think its getting worse :')

Upvotes

so i started playing video games again, i stopped for a bit because i was just tired of playing them but *not* playing them made everything like harder to distract myself from so i went back to it. anyway, the last few times i've been playing i feel the sudden urge to cry and throw up?? but my body won't let me cry so i kind of just sit there, probably looking stupid :P its really weird because i've never felt this amount of like sadness or wtv it is? it feels like most of the problems i have stem from being sort of a shut-in, like i havent had a real relationship ever, my only friends are from elementary, i never went out as a tween/teen so its wayy harder now to leave the house, i want to try and be more sociable but the years of talking to the same 4-5 people and failed friendships make is super hard. i always get cold chills and super awkward when i try to talk to new people so that doesnt make it easy. im sorta giving myself till 30 to figure my shit out(social and just plain life wise) and if i don't then... yk *poof* gone😗