Feeling Depressed?

There must be something in the air! I took my 5000 for a walk yesterday, dug 3 targets out of about 100 detected! Put the detector back in the car and forgot my pick leaning against a fence!

Cheers~Chris.

Suggestion to Minelab. Add a warning label to the box to read:

"Repeated use may cause depression, anxiety, bouts of rage and apathy. Use at your own risk!"

Rtanweb wrote:

"Repeated use may cause depression, anxiety, bouts of rage and apathy

i`ll go along with that. i`ve experienced all of those.
but maybe should add
"sometimes experience great satisfaction"
cheers dave

Gday stoppsy

It is easy to become dispondent, and one of the reasons is that sometimes you can put an enormous amount of effort into detecting for gold and all you get in return is rubbish, sometimes we might set ourselves up for the fall by expecting too much, and sometimes the reality is that we dont always get rewarded for our hard work and perserverence, this is the "nature of the beast" all you can do is just try and go with the flow and if you are not feeling up to it then take a break and do something else.

As you have been advised earlier you might find it beneficial to team up with someone and add a social side to your detecting, although I detect a lot on my own I also sometimes go with others for the very reason of the social side of it, one thing I would add though is be selective about your companions as some people will lift your spirits but others can just as easily bring you down too.

I think the right mindset is just as necessary as the right detector and coil combination, and it can play a big part in your gold tally, when you are focused and in the groove it seems to come to you, but when you fill your mind with negative and self destructive thoughts you may as well be walking about the bush with a pointy stick for all the good that its going to do for you.

Going back to the same areas over and over again is a bad thing to do, as we are definately creatures of habit and we will by nature go back to somewhere that we have found gold before, simply because we know that the gold has been there, I wonder if this is an instinct long buried in us from our past as hunter gatherers, where we would have instinctively headed back to a known food source, the aboriginals do exactly the same thing dont they?, but you simply have to go against this instinct and try somewhere different.

But in the case of gold it does not grow back as such, so going to new ground is always going to be more productive that re visiting place that we have hammered over and over again.

cheers

stayyerAU

Yes detecting can be frustrating. Many people never ever pay off their detector. I purchased 2 of my earlier model Minelab detectors from retirees who bought them for the extended big lap and sold them in frustration on there return home almost goldless.

When i started detecting i hated it when i got home on Sunday and my wife would say...another big waste of deisel was it....and the wood heap is low.

If you detect as an adjunct to camping and getting away for the odd weekend you can only expect a little gold (you may get lucky though). If you want to take it more seriously you need to research very hard and often. You need to approach landowners and talk to contacts who can tell you about where their dad got gold or where a mine or old diggings are. You need to spend alot of time swinging, you need to try different settings on undug targets to try get better signal responses and learn to really master your detector and not be continually in enhance or fine gold. You need to walk far from 4WD tracks, or have a bike to get where less people have been.

You need to plan for a trip of a few weeks every year or two if possible to WA, Milparinka, Clermont, Georgetown, Conclurry, Vic leads or similar.

After years of pottering around diggings for bibs and bobs and the occassional surprise I have found a happy medium where i detect around known diggings for a fix but spend most time searching "virgin" areas near sites where at least some gold has been found during the rushes. (although in WA you can go anywhere and just look). I go with a couple friends, with radios, maps, quite a few years of experience between us and an agreement to split any patches found. With three people your chances of finding gold is much higher because one person can walk through a patch without actually hitting that first crucial nugget. We cover alot of ground and still do it hard, but when you find something it is usually a decent haul. Then your addicted and going on a few outings for almost nil return is easy to take because you know you will hit on a good run soon.

And best of all, with a couple detecting friends you have some great times around camp and finding and sharing a run of gold with friends is a great experience also.

Sorry about the sermon.
Tributer

Tributer wrote:you need to try different settings on undug targets to try get better signal responses and learn to really master your detector and not be continually in enhance or fine gold.
Tributer

tributer hi
sometimes when i get faint targets i switch from fine gold to enhance to see if i can hear them,but i must confess it has never occured to me to try any other settings on an undug target
thanks
dave

dave, i must admit i get lazy about trying different settings also. Often you just want to make the most of your time and just dig it and cover more ground. But with friends nearby with different coils and settings it is a good learning experience to spend some time getting others to check an undug signal. With different settings and coils standing around a target you can learn alot in a short time. Boost, normal, upping the gain, and motion and many other combinations can all make a big difference in brightening up a response in different circumstances. Coils make a huge difference with the smaller coils up to 14 elips really making shallower signals sound out but the bigger 18's picking up deep thumper targets missed by 14 elips. (on the rare occassion when a deep target is encountered).
Sometimes normal is a good option however unless you try the setting on a few targets compared to the enhance/fine settings you will never know.

Anyway i am just saying to try experimenting with friends around a few undug targets (rather then planted ones), its the best way to learn (for the spot you are in anyway).

I also like to read through the owners manual once every six months and write down and try a few settings combinations others recommend to try keep on top of learning to use the machine better.
Tributer

Hi Stoppsy
Seriously you live in the goldfield ( I drive 5 hours +), you pick up nuggets regularly ( I pick up 1 a year ) you have private property, bolt on a larger coil & go exploring.

detecting is like fishing or hunting ie; your worst day fishing is better than your best day at work, etc.

So if you can't get motivated it's time to look a little deeper, considering your money woe's earlier & now your fire's burning low, Take Care depression sneeks up on you.
Lee

So if you can't get motivated it's time to look a little deeper, considering your money woe's earlier & now your fire's burning low, Take Care depression sneeks up on you.

rc62bourke i think you are spot on there.I was thinking the same but probably did not express it that directly.
The good think about it is that Stoppsy is not keeping it to himself - he is telling and sharing his feelings openly to his forum members.Considering the amount of replies to any of his posts Stoppsy is very popular and likable person.Thats why lot of members have a great replies and lot of offers of help.
Unfortunately D word is very common and most of us experience it in our lives -who doesn't feel low at one point in our lifetime.
Gold detecting is fantastic outdoor activity with possibility to be very very enjoyable.It can be devastating too as we all well know from gold rushes trough centuries.
Gold detecting Positivies=outdoor=fresh air=beautiful surrounding=exciting=physical=mind clearing=escape from rat race=socializing=exploring the country etc
Gold detecting Negatives =if you find one which really , really bothers you this is not for you.

Stay positive young men, we all like you and wish you all the best.
We are just one post away when you need anything.

Stoppsy old mate,
well ok, new mate.

Poor old me, stuck here is damm Adelaide. No holidays due, raining outside, cold and wet and have to go back to work tomorrow and borred as hell with it.

What you need son is a change.
So, As I have just returned from WA detecting I think you may need a trip west . So, start planning, Next year head over there with me and a few mates for a month.

Before you say you cant, firstly, do some planning, talk to the wife, work on it.

Then if you know you have a trip planned to WESTERN AUSTRALIA I am sure your detecting wants will return .

Let me know

madmax800

hey madmax, sounds like you had a great time over W.A hope you found a few good ones, a mate off mine is over there at the moment for a month, i'm wishing i had went with him but had to stay home with the 2 boyz. the weathers not realy good over this way at the moment bloody rain so i have just been in the shed pollishing up the car. i'm trying to talk to the other half about headding over to W.A next year but she has not said anything so it's not a good subject by the looks off it, as she will have to take that month off work and i don't think she's up for that just for me to go detecting and her staying home loking after the boyz. i'll keep the subject going with her and hope she say's just go...and hope to god i find some good size gold to say this is why i hounded you....

hey golden, i'm not 100% sure it's depression but funny things do happen that people don't take much note off as they think it's just them having a bad day. the thing is not to hold it in you should look at talking to someone about it (most off us has lost someone from depression and not knowing that they had it) i have been feeling a bit down on my self some days, but i have had time away from detecting (a week) and hasn't botherd me not been out. i'll head out sometime this week and see how i go, i hope i get the bug nipping back in and get back to chasing the yellow again.

cheersa
stoppsy

Hi Stoppsy,
Yes depression sure is bother and if a person can come out and talk about what's on their mind is the person who has made up their mind that they need help and you what, talking to to someone can make a very big difference in more way than one. I think it's essencial to talk about depression because from talking about it help is just around the corner.
Take care,
Uncle Bob

stoppsy wrote:i don't know if any have done this befor, i drove to the spot i wonted to try out and just looked at it while i was still in the car then i just kept driving around in the bush, i didn't even detect the area as it didn't even worry me if i did or not. i drove to anther spot where i have found gold and had a 30 min detect and thought bugger this i'm going home. i don't know why i'm thinking this way, it could be that i'm sick off picking up the small ones or is it that i'm not getting much as i use to....i don't know .... i don't know if i should just have a break from it for a few weeks or so and hope that's not the end off it....has anyone gone through this befor?
cheers
stoppsy

Tell yer wot sport. You cum up ere ta canberra an live in my ouse an I'll go down ver an livin yor ouse an I'll find orl va gowld yez should be findin an yous can hang ararnd ere an listen to va pollies yabberin.

Jeez cobber, get yer ed inta gear an get art ver an find sum bluddy gold an stop yer wingin!.....Ar jeeze ya poor bugga... sick ov findin small stuff are ya... Bluddy ell an all I can do iz dream ov gettin back ta va bluddy gold fields an ver yez iz bluddy livin in em an moanin coz all ya can find iz small stuff

Tell yer wot sport. You cum up ere ta canberra an live in my ouse an I'll go down ver an livin yor ouse an I'll find orl va gowld yez should be findin an yous can hang ararnd ere an listen to va pollies yabberin.

Jeez cobber, get yer ed inta gear an get art ver an find sum bluddy gold an stop yer wingin!.....Ar jeeze ya poor bugga... sick ov findin small stuff are ya... Bluddy ell an all I can do iz dream ov gettin back ta va bluddy gold fields an ver yez iz bluddy livin in em an moanin coz all ya can find iz small stuff [/quote]
hey mate, i'm so sick off people saying you live in a great spot look where i live....well it's your choice to live were you live not mine. if your missing out on going out because you live in a spot with not much history move then... i'm hoping that i get out this week for a swing and hope the bug nips it's teeth back in again
cheers
stoppsy
ps.. sorry if it sounds a bit nasty but it your choice to live where you are so don't wingin about it

Canberra Is a nice spot, I don't get to the gold fields because I aint fit enough anymo and it's realy cheezing me off.
I understand your reply so no probs.

When you live in a place for a good while you begin to take it for granted and you start to not notice the good things that attracted you there in the first place and then it gets boring. That's why you drive past the spots you used to detect instead of stopping....you have been there so many times that you think you cannot find anything worth while...That happens to all of us at some time. I get over the feeling by trying a different detector in my old hunting grounds or I find a new spot and if it is in the gold fields I will go to a place that is outside the the old diggings and try new ground that I would normally be unlikely to detect.

As others have suggested, Just taking a break for a month or two may be all that is needed.

Coming from a geologically gold deprived area, I drive hundreds of miles for the chance to come home with some specs that would not add up to one of your smaller pieces. You guys are living the dream, many people from other areas would be happy with the small crumbs. My expenses are far more than any gold I have found but the friends I have made along the way are the real gold. I still have the hope that one day I will hit that pocket, that`s what keeps me going...the chase.

its all about the friendships and the thrill of the chase. cheers Pete

piston broke wrote:its all about the friendships and the thrill of the chase. cheers Pete

spot on mate
cheers
stoppsy

stoppsy wrote:Tell yer wot sport. You cum up ere ta canberra an live in my ouse an I'll go down ver an livin yor ouse an I'll find orl va gowld yez should be findin an yous can hang ararnd ere an listen to va pollies yabberin.

Jeez cobber, get yer ed inta gear an get art ver an find sum bluddy gold an stop yer wingin!.....Ar jeeze ya poor bugga... sick ov findin small stuff are ya... Bluddy ell an all I can do iz dream ov gettin back ta va bluddy gold fields an ver yez iz bluddy livin in em an moanin coz all ya can find iz small stuff

hey mate, i'm so sick off people saying you live in a great spot look where i live....well it's your choice to live were you live not mine. if your missing out on going out because you live in a spot with not much history move then... i'm hoping that i get out this week for a swing and hope the bug nips it's teeth back in again
cheers
stoppsy
ps.. sorry if it sounds a bit nasty but it your choice to live where you are so don't wingin about it [/quote]stoppsy
i dont know if your mucking around here but id be having a look in the mirror and see whos the one wingin seems every time you write a post theres somthing wrong.....your posts are way off topic and seems your looking for people to feel sorry for you.....maybe you should ask some questions and use the forum how it should be used and deal with your personal problems on another forum...
p.s sorry if it sounds a bit nasty but my misses dont even winge as much as you!!!!!!!!

I think my last attempt at humor failed miserably, so for that I apologise stoppsy. I could have picked a better time.
Hey Dave were you havin a go at me or Stoppsy coz I dun kno who ta shoot back at

Skysite, I think you'd better re-check the quotes and who wrote what, the original post wasn't about not finding gold at all so I don't understand why you would say that he lives in a great spot and is whinging about not finding gold, that has nothing to do with what was said. You also have quoted Stoppsy saying something that he did not write in the first place. (above)

Being off topic?? there are plenty of great posts from different people that have nothing to do with gold related issues, if you don't like them don't read them.....I choose to read almost every post that goes up and if I don't have anything constructive to say I don't, or if I don't agree with what is being said I don't always comment either, I believe that is what makes this forum the great forum that it is.

Personally I don't believe stoppsy was whinging as you put it, he simply spoke his mind on how he feels, (this is a great quality in people and you soon know where you do or do not stand) I know Stoppsy and he is not a whinger, same could be now said about you having a whinge but I won't say that, I am sorry that you believe your wife is a whinger but I don't have to live with that now either do I.

Cheers

I blame and curse all the old farts who where walking around stubbing there toes on 20 oz nuggets in the 80's and 90's and have managed to leave all manner of crap lying around but sfa gold for instance what type of person burys a ten cent piece over a foot deep i thought i was onto a bloody monster, it was dated 1991 and found at waanyarra the b**tard's.

As if its not bad enough im stuck behind them doing 75 in a 100 zone on my way to look for gold that they have already poached.

GoldstalkerGPX wrote:

there are plenty of great posts from different people that have nothing to do with gold related issues, if you don't like them don't read them.....I choose to read almost every post that goes up and if I don't have anything constructive to say I don't.



Cheers

I dont agree with this statement.

And you don't have too

skysite wrote:
i dont know if your mucking around here but id be having a look in the mirror and see whos the one wingin seems every time you write a post theres somthing wrong.....your posts are way off topic and seems your looking for people to feel sorry for you.....maybe you should ask some questions and use the forum how it should be used and deal with your personal problems on another forum...
p.s sorry if it sounds a bit nasty but my misses dont even winge as much as you!!!!!!!!

Skysite it is apparent that you are aware of how nasty your post is, thats why you have apologised! Its the "deal with your personal problems on another forum" that has got my back up, I just hope that if you ever need someone to give a s%$t that they won't turn their back as have you. Very disapointed!

well said ange

Ladies and Gents,

I'm just going to lock this thread for a moment as I feel some posts are not taking stoppsy position into account..

I will possibly open thread after I talk with the other Mods..

Thanks and Regards
A
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Members,

This topic will remain locked as it has run its course.. stoppsy has been sent a PM for the reasons why..

Thanks for your input
Admin..

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