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Anxiety

Anxiety is the most common mental health condition in Australia. Share your own story and learn about other member’s experiences with anxiety.

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BeyondBlue Hi! Check out this post if you're not sure how to start
  • replies: 0

Hi there and welcome to the Anxiety section of the Forums First of all, thank you so much for joining us here. We think it’s amazing that you’ve taken this step to getting support and learning from this Community. You are very welcome here and we are... View more

Hi there and welcome to the Anxiety section of the Forums First of all, thank you so much for joining us here. We think it’s amazing that you’ve taken this step to getting support and learning from this Community. You are very welcome here and we are really interested in what you might want to add to these conversations. We get it, having anxiety makes it hard to share in a public place. Remember, this is anonymous and the Beyond Blue team are here to help if you need it This section is for people who are experiencing anxiety in some form in their lives. This might be in social settings, at work, or just in the day to day. You don’t need a diagnosis to post here. If it feels like the right spot for your post, go right ahead! We know that feeling anxious can make it hard to reach out so we want you to know that getting this far is amazing and a great start. A few tips for getting the most out of this section: Get involved when you can! Posting and replying is the heartbeat of this community and you DO have something worthwhile to share (when you’re ready ) Every experience is different. There is no competition here. We know how challenging anxiety can be and how it comes in all shapes and sizes. What you are experiencing will be respected and supported here. Trust yourself! You are the expert in your experience. This community works because people like you share what has worked for you. Thank you for getting involved and taking a look. We can’t wait to hear from you! Beyond Blue

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Jessten How to understand anxiety is affecting you
  • replies: 6

I am a 41 yr old female who has health anxiety on top of chronic pain and asd. At the moment i have alot of things going on at once. I am struggling with work plus have health issues currently. Alhough i dont recognise it ppl are starting to ask me i... View more

I am a 41 yr old female who has health anxiety on top of chronic pain and asd. At the moment i have alot of things going on at once. I am struggling with work plus have health issues currently. Alhough i dont recognise it ppl are starting to ask me if im ok as my anxiety is showing in ways i dont realkise. How doni recognise when my anxiety is taking control before i hit breaking point whch i feel is not far off despitee not lnowing what is goihg on

Guest_05885315 Surrendering Pet + guilt and shame
  • replies: 2

After an incredibly stressful 24 hours, I had to make the awful decision to surrender my little dog Grub. She is unwell, but will continue to receive Vetirinary care with the rescue agency. It was going to add up to thousands, and I financially have ... View more

After an incredibly stressful 24 hours, I had to make the awful decision to surrender my little dog Grub. She is unwell, but will continue to receive Vetirinary care with the rescue agency. It was going to add up to thousands, and I financially have let this dog down. Also, when the grubs acute illness started, my mental health plummeted and a lot of unresolved internal issues arose - and I realised I cannot care for her. I had been spending the last few weeks realising, Grub deserves stability consistency and peace that I cannot provide her. Since I first got her, I've struggled to help her find peace even with moving to new environments, training with behavioural trainers, medication for her anxieties and stress, and endless love. I am such a failure for this. I don't even know if she will get better but she is in the care of someone who is more resilient than me and can manage it. She is such a good dog. I know in my heart that there is a better home for her and people that can better help her get well. I let her down, I let her get sick and then I couldn't manage. I just wanted to post to try seek some comfort from this community, because I'm feeling awful. I'm scared of getting negative comments because of what I have let the situation becomes, but I'm so alone right now.

Lost_Soul_2112 On the verge…
  • replies: 1

Past year till this day… I have been dealing a lot with my family & work stuff. I thought I had it all under control which I doubt now I searched & searched & searched endlessly for what’s anxiety or depression like No, I’m not sure if I have one or ... View more

Past year till this day… I have been dealing a lot with my family & work stuff. I thought I had it all under control which I doubt now I searched & searched & searched endlessly for what’s anxiety or depression like No, I’m not sure if I have one or the other! No, I have not consult the GP as I’m not sure what to say I’m not sure if I’m just plain sick from not looking after myself well or it’s really the stress! Does Vitamin B Complex really help with managing stress?? I started taking it almost a month now but I still feel the same like before taking it - gut punching, hands shaking, diarrhoea in the morning & headache, sleepy, easily annoyed during midday & worst - hard to fall asleep at night Anyone feel the same…??? Or, is it just the way it is when you get older???

Freya1973 Sleeping problems
  • replies: 12

I want to sleep, I take a sedative to help me be calm.I am tired, but so wound up.A flood panic comes over me, I hate .I think ahead for life and wonder if I am going to be like this forever, how am I going to move on and live like this.Does anyone g... View more

I want to sleep, I take a sedative to help me be calm.I am tired, but so wound up.A flood panic comes over me, I hate .I think ahead for life and wonder if I am going to be like this forever, how am I going to move on and live like this.Does anyone get like this?

Guest_26450707 anxious/depressive episode
  • replies: 3

i'm having the most exhausting time this past week, going in an out of anxious and depressive moods, with tiny blips of feeling "normal" or "excited" about life. right now, everything feels boring, bland, and pointless. all of the things i usually lo... View more

i'm having the most exhausting time this past week, going in an out of anxious and depressive moods, with tiny blips of feeling "normal" or "excited" about life. right now, everything feels boring, bland, and pointless. all of the things i usually love are not making me feel good. i can't stop thinking about the purpose of anything in life, it feels like all of the normalcy that usually keeps me afloat has left my brain. just looking at objects in my bedroom/house make me feel anxious as well. my brain also keeps overanalysing everything, trying to convince me something is wrong when it isn't. the intensity keeps changing throughout the day: sometimes its really easy to fall asleep or i can have a good conversation with someone, other times i am completely consumed with the depressive/anxious symptoms, like right now. its making me so tired, i don't want to shower, eat, brush my teeth etc. i'm scared that i can't handle the challenges life throw at everyone- that i am too soft to handle any of it.

Annie_G Anxiety Help- never ending cycle
  • replies: 3

Hey everyone! Don’t know if this is going out to the void but been struggling with extreme anxiety and regular patterns of avoidance. Has been a repeat cycle of getting better and feeling like an actual human being and then talking two steps back. It... View more

Hey everyone! Don’t know if this is going out to the void but been struggling with extreme anxiety and regular patterns of avoidance. Has been a repeat cycle of getting better and feeling like an actual human being and then talking two steps back. It has been very isolating seeing other friends my age all socialising and enjoying the holiday season while I am struggling to get out of the house most days. Also feeling a bit left out when some common friends made plans without me. Have also started having extreme phone anxiety and avoidance- been sitting on some text messages and lunch plans for 3 weeks now and can’t stop thinking about wanting to reach back out but can’t bring myself to respond back to the messages. I don’t know where this avoidance is coming from. The whiplash from wanting to go out and continue these relationships (I really do care about them) but also unable to do anything makes me feel like I am just sabotaging and ruining my own life. I also have no social activities or regular activities to look forward to so this holidays was a very low point. I don’t know if anyone feels the same, especially feeling anxiety spike when there is no clear plan or routine. Will be starting a new job soon so feeling more anxious leading up to that as well. Overall just a melting ball of loneliness and anxiety but we persist! Just hoping for things to start feeling a bit better and to get over this but would appreciate any advice on strategies that helped anyone with extreme avoidance behaviour especially when living alone. Thanks!

Jay_ Separation Anxiety
  • replies: 6

if im being honest i feel a little stupid mentioning this as i constantly try my best to ignore it, and i dont mention it to anyone but my partner.Im not really sure where to start with this but put simply i have major separation anxiety and its affe... View more

if im being honest i feel a little stupid mentioning this as i constantly try my best to ignore it, and i dont mention it to anyone but my partner.Im not really sure where to start with this but put simply i have major separation anxiety and its affecting my relationship with my partner (Female) who for the sake of this post we will call "K".my partner K and i have been together for 7 months coming up on 8 months now, i have had really bad separation anxiety since i was a child, which i didnt realise i had it nor how bad it was until about 11/12 months ago, When i was younger (around 6/7 years old) my parents split, and i stayed with my mother, i also had a huge disdain towards my father and hated him throughout my life, he died when i was about 10 or 11 and i actively refused to go to his funeral because i hated him that much and was even glad that he died. or more so thats what i thought. when my current partner and i got together i had just gotten out of a long term (2 year) relationship 3 months before handmy partner K and i around our 1.5 month mark, decided to have some drinks one night (it was my first time drinking so we did it in her room just us 2, as i had always avoided drinking because i was scared to find out what kind of drunk i was) clearly that fear was a valid one as after about 6 drinks i was completely drunk (though i still remember everything clear as day) i ended up having a full mental breakdown where all of my pent up trauma finally came out including some i didnt even know i had, as i had apparently said "i miss my father, i dont even know why but i miss him" i had gone my entire life up to that point believing i didnt care about him but apparently i did.Anyway, fastforwarding a couple months, around our 4 month mark or so my separation anxiety towards K had gotten really bad, anytime we argued (i say argued loosely here) or anytime she was angry at me, i would instantly go into a panic where i cant help but be in fear that she is going to leave me (writing this out is infact causing me to slowly head towards that right now), as the following few months pass leading up to current time. it has only gotten worse, if i even feel her vibe is off im instantly panicking thinking to myself "Is she losing interest, does she want to leave, does she still love me, do i make her happy" etc.I cant help but constantly be in fear that im going to lose her and i really dont want to because she makes me so happy, i just want to fix this.

JC80 Constant worry and anxiety affecting my life
  • replies: 4

I am 45 female and constantly worrying about everything simplest thing to big stuff it’s really affecting my daily life . Don’t know what to do

I am 45 female and constantly worrying about everything simplest thing to big stuff it’s really affecting my daily life . Don’t know what to do

Illbeok Emotionally drained by the news in the world.
  • replies: 19

I feel like the world is going crazy and I am getting so anxious about everything. I've always had anxiety and managing my depression at the bay. And the news tells me there are wars, bad politicians doing unthinkable things, AI is taking over, a mar... View more

I feel like the world is going crazy and I am getting so anxious about everything. I've always had anxiety and managing my depression at the bay. And the news tells me there are wars, bad politicians doing unthinkable things, AI is taking over, a market crash is coming, and so on. (The biggest is the climate change and these bushfire news makes me cry and feel powerless.) I feel like these issues are my own and keep donating money and feel financial stress at the same time (by the way some donations are not even tax deductible). I worry that we will become unemployed and Australia will become like these countries with high unemployment rates or the climate change will cause food shortage, the US will take over these key geopolitical locations by force and the world is divided into 3. I watch Eckhart Tolle or do mindfulness practice to stay in the "Now" but it is very hard not to worry about the future for me and everybody else's. I don't have friends so I cannot talk about it to anyone. The problem is that I cannot just shut it out. I need to look at the news and pay attention to politics because I have to manage someone else's finances, so I need to pay close attention to macroeconomics and geopolitics, do research. How does everybody cope with the current affairs in the world?

jj123 mother issues
  • replies: 6

hi,im currently struggling,i cant talk to my mum anymore, she doesnt listen, or care, she saw my sister twice over xmas and didnt even call me at all,its been like this for years and years,and if i talk to her on phone it takes a week of anxiety and ... View more

hi,im currently struggling,i cant talk to my mum anymore, she doesnt listen, or care, she saw my sister twice over xmas and didnt even call me at all,its been like this for years and years,and if i talk to her on phone it takes a week of anxiety and anger to get over it,i cant do it anymore, i think i need to go no contact...its been like this ever since parents divorced at a young age,,i need to break ties,,i just try to be nice to keep the piece ,but im so angry with her all the time...its affecting my anxiety, we spoke this morning, ive done alot of exercise to help it today,but nothing fixes the anxiety and anger,it takes a week to subside then it starts again next time we speak. anyone else in this situation,i dont have anyone else to talk to,i havent spoken to a human person since beginnong of december,thank you