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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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Chris_B Forums etiquette: give support to receive support
  • replies: 0

Hi everyone, particularly any new members who may be reading. From time to time, we get contacted by members who are unhappy that they haven’t received a lot of replies to their posts. Our community champions work very hard to make sure that all newb... View more

Hi everyone, particularly any new members who may be reading. From time to time, we get contacted by members who are unhappy that they haven’t received a lot of replies to their posts. Our community champions work very hard to make sure that all newbies are welcomed when they first post, and we understand that it’s a big step to post for the first time on a forum like this, especially if you aren’t feeling great. It’s important to remember, though, that these forums are a community of real people, just like you, not a one-on-one support environment like going to see your psychologist. To get the best out of being here, one of the best tips we can offer is give support to receive support. Being a good community member means: participating in different threads (not just your own), replying to people who have taken the time to reply to you (even if it’s just to say thank you), and... posting words of emotional support and encouragement when you see others who are hurting and reaching out. You don’t have to feel obliged to solve the problems of others: that’s not what we’re here for. But you can offer empathy and what you’ve learned from your own life experiences, even if it’s just a line or two, eg. “I don't know what to say, but I want to give you my support and tell you I care about what is happening to you and hope life will get better soon.” Try to develop an interest in the journeys of others here on the forums. You may be surprised at how good being an active, caring member here can make you feel. For those of you who have had good experiences giving support here on the forums, please post in this thread here and let us know how it has helped you on your journey.

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Guest_77905965 Anxiety
  • replies: 2

Hi, right now I’m living in Australia. But back in home I’m from India I had an incident back in my country i had carbon monoxide poisoning which lead me all down. this is around in year 2021 january when I open my eyes in hospital I realise that Why... View more

Hi, right now I’m living in Australia. But back in home I’m from India I had an incident back in my country i had carbon monoxide poisoning which lead me all down. this is around in year 2021 january when I open my eyes in hospital I realise that Why I’m in hospital all my family members are around and crying and saying are you Ok. after that I start realising that I had memory issue I started forgetting things even dates, days and minute before things. I had my medicine from that after this in 2023 I came in Australia and here You know so much of struggle stress It makes my life worse . I cry, forget things and some time make mistakes in my work place I even forget the things so I started writing on my calendar That this day I had my this work and that work. please let me know the solution. thank you

Guest_48003732 Work Anxiety and Medication
  • replies: 2

When I think about it, I've always had anxiety. But this year it has spiked and made working very difficult. I am a teacher, and feel like there is no space for mental health conditions. You can't just leave your students for a quick break. You need ... View more

When I think about it, I've always had anxiety. But this year it has spiked and made working very difficult. I am a teacher, and feel like there is no space for mental health conditions. You can't just leave your students for a quick break. You need to show up and put on a facade. Every. Single. Day. Last year I found teaching and my general life very easy and fulfilling. But this year, every day is so hard. I bought a house at the end of last year and am struggling to make ends meet. I've had a lot of sick leave without pay and can't keep doing this. I started taking antidepressants at the beginning of the year and don't feel like they are helping. I am experiencing depression and suicidal thoughts, which I've never had before. I used to love life. Part of me wants to run away, sell my house and live out of the car. But I don't know how I can come back from that. Has anyone else had a similar experience with antidepressants? How do you keep pushing through the discomfort and go to work every day when it makes you physically sick? I can't keep doing this for the rest of my working life.

Chris o Self help group or psychologist
  • replies: 14

Hi everyone, For the last month I have been suffering from panic attacks (maybe anxiety). It is all very new to me and troubling. I have tried breathing techniques ‘smiling minds’ and Dr prescription medication, which is helping. Next step was a psyc... View more

Hi everyone, For the last month I have been suffering from panic attacks (maybe anxiety). It is all very new to me and troubling. I have tried breathing techniques ‘smiling minds’ and Dr prescription medication, which is helping. Next step was a psychologist but none are available right now. So I tried a self help group in my area. It was a very rewarding time and would recommend it. My question, is a self help group a good substitute for a psychologist?

Beaser Feeling Scared Again.
  • replies: 68

Hi and best wishes to everyone. I know that there are people doing it so much harder than me. But i just feel defeated at the moment. Im just so lonely and i miss my ex partner so much and i know i have to move on .I started a new job that i was goin... View more

Hi and best wishes to everyone. I know that there are people doing it so much harder than me. But i just feel defeated at the moment. Im just so lonely and i miss my ex partner so much and i know i have to move on .I started a new job that i was going well at but i couldnt go in on Wednesday and i feel really bad about it. Im sick of fighting this battle and im tired from it. Just how much do i have to go through . Im sorry to be on such a downer but i dont know where to turn to at the moment. If i break it down im lonely and scared.I wish every one a good day . Brett.

K_Ley Struggling
  • replies: 4

Hi, well what a few months it has been. Last Friday was the first anniversary of my sisters passing and although it was difficult, it was nice to be surrounded by family. It did bring up a lot of feelings and emotions though. lots of sadness, anger w... View more

Hi, well what a few months it has been. Last Friday was the first anniversary of my sisters passing and although it was difficult, it was nice to be surrounded by family. It did bring up a lot of feelings and emotions though. lots of sadness, anger why it had to happen at all and I miss her dearly. On top of that work is getting worse by the day, the constant behaviour management all day every day, the copious amounts of reports, data collection and emails, the phone calls to parents, and writing behaviour records. Then there is the everyday prep work to be ready for lessons. It is never ending and it is nothing for me to complete another 4+ hours of work at home each night. So how is my mental health in all of this?? Not great. I feel like I am slowly drowning - the water level is lapping at my chin and soon I won't be able to breathe. I am attending therapy once a week and whilst it helps, its the days in between that are difficult. Some days I just want to stand on a mountain somewhere and just yell and scream until I feel better. And other days I just want to crawl up in a ball and cry my eyes out and wait for the world to pass on by. I am in two minds about returning to my doctor and going back on anti-depressants. I stopped taking them about 6 months ago. Anyway, I should probably try and get some sleep......

Guest_55233920 Worrying at night and cannot sleep
  • replies: 1

Hi allMy first time doing this but wanted help with dealing with night time worries which I cannot switch off and then means I cannot sleep. Any ideas will be welcome.I have a fair amount on my plate like a lot of people including being a carer for 2... View more

Hi allMy first time doing this but wanted help with dealing with night time worries which I cannot switch off and then means I cannot sleep. Any ideas will be welcome.I have a fair amount on my plate like a lot of people including being a carer for 2 family members both of whom I live with and love very much.But still find it all a lot at times and I need to deal with the NDIS which is an ongoing burden which I cannot say is easy.I Have also retired recently after a fulfilling 42 year career so finding that a bit difficult as well.Any how I hope someone can make a helpful comment or idea. Look forward to the discussions.thankyouPat

Guest_36134434 Anxiety
  • replies: 2

my child is having anxiety going School and very emotional,feeling dumb about task assessments.I tried everything but refusing to talk.And I'm on edge all the time overthrowing what's happening to my kid.

my child is having anxiety going School and very emotional,feeling dumb about task assessments.I tried everything but refusing to talk.And I'm on edge all the time overthrowing what's happening to my kid.

Fiatlux Why do some people go out of their way to cause stress and anxiety?
  • replies: 7

Hello to everyone this beautiful Sunday, I have woken up with a stress headache once again, caused by one person who has been vile to deal with. (He is a customer not family) All of last week he was deliberately complaining about absolutely nothing, ... View more

Hello to everyone this beautiful Sunday, I have woken up with a stress headache once again, caused by one person who has been vile to deal with. (He is a customer not family) All of last week he was deliberately complaining about absolutely nothing, being abusive towards me and my staff. He was deliberately causing confusion and mixing up orders to test me and my staff. To test our service. Calling late at night and becoming an absolute nuisance of himself. I mean calling at 10pm on Friday to complain. I was already in bed trying to recover from the harassment I had been subjected to all week. Yesterday I was having an anxiety attack because of not sleeping and this morning, Sunday, Mother’s Day, he started again. The phone calls from different numbers, the messages and videos and voice messages, he sent emails at 11:30pm to stress me out about nothing. A error of his own making. And again calling staff this morning to place an order and then call 30 minutes later to cancel it. Just to create unnecessary work. Why are some people like this? I want to scream every expletive I can think of at him but I have to bite my tongue as he’s threatening to post nasty poor reviews of my service online. Tomorrow, I will be telling him that I can no longer provide with any service as he’s threatening to cancel his account anyway. I want to tell him that I don’t need his business. What is wrong with someone like that? I haven’t cried yet, but I feel like punching a pillow and just imagining it’s his face. I want him to know how much stress he’s caused me to a point of breaking down today. I’m exhausted. Thank you everyone for listening to my rant. Fiatlux 🫶

sb9803 health anxiety and panic attacks
  • replies: 1

Hi! Just putting this all out here to see if anyone can relate because I’m quite stuck and really struggling and nobody close to me understands what I’m going through. I developed health anxiety November last year (7 months ago), I’ve always been sca... View more

Hi! Just putting this all out here to see if anyone can relate because I’m quite stuck and really struggling and nobody close to me understands what I’m going through. I developed health anxiety November last year (7 months ago), I’ve always been scared of death but this is a whole new extreme, i started having panic attacks daily that eventually turned into a 24/7 panic attack that lasted 8 weeks, my mum had a brain aneurysm when i was 6 that burst, i was meant to get a brain scan at 18 because they can be hereditary but i put it off until November and I’m now 20. As soon as i had the scan done is when the panic started, I convinced myself I was about to have a brain aneurysm burst, I wouldn’t leave my room, didn’t sleep, couldn’t eat, could not function for 8 weeks and was stuck in a constant panic. I went to emergency multiple times and had 7 doctors tell me the scan was clear and still I wouldn’t believe them. About a week after I accepted the fact my brain was okay a relative passed from a heart attack, he was in his early 30s (has had major health issues his whole life) this then made me convinced that I was going to have a heart attack, still to this day and it is so debilitating cause once again i can’t sleep or do anything, i don’t go out anymore, i won’t go further than 10mins from my house and won’t even go into shops. It has gotten a lot better than at the start, once again multiple trips to emergency, multiple ECGs and been told countless amounts of times my heart is fine and healthy and i’m also very young still. Now one of my friends went into anaphylaxis from almonds randomly with no previous allergies, now i’m to scared to eat and when i do eat my anxiety convinces me im going into anaphylactic shock I just really need some support or advice because this has gotten so out of control and I just want it to stop

Zeity I'm My Own Worst Enemy
  • replies: 4

First of all, I can acknowledge that I have come a long way since hitting the depths of rock-bottom a few years ago. And this forum helped. I sought therapy, got some life managing tools, turned a corner when I left a toxic job and since then, have e... View more

First of all, I can acknowledge that I have come a long way since hitting the depths of rock-bottom a few years ago. And this forum helped. I sought therapy, got some life managing tools, turned a corner when I left a toxic job and since then, have experienced a healthier mental headspace and over body shape. My problem is....how quick I spring back to hating myself, blaming myself for everything, highlighting my failures and being uncomfortable with any positive validations - I feel dishonest like I'm fooling people. Am I addicted to anxiety? Is the daily effort, to ignore the self critic in my head, for the rest of my life? Because thats too much work. I get acknowledged at work or someone praises me, I list things that I do wrong instead. And I'm such a friggin dweller. Cannot move on from a mistake or a comment I made even though noone is bringing it up and hasn't caused consequences. I can't sleep. I can't function. And I have a great network of family and friends around me but I feel selfish to burden them with I'm not coping with Life. I feel like a failure at everything. I hate myself. I annoy myself. I'm surrounded by a network of supporters but I feel selfish to lean on them. Why cannot I feel joy, be grateful...why is it easier to accept I'm a waste of space, im fooling everyone that I have my shit together .I'm not house proud, don't do enough homecooked dinners, I'm on the phone lost in cyberspace where I can be helpful or liked, instead of cooking and cleaning for the family. I always make a good impression and then I retreat. Like I'm going to give you reasons to not like me. This affects Work. I come in as a social butterfly and then I start second guessing my ability to do the work, start thinking I've disappointed everyone and I just spiral. My Manager said last year "you're not the same person we interviewed". She didn't mean it in a negative way at the time. She was encouraging me to be kinder to myself. I. Have.Not. Let.That.Go. I feel guilty like I started working there on false pretenses. Sometimes I feel like I'm playing so many different roles that when I'm alone I realise the real me is the one I hate the most. Pathetic, lazy, unorganized...I've convinced myself that whatever anyone else sees is an illusion. So that being said what do I need to do to feel better about myself? How do I switch of that inner self critic? And do I just embrace I live with anxiety and whatever tools work, yes, I'm going have to use them every day for the rest of my life? I need the second phase of my life to look different. I don't want to be a burden to myself and others anymore. I want to feel lighter. I want to see the positive and lean into it. Most of all, I just want to be able to say "Oops. Noted. Moving On." I hate living in my head. I hate that I know I have plenty to be grateful for but feel unworthy of it. I hate I didn't pursue my dreams because I wasn't good enough so I seek impossible perfection in everything that I do - deliberately I guess, to remind me I failed to be successful. I hate that I've taken up someone's time reading this rant when they probably have bigger problems than me feeling defeated by Me. All I know it is a horrible feeling to close your eyes and feel nothing but hate and anxiety towards yourself. I've been told I'm a good wife, mum, friend, colleague, relative....instead of feeling joy, I'm devastated that I've duped them somehow. If I'm destined to live like this just please help me with the spiraling? How do I stop the negative cycle in my head from snowballing? I want to sleep. I want to proactive around the home. I want to give Work the hours it requires and switch off and go be present with my family. I want to be more present with my family and friends. I want to feel joy. I want to look around me and everything and everyone that I love is around because I deserve it. That's it, I guess. How do I feel worthy of my life?