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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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Dakota_C How long do your anxiety symptoms last?
  • replies: 3

Hi, I've been struggling with some of the physical symptoms I get from Anxiety for the past two weeks Started off as chest / feeling like heart pain, been to Hospital twice and each time ecg and bloods were okay, even had a chest xray and appeared fi... View more

Hi, I've been struggling with some of the physical symptoms I get from Anxiety for the past two weeks Started off as chest / feeling like heart pain, been to Hospital twice and each time ecg and bloods were okay, even had a chest xray and appeared fine, getting a holter monitor soon as well just to be double safe Now mostly the pains in my chest have gone besides one random shooting one now and then, but for the last 3-4 days Ive been getting random bouts of lightheadedness, headaches, and really strained eyes / pressure behind my eyes, almost as soon as I wakeup, been trying to convince myself its not something else How long do your physical symptoms of anxiety last, and do they change a little bit over time to other areas?

DaffyDuck_ Anxiety??
  • replies: 3

Last few years I've always had trouble with anxiety but for the last maybe around year or 2, I just cannot handle it anymore. Recently I realised how I cannot stay focused in class, I'm always so sick of sitting down in class, I can almost never fini... View more

Last few years I've always had trouble with anxiety but for the last maybe around year or 2, I just cannot handle it anymore. Recently I realised how I cannot stay focused in class, I'm always so sick of sitting down in class, I can almost never finish any homework or tasks I have to do in class. My memory seems like it's getting worse and I'm having trouble remembering a lot of things. It may just be my anxiety, which I'm also not diagnosed so I probs don't even have anxiety but I feel like I'm going insane, I can't do anything and I'm falling behind in class because it's so hard to stay focused and remember everything. I'm starting to get really overwhelmed. I wanna speak to a psychologist but I don't want my parents included in it at all. I went to go see one but they never got back to me after the first meeting. My mum thinks I'm always being silly because of the way I think, and maybe I am and just overthinking it but my school work and at home is driving me insane, I can't tell if I'm faking it for attention(?) Idk, and I'm so sick of feeling so useless in my classes. I'm not sure if I'm being lazy either, because I try to do the work but it's just so hard and all my teachers expect me to know what to do. I just want someone to scan my brain and tell me what's wrong with me and why I'm acting like this. I just want answers because I'm so tired of it. I feel like I'm just in agony when I'm in class.

Ianna How to cheer up myself?
  • replies: 4

I have been suffering in so much academic worries recently due to the start of semester and adapting to new life in Australia living away from my family. I often feel lonely whenever I'm in my room, I feel loss of interest in most of the things, I mi... View more

I have been suffering in so much academic worries recently due to the start of semester and adapting to new life in Australia living away from my family. I often feel lonely whenever I'm in my room, I feel loss of interest in most of the things, I miss home sometimes, my friends, and my hometown. Although I have good friends here around the campus but I still feel a bit hard to stay happy. I can feel deep in my body I'm having so much to worry about, I just can't stop thinking about all the uncertainties that may happen on me. There's certain time of a day I will feel really tired and panic, such sudden anxious emotion just popped out, I can't even control myself not to overthink or stop worrying. There's like nothing that can calm me down, I always feel depressed and my heart rate increases every time anxiety attacking me. I can feel that anxiety is affecting my physical health sometimes. I really wish to be cheerful as before, but seems like I can't. How do you guys cope with anxiety attack?

Ianna What mental health issue am I suffering?
  • replies: 1

I am a University Year 1 student, just started semester for 2 weeks. I have been spending a lot of time studying, I can feel so much burden in my course, I don't feel like I should take any rest since I may fall behind. My situation get worse as day ... View more

I am a University Year 1 student, just started semester for 2 weeks. I have been spending a lot of time studying, I can feel so much burden in my course, I don't feel like I should take any rest since I may fall behind. My situation get worse as day pass, I feel so anxious and panic whenever I started watching lecture videos or revising, I feel like I'm a bit scared of seeing stuff related to my course, I can still feel unhappy even spending time hanging out with friends. I am so severely affected by my mental health and emotion, I have no idea what should I do to cheer myself up, I have lost interest in most of the things and it is somehow affecting my physical health as well. I am an international students new to Australia and have no clue where to seek help. All I want is to stay positive, happy and relax which I knew I have to, but I just can't make any difference. Please help me and give me some advise. Wish everyone can stay HAPPY all the time

StrayDetective OCD subtypes and Pure OCD
  • replies: 10

Hi everyone, this is my first thread so I’m not entirely sure how this usually works but I was just wondering if there is anyone who would like to talk about the lesser known subtypes of OCD? I have HOCD/SOCD but I know there are others. If there is ... View more

Hi everyone, this is my first thread so I’m not entirely sure how this usually works but I was just wondering if there is anyone who would like to talk about the lesser known subtypes of OCD? I have HOCD/SOCD but I know there are others. If there is anyone who has managed to overcome these or would just like to talk about them you are welcome to share because I know how difficult it can be living with OCD

AdamW Anxiety build up - New Job
  • replies: 9

Hi everyone, just wanted to come and share some experiences I’ve been having. Things had generally been going pretty well, about 5 years ago I was diagnosed with panic disorder and generalised anxiety as a result of my employment. I had a well paid g... View more

Hi everyone, just wanted to come and share some experiences I’ve been having. Things had generally been going pretty well, about 5 years ago I was diagnosed with panic disorder and generalised anxiety as a result of my employment. I had a well paid government job. In terms of my work since then I’ve done a variety of casual jobs but limited with what I feel I can take on, both in complexity and hours. I do about 8 hours casual work atm per week in the disability sector. I’d been looking for more hours as financially things can be hard and had a interview for a job last Friday, I was then offered the job Friday afternoon. I was excited and felt like I could be ready for something new where I could use some of my skills from my previous government job. Unfortunately my anxiety has returned heavily over the weekend, I’m only getting 3 hours sleep a night and struggling with my worry and thoughts even though I think the new job would be good, I’m somewhat uncomfortable as I’m heading down a hole I haven’t been in for a while. I feel like I know anxiety well and do believe it helps sometimes to try new things but when I can’t sleep I can’t function and just facing the day seems to much. I’m a single parent also with shared custody. I’ve booked into see my gp and will try get a referral for my psychologist and will try talk it through as I’m not sure I’m in as good a place I thought I was and maybe dealing with trauma from my previous job I just can’t seem to shake. The new job does appeal to me but am worried not sleeping will leave me not able to function and I feel like not accepting the job. Thanks to anyone who has read this, if anyone has any tips that would be appreciated. Regards Adam

starfarmland Professional help for anxiety
  • replies: 3

I wanted to know how long to keep pursuing professional help for anxiety? I started seriously asking for professional help about three years ago. I went to my GP who gave me a list of names of professionals who help with anxiety. I worked my way thro... View more

I wanted to know how long to keep pursuing professional help for anxiety? I started seriously asking for professional help about three years ago. I went to my GP who gave me a list of names of professionals who help with anxiety. I worked my way through the list until I found one who was accepting new clients. He was a psychiatrist with a six month waitlist. I waited for the appointment and committed fully to the process. I wrote everything down I wanted to say and even accepted it would cost a lot of money. At the end of the session, he diagnosed me with autism. This was unexpected but made sense. He told me there was not anything "wrong" with me but I was living in a world that was not suited to me. I left feeling better about myself but only temporarily. The problem was he never actually treated the anxiety. I started to feel bad again and returned to my GP. He actually made me feel awful about the diagnosis saying things like I was only "a little bit autistic". I decided to pursue a formal diagnosis. This had about a nine month waitlist and the process was completed over three months. It ended with a clinical diagnosis which I was able to use to apply for NDIS. I waited another few months to be accepted and was then asked to complete a functional assessment. I waited four months for the appointment which took place over three weeks. I am now waiting for them to get back to me. Part of me knows this is the process of getting help. Yet another part of me knows that during the last three years, no-one has actually helped me with anxiety. I barely leave the house anymore and have constant anxiety attacks because of the noise from my neighbours. I put myself on a waitlist for a psychiatrist but have just been told it will be a few months before someone even decides to accept the referral. This will involve someone writing a report for the psychiatrists. I know I need help but I am beginning to wonder if there is any point continuing down this road of endless report writing. I am tired of explaining the same thing over and over again without getting anything in return. Is it worth it in the end?

Angstylotl Long-held inner judge belief
  • replies: 1

Hello, I am an only child, which I feel fuelled bring a perfectionist and socially distant person (but simultaneously desperately wanting to be loved by anyone other than my family) my whole life. These were things I once accepted as just me, but in ... View more

Hello, I am an only child, which I feel fuelled bring a perfectionist and socially distant person (but simultaneously desperately wanting to be loved by anyone other than my family) my whole life. These were things I once accepted as just me, but in recent years I have seen iterations of those beliefs at the core of my anxiety and depression, which I have only just begun to name as such. For the past few months I have begun having anxious pangs - feeling sick and dizzy with a hollow chest - and so I have been trying to use writing to calm me down and view my inner judge’s beliefs and combat them with my actual ones. This morning I have written down, “You’re a monster for not even remembering or having feelings for the people that love you.” This feeling was triggered by my mother telling me about a nanny I had who she said loved me so much - and I can’t remember her, so all I could do was nod. After that came the pang, and flashes in my mind of other people in my life who I want to have feelings towards but feel empty, or at least less than they seem to feel. Upon writing down the above I realised how long I had been carrying this judgement (as long as I can remember), and now I guess I want to do something with it? Wondering if others have felt this way for their whole lives and how they turned things around, as I feel this is destroying my relationship with my partner, or at least my ability to see clearly or assess the state of my relationship. Thanks!

fenizz Seeking advice - Speech anxiety
  • replies: 4

Hi there, I'm a high school senior and one of my school subjects requires me to do a speech in 3 months time and I guess its a long way to go but speaking in front of the class makes me feel incredibly anxious, my heart starts pounding like crazy eve... View more

Hi there, I'm a high school senior and one of my school subjects requires me to do a speech in 3 months time and I guess its a long way to go but speaking in front of the class makes me feel incredibly anxious, my heart starts pounding like crazy even if I try to calm my self down with deep breaths and also because of my anxiety, my voice tends to shake or sound as if i'm warbling when I speak and my body feels jittery all over, especially my hands. It just makes me feel bad about myself as everyone else seems to do fine when delivering their speeches. I'm not that shy, but i'm introverted and often try to answer questions in class (only when we're all seated though) but for example, when we read a novel around the class or something similar, I get so anxious and I try to breathe in and out and say some affirmations in my head but as my turn nears, my anxiety just comes back even stronger and then I think of going to the bathroom to skip my turn although I don't like doing that because I know I need to face it instead of avoiding it but it still doesn't get better no matter how many times we read or do presentations. So I thought you guys may have some solutions to my issue so I can do my future presentations with ease. Also, not sure if this is relevant or not, but i've never been bullied or publicly humiliated or anything of the sort if that helps. And i've been like this since as long as I can remember, so from childhood I suppose. Thanks!

BballJ Health Anxiety Ruining Me
  • replies: 6

Hi all, Been a while since I have been on the forums but I just needed to talk - my health anxiety has completely taken over my life, I have recently just had my girlfriend break up with me due to how stressed I have been these past few months with h... View more

Hi all, Been a while since I have been on the forums but I just needed to talk - my health anxiety has completely taken over my life, I have recently just had my girlfriend break up with me due to how stressed I have been these past few months with health related anxiety, I have had countless doctors trips, constantly seeking different doctors to get re-confirmation that I am ok, I have had numerous tests done and still the second I feel a little symptom, it flares right back up and I cannot focus. I was working just last night until late on my computer and my arm and leg was really itchy, i was scratching quite hard, I then looked down at my arm and it was yellow like a big bruise, I freaked out thinking it was something like jaundice as I have had liver problems before. I went and saw my doctor this morning who told me it was not jaundice. I am in a severe state of stress and anxiety and have been for the last 3-4 months and I am just not myself. Which has led to my relationship now ending due to my anxiety and stress. I have never had this happen before but it is an eye opener and I know I need help. I just want to know how others have dealt with health anxiety and looking for constant reassurance because I just feel there will be no end to this and I can't keep going on like this as my life is becoming not enjoyable. Thanks for your time. My best, Jay