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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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Sara88 Heart Anxiety
  • replies: 16

Hi,I am looking for support with my heart/cardiac anxiety issues. I am 34 and this started a few years back, i started having sharp chest pains and heart palpitations. It started one night when i was falling asleep and this weird feeling woke me up a... View more

Hi,I am looking for support with my heart/cardiac anxiety issues. I am 34 and this started a few years back, i started having sharp chest pains and heart palpitations. It started one night when i was falling asleep and this weird feeling woke me up and i was terrified and panicked that my heart felt weird, shrugged it off for a while and tried to ignore it and go back to sleep but this kept coming and going for weeks/months.. This led to feelings of numbness and tingling in my arms etc and chest pains and then anxiety wondering if it was my heart. I couldn't work out if it was my anxiety triggering the symptoms or the symptoms triggering my anxiety. i ended up going to hospital. they did bloods/ecg and i had an MRI and a heart monitor for 24hrs and went to a cardiac doctor.They all basically said that it was nothing to do with my heart and everything came back normal. The cardiac doctor laughed and said there is no way it could be my heart at my age and to stop worrying about it (i also have no risk factors at all, no family history, normal weight, no diabetes, no smoking, barely drink) After this reassurance i convinced myself it was just anxiety and gradually it became non existant for a few years. Well this last 6 months i've had it again out of nowhere... it comes and goes.. it started waking me at night when id start to fall asleep this weird feeling.. and id panic it was my heart again. Then the little chest pains would start up and the anxiety would follow and id start googling and everything says heart attack symptoms. So then every little symptom id start to worry again.I have been back to the doctor a month ago who listened to my heart and did an ecg and came back normal again (but these ecgs are always done when im not experiening the pain or palpitations at that time)So i dont know if its the anxiety creeping up again and just creating these symptoms. I try to keep calm and tell myself to stop worrying because if i start worrying the symptoms get worse. Does anyone have similar? I do things to take my mind off it and it does work sometimes but other times it doesn't and i feel something is wrong and im going to die eventually from heart attack or something. Has anyone had these symptoms and it actually be heart related or is it just the anxiety creating the physical symptoms? Any words of advice would be appreciated

Meladjusted Pain, anxiety and healing
  • replies: 3

I hurt my lumbar/SI joint 4 weeks ago. It's improving so slowly I can't work, I can't sleep and I am exhausted. I just don't know what to do. I should be healed by now, or at least able to push through it. I feel so useless. I wonder how much is my b... View more

I hurt my lumbar/SI joint 4 weeks ago. It's improving so slowly I can't work, I can't sleep and I am exhausted. I just don't know what to do. I should be healed by now, or at least able to push through it. I feel so useless. I wonder how much is my brain protecting me and how much is physiological pain and why can't I get my brain to stop being so stupid.

Bellalilly Weight loss surgery and the Mind Body connection
  • replies: 2

Hi allI've recently had gastric bypass surgery after many years of research and trying the natural way of diet and exercise. I'm 54 now and wish I had done it sooner as I find it hard to breathe therefore exercise is hard. Mobility is hard. Everythin... View more

Hi allI've recently had gastric bypass surgery after many years of research and trying the natural way of diet and exercise. I'm 54 now and wish I had done it sooner as I find it hard to breathe therefore exercise is hard. Mobility is hard. Everything is hard. From the moment I get up to the minute I lay down at night. My depression and anxiety stems a lot from being made too responsible for too much from a young age through till now - caring for everyone else at the expense of myself like a martyr. I'm the middle child of seven and never felt loved or valued by my family except for what I could do for them. I then transferred this self-worth to my professional and social life resulting in DV in the workplace, doing all the hard stuff and getting none of the credit. No promotions, underpaid and taken advantage of. I never realised how bad depression could be AFTER weight loss surgery. I didn't expect to be thin straight away and I already had anxiety depression before the surgery for the last 30 years so knew it would be hard. I don't know what this Mind Body connection is and it's scary. BUT I'm on the journey to discover what it means to me and my health. Anyone else can relate?

Lisa_18 Scared and so unwell
  • replies: 3

Hello, I am in a really low spot. I have bipolar, depression PTSD, anxiety. Now i look back on things I think i have been out of control for the last couple of months. I have spent all our money, i have got secret credit cards my husband doesnt know ... View more

Hello, I am in a really low spot. I have bipolar, depression PTSD, anxiety. Now i look back on things I think i have been out of control for the last couple of months. I have spent all our money, i have got secret credit cards my husband doesnt know and maxed them all out and we have no money. I feel awful but i started joining dating apps and have been meeting up with people for casual sex. I normally dont have a big sex drive but the last month I cant stop thinking about it. I feel like im addicted to the apps. I keep deleting them and then install them again. I know I am being very unsafe. I also purchased some pain relief medication from someone which is opiod based and now i can not stop taking them. If i dont have one every few hours i feel horrible and start sweating. my life is crazy, my husband doesnt know and im to scared to tell him.

Guest_26450707 anxious/depressive episode
  • replies: 6

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.

Hylo46 OCD intrusive thoughts worse on SSRI
  • replies: 21

Hi there, day 6 on SSRI (meds) and my intrusive thoughts are more prevelant and nastier - keep thinking I will act on the them due to the thoughts - anyone out there have a similar fear?

Hi there, day 6 on SSRI (meds) and my intrusive thoughts are more prevelant and nastier - keep thinking I will act on the them due to the thoughts - anyone out there have a similar fear?

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.

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?

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.

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