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.

All discussions

Frogga Smart watches and anxiety
  • replies: 6

Hi all, Curious if this has happened to anyone else?... Always been a stress head but haven't had a panic attack for years 2 weeks ago feeling fine, feeling a bit proud I have stuck to healthy eating and trying for 3 workouts a week before I get to o... View more

Hi all, Curious if this has happened to anyone else?... Always been a stress head but haven't had a panic attack for years 2 weeks ago feeling fine, feeling a bit proud I have stuck to healthy eating and trying for 3 workouts a week before I get to old to start.. My husband and I buy smart watches and I test mine out With a workout, take note of heart rates..fine Next day at work check heart rate and its low then high And I panic, check again and again and decide must have something Wrong and end up at emergency thinking I had a heart attack. All clear but they think I had a panic attack and now I'm too scared To work out in case I do have a heart attack and I have tried not to look At my heart rate.. damn it all.. now I feel useless as I'm going To go backwards health and fitness wise.

cleo122 Anxiety and Alcohol
  • replies: 1

Hi, Wondering if anyone can relate to me. About 12 months ago my father passed and I was with him for 3 months, I was heartbroken. My private doctor put me on SSRI for the first time in my life and they worked very well. However I noticed I had a gre... View more

Hi, Wondering if anyone can relate to me. About 12 months ago my father passed and I was with him for 3 months, I was heartbroken. My private doctor put me on SSRI for the first time in my life and they worked very well. However I noticed I had a greater urge to drink. I drank daily due to the grief and other things. This went on and on until lately I just started nudging a 3rd bottle and mind you I woke with no hangover which is why I could back it up (which isn't me normally). I had a big weekend and decided not to drink monday night, instead I woke to having the sweats, bad dreams and headache. I just knew i was having alcohol withdrawls, it freaked me out. I haven't drunk for 4 days now and don't have an urge as I have become aware of this link and also that I was headed for trouble. Anyway experienced this on SSRI and alcohol and did I have withdrawls? Thanks in advance.

adz2332 Drinking and Anxiety
  • replies: 7

Hi all, I currently take SSRI medication for my anxiety and depression. Since going on it a few years ago it has been great and ive had great results. Im in my mid 30s My only problem is when i drink the next days are horrific. ive read its normally ... View more

Hi all, I currently take SSRI medication for my anxiety and depression. Since going on it a few years ago it has been great and ive had great results. Im in my mid 30s My only problem is when i drink the next days are horrific. ive read its normally 24 hours where things can go bad, but mine last (all be it the effects get less and less) for around 3 or so days. I rarely drink now if at all , for these reasons. But sometimes one thing leads to another and now even a couple gets me the same way as if i had a big night. The obvious is to not drink, and thats what i try to do. But its just very hard some times when your caught up in the moment and having fun. Just really struggling with it and why it happens and for so long.

chociloni I think I might have OCD
  • replies: 16

It has always been said that I have anxiety (earlier in life I was diagnosed with having an anxiety disorder). However as I am getting older I find I am having these funny control patterns. I need to plan order of events, times / dates...and need to ... View more

It has always been said that I have anxiety (earlier in life I was diagnosed with having an anxiety disorder). However as I am getting older I find I am having these funny control patterns. I need to plan order of events, times / dates...and need to do things straight away as soon as I think of them. Eg, if I am at work and find I need to make a call about something I want to organise I become anxious if I can't do it straight away, and have this feeling I am going to miss out on the only opportunity to make this call. I do silly things like having to check that my front door is locked properly 3 times before I leave the house, even when I can see I locked it properly. I worry that randomly the oven has been left on when it clearly hasn't. I also need to check my car door a few times to see if it's locked properly when I can see the first time it's locked. I fear if I don't do these checking things there will be some kind of 'explosion' or catastrophe. I also often randomly worry that I will lose my job or my lease will be ended abruptly for no reason. For example I fear strange things like if my lease runs out, before it's renewed in that short interim period I will lose my job and become destitute. Like if I lose one thing, all of the rest of my life will come crushing down - like something is punishing me. I also now struggle with driving on the freeway, the merging of changing lanes overwhelms me and at times I've felt I'm bordering on having a panic attack. 5 years ago this never happened to me. Having said all of this this stuff doesn't take over my whole life, I still get by and can work through this stuff, I just find it really odd. This funny control stuff is probably about 10% of my life. I currently see a psychologist, however I don't feel she is the right fit for this kindof stuff. Is this more the kindof thing you'd see a psychiatrist for? Looking for help and answers. I find it very difficult to just move with the flow of life.

TB83 Anxious & lost
  • replies: 10

Hi there, I’ve suffered anxiety all of my life, but the past month it has gotten out of control. I have seen my dr and my meds increased and am seeing a psychologist. Sometimes I just need to hear it from people that know what it feels like, that I w... View more

Hi there, I’ve suffered anxiety all of my life, but the past month it has gotten out of control. I have seen my dr and my meds increased and am seeing a psychologist. Sometimes I just need to hear it from people that know what it feels like, that I will get through this, and I will feel myself again. It’s not always easy to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Will I get through this? Will I be ok again? I really need hope that life will be sunny once again. Thank you

chriscollected Just wanting to reach out to like-minded people
  • replies: 4

Hey guys. A recent member that’s decided to make the jump to join the beyondblue forums about just venting about things that i’ve been building up for far too long. I apologise but I guess this was more of a call-out for any likeminded people that ar... View more

Hey guys. A recent member that’s decided to make the jump to join the beyondblue forums about just venting about things that i’ve been building up for far too long. I apologise but I guess this was more of a call-out for any likeminded people that are in a similar mindset or maybe anyone that’s been through a similar situation and can provide some insights to build a more positive mentality. Over the course of about 6-12 months, i’ve begun to feel lost and lonely throughout my daily life. My partner is living a great life, great job, has a vast range of supportive and humble friends that all love her dearly. She’s been streaming on Twitch for 6 months beginning during the peak of the covid pandemic. To relieve stress and anxiety. I respect what she’s done and has been doing a great job with it. After a few months, I decided to make the decision to follow in the same path with streaming. This was the start of feeling sad and alone all the time. I wanted to reach out to people and place myself on an online platform where I knew I wouldn’t feel as alone as I were. Doing this though had caused multiple panic attacks with my anxiety flaring up about being on camera, speaking out loud and “performing” for viewers. I started to feel as though if streaming were to cause more anxiety with little to no increase in feeling less alone, I decided to pull the plug and end it. I tried to take the plunge and join my partners circle of streaming friends to bond and connect with new people. Coming out of my comfort zone with new people is a really hard thing for me, yet I’ve felt nothing but resistance and that the group would have little to no care if I just decided to disappear. Though streaming is still something I want to push through... I’m now stuck in a rut where my self-confidence and self-esteem is at an all time low and my anxiety, stress and loneliness is at it’s peak. It’s beginning to make every day become a blur and a waste. It really makes me question what am I actually achieving for myself right now? I just don’t like where my headspace is and wanted to reach out to anyone/anything before it got worse. If anyone reads this. Thank you.

Fredrik How to relax?
  • replies: 6

After losing a family member a few years ago to suicide, anxiety became a regular and increasing companion. This combined with the extensive bullying I endured throughout my schooling led to being diagnosed with PTSD. This year has been particularly ... View more

After losing a family member a few years ago to suicide, anxiety became a regular and increasing companion. This combined with the extensive bullying I endured throughout my schooling led to being diagnosed with PTSD. This year has been particularly difficult following or being sent home to work in March. I think anxiety came to play and I had so much more time to think about things that’d happened, including several times now it has been implied at work I might be gay. This, plus other things that have occurred, have taken me back to all I endured growing up and caused several breakdowns. The pain it has caused has certainly left me feeling depressed, excluded and wanting to be anywhere but there though needing to pay bills having no choice. I do want to be rid to this anxiousness and be able to relax, how to achieve lasting rather than temporary though?

user981 Stomach feels sick
  • replies: 3

Every morning I wake up early and my stomach just feels sick. It is the worst in the morning and then through the day it can get a little better and then get worse again. This feeling in my stomach makes me struggle to eat and I feel like throwing up... View more

Every morning I wake up early and my stomach just feels sick. It is the worst in the morning and then through the day it can get a little better and then get worse again. This feeling in my stomach makes me struggle to eat and I feel like throwing up sometimes. I think the main cause is from a person that has caused me to feel this way. At times it gets so bad to the point where I actually throw up. Is there anyway I could treat this and calm my stomach?

Anonymousx_ I quit my job because of anxiety
  • replies: 3

Recently I just graduated high school and I have been having really bad anxiety and panic attacks. I also recently have gotten a new job. Nothing out of the ordinary I have done the work before. Last week I had a panic attack at work. I didn’t want t... View more

Recently I just graduated high school and I have been having really bad anxiety and panic attacks. I also recently have gotten a new job. Nothing out of the ordinary I have done the work before. Last week I had a panic attack at work. I didn’t want to say anything about it so I just told them I was sick and went home. Now I’m afraid that I’m going to have another panic attack while at work. I’ve also always have had a fear of fainting which tonight has lead to an anxiety attack because I’m worried about overheating, at work because right now we are in a heatwave. I also don’t do well with heat. My workplace also includes a kitchen which is constantly hot. Due to all this I’ve stressed myself out so much to a breakdown and because of my worry’s of both having another panic attack and fainting I have just quit my job. I feel so bad! I haven’t told anyone and I know my parents will be disappointed. I was just so upset and I wanted the anxiety to stop. Now I don’t know what to do. I feel like an idiot. It’s not normal for me to suddenly quit my job. I just feel lost. I’m now scared about working and finding anew job. Because of this fear I’ve now fallen down a hole of looking for jobs to work from home, which is really hard when your only 18. I feel like I need to see a psychiatrist but I don’t want to have my parents pay money for that. Again with not having a job and now out of high school, I’m going to need to earn money. I just want my fear, anxiety and these attacks to stop.

Reenie93 I’m to anxious to apply for a graduate job in my field.
  • replies: 7

Hello, I am wondering if anyone has any tips or advice to overcome the anxiety I am experiencing. To explain it I need to explain a bit of a back story first. I graduated from uni in 2017 as a primary school teacher. Throughout my degree I had many p... View more

Hello, I am wondering if anyone has any tips or advice to overcome the anxiety I am experiencing. To explain it I need to explain a bit of a back story first. I graduated from uni in 2017 as a primary school teacher. Throughout my degree I had many placements which I enjoyed and all went really well. I got a lot of positive feedback from both mentor teachers and other school staff members. In my internship, in my final semester I had a horrible time. My mentor was extremely harsh and I really struggled dealing with the stress of it all. I put a lot of pressure on myself to be ‘perfect’ because I wanted top marks (like all my previous placements) and I couldn’t understand why I was getting the level of negative feedback that I was receiving. The stress was so bad I ended up getting sick with an extreme case of shingles (at the age of 24) and spent time in hospital because of it. Anyway, after a long 6 weeks I finished and finalised all my papers so I could graduate with one thought in my mind...never do I ever want to teach again! My confidence has been completely shattered and I was no longer sure of anything other than I never wanted to go through those feelings again. So I took a job as an Coordinator at a before and after school care centre. So I still get to use my degree to some extent. I thought I’ll do this and try and figure out what I’m going to do next (should I go and study something else, look at a new field etc). Three years later and nothing has come to me, there hasn’t been anything really that I’ve thought ‘oh yep I really want to do that’. I do want to change as I feel I can not grow any further in my current job both professionally and financially. So recently I have thought about teaching and how I should just go and do what I studied to do. The problem is nothing scares me more. I can’t even bring myself to re register myself as a teacher without being brought to tears and panic. I worry so much that because I didn’t go straight into my field after study that I won’t know anything and I will be no good. I worry that I’ve forgotten how horrible I felt in my internship and I could just be putting myself back into a similar situation. Others have told me to begin with relief work and work myself up to it. But I just don’t know what scenario I could be walking into each day and if I’d be able to do a good job or not. The whole thing just makes me feel like it’s too much and it will end badly so you I just don’t bother. Any advice?