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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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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?

JemJo Not sure if I'm posting in the right place
  • replies: 3

Hi everyone, I'm new here. I have been diagnosed with generalised anxiety, social anxiety, and depression. Typing out these words make my blood boil. I've recently had my depression/anxiety symptoms flare up and I'm trying to get help. I've already d... View more

Hi everyone, I'm new here. I have been diagnosed with generalised anxiety, social anxiety, and depression. Typing out these words make my blood boil. I've recently had my depression/anxiety symptoms flare up and I'm trying to get help. I've already done a ton of research on the internet but I feel like I have a long way to go. I've tried talking to strangers online. I've contacted BeyondBlue and I've made an appointment to see a GP. Does anyone else feel exhausted by dealing with their mental health issues? It's like looking after a sick person on top of everything else that you have to do, only that sick person is yourself.

opuses Strange symptoms. Told it's anxiety but am terrified!
  • replies: 33

Hello, and thankyou all for reading. This is my first post here. I'm at the point of desperate to be reaching out like this. I keep being told by my GP its anxiety but my problem right now is health anxiety so being told to just relax doesn't help. I... View more

Hello, and thankyou all for reading. This is my first post here. I'm at the point of desperate to be reaching out like this. I keep being told by my GP its anxiety but my problem right now is health anxiety so being told to just relax doesn't help. It started a few months ago when I felt a cold spot on my cheek near my ear every day and it freaked me out. It lasted a month and has now been a few weeks since it's gone but in its place I have something worse. The top of my head has cold sensations like someone has put an ice pack on it. The last few days it has also turned to burning and that one can actually hurt a bit. I feel it more when I sit down and if I stand or have a shower or cry like a baby it goes away until I stop again. It really distresses me and only fuels my fear of a tumor or MS. My GP won't send me for a scan as they think nothing is wrong. But something is very wrong when you don't go to work anymore out of fear over what's happening. My GP did prescribe me anxiety medication and I was afraid to take one but I did and 4 hours later I started to feel disconnected, smelled a bushfire but nothing was burning and saw two people walk into my backyard (which I'm not sure happened or not as yet as we do have gardeners that come). But it was odd it all happened at the same time and this sent me into a panic attack and I ended up at the ER. I stopped taking it as anymore physical symptoms, even if normal to the medication, will give me attacks. Right now I am feeling the burning on my head but it's a bit to the right side tonight and along with it I've started feeling the tightness, the tension headache thing. I am terrified that it's a tumor or MS. I might stop doing that for now too. Anyway, am wondering if anyone has experienced these head sensations with anxiety? I find it hard to believe it is anxiety, but I will be the first to admit the last two years for me have been hell emotionally. I also feel like I'm starting to lose my mind, not knowing what's real or not anymore. I read that's common for anxiety but really??? Can someone actually 'lose' it? Like lose your awareness and intellect? That's what it feels like sometimes and now I just break down crying like a baby. It doesn't help that I am totally alone. No family and no friends as such that I can call at a moments notice or stay with me. I only have work acquaintances, so am battling this by myself and I feel it's only getting worse...

Kate17 Anxiety and children
  • replies: 8

Hi, This is the first time I have posted and I feel like it shouldn't be a big issue but I just am not dealing with my children being left out of things. I live in a farming area (which I did not grow up in so am already not in the COOL club). I'm fo... View more

Hi, This is the first time I have posted and I feel like it shouldn't be a big issue but I just am not dealing with my children being left out of things. I live in a farming area (which I did not grow up in so am already not in the COOL club). I'm for most of the time ok being an outsider, even though I rely heavily on friendships (which I basically have none here) but now my children are beinging left out of things such as parties and play dates. I know I, as well as my children are good people we just didn't grow up here and aren't cool enough. The only way I can move is by leaving my husband and at the moment I feel like that might be the only way so my children don't feel as lonely as myself. There isn't much I can change about the situation I just feel like talking to someone

Eyeanxiety Intense visual disturbances - Anxiety?
  • replies: 10

So the past 3 and a half months my vision is seeming to play up quite a lot; distorted vision, blurred, more sensitive to light, tunnel like vision, and visual snow- these on top of what I believe I have known as scotomas. These visual disturbances f... View more

So the past 3 and a half months my vision is seeming to play up quite a lot; distorted vision, blurred, more sensitive to light, tunnel like vision, and visual snow- these on top of what I believe I have known as scotomas. These visual disturbances first happened during a very stressful period where the family dog almost died from a spinal injury and uni exams, mostly one of the class which I needed to repeat. It has been coming in waves ever since then and seems to get a little worse every now and then. I've seen an optometrist, ophthalmologist, go, and recently a neurologist and all say my eyes are structurally healthy but neurologist wrote me a referral for a MRI and Optic field test and wrote in his clinical notes that is a chance of scotomas, anterior optic dysfunction, or retrobulbar/chiasmal lesions in the brain. I've had the MRI though I assume nothing serious was found as no one has contacted me but I want answers for what seems like my declining vision but I'm getting nothing and it's making me more anxious because it's something that can possibly be treated but will possibly become permanent if needed to wait longer.

jmc2 Being told i have anxiety
  • replies: 2

Hi Guys, Looking to see if anyone has had the same or a similar experience to me. In January this year i had what was apparent to be a couple of panic attacks which really threw me. I have never experienced anxiety before and had no idea what was hap... View more

Hi Guys, Looking to see if anyone has had the same or a similar experience to me. In January this year i had what was apparent to be a couple of panic attacks which really threw me. I have never experienced anxiety before and had no idea what was happening to me. I didnt feel anxious, didnt feel as though i was particularly worried or depressed about anything, and this all just came out of the blue, almost like a brain malfunction. After the first attacks, i had extensive testing on everything- heart, MRI, blood tests, neurologist visits, opthamologist, 3 x different GP's etc, all showing that i was perfectly healthy. Everywhere i go i get the same answer which is being told i have an anxiety disorder. Since the initial attacks and being told that i have anxiety, my fear of not knowing what was happening to me has gone away and i no longer have full 'attacks', but it seems now that i have intermittent stages of my symptoms, which ill explain below, that will hang around for a month or so and then completely leave me for a month where i feel 100% When i am in a bad state i cannot place thoughts together. I can't do my work at my job, I feel pressure in my head and feel my breathing become inconsistent, sometimes shallow and short of breath. Lately i have also began to get headaches. There is never a moment or issue that triggers this, i will just wake up one morning feeling fine, then by lunch time get the feeling. It will then hang around for weeks on end and like i said, go away over another month for no apparent reason. I have been put on three different types of anti depressants to try to combat this but all have been ineffective or made me feel worse. Anyone with any help would be greatly appreciated.

no_job_no_money Very very lost in life
  • replies: 4

Hi everyone. I am new to the forum and just want to say my story out. I have been working in my last job for three years. Last week I got terminated from the job because of misconduct. I really regret of what I did, but I don’t think I deserve to be ... View more

Hi everyone. I am new to the forum and just want to say my story out. I have been working in my last job for three years. Last week I got terminated from the job because of misconduct. I really regret of what I did, but I don’t think I deserve to be terminated. Detail of this story is confidential but all that happened was I used the transactions from the store to make some financial benefit from another organisation but I didn’t get any benefit from the store itself. HR advisor called that stealing. I would not have done it if I knew the result of this. I just couldn’t stop thinking about the word stealing even though I know I was not. I am also worry what if anyone else finds out and think I am a “theft”?! Talking about my job and life, I studied a degree in uni (totally not related to retail). I started working as a casual when I was in uni and continued the job as full time after I graduated. I don’t even know what I learnt in uni and feel like wasted many years doing nothing. Now I am trying to look for a new job and every job I look at, I feel that I have no skills that can match. When I look at the options to take traineeship, I see the requirement of “no completion of higher qualification is accepted”, and I just felt worse about the choices I made in the past, why did I even take a degree and why did I wasted so many years in my last job?? And I am still lost and don’t know what type of job i want to or I can do. All my friends got a job in the area they studied, I just think I am so useless. I am from a single family, my mother is such a great mother, she supports everything I do. The more she supports me the more guilty I feel. She spent all these years growing me up and I can’t even earn the money to pay her back or make her feel proud of me. Her friends’ children all got a nice job and able to support the family, but for me, she can’t even say my occupation out loudly to her friends because I only worked in retail. (She still loves me.) I don’t know what I am trying to express here but just want to say this out somewhere. Sorry if these is any grammar mistakes or any sentences not making sense, as you can probably tell my English isn’t that good either. Nothing in my life is good.

bill12345 Anxiety Sore throat
  • replies: 4

Hi, I’ve just graduated high school and am going away for a schoolies weekend trip away tomorrow with my friends and girlfriend to celebrate. I have been diagnosed with mild anxiety and OCD for the last 3 years and due to this, this past week i’ve be... View more

Hi, I’ve just graduated high school and am going away for a schoolies weekend trip away tomorrow with my friends and girlfriend to celebrate. I have been diagnosed with mild anxiety and OCD for the last 3 years and due to this, this past week i’ve been really worried about getting sick because i didn’t want anything to ruin my big weekend. I was washing my hands frequently and always thinking about germs and stuff and a few days ago i started getting weird sensations in my throat which moved onto it being sore and feel weird when i swallow. I am now leaving tomorrow and i’ve been so worried these last couple of days as i can’t work out if i have a throat infection cause it’s the only symptom i have or if this is caused by my health anxiety. I feel filled with anger as i did everything to avoid this and now i seem suspicious that as my throat is sore, that is is caused by my anxiety. The last couple of days i have taken pain relief, strepsils and gargled salt water non stop to hopefully get rid of it but it is still here which is why i don’t understand if i’m sick or it’s anxiety. I so badly just want to forget about it and have a hood weekend but know cause i’ve looked online and researched i worry that i won’t be able to kiss my girlfriend due to my throat and i’ll be constantly thinking about it but i don’t even know if i’m sick. I focus on every swallow now and check if the pain is still there and i can’t get it out of my head, i looked in my throat and saw some lumps but i don’t know if there usually there and then my mind connects with the internet and feels me i’ve got an infection but i just want to enjoy my time away with my gf as mush as i can. I feel like the roof of my mouth is being just constantly pushed and my throat still hurts a bit when i swallow but i just don’t know if it’s anxiety or not. I also have bad allergies so it could be from that but the uncertainty is killing me, sorry for the long post, does anyone else get sore throats from anxiety