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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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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. Remeber, this is anonymous and the Beyond Blue team are here to help if you need it This section is for people who are experiencing anixiety 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 you 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 worthile 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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mocha delight Anxiety
  • replies: 1

Hi I’ve not been officially diagnosed with anything yet but my psychologist mentioned that it seems like I have both GAD & social anxiety so far other then depression (which she agrees with my gp that I have it). So last night I googled both and afte... View more

Hi I’ve not been officially diagnosed with anything yet but my psychologist mentioned that it seems like I have both GAD & social anxiety so far other then depression (which she agrees with my gp that I have it). So last night I googled both and after reading multiple websites about it I’ve come to realise it all makes sense to me now. So even if I got what I call a soft diagnosis right now I kind of feel better just knowing what I’m dealing with rather than not knowing.

Amy115 Anxiety has been ruling over my entire relationship
  • replies: 3

Hello to anyone who reads, my anxiety has been something that's been affecting my life for a solid 4 years now. Just over a year ago I got into a relationship with a boy who I truly love with all my heart. He has made my very happy and in times when ... View more

Hello to anyone who reads, my anxiety has been something that's been affecting my life for a solid 4 years now. Just over a year ago I got into a relationship with a boy who I truly love with all my heart. He has made my very happy and in times when I feel unsafe I can always rely on him to make me feel okay again. However my problem is that while he has made my life better, my anxiety chose him to focus all my anxieties on. Literally throughout our entire relationship I have been anxious about one thing or another and it's driving me insane. Right now my main focus is on my sexuality. Although I know questions like that are normal, the way my brain goes about it is not. My entire life I have been attracted to males however now my brain is making me question if I ever even liked them at all (all whilst I absolutely love my boyfriend??). I feel like I'm going crazy and all of a sudden I can't even have sex without thinking oh would I actually prefer to do this with a woman? I'm predicting my brain is just doing its usual "what ifs" to try and scare me out of this relationship but I absolutely don't know what to do about it and I just want these thoughts to go away so I can live in the present like I want to. Sorry for this long post I just desperately need help, I don't want to live my whole life filled with these insecurities and worries.

peacock On sick leave again
  • replies: 42

I had a week off work on sick leave due to depression. I came back to work for a week and felt great. Then I had a tough time again mentally and am now on another week of sick leave. Feel guilty not being at work and wondering what people think of me... View more

I had a week off work on sick leave due to depression. I came back to work for a week and felt great. Then I had a tough time again mentally and am now on another week of sick leave. Feel guilty not being at work and wondering what people think of me. Has anyone else experience this and how did you cope? I do feel my company has a very good policy about mental health in the workplace though.

Turquoise123 Social anxiety
  • replies: 8

Hi, I feel like my social anxiety is getting out of control and really affecting my life. And I'm so scared that I'm going to feel like this for life. It's gotten worse with lockdown restrictions easing. Me and my partner have been meeting his friend... View more

Hi, I feel like my social anxiety is getting out of control and really affecting my life. And I'm so scared that I'm going to feel like this for life. It's gotten worse with lockdown restrictions easing. Me and my partner have been meeting his friends and although they're all nice, I just can't relax and enjoy myself. I feel like I look anxious and then I panic because I haven't said anything for a while and I just feel like I'm going to be known as the boring one. It's so frustrating because I have a bubbly personality, I just find it impossible to show in a group setting with new people. It's making me dread the weekends because I know we'll be seeing people. I actually find it easier meeting strangers for example rather than with my partner and his friends because I feel so embarrassed him seeing me like that. I think I've come to a point where I know I should go to therapy, but I'm so scared that it won't work and that's my last hope. I'm generally a happy person, but the social anxiety is making me depressed. I just wish I could fake looking confident, but I know I just sit there looking nervous, which in turn makes me more nervous. I'd say I've had social anxiety for 15 years maybe, but it's definitely getting worse. I just want to enjoy life, I feel so sad to think I'm spending all my time worrying about future social events, then worrying about how I looked after. It's so crippling and I just wish there was a quick fix. I've spoken to my partner about it but I know he thinks it isn't that bad. Maybe because we haven't had to be in many social situations the last few months. I'm from the UK and once restrictions ease I plan to join some groups and put myself out there. Although I know I'll just be a shell of myself. I just want to be happy and carefree again.

Bulus Shabbaz Anxiety brought on by the heat?
  • replies: 6

I just had an "episode" It is really hot today, which is always bad for me, my medication makes me extra sensitive to the sun. I was overheating and started to open up the house and then I snapped. I started to get anxious and aggressive and was mutt... View more

I just had an "episode" It is really hot today, which is always bad for me, my medication makes me extra sensitive to the sun. I was overheating and started to open up the house and then I snapped. I started to get anxious and aggressive and was muttering my self, and I was randomly going from room to room, and pulling out stuff and throwing it in the bin. and then it was like I hit a brick wall which startled me and made me stop. And now I am fine. Just cooling down with a fan and open window and some water. I am a little stressed but I am OK.

Miserable_Miner Miserable Mining
  • replies: 4

Hi all I’m 30 year old man with a mortgage an beautiful fiancé and a beautiful 11 month old daughter, iv realised iv had anxiety for about 3 years now been prescribed medication, my diet is terrible I have a bad relationship with vegetables , I barel... View more

Hi all I’m 30 year old man with a mortgage an beautiful fiancé and a beautiful 11 month old daughter, iv realised iv had anxiety for about 3 years now been prescribed medication, my diet is terrible I have a bad relationship with vegetables , I barely ever drink alcohol, but I smoke a lot eat and drink way to much sugary foods a little over weight I barely get any sleep unless I’m home and my work life feels like I’m in hell iv recently been put on a pip, in Mining it’s a performance improvement plan basically putting me over the edge. Iv been in this industry for nearly 10 years enough to know about the ins and outs this mine is pretty much on the verge of bankruptcy employees haven’t been paid for a while so iv herd as well as camp maintenance slowly deteriorating , iv left this place before on stress leave regarding an incident I was involved in and jumped through all the hoops they made me go to including visiting people’s sense which I met a councillor told them what was going on was deemed sane and was cleared to come back to work this has made my situation worse as people sense reports back to my employer and I’m now pretty much marked as a liability ( people avoid me like the plague) and and in turn has really put me into a state of depression that is putting a strain on my work life my family’s life and relationships. my partner doesn't understand what this industry is like with its little cliche we call (purple circles ) and having to be put in terrible conditions and tremendous pressure to get jobs done sometimes even pushing the verge of dangerous it’s all about safety when the productions running but when the production stops it’s all about production and safety flys out the window iv pretty much lost my passion for this job and am looking for other jobs still in Mining but less paying a lot more boring but I think I’ll be happier so fingers crossed I get a call back. this will be the third mine in iv left in 4 years because of situations my mental health puts me through and I fear it will put a huge dent in my career relationship so much my fiancé who is so stressed out and worries what I’ll do next isn’t even sure if she wants to marry me anymore, and that’s my fault for using her like a crutch but she has kept me up and going and motivated and I fear this will split us apart and I won’t be able to see my daughter like a father should be able too, i really feel like I’m running out of options

Steph130613 I can barely handle school
  • replies: 3

I am a year 8 student at a school. I am currently at a school where I am unhappy (but im moving to a new one next year yay) Recently students were sent back to school but im hating it. I guess im the "weird kid" and everyone really goes out of their ... View more

I am a year 8 student at a school. I am currently at a school where I am unhappy (but im moving to a new one next year yay) Recently students were sent back to school but im hating it. I guess im the "weird kid" and everyone really goes out of their way to stay away from me. I only have 2 friends at this school but they arent in my class and they are kinda judgemental of me and dont really like me that much (i think), they just make small but hurtful comments about me. I feel peaceful and just generally really happy at home, hanging out with my friends and outside of school but as soon as I enter school it feels different... it feels harder to breathe properly, I feel more light-headed and I can barely focus on my tasks in class, I can feel my heart beat in my chest. It all feels like an uncomfortable blurry haze my body is dragged through that we call a school day. I walk through the hallways and everything is fuzzy and thoughts are disorganised, like usually at home everything is calm and clear but at school its so many things going on at once. Im not exactly bullied but im not liked either, I hear people mention my name sometimes (probably talking bad about me),, and im just generally uncomfortable and unhappy. Its my third day back today and im leaving in an hour, yesterday I faked sick to not be at school. My grades are going down which is weird bc im usually a top student.... and there is no way im going to talk to my parents about this bc that wouldnt help anything, they wouldn't believe that anything is wrong with me... usually when im sick I tell them and they think im lying, ive kind of brought this up to them before but they thought i was just trying to get out of school... is there anything i could do to help or stop this.... thanks so much for taking ur time to read this !!

Marto9014 Anxiety/Fatigue
  • replies: 4

Hi all Have been having a tough time of late. Hav had a history of health anxiety (including the well worn path of MS testing). After getting the all clear, I was travelling well. Suddenly I got either a minor stomach bug or an IBS flare up. Either w... View more

Hi all Have been having a tough time of late. Hav had a history of health anxiety (including the well worn path of MS testing). After getting the all clear, I was travelling well. Suddenly I got either a minor stomach bug or an IBS flare up. Either way, I was out of action for a week. 3 weeks on, I’m still quite fatigued and feeling lightheaded/out of it. Kinda like a walking zombie. As per usual, I did the google search and came to the conclusion that I have chronic fatigue syndrome and I’ll be like this forever. Really frustrating as it’s all I can focus on and think about. Has anyone else gone through lengthy periods of time with fatigue? I didn’t feel overly anxious when this kicked in but understand anxiety can manifest in many forms. cheers

Millie93 Dealing with health anxiety for 14 years
  • replies: 1

Hi everyone I’m new here. im Millie I’m 27 and have suffered from health anxiety since I was 14. It started when I saw my mum seizuring in her bed and went into a diabetic coma. She was given a 30% chance to live and I stayed with a family friend for... View more

Hi everyone I’m new here. im Millie I’m 27 and have suffered from health anxiety since I was 14. It started when I saw my mum seizuring in her bed and went into a diabetic coma. She was given a 30% chance to live and I stayed with a family friend for 3 weeks thankfully my mum pulled through and came home. This is when I first noticed the physical signs I got tingling in my finger tips and knees. I was so young I had no idea what anxiety was so I assumed it was cancer. My mum took me to the doctor and he said I had an anxiety attack. This was on going for around 6 months I lost a lot of weight. I eventually went into remission as I call it for around 3 years. Then in 2011 I was 18 my Aunty died ( my mums sister) and I had a panic attack which lasted another 6 months I again lost a lot of weight. Then I felt good for about 3 years then at the wnd of 2015 I went back into my old health anxiety ways and have been that way ever since. I have a 10 month old son who is the light of my life and since having him my anxiety has gotten even worse! I think really bad things like what happens if I die where is he going to go will just partner be a good single dad . And all these traumatic scenarios pop up in my head I hate it so much! No I think I’m going to drop dead of a heart attack. I’ve had my heart checked last year and this year and everything is fine but I still think something is wrong like my mind won’t drop it! I just want to stop living in fear and be happy for my son. I see a psychologist on Thursday so that’ll be good but it’s so expensive I really can only afford to go once a month. It’s so frustrating I just can’t wait to be cured! Anyone else in the same boat as me especially with children I’d love to chat thanks Millie

Lone Projecting into the future
  • replies: 1

I can’t stop ruminating about what is coming in the future, I am constantly on guard and worried. For example I worried the people at work will ask me to complete a task I don’t know how to do and I will be found out as useless. Does anyone know how ... View more

I can’t stop ruminating about what is coming in the future, I am constantly on guard and worried. For example I worried the people at work will ask me to complete a task I don’t know how to do and I will be found out as useless. Does anyone know how to stop these thoughts?