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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. 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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Jay1234 First post, not sure what to expect - Anxiety and Depression
  • replies: 3

Hey, this is my first time actually communicating through one of these forums, not sure what to expect. This last year has been pretty rough for me. I work in a law firm that often deals with a lot of high stress/emotional matters and through Covid, ... View more

Hey, this is my first time actually communicating through one of these forums, not sure what to expect. This last year has been pretty rough for me. I work in a law firm that often deals with a lot of high stress/emotional matters and through Covid, my office was inundated with more work than we had experienced before, so we naturally worked longer hours. During the Covid lockdowns, my life was focused purely on waking up in the morning, working a 11 hour day dealing with high stress matters, then going home and sometimes working through the night and on weekends, due to the fact that the Melbourne metro area was locked down and there was very little else to actually do. My whole day was focused on work and checking the latest covid cases and awaiting the next restriction announcement for almost a year. I didnt think that being constantly overworked and the Covid environemnt had affected me as much until i felt everything come crashing down in November, when restrictions began to be lifted. Within the first couple of weeks, it felt like Melbourne had reverted back to normal, as if the past 6 months we werent in lock down, confined to only travel in our 5km radius with an 8pm curfew - it was overwhelming. And then thats when i felt like i was steam rolled by anxiety and obssessive thoughts largely surrounding my work performance, distrust in my boss's insight and leadership and loss of confidence within my own abilities. Over time this consisten anxiety and anxiety attacks overflowed into my social life, causing me to basically withdraw from socialising with my friends and family, as most social interactions were too much of an effort for me. Due to all this going on in my head, my work performance began to suffer drastically, which affected me severely as i had always taken pride in it. This then snowballed into further obssessive over thinking and depression, as i struggled to get out of bed every morning and hated every second i was at work. I managed to get in touch with a psychologist, which has assisted me in dealing with a lot of things going on in my life, but recently ive just been overwhelmed with this heavy weight in my chest, thoughts going 100kmph about work and thinking about the mistakes i made in my younger days coming back to bite me, despite how unlikely and irrational those worries actually are. I just feel like my mind is in disarray and will latch on to any little worry and amplify it, despite how irrational it actually is.

LLaw Lockdown Support Thread
  • replies: 2

With a new lockdown in certain cities, some people may be feeling down or anxious. Share your feelings here and we'll support each other through it!

With a new lockdown in certain cities, some people may be feeling down or anxious. Share your feelings here and we'll support each other through it!

Country_chick Overwhelming Anxitey
  • replies: 3

Hello all, I have been having several anxiety attacks for the last few months after a rough year it’s all caught up with me. I get sever chest pains, sometimes arm tingling and head pain this all builds up quickly and tends to die down quickly but I ... View more

Hello all, I have been having several anxiety attacks for the last few months after a rough year it’s all caught up with me. I get sever chest pains, sometimes arm tingling and head pain this all builds up quickly and tends to die down quickly but I feel as if I’m dying during the instance. I have been to the ER in the past and all tests have come back fine. These things happen when I’m on my own most scary when I have been driving now I have huge anxiety around driving 🤦🏻‍ I am just wondering is it normal for the pain to be dull and hang around post anxitey attack and feel so tierd afterwards. How do I deal with these pains? Why do they scare me so much?

Rach93 Can anxiety do this?
  • replies: 5

I’ve just started on new medication to treat my anxiety & today I’ve just had a weird sensation like my right eye was weak and my right side face was weak but there’s no numbness or tingling can this be anxiety? I was obviously obsessing over it and ... View more

I’ve just started on new medication to treat my anxiety & today I’ve just had a weird sensation like my right eye was weak and my right side face was weak but there’s no numbness or tingling can this be anxiety? I was obviously obsessing over it and made it feel worse is it possible for one side to be effected by anxiety ? Has anyone had similar experience

Grizzly_mivi Panic, Anxiety, Depression, Grief, Despair
  • replies: 2

I'm suffering from all of the above and am not coping at all. Am all alone, lonely and terribly afraid. The road to recovery will be long and hard and don't have the energy to go on but too cowardly to suicide, but want the pain to stop. Medication n... View more

I'm suffering from all of the above and am not coping at all. Am all alone, lonely and terribly afraid. The road to recovery will be long and hard and don't have the energy to go on but too cowardly to suicide, but want the pain to stop. Medication not enough and no psychologists available at the moment. Breakup with woman Christmas Eve, all alone Xmas day, forced to sell home and terrified about starting over in a strange place, covid stopped me from seeing family for a year, car written off 3 days before Xmas. Can't cope, feel like a motherless child. Keep replaying breakup to punish myself because I screwed up, my fault. Where do lonely seniors meet others? Dating sites, no good.

LLaw I have some questions about BSRD, OCD and Dermatophagia
  • replies: 4

Hi! I'm new to this forum, so apologises if I'm breaking any etiquette or rules. I've always had mental health issues, so I've felt kind of like an alien my whole life. Anyway, the point of this post. Lately, I've been suspecting I have OCD. This is ... View more

Hi! I'm new to this forum, so apologises if I'm breaking any etiquette or rules. I've always had mental health issues, so I've felt kind of like an alien my whole life. Anyway, the point of this post. Lately, I've been suspecting I have OCD. This is for many reasons, which I don't need to explain now. About BSRD (body-focused repetitive disorder): For as long as I can remember, I've chewed and eaten my fingernails and torn at my toe nails. But in the fast couple months its been getting worse. I tear or cut any skin I can around my fingers. I cut my finger and toe nails as short as they can go- it just makes me feel cleaner and....for lack of a better word, 'better'. For a little while I also pulled the hair out of my legs with tweezers. Doing these things makes me feel...its kind of hard to explain? It feels right. I feel cleaner with my raw red skin. It relaxes me and helps me calm down when I'm sad or stressed out. At first I thought I was doing this as s*lf h*rm, but I soon realised I always chopped at the parts that didn't hurt. So...would this be considered a BSRD? Would these count as dermatophagia? From the research I've done, dermatophagia only counts as picking or chewing at skin (which I do as well) but do my other habits count too? Do these behaviours come across as symptoms of OCD?

Haylzz anxiety escalated after loved ones lose function
  • replies: 3

Hi. I have always suffered with severe stress growing up whether it was about school or friends problems/bullying. But now that my mum suffered from a brain aneurysm (she is currently in rehab progressing well) this stress has basically turned into a... View more

Hi. I have always suffered with severe stress growing up whether it was about school or friends problems/bullying. But now that my mum suffered from a brain aneurysm (she is currently in rehab progressing well) this stress has basically turned into anxiety. And it makes it extra hard to control it because my mum is usually the one that helps me through my stress and knows what to do but now that I she still isn't able to have a full conversation with me. Not having her here and not being able to work also doesn't help my anxiety as it makes me worry about the future financially. Even though my dad reassures me that we will be okay somehow i still worry about it. Being 18 and just finishing school doesn't make it easier as i had all these plans i was going to do especially with my mum. during this holiday season it has become worse with having at least two attacks a day. Ive tried to reach psychologists but there is still like a 4-6 months waitlist due to covid (which is understandable). My mum is progressing well with her rehab but after everything that happened i worry that something bad will happy to someone else are care about and what the future holds for my family and i when/if she does come home. I've also tried breathing techniques and telehealth but this anxiety and stress feels it is becoming harder and harder to control each day. so if anyone else knows of any other strategies to help it would be very much appreciative.

RoadToRecovery1001 Almost 30 and achieved nothing in life
  • replies: 27

At the end of this month I'll be turning 30. While for many people this age is a cause for celebration, for me it serves as a stark reminder of how little I've achieved during my 30 years on this earth. I honestly have never felt such dread and sadne... View more

At the end of this month I'll be turning 30. While for many people this age is a cause for celebration, for me it serves as a stark reminder of how little I've achieved during my 30 years on this earth. I honestly have never felt such dread and sadness about a single day before All around me, friends and family have flourished and gone onto successful careers or are getting married while I still feel like I'm at square one. Perhaps the worst thing about this all is that I have completely blown opportunities that would have allowed me to actually make something of my life. I suddenly quit an extremely promising job last year due to overwhelming feelings of anxiety and insecurity. I felt like an impostor and a fraud who would eventually be fired due to incompetence. This is despite the fact that I never received any negative feedback or made any significant mistakes. Nonetheless, I still took the action that I did. Deep down, I know my feelings are often extraordinarily irrational yet I can’t help but feel the way I do. I feel like I'm set in my way of thinking and nothing is going to ever change this for me. I've seen psychologists, read self-help books, done exposure therapy and still feel the same way. As painful as it is, I've almost come to terms with the fact that I'll remain perpetually single and work in jobs that I hate until I die. I feel like whenever I try things to make things better for myself I just make them worse. I honestly don't know how to better cope with my anxiety and feelings of negativity and frankly think I never will. I just want to be normal like everyone else yet my insecurities and negativity always get the better of me. Rather than looking forward to my 30th, I feel like it signifies a very painful and sad pathway of disappointment and failure ahead of me.

Travelmumma I am scared of my anxiety and scared I will never feel better
  • replies: 5

Hi all. I am new to posting here but really feeling in need of some support. I have been suffering from panic disorder and depression since my daughter was born six years ago. I am now the mum of two little ones. I take antidepressants and see a psyc... View more

Hi all. I am new to posting here but really feeling in need of some support. I have been suffering from panic disorder and depression since my daughter was born six years ago. I am now the mum of two little ones. I take antidepressants and see a psychologist ... I was seeing a psychiatrist too but he retired. It has been a tough year as we packed up and rented out house to go travelling overseas but had to come back to Australia and have been living in limbo ever since. We are heading back to our house soon and my daughter will be starting to school which I though might may me feel better but it hasn’t. Sometimes I cope okay with life but then I seem to fall into a huge black hole of anxiety and panic and it takes all my strength to get out. I really want to stop this cycle but don’t know how or where to turn. I feel so lonely, isolated and hopeless. If anyone has any suggestions for things that have helped them I would love to hear them. Thank you.

JaySee2135 Anxiety about physical safety
  • replies: 1

I've been having a bit of a hard time with anxiety. The form it takes for me is that I perceive and/or overrate threats to my physical safety. Just one example – I take a walk in the park, a slightly disheveled looking guy walks past, whistles loudly... View more

I've been having a bit of a hard time with anxiety. The form it takes for me is that I perceive and/or overrate threats to my physical safety. Just one example – I take a walk in the park, a slightly disheveled looking guy walks past, whistles loudly. In the past I would have noticed this but not paid a lot of attention. Unless there was some clear sign of danger, it wouldn't have taken on much significance. But yesterday it happened and my whole body tensed up and I felt a huge "fight or flight" rush. It was very hard to just keep still and calm. Some part of me though the was about to attack me. Or that he was signalling to a gang of his friends to come and attack me. I don't know where all this anxiety comes from. I've never been physically attacked in my life (well... I was threatened maybe once or twice and I did get chased by bullies in primary school a couple of times). I never felt this kind of fear 3 years ago. But somehow something changed within me and I now go into extreme "high alert" at the slightest sign of danger. Has anyone else gone through something similar?