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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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Lipson4 Newbie....
  • replies: 5

Hi Everyone ... New kid on the block here.... Suffering from lot of head wooziness Drs say is BP issues but I have it when blood pressure is ok.. sometimes hangs around all day. So I am assuming the worse... I have never slept well but now waking aft... View more

Hi Everyone ... New kid on the block here.... Suffering from lot of head wooziness Drs say is BP issues but I have it when blood pressure is ok.. sometimes hangs around all day. So I am assuming the worse... I have never slept well but now waking after 4 hours rather anxious and taking a while to get back to sleep. Been taking medication for almost two weeks.... so could be from bad sleep.... who knows.. does anyone else suffer from anything like this?

AnonymousTeen11 am I making it all up and looking for attention??? help.
  • replies: 1

Hi, I am feeling quite conflicted and would like some outside input. I am diagnosed with anxiety and depression, and while at the start I believed it really 'explained' how I was feeling, I am now concerned I am making it up. See, I feel like I put a... View more

Hi, I am feeling quite conflicted and would like some outside input. I am diagnosed with anxiety and depression, and while at the start I believed it really 'explained' how I was feeling, I am now concerned I am making it up. See, I feel like I put a lot of my identity in my diagnosis, like it is a major part of who I am. I'm not directly proud of my diagnoses, but at the same time sometimes my mind tells me it is 'cool' and makes me 'interesting'. Like I want something vaguely not boring about myself. I know I shouldn't think like that, and on my really low days I cringe at myself ever thinking that. I don't know if those are just intrusive thoughts or if I am not actually anxious and depressed, and am making it up for attention. I feel like sometimes I can put myself out there for sympathy, so very confusing. Honestly I am hyper aware of how I am feeling in the moment and I feel like while on the outside I am acting somewhat normal, that on the inside I am constantly constantly constantly checking myself and the intensity of my symptoms. That might not be inherently bad, but I worry because like I said I put a lot of my identity in my illnesses. And that almost makes me not want to get better because I would lose a huge chunk of who I am. Help please! I am feeling quite conflicted and don't know what's going on, any input would be really appreciated. If you read this far, thank you.

Mudcakes Scared for 3 things at once. Anxiety at a high
  • replies: 33

I start year 11 today. Anxious all night. Can’t sleep. My dog woke up coughing for a long time. She’s almost 10. She has previously been diagnosed with a heart murmur, and she is licking a lot anxious. I am thinking the worst which I should never do.... View more

I start year 11 today. Anxious all night. Can’t sleep. My dog woke up coughing for a long time. She’s almost 10. She has previously been diagnosed with a heart murmur, and she is licking a lot anxious. I am thinking the worst which I should never do. I might have to take a taxi from the vet later by myself to get to school. I have social anxiety and freaking out. I honestly feel scared and stressed. Any ideas how to cope? Or what has helped you before? My anxiety/social anxiety is full on.

MrsReev Getting anxious after talking with friends/relatives
  • replies: 8

Hello , I'm new to these forums and looking for help or reassurance . A few years ago I was diagnosed with social anxiety and have been managing it with counselling top-up sessions when needed. However I've noticed in the last year or so I've become ... View more

Hello , I'm new to these forums and looking for help or reassurance . A few years ago I was diagnosed with social anxiety and have been managing it with counselling top-up sessions when needed. However I've noticed in the last year or so I've become panicky/stressed out after having chats with friends or family in public settings whether it's the same day as the outing or it hits me out of nowhere within 3 days of the interaction. It feels awful and makes my brain feel like it free falling into over analysing or panicking about "What if someone overheard us chatting about something harmless / or I overshared / or perceived me as gossipy?". Yep , not fun . I recently talked about a prospective job offer with my FIL over a coffee and spoke about two clients I may work with (didn't mention names , the company etc , ) and kept it safe and confidential (I believe so). But of course within hours of coming home from this my brain sprung panic upon me and bombarded me with all kinds of horrible thoughts , making me ruminate and feel so crap . Honestly still feeling shaky. I'll be back to my therapist in under two weeks , but I was hoping someone could offer advice or insight into their own similar experiences. Thank you x

Eoeon My boyfriend makes me feel sick!
  • replies: 2

Hi! recently, I confessed to a boy I’d liked for quite a while, and he said he likes me too. We got together and he’s the sweetest boy I’ve ever met, kind and caring to everyone, especially me. However, even though he’s such a nice guy, whenever I ne... View more

Hi! recently, I confessed to a boy I’d liked for quite a while, and he said he likes me too. We got together and he’s the sweetest boy I’ve ever met, kind and caring to everyone, especially me. However, even though he’s such a nice guy, whenever I need to see him, my anxiety peaks to a point where I get really sick. Even to the point of throwing up in front of my school friends. Once I’m in his presence, I feel a little bit better, but still not well. I feel like if I eat something I’ll get sick, even looking at food makes me gag at those times. as it’s happened before. It’s embarrassing. I’ve always had mild social anxiety symptoms (a bit of dizziness and hyperventilation as a child) but nothing this bad before. On Sunday we’ve scheduled a date and he wants to go for a picnic in a the park, where we’re going to have food! I don’t know what I’m going to do. If anyone has any experience or advice! Please let me know! (for background information I never have experienced an eating disorder or disordered eating and when I’m not anxious, I have no issues with food.)

Tripleshotcapnosugar Recreational drug use when younger, life mostly great now but still have issues
  • replies: 4

I come from a fantastic supportive family that provided well for me but I always had minor problems fitting in as a kid, you could say I've always been intense. I had adhd but my problems were manageable. Once in high school I developed acne and prob... View more

I come from a fantastic supportive family that provided well for me but I always had minor problems fitting in as a kid, you could say I've always been intense. I had adhd but my problems were manageable. Once in high school I developed acne and problems continued to grow, I started drinking and would often try to get as drunk as I possibly could at every opportunity from the age of 14 and acting a complete fool at every party. When 15 while drunk i had a traumatic experience and I was starting to become out of control using drugs regularly, by 17 I was taking harder drugs most weekends and every weekend by 18 while continuing to binge drink. At 20 I moved up the cost as I'd fallen out with most of my "friends" I had I short break, discovered a similar group of people and my drinking increased to a very dangerous level, I crashed a car while drunk and almost killed a friend, the accident was a horror that haunts me still. I avoided jail because of sloppy police work but spiralled into depression and guilt, I started taking another kind of drug while in a horrible state of mind, had another traumatic experience and mind finally broke I guess. I continued to drink but my drug use had just about stopped by my mid 20's. I'm now in my mid 30's, Ive fought my way through the worst of some pretty crippling anxiety and depression. I now work for myself as a tradesman which is mentally challenging in some ways sometimes due to my condition but I make it work. I've paid off a home and will be buying another soon. I have a good partner and two beautiful children but I struggle to make friends and keep them, especially with people I actually like. I feel I can't see myself and don't know how to improve from here and without close friends I can trust to talk too I just feel so horribly lost and lonely. I know I have problems with my personality and I want to keep working on them but I need friend's around me to help and I can't make helpful friends while I'm so intense and crazy. I don't know what to do.I avoided jail because of sloppy police work but spiralled into depression and guilt, I started taking LSD while in a horrible state of mind, had another traumatic experience and mind finally broke I guess. I continued to drink but my drug use had just about stopped by my mid 20's. I'm now in my mid 30's, Ive fought my way through the worst of some pretty crippling anxiety and depression. I now work for myself as a tradesman which is mentally challenging in some ways sometimes due to my condition but I make it work. I've paid off a home and will be buying another soon. I have a good partner and two beautiful children but I struggle to make friends and keep them, especially with people I actually like. I feel I can't see myself and don't know how to improve from here and without close friends I can trust to talk too I just feel so horribly lost and lonely. I know I have problems with my personality and I want to keep working on them but I need friend's around me to help and I can't make helpful friends while I'm so intense and crazy. I don't know what to do.

penguin7676 venting about life with anxiety
  • replies: 1

Hi, I was diagnosed with anxiety at the start of 2020, (what a great year for anxiety!) and saw a counselor right up until the pandemic hit Australia. It was also my first year of highschool. I only knew 2 people there, one was my best friend, but sh... View more

Hi, I was diagnosed with anxiety at the start of 2020, (what a great year for anxiety!) and saw a counselor right up until the pandemic hit Australia. It was also my first year of highschool. I only knew 2 people there, one was my best friend, but she is in the AP class so I don't have any classes with her. The other person is her older brother who is a year ahead of us. So I'm an introvert and find it really hard to make friends. I get really really stressed when forced into social interactions so high school is.... yeah. I hung out with my best friend and her group of friends, but I've never really felt like part of the group. Like I'm friends with a couple of the girls, but they are all in the same AP class so I'm always not understanding jokes and memories and stuff like that. At home, my Mum is really stressed from work because she has resigned and is about to start a new job that she will hopefully like better than her old job. She's also got anxiety, but she doesn't talk about it much. My Dad is always working. We always eat dinner really late because of waiting for him to get home. Even on holidays hes always tense and constantly getting work calls. And even when he is home he goes and hides in his den watching sport and playing video games. He says he likes his job, but he always comes home angry and stressed. My little sister. Where do I begin? She is only 9 but acts like shes 16. She's constantly being a pain in the neck and always being rude. She always makes comments about how I look or how I eat. It's annoying, but she's a kid and doesn't know what she's saying. I hate eating in front of people who aren't immediate family and hate my weight even though people always comment on how skinny I am. I hat how I look. I feel so stupid all the time. I just feel like I'm floating out to sea without a life vest. If anyone who reads this also wants to vent, feel free to do so in this thread. - Penguin

db9284 Intrusive thoughts :(
  • replies: 20

Hi all, I've seen similar posts to what i'm dealing with but so far i've found it hard to cope and wondered if anyone else had these kind of issues. So i'm pretty sure I have OCD, no official diagnosis but what I think and how I feel meets all the cr... View more

Hi all, I've seen similar posts to what i'm dealing with but so far i've found it hard to cope and wondered if anyone else had these kind of issues. So i'm pretty sure I have OCD, no official diagnosis but what I think and how I feel meets all the criteria. I've noticed at times in my life that when I get really stressed or anxious, or sometimes if i'm going through a life transition, that intrusive thoughts pop up. Sometimes its bearable (worrying that i'm going to hurt my dog, or if someone sits behind me on the bus that they're going to hit me on the head) but recently it's started to become more sinister. It has happened several times before and eventually the thoughts have gone away, but this time, perhaps due to poor current circumstances in my life (depression, anxiety, dealing with a breakup) I cannot get rid of them. It makes me feel sick, perverted, like a genuine basket case, and just all round shitty. I'm disgusted to even type it, but this is what i'm dealing with: I started having weird, inappropriate thoughts about my dad. I genuinely believe that this is because it is, in my head, the most 'wrong' thing to think. So it started off with me thinking, "what if the only way to save everyone I love, was to go down on him, or vice versa?" Now i'm very aware that the likelihood of this situation occurring is incredibly slim, but still, once the thought is there, it's there. So then I was haunted by images of these things happening. Or sometimes I just feel overly aware of my nether regions, like if i sit in a way which i feel like they are exposed, i'll feel uncomfortable, think about them, and then somehow relate it to my dad because that's what my brain knows will make me feel like shit. Sometimes it is a compulsion to think these things, and I feel like I physically have to, other times I am able to refrain from doing it but it's hard to abstain. I'm sick of thinking about this stuff, and feeling like a victim of my own mind, it's incredibly debilitating i've read so much on this topic but not much has helped. Does anyone have any advice? It would be really nice to stop feeling like my head is a monster who's constantly out to get me....

LLaw Am I Overexaggerating My Mental Health Problems?
  • replies: 10

Hi, I was wondering if anyone else could relate to this. I've had (what I think are) mental health problems for most of my life- the most extreme including being in the ER. I'm on anti-depressants. I've been thinking lately that I'm over-exaggerating... View more

Hi, I was wondering if anyone else could relate to this. I've had (what I think are) mental health problems for most of my life- the most extreme including being in the ER. I'm on anti-depressants. I've been thinking lately that I'm over-exaggerating my issues for attention. I *do* want attention- I want help and I want to feel better. But sometimes I think I'm just telling that to myself so I don't feel so bad for seeking attention. This thought pattern goes round and round and round. I can't decide on a final answer. I feel like a fraud- like there's nothing wrong with me and that I don't belong on this forum, at a psychologist's office etc. Like, my issues aren't that big of a deal. I'm not crying everyday. I'm not stuck in my bed. I feel like I don't really deserve help, even though I want it, because I remain composed and calm 95% of the time. I don't know what to do. I want help, but my issues aren't a big enough deal. Can anyone else on here relate to how I feel?

paydel I feel lost and completely alone :(
  • replies: 2

Ever since highschool ended, I've been on a steady but effective decline. I seem to have this fear of amounting to nothing, but also a fear of trying. It's been something like 3 and a bit years now and even though there have been moments, I've never ... View more

Ever since highschool ended, I've been on a steady but effective decline. I seem to have this fear of amounting to nothing, but also a fear of trying. It's been something like 3 and a bit years now and even though there have been moments, I've never felt more lost and alone. Even around family and friends. At the moment I'm overwhelmed. I've just moved houses with my family and that was a lot. Several days, lots of stuff, and we moved it all ourselves on trucks and Utes. Plus, I'm the one who has had to organise a few of the utilities like internet and phone lines, and we just found out NBN isn't available in our area for some time. Their fault, not ours, but we're the ones who have to suffer and our telecom company isn't helping in the slightest. Total nightmare scenario. Coming off that I saw a course in a field I have an interest in so I pursued it; but the more I spoke with the careers advisor, the more real it got. I persevered anyway and now I'm in it. It starts this week and the problem is; I'm terrified. I am completely and utterly terrified at the prospect of going back into a learning environment after 2 or so years. What if I fail, this is so last minute, I couldn't possibly prepare myself in time, what about bus routes and fares. Anything I can point and can mplain, worry and see the potential for failure in. You can be I'm seeing and doing it. I don't feel like I have the mental capacity to deal with any of this. But I've got such a boring job, and have been job hunting for months and no-one will hire me. This is making me sick to my soul. I'm getting nausea, loosing my appetite and I'm having trouble thinking clearly or focusing. When I look up bus routes so I can set my alarms I feel like vomitting. Lying in bed thinking about the idea of waking up makes me sad and I start crying. Admittedly, I'm having a hard time dealing with this and my mind is wandering to some dark places. On top of all of this, I'm so lonely. I'm part-time so not a lot of shifts. My brother goes to school during the day; my dad's at work, my mum doesn't live with us, my other brother and I aren't close, and I the area I've moved to is kinda out of the way. So I barely see my friends and I'm so depressed. I don't know what to do. I'm lying on my bed, and I'm so very lost. But writing this was a little therapeutic, I guess.

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