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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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Kailani OCD and public perception
  • replies: 9

Hi, first of all I want to stress that I am safe and I hope u all are as well. OCD is very misunderstood within society and is often utilised as a 'quirky' character trait. If I had a penny for every time I have heard someone say "I am so OCD as I ha... View more

Hi, first of all I want to stress that I am safe and I hope u all are as well. OCD is very misunderstood within society and is often utilised as a 'quirky' character trait. If I had a penny for every time I have heard someone say "I am so OCD as I hate mess" or "you are so neat you must have OCD" I would be rich. What these people don't realise is that OCD is crippling. It invades into your life and makes simple day tasks exhausting. There are also so many different forms of OCD so characterising OCD as just being neat can be seriously damaging. I personally will not call someone out for using phrases like the ones I previously mentioned as I know that it is due to a lack of education on OCD. I guess I just wanted to know how you guys respond to phrases like these? Do you start a conversation with people? Or do you just ignore it? Finally I would like to finish this off by saying I hope u are all well and remember we are in this fight together!

tomgajerry Pins and Needles - Anxiety?
  • replies: 1

Hello, Hope you are all well; I personally am. I'm wondering if anyone has had any experience with what I'm feeling, and whether they could provide some insight. I've always been a pretty self-conscious person - conscious and often actively thinking ... View more

Hello, Hope you are all well; I personally am. I'm wondering if anyone has had any experience with what I'm feeling, and whether they could provide some insight. I've always been a pretty self-conscious person - conscious and often actively thinking of what others consider of me appearance-wise and also in terms of what I think my 'name' means to them when I am not present. I've also always been competitive - eager to put in work to achieve some sort of goal, whether it be awards, recognition, or more recently, personal satisfaction. For this reason, and being fortunate enough to have had an educated upbringing, I have always done well in academics and co-curricular, and am currently studying medicine full-time whilst doing private tutoring as a job. I work on average 20 hours a week during the uni semester. (Not sure how relevant these last two sentences were, but just added them for info). Recently however, perhaps halfway through this year, I noticed that whenever I think of others, I often think of their perception of me (consciously, or subconsciously). This wouldn't have been out of the ordinary during times when I was younger, but I began to feel pins and needles whenever this self-conscious side of me props up, especially in my neck, trunk and thighs. I don't quite mind if I unavoidably become self-conscious whenever seeing others or thinking of others, but the pins and needles are quite discomforting, and I sometimes have to scratch, ventilate, contract my body, or pause what I'm doing for a little bit, until they reside. Has anyone had a similar problem and what are your experiences with this? Thanks in advance, hope you're all staying healthy

riddle95 My anxiety is impacting my work life :(
  • replies: 2

Hello internet! I'm 25 years old, female, and have been diagnosed with Generalised Anxiety Disorder over the years, as well as depression and I take medication to help. I do find the medication has helped me as it helped me get out of a very bad depr... View more

Hello internet! I'm 25 years old, female, and have been diagnosed with Generalised Anxiety Disorder over the years, as well as depression and I take medication to help. I do find the medication has helped me as it helped me get out of a very bad depressive state last year. I also feel like a person with a sense of purpose and enjoyment with life now. Last year I could not get myself to go to work and I had several hospital visits. At the beginning of 2020 I was going to work about 3-4 days a week, which was extremely good for me and a major change from the year before. Now, as you all know, Covid hit and I lost regular work for about 7 months. Now that we're coming out the other side, work has begun ringing me and calling me in to work more. I don't have my set rostered shifts as I did at the start of the year at the same venue, so I am getting changed around a bit. For insight, I'm a substitute teacher. Here is my problem. I'm feeling the same anxious nervous that I felt last year about working. I get these feelings of dread about the phone ringing and going to schools. I also feel really tired and am not sleeping well. So even if I say yes to a shift the day before, I usually have a shit sleep and then I call in the morning saying I'm unwell and can't work. Or I don't even get to this stage and the phone rings and I know it's work offering me a shift so I just don't answer. I've worked about 4 teaching shifts in the past 3 weeks. Also over the past few months I have been applying for full time jobs for next year because I believe that the consistency will help ease my anxiety as I know where I will be going and I'll have the same kids to teach, as well as have a steady income. I'm lucky at the moment because I am earning job keeper through my other casual employer so I am not stuck for money. But I haven't had a single interview yet and continue to get job rejections. Overall I just feel a real sense of failure over my ability to work and hold a job. I've questioned whether I'm in the right career, but when I think about doing other jobs I feel just as anxious about working, so I don't think it will matter what I do. I feel really shit about all this

annabay In need of support :(
  • replies: 2

TW health anxiety I suffer from pmdd, anxiety and depression. My trauma plays out very physically in my body as my psychs tell me - however it doesn’t help that I have incredibly bad health anxiety. I keep getting these shivery feelings in my brain, ... View more

TW health anxiety I suffer from pmdd, anxiety and depression. My trauma plays out very physically in my body as my psychs tell me - however it doesn’t help that I have incredibly bad health anxiety. I keep getting these shivery feelings in my brain, and wake up with headaches thinking I’ve had seizures in my sleep. I have varicose veins that always ache that make me constantly worried about getting a DVT. Does anyone else get physical symptoms like this and they’ve proven to just be anxiety etc? I’m so scared

adaptaur Feeling like I'm going to explode
  • replies: 3

Hi everyone. I've no idea if this is the right place for this, as in I don't know if it's related to anxiety at all but it doesn't seem to fit elsewhere and I guess it makes me anxious so here it is. Sorry if this is the wrong place. Sometimes when s... View more

Hi everyone. I've no idea if this is the right place for this, as in I don't know if it's related to anxiety at all but it doesn't seem to fit elsewhere and I guess it makes me anxious so here it is. Sorry if this is the wrong place. Sometimes when something good happens, or... I feel really happy, is a poor way of putting it, but I'll just feel so full of love for the world and everyone in it and everything will make me want to cry, and I'll feel like my head is racing at 100 miles per hour and my stomach is being squeezed and my heart is beating like mad and my limbs are on fire, like I'm going to explode at any moment, or burst into flames, and the world around me is so still, too still, but I've got all this energy in me and I've no way of releasing it. I hate it so much, it makes me wish people were dead so they couldn't make me feel this way, although it's not about anyone in particular really, just... everything. You'd think this would be a positive feeling right, what else could it be, but it hurts terribly and no one seems to understand that I can't feel good without feeling awful at the same time, like it's impossible for me to feel something a little bit, it's always too much or not at all. I see a psychologist mainly for anxiety but she doesn't understand at all, she thinks I'm experiencing anxiety at the thought of losing my current happiness if that makes sense but it's not that at all. It feels impossible to explain what it's like, and I've never seen anyone talk about anything similar to this. I feel like this doesn't even begin to touch on how all-consuming and terrifying it is, it feels dangerous, I guess I know the feeling itself can't hurt me but I feel like I lose control of my mind and I could do something stupid. I'm sorry about this - I guess I just wanted to rant, I hate having to put up with it so much. Everything just feels too much.

Andre_P Staying positive
  • replies: 6

Hi everyone, trying to stay positive and get on with things. just saying hi, how is everyone out there doing

Hi everyone, trying to stay positive and get on with things. just saying hi, how is everyone out there doing

Monicas Does anyone else out there suffer with weird breathing difficulties constantly?
  • replies: 4

Hi. I just want to know I'm not alone. I have very weird difficulty breathing as in constantly taking deep breaths which I can't even get. Doctor's keep saying it's anxiety and weight as im a bit fat. Anyone other expensive censor this or advice what... View more

Hi. I just want to know I'm not alone. I have very weird difficulty breathing as in constantly taking deep breaths which I can't even get. Doctor's keep saying it's anxiety and weight as im a bit fat. Anyone other expensive censor this or advice what to do about it would be greatly appreciated. Thank you

Couldb 9 Year Old Daughter with major emotional problems
  • replies: 2

Hi all, I'm not really sure where to start to might keep it brief. Is anyone else having trouble with their pre-teen? Miss 9 is a highly sensitive child, sensory processing issues, anxiety, has been in psychology and OT at age 6 and been pretty good ... View more

Hi all, I'm not really sure where to start to might keep it brief. Is anyone else having trouble with their pre-teen? Miss 9 is a highly sensitive child, sensory processing issues, anxiety, has been in psychology and OT at age 6 and been pretty good for a while but having a lot of trouble this year. She has moved schools halfway through the year and now we are in quarantine and she is extremely difficult to be around for many reasons. My husband and I feel like we need to see someone about how to manage her but thought I would try on here first.

JG170421 I can’t stop wanting a baby
  • replies: 2

Hi all, I am new to the forum, but I was hoping to get some advice. My fiancée and I have been together for 4 years in December and are getting married in April, but I have been dreaming about having a child to call my own. I have a niece and nephew ... View more

Hi all, I am new to the forum, but I was hoping to get some advice. My fiancée and I have been together for 4 years in December and are getting married in April, but I have been dreaming about having a child to call my own. I have a niece and nephew and had an unplanned pregnancy a few years ago that did not work out. I’ve spoken to my fiancée numerous times about having a baby sooner rather than later (meaning moving up our timeline) but he keeps saying that he isn’t ready or says that he just wants to wait a little bit longer. As I have anxiety, depression and c-ptsd, I am worried that the feelings I have been having are going to impact my mental health dramatically. All I keep seeing all of the time are photos of all of my friends newborns or baby stuff advertised on Facebook and it always hurts my heart to a point where it feels like it’s going to break. I don’t know what to do. I understand my fiancée not being ready, but I’m not sure if he understands how it makes me feel. Has anyone got any advice that they can give me on this topic? thanks

Kitmadixy arguements with anxiety
  • replies: 3

Hi, I have social anxiety disorder, when someone raises their tone at me/ says something judgemental or I voice my opinion and they argue back or blame me I find it incapable to speak and I get built up anxiety from their words and start crying. I ca... View more

Hi, I have social anxiety disorder, when someone raises their tone at me/ says something judgemental or I voice my opinion and they argue back or blame me I find it incapable to speak and I get built up anxiety from their words and start crying. I can never stop it from happening since I was little I just feel so overwhelmed when someone is frustrated at me. Then I cry a lot and I can’t speak anymore and when I do it’s just mumbling. It feels like no one else has this problem and I get called really sensitive for it. My best friend says he has to be careful what to say around me because he says he can’t say anything without me getting upset or hurt and that I’m sensitive. It is really hurtful for people to call me sensitive because I don’t choose the way I feel. I just want to know if anyone can relate to this or if this is normal with social anxiety, or any advice would be helpful.