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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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chriscollected Just wanting to reach out to like-minded people
  • replies: 4

Hey guys. A recent member that’s decided to make the jump to join the beyondblue forums about just venting about things that i’ve been building up for far too long. I apologise but I guess this was more of a call-out for any likeminded people that ar... View more

Hey guys. A recent member that’s decided to make the jump to join the beyondblue forums about just venting about things that i’ve been building up for far too long. I apologise but I guess this was more of a call-out for any likeminded people that are in a similar mindset or maybe anyone that’s been through a similar situation and can provide some insights to build a more positive mentality. Over the course of about 6-12 months, i’ve begun to feel lost and lonely throughout my daily life. My partner is living a great life, great job, has a vast range of supportive and humble friends that all love her dearly. She’s been streaming on Twitch for 6 months beginning during the peak of the covid pandemic. To relieve stress and anxiety. I respect what she’s done and has been doing a great job with it. After a few months, I decided to make the decision to follow in the same path with streaming. This was the start of feeling sad and alone all the time. I wanted to reach out to people and place myself on an online platform where I knew I wouldn’t feel as alone as I were. Doing this though had caused multiple panic attacks with my anxiety flaring up about being on camera, speaking out loud and “performing” for viewers. I started to feel as though if streaming were to cause more anxiety with little to no increase in feeling less alone, I decided to pull the plug and end it. I tried to take the plunge and join my partners circle of streaming friends to bond and connect with new people. Coming out of my comfort zone with new people is a really hard thing for me, yet I’ve felt nothing but resistance and that the group would have little to no care if I just decided to disappear. Though streaming is still something I want to push through... I’m now stuck in a rut where my self-confidence and self-esteem is at an all time low and my anxiety, stress and loneliness is at it’s peak. It’s beginning to make every day become a blur and a waste. It really makes me question what am I actually achieving for myself right now? I just don’t like where my headspace is and wanted to reach out to anyone/anything before it got worse. If anyone reads this. Thank you.

Fredrik How to relax?
  • replies: 6

After losing a family member a few years ago to suicide, anxiety became a regular and increasing companion. This combined with the extensive bullying I endured throughout my schooling led to being diagnosed with PTSD. This year has been particularly ... View more

After losing a family member a few years ago to suicide, anxiety became a regular and increasing companion. This combined with the extensive bullying I endured throughout my schooling led to being diagnosed with PTSD. This year has been particularly difficult following or being sent home to work in March. I think anxiety came to play and I had so much more time to think about things that’d happened, including several times now it has been implied at work I might be gay. This, plus other things that have occurred, have taken me back to all I endured growing up and caused several breakdowns. The pain it has caused has certainly left me feeling depressed, excluded and wanting to be anywhere but there though needing to pay bills having no choice. I do want to be rid to this anxiousness and be able to relax, how to achieve lasting rather than temporary though?

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.

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