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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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JeanD Anxiety from fear of my boss's boss - anyone else the same?
  • replies: 3

Hi, My boss's boss called me out at work in front of a small forum of colleagues. And this has triggered anxiety in me and a real loss of self confidence in anything work related - regardless of whether it has something to do with him or not. But it ... View more

Hi, My boss's boss called me out at work in front of a small forum of colleagues. And this has triggered anxiety in me and a real loss of self confidence in anything work related - regardless of whether it has something to do with him or not. But it gets real bad whenever it has something directly to do with him - a meeting, an email etc. I can't properly sleep in the days leading up to knowing I have a meeting where he will be in it as well. And even worse the meeting he called me out in with the same forum of people happens on a semi regular basis. I keep telling myself I have to learn how to work under difficult bosses - not all are or will be the more "people people" kinda bosses, but finding it real hard to cope as the anxiety just rises so high at the thought of him. Wondering if anyone else has been in this position? What did you do?

SwansandSharksMan Anxiety about meals and dishes.
  • replies: 1

Apologies for this post. It might seem like a small thing, but it causes me lots of other worries like too much food, not having something defrosted to cook, not having any good ideas for meals, eating too much, food going bad in the fridge, too much... View more

Apologies for this post. It might seem like a small thing, but it causes me lots of other worries like too much food, not having something defrosted to cook, not having any good ideas for meals, eating too much, food going bad in the fridge, too much leftovers, wasting food, too many dishes to wash, kitchen getting untidy, house getting untidy because of too much time spent in kitchen etc. etc. I was born in the 70s to a Scottish born mum and an 1st generation Australian father. I grew up in an anglo centric family. I married an Italian lady. We have 2 daughters. We do a few things different to what a lot of Anglo Australian families would have done. For example, lunch is the main meal of the day for us. This means during the week we have a big pasta dish as soon as the wife and daughters get home from school (wife is a teacher). This will be around 3:30-4:00. This is considered to be lunch. It might sound strange to you, but in Italy lunch is the main meal of the day. It is also the same in a lot of European countries. In Italy shops and businesses will close in the afternoon for everyone to go home for lunch and siesta. Then for some jobs you go back to work after siesta. Anyways after the lunch meal at 3:30-4:00 we will then have dinner at around 7:00. This is often meat and vegetables or meat and salad. It is a more low key meal than the lunch. It means more cooking, more dirty dishes and more tidying up because of two big meals we have prepared. It probably sounds strange to some people? Especially those who grew up in anglo centric homes where you have a hot dinner as a main meal? Thoughts?

Bluereader My anxiety got so bad that it developed into Irritable Bowel Syndrome- has this happened to anyone else?
  • replies: 3

In 2017, the stress of my final year of secondary school twisted my anxiety into Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS). My anxiety was originally stomach pains on varying levels, but IBS feels so much worse. Today, I still struggle with anxiety in combinati... View more

In 2017, the stress of my final year of secondary school twisted my anxiety into Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS). My anxiety was originally stomach pains on varying levels, but IBS feels so much worse. Today, I still struggle with anxiety in combination with IBS and seeking various treatments such as the low FODMAP Diet. Has this happened to anyone else? How do you cope with having anxiety and something so uncontrollable as IBS?

Queenbee74 Help me understand. Anxiety related to a traumatic loss.
  • replies: 2

This is my first post so Thankyou for reading. 11 years ago I lost my dad to a car accident, where his car ran into a tree after coming home from a nearby town. I live in a small town of roughly 3000ppl and if anyone knows living in a small town, whe... View more

This is my first post so Thankyou for reading. 11 years ago I lost my dad to a car accident, where his car ran into a tree after coming home from a nearby town. I live in a small town of roughly 3000ppl and if anyone knows living in a small town, when you hear those sirens tearing out of town you know something disastrous has happened. I remember this day as it happened yesterday. I heard those sirens tearing out of town, and knowing my dad was on the roads, my heart just sank and I had the most horrible gut feeling I’ve ever experienced. This has caused major anxiety issues and to this day, every time I hear sirens around town I always go into a silent panic. Now days when siren go off people all over Facebook etc, post ‘where are those sirens going’ ‘what’s happened around town’ etc and as I don’t always read them, but I want people to understand that anytime they hear them, sometimes there is a family that’s about to be given disastrous news. And that to some people there is an anxiety attack associated with the sound. I know that it’s a way for as towns to stay connected but I also want people to understand that there is also another side to just ‘keeping in the know’ Please help me I understand as I don’t know how to control my anxiety. As the anniversary of my dads passing is near id like to bring this up, but im in two minds as I also do understand that it’s a way the town stays connected but it’s also people just being insensitive and stickybeaks.

Neverforget never asked for help before
  • replies: 2

I think I may be suffering anxiety. 12 months ago my son committed a minor offence through sending a 'sext'. Police visited our house as a result. At the same time i was dealing with a very stressful work environment and had ongoing issues with recur... View more

I think I may be suffering anxiety. 12 months ago my son committed a minor offence through sending a 'sext'. Police visited our house as a result. At the same time i was dealing with a very stressful work environment and had ongoing issues with recurring shingles. While my sons offence was dealt with as a warning and I felt like I dealt with the situation at the time, 12 months later I can not get the experience out of my head. I relive it daily. I feel like the whole situation has ruined our relationship as I just can not let it go. How long is normal for overcoming a stressful event?While the offence was minor compared to other people's experiences, it was not something I was prepared for. I have done a lot of soul searching the last year and want to find strategies to ensure the past becomes the past.

------ A failure with no friends
  • replies: 4

I just failed my first exams at univeristy. I get to sit a supplementary exam, but I set really high standards for myself, and I have never done this badly before. I feel like a complete failure - being smart is the only feature about myself I like. ... View more

I just failed my first exams at univeristy. I get to sit a supplementary exam, but I set really high standards for myself, and I have never done this badly before. I feel like a complete failure - being smart is the only feature about myself I like. I want an excuse, someone to blame, but there are none. And I don't know anyone to talk to. I have given up on being honest with my parents, because it always ends with my parents talking about my problems to their friends and family without my consent. I then have to face these people, find out that they know things about me that I consider very private, and I feel awful and embarrassed, which I hate. I tell my family I haven't made many friends here because of COVID, but fact is I have never been good at making friends. I feel like I have nothing in common with other girls my age, and I just have no interests. I feel empty. And if these years are meant to be the best years of my life, I dread the future. Wondering if anyone else has felt this way, and has any tips?

colleen3 relationship vs school. anxiety
  • replies: 1

I was diagnosed with anxiety about 6 years ago (when I was 11 maybe?) and stopped seeing someone after I could sleep easily. I think I still have it and mild depression but I wouldnt want to see anyone because I never talk to my parents about persona... View more

I was diagnosed with anxiety about 6 years ago (when I was 11 maybe?) and stopped seeing someone after I could sleep easily. I think I still have it and mild depression but I wouldnt want to see anyone because I never talk to my parents about personal stuff. Ive been dating someone for 8 months now and he lives close, has same interests as me, same personality type as me and super caring and kind etc. Ive had a few flings/relationships in the past (just high school ones I guess) and I was always the one that got dumped and that lead to really bad depression and thoughts like Im not good enough etc. Whenever I ask my now bf for reassurance he was always like "you have to trust me, Im not going anywhere" but recently he said we need to talk (Our communication is always good) but then said actually I dont want to because I know youll (me) get sad. I insisted he told me whats up and he said he never has really felt 100% with our relationship and that the relationship isnt as important and meaningful to him as me. I have final high school exams in about two weeks and I know from the past if someone really bad emotionally happens to me, I just go numb and can't do anything (which he knows about). I then freaked out and said can we wait until after my exams to talk about this in case we talk and things go bad and he said of course but he then said he never ever wants to break up and he loves me etc just his emotions are hard to figure out (he has pretty bad undiagnosed depression and was told by a professional his mind tells him he isnt worthy of happiness which is what I think caused him to think he doesnt feel 100% about the relationship). Also, Im the type of person to rely heavily on those close to me where as he is someone who keeps everything to themselves so I come off as extremely clingy which I think he has compared his emotions to (eg she misses me 24/7 and i dont). I want to talk about how hes feeling now because its caused my anxiety to get really bad and now Im more stressed about him than my finals but I also dont want to talk until after my exams in case the outcome is bad and I go numb? I asked him again today if he still likes me, wants to be with me etc and he said "yes" kind of bluntly. I told him my anxiety is getting really bad because my brains saying he doesnt but he just said "you have to trust me" like he usually does. I dont know what to do or how to cope with the stress of this and my exams.

Helenmaree46 One year in on the anxiety journey
  • replies: 2

Hi all,,hope you are all doing ok. It's been a year since my anxiety and panic attacks started. This last few weeks the panic is subsiding , but I am left with extreme exhaustion and a weird feeling in my eyes, like they are stary and not awake. For ... View more

Hi all,,hope you are all doing ok. It's been a year since my anxiety and panic attacks started. This last few weeks the panic is subsiding , but I am left with extreme exhaustion and a weird feeling in my eyes, like they are stary and not awake. For the last year I have had daily anxiety and I'm wondering if because the anxiety is easing am I noticing fatigue more. I have never felt so tired. Any thoughts or similarities ? Thankyou

Katt_s Not sure what’s happening
  • replies: 3

Hi im not sure what I’m feeling but it’s really starting to freak me out. Recently I have experienced the feeling of just freaking out . I would lay in bed ready to go to sleep as I slowly fall asleep I feel like my breathing is going slower and my h... View more

Hi im not sure what I’m feeling but it’s really starting to freak me out. Recently I have experienced the feeling of just freaking out . I would lay in bed ready to go to sleep as I slowly fall asleep I feel like my breathing is going slower and my head feels like it’s racing. I then just suddenly wake up and get myself up and I freak out . I don’t even know what I’m freaking out about. I literally haven’t even closed my eyes for about 1 min and I feel it. I would reach for my phone as I need to see light . I stay up and I’m fine I then go back down and it happens again. As in sitting up both ears are hurting and my head a little. I have never had anxiety or panic attacks before so I’m really not understanding what’s going on. mum just worried as I can barely get any sleep cause I get scared of what can happen . I feel nothing but fine throughout the day it’s only as I lay down to sleep . Has anyone experienced this ?

Tori11 My heart hurts
  • replies: 1

I feel so lost and panicky and sad all the time. I recently moved out of my family home and suddenly have been overcome with so much sadness and anxiety and depression. I miss my mum a lot but mostly I’m struggling with life because I am lost and my ... View more

I feel so lost and panicky and sad all the time. I recently moved out of my family home and suddenly have been overcome with so much sadness and anxiety and depression. I miss my mum a lot but mostly I’m struggling with life because I am lost and my heart is always in pain. I know that I have always been sad but on the outside I don’t act like it. It’s been harder and harder everyday to keep up the happiness from the outside I feel like I’m crippled I can’t breathe and everything is going so fast and I’m barely catching up. My leg constantly shakes and I do t know who to turn to anymore. I don’t trust myself and I don’t think I trust other people