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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Chris_B Forums etiquette: give support to receive support
  • replies: 0

Hi everyone, particularly any new members who may be reading. From time to time, we get contacted by members who are unhappy that they haven’t received a lot of replies to their posts. Our community champions work very hard to make sure that all newb... View more

Hi everyone, particularly any new members who may be reading. From time to time, we get contacted by members who are unhappy that they haven’t received a lot of replies to their posts. Our community champions work very hard to make sure that all newbies are welcomed when they first post, and we understand that it’s a big step to post for the first time on a forum like this, especially if you aren’t feeling great. It’s important to remember, though, that these forums are a community of real people, just like you, not a one-on-one support environment like going to see your psychologist. To get the best out of being here, one of the best tips we can offer is give support to receive support. Being a good community member means: participating in different threads (not just your own), replying to people who have taken the time to reply to you (even if it’s just to say thank you), and... posting words of emotional support and encouragement when you see others who are hurting and reaching out. You don’t have to feel obliged to solve the problems of others: that’s not what we’re here for. But you can offer empathy and what you’ve learned from your own life experiences, even if it’s just a line or two, eg. “I don't know what to say, but I want to give you my support and tell you I care about what is happening to you and hope life will get better soon.” Try to develop an interest in the journeys of others here on the forums. You may be surprised at how good being an active, caring member here can make you feel. For those of you who have had good experiences giving support here on the forums, please post in this thread here and let us know how it has helped you on your journey.

All discussions

SapereAude Centrelink & Robodebt
  • replies: 2

Some excellent news for those issues with Robodebt Centrelink debts. These seem set to be refunded after Centrelink caved in under threat of a class action. This has caused many great anxiety, led to depression and in some tragic cases suicides. My t... View more

Some excellent news for those issues with Robodebt Centrelink debts. These seem set to be refunded after Centrelink caved in under threat of a class action. This has caused many great anxiety, led to depression and in some tragic cases suicides. My thoughts are with you all. Keep reaching out and supporting those affected.

Missberri Struggling after isolation
  • replies: 1

Hi, I'm having a really hard time getting myself out of being isolated after this whole pandemic. I feel like everyone is still to some degree social distancing and things aren't completely back to normal but I know things have improved and a lot of ... View more

Hi, I'm having a really hard time getting myself out of being isolated after this whole pandemic. I feel like everyone is still to some degree social distancing and things aren't completely back to normal but I know things have improved and a lot of people have in some ways in some ways gone back to being more social again. I'm really struggling to do the same though. I have always had bad social anxiety and I feel this whole situation made it worse. Before the pandemic I was really trying to be more social, I had a lot of things planned and I was trying to make more time for friends. I've never been completely awful at socialising and always have friends around me but I do struggle with being the first to reach out to people. For the majority of when the pandemic was at its worst I pretty much spoke to no one. I hardly messaged or called anyone and I didn't really hear from anyone else either. I don't even know why I did this as there were times I wanted to reach out to people and didn't. There was a guy who I met at the start of the pandemic who I was dating and I pretty much spoke to everyday, but we ended up breaking things off because it got difficult and we both werent really feeling like ourselves with everything going on. After that I just became completely lonely and haven't talked to many people other than my parents and people at work. Now I just feel like a complete mess. I feel like I've spent so much time alone these past few months I don't even know how to go back to normal. Some of my friends wanted to play games online with me today and I feel so much more anxious about it than I did before. I feel like I don't want to go out and see anyone or make plans with anyone even though we can now. I wanted to reach out to that guy I was seeing earlier to see how he's doing or to catch up but now I don't even feel motivated to do that. I just don't feel good right now and I don't see the point of seeing anyone or talking to anyone but I know at the same time I am not doing myself any good by staying so closed off from everyone. I feel like theres a lot of people out there who are probably being social and I feel so stupid for having hardly anyone around me to do the same, especially when it was really something I wanted to work on this year. I know that there's a lot worse things going on in the world right now and my situation is definitely not the worst. But I just wish I could break myself out of feeling like this but I don't know how.

Mumofnah Suffering from some major anxiety symptoms and feeling like I’m going crazy!
  • replies: 4

Hello everyone, I have been suffering from some bad anxiety for the last 2-3 months now that just hasn’t settled at all. I am in the early stages of getting help with physiologist and have only had a introduction session so far. lately I have been fe... View more

Hello everyone, I have been suffering from some bad anxiety for the last 2-3 months now that just hasn’t settled at all. I am in the early stages of getting help with physiologist and have only had a introduction session so far. lately I have been feeling out of control with my emotions and just really “mah” with everything eg, having conversations with my loved ones, getting excited about events that usually I would look forward to, Dealing with my 2 children, And just feeling like everything is just to hard so I do nothing and stay home. Also on top of that I have been feeling anxious all of the time with racing heart. Getting tired a lot and trouble staying asleep as I wake with my heart racing and causes me to get scared and think something is majorly wrong with me so then find myself short of breath and my heart beating like crazy. I have been finding if I get up out of bed it gets 10 times worse whereas if I just lay there and don’t move at all after about half hour I start to settle some of the time but it’s Every scary. I have lost about 5kg as with the onset of the anxiety 2-3months ago I lost my appetite so didn’t eat to great for about a week. I can eat now but if I try to have a meal the size I us to I get upset stomach and racing heart and just feel horrible. I am trying to build up to having normal sized meals but am thinking I need to just try to have small meals more frequently. Because of the waking in the middle of the night I am to scared to stay anywhere else then home because of this. i have just got myself a horse after not riding in over 12years and am hoping I can use this a bit of therapy as when I am with the horse I find myself a lot calmer maybe because I am focused on her. The doctor and the physiologist have both asked me do I find myself worrying about anything. I have been through a bit lately eg. my partner starting up own business, 4yo son that I have with me 24/7 so I don’t get alone time, losing my beautiful little dog I had for 2 years and was not a pretty sight, living everyone else’s lives for them and making sure they are all ok then running out of time to live my own life so after time forgetting what makes me happy or interests me. And I think maybe also worrying in the back of my mind about the whole covid-19 situation. i guess I am just also wanting to know if anyone else has or is having these same feelings and if they have any tips I can try for when I wake at night in a panic? can anyone relate?

nootnoot Having a panic attack and feel nauseous
  • replies: 3

A few weeks ago I decided I was going to move out of my partners parents house because I can't stand his parents. I looked at a place and liked it straight away. I'll be taking the room of another tenant who moved out. None of the move has been final... View more

A few weeks ago I decided I was going to move out of my partners parents house because I can't stand his parents. I looked at a place and liked it straight away. I'll be taking the room of another tenant who moved out. None of the move has been finalised yet and I haven't gotten the all clear from the real estate lady. The other girl who I will be living with says I should just move in my stuff already and start paying the rent so the other girl who was staying there before me doesn't have to keep paying. (There are two tenants, one moved out but still has to pay rent until a new person moves in. As I said the other tenant wants me to move in tomorrow but now I am sick with nervousness and I have been having panic attacks. My boyfriend has been distant towards me ever since I said I wanted to move out. I am worried he is going to break up with me even though I said I don't want that and that I just want my own space. So basically the fact that I could be moving out tomorrow is making it all too real and I feel sick about it. I worry that I have made the wrong decision and that my mental health will go downhill. I have a history of anxiety and depression and with big life events is usually when I become more depressed. I don't know what to do anymore. I am now thinking I should just stay at home with my boyfriend still because I fear I will lose him. But I am worried about disappointing the other girl because I said I would move in even though I haven't been given the all clear.

Milk_Buscuit Social anxiety
  • replies: 2

One problem at a time... I have a problem with social anxiety. I don't know when it started, but this has been putting a halt in progress I could have been making in a lot of social situations (progress of any kind imaginable; intimately, a job I'm d... View more

One problem at a time... I have a problem with social anxiety. I don't know when it started, but this has been putting a halt in progress I could have been making in a lot of social situations (progress of any kind imaginable; intimately, a job I'm doing, and even just making friends) for years. I will do as much as either pretend everything's okay, or just freeze up completely with neither helping me get to the point I need to. A big effect this has had, and I'm sure a cause of it too, is that I shut myself in and haven't made friends for years and haven't learn to socialise like an adult. The only reference I have for how to act is from ten years ago, and as I am now 22 this is rather unhelpful.

HesOkIthink Can anyone relate?
  • replies: 3

Overall, I feel a sense of inadequacy to everyone else, I often feel as though I am not confident enough, interesting enough, good looking enough or funny enough, I feel my life compared to others is quite boring and for the most part lonely, I feel,... View more

Overall, I feel a sense of inadequacy to everyone else, I often feel as though I am not confident enough, interesting enough, good looking enough or funny enough, I feel my life compared to others is quite boring and for the most part lonely, I feel, compared to others that I do not have a lot of friends and the friends I do have are busy most of the time which amplifies these feeling of loneliness. I feel disconnected, like I haven’t found my people, or people that get me, that know me. I can’t stand to be in my own company for too long, especially on weekends when there’s the added pressure from society to be surrounded by friends having a blast, yet here I am struggling to even organise a lunch with the 1 or 2 flakey friends I have. This makes me feel like there is something wrong me, like I am a socially inept loser, a loner. I want to belong to a group of friends that know me and love me for me, to have that feeling of family, to be invited to weekly dinners or drinks or activities etc. I have also recently started dating someone, she is outgoing and confident and is constantly surrounded by friends of hers, her social calendar is packed – seeing this and seeing how much she enjoys her well balanced life reiterates those feelings of inadequacy for me. I started to feel nowhere near good enough for her, like I had nothing to offer her, like my life was way too uninteresting and boring for her, like I was way too uninteresting and boring for her. I feel like a prisoner to my own mind, all I want is to be happy with who I am, to be confident on my own in my own skin, I don’t want to live in my head anymore, I don’t want to constantly be googling mental health symptoms late at night, I don’t want to feel irritable or restless, I want to enjoy life, I want to enjoy meeting people and stop caring so much about what people think of me. I want to come out of my shell, find out who I am and own that uniqueness. I don’t want to be a follower anymore, I want to be me, and have my own passions and hobbies and interests. I’ve thought about joining meetups and groups but I just can’t picture myself doing it alone, I don’t feel confident enough. I have booked in to see a professional but there is quite a wait. I’m just wondering, can anyone else relate? What were you diagnosed with or what do you think I am struggling with?

Thisso I don’t want to be weak
  • replies: 4

It has always been hard for me to show how I feel. But after the end of a long term relationship and the start of a new relationship I’ve developed an intense feeling of dread all the time my resting heart rate has increased and a fair few other issu... View more

It has always been hard for me to show how I feel. But after the end of a long term relationship and the start of a new relationship I’ve developed an intense feeling of dread all the time my resting heart rate has increased and a fair few other issues but I don’t want to see a gp or talk to anyone about it because I don’t want to appear weak

G.P Can't stop negatively comparing myself to others
  • replies: 14

Hello! I'm a little anxious writing this, but I'm not sure what to do. For a long time, I know that I've had a bad tendency to compare myself to others. I keep finding myself getting triggered over others' successes and how much better they have it t... View more

Hello! I'm a little anxious writing this, but I'm not sure what to do. For a long time, I know that I've had a bad tendency to compare myself to others. I keep finding myself getting triggered over others' successes and how much better they have it than I do. I then feel guilty for getting jealous that others (particularly close friends and family) have what I don't and then feel crap about myself for it. It's an ongoing cycle. I've spoken to my psychologist about it, and she says that it's my coping mechanism and way of protecting myself, for when I was younger and my parents had compared me to others when I was a lot younger. I think it's partially true, but don't think it quite hits the nail on the head. Something tells me it's more than that, but haven't quite figured it out yet. Either way, what I'm most concerned about is how to start reversing this. I've now become aware of it, which I'm told is the first step to getting through it. But I'm having trouble overcoming it when it happens. I just start going into a negative spin cycle of thoughts, beat myself for everything that I'm not and shut down. I've tried to catch myself before it happens or write it down in a journal but sometimes it doesn't work for me. Thanks for hearing me out, hopefully there's a solution to this... GP

contrarymary Is anxiety and stress something that can be diagnosed
  • replies: 5

I have posted a few times about my health issues which have not changed i am now 65 and had the same problems on a regular basis for the past 4 years. I always think I am having a heart attack everytime I get palpitations or chest pain, so I usually ... View more

I have posted a few times about my health issues which have not changed i am now 65 and had the same problems on a regular basis for the past 4 years. I always think I am having a heart attack everytime I get palpitations or chest pain, so I usually end up going to Hospital usually in the middle of the night. I have had every heart test and seen cardiologist I think they think it's all in my mind as nothing shows up. i was there last week as I has a few palpitations they did all the tests nothing. I was really upset this time so was getting more and more agitated and crying. Nurse said I was stressed and calm down which made me worse. went back to GP says nothing wrong with heart, blood tests all good nothing physical wrong and to stop worrying - easier said than done. read a few things on beyond blue about stress and anxiety. For me it's like a vicious circle - go to bed can't sleep so get stressed then get chest pain so even more stressed, get more tests nothing wrong back to square one. have written down how I feel and symptoms and off to GP in 2 days - what can he do for me if I am not ill physically