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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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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

0Sarah0 Struggling with OCD
  • replies: 3

I'm a young girl who has recently turned 18. I'm battling with OCD and it haunts me everyday. Washing my hands until they bleed and shutting doors repetitively have been an unhealthy habit of mine for years. I have never opened up in a format like th... View more

I'm a young girl who has recently turned 18. I'm battling with OCD and it haunts me everyday. Washing my hands until they bleed and shutting doors repetitively have been an unhealthy habit of mine for years. I have never opened up in a format like this, but because many people here are in a similar situation, it must be the most understanding discussion space. My family is supportive of me in every aspect however, they are very tough luck oriented, so i feel i wouldn't get taken very seriously if i was to open up, or it would appear as if I'm looking for attention. My friends aren't very helpful sources to confide in because when i try to talk to them, they don't know what to say (as is to be expected because what is there to say). I have seen a psychologist in the past to discuss anxiety, yet whenever i would try to talk about OCD it was somewhat disregarded. People think the state of my hands is from the skin condition Psoriasis (which is true to a degree) but I'm scared to tell them about my compulsion. Recently having to put on hand sanitizer as i walk into school (due to the current state of the world) is miserable and it feels like acid on my hands. I just wanted to be comforted by understanding people because often times it feels like I'm alone in my feelings. But to end on a positive note, i couldn't have been more lucky with my friends and family because not many people have something so amazing.

wevegotthis Feel like I’m going crazy - Every time I see someone with mental health issues or talk about them, I get really anxious.
  • replies: 4

Hi there, So one thing I find makes me incredibly anxious and often makes me feels like I‘m going crazy is when I see people with mental illness or talk about other mental illnesses with people. It generally comes from a sense of empathy towards thes... View more

Hi there, So one thing I find makes me incredibly anxious and often makes me feels like I‘m going crazy is when I see people with mental illness or talk about other mental illnesses with people. It generally comes from a sense of empathy towards these people. For example: yesterday I watched the episode of the ABC show “You Can’t Ask That” on schizophrenia. I think this show is incredible however I spent the whole time thinking “I can imagine what that is like. These poor people. What if that happens to me? Are the thoughts in my head the voices these people are hearing?”... and it just spirals from there. I’m now in an incredibly anxious state. I guess one of my biggest fears (and that seems common with people who suffer from anxiety) is the idea that I will go crazy. Does anyone else deal with this? I’m scared of making myself schizophrenic or going crazy...

Healthy_anxiety Heath anxiety
  • replies: 3

Very new to all this. About 2 months ago my life changed when I had a huge panic attack. Went to the hospital thinking I was having a heart attack, but doctors told me I’m fine. I’d honestly thought it go away with in a few days then everything came ... View more

Very new to all this. About 2 months ago my life changed when I had a huge panic attack. Went to the hospital thinking I was having a heart attack, but doctors told me I’m fine. I’d honestly thought it go away with in a few days then everything came falling down on me, lost my job and thinking there is something medically wrong with me after the so called heart attack. Fast forward to now where I only think about am I medically fine. Is always with the heart and lungs with me I’m always thinking is there something wrong with my heart even tho I’ve seen a cardiologist and doctors so many times and they all the same information that I’m fine. But it’s so frustrating how I always feel like someone is squeezing my heart but I can’t do anything about it, it’s costing me jobs, being social and exercising. I’m not the fittest or a lazy person, but I do like to keep active but it’s so hard to do that now I don’t know what’s wrong with my lungs. I got mis diagnosed with asthma and going to see a specialist soon to see if everything is ok but it may possibly be my mind playing games. I’m sorry if this story doesn’t make much sense. But all I know is having health anxiety it’s terrible, you fear everyday. Even tho you are fine but you are living in fear. Eddie