Anxiety

What should you do if you can’t remove the main source of stress and it might be causing health problems?

replies: 3

I’ve never been diagnosed with anxiety and don’t want to self diagnose or self proclaim, as a disclaimer. Ive had stomach digestion problems for the past 2 years (I’m 15), and it may be IBS or another health condition, however I strongly believe it’s... View more

I’ve never been diagnosed with anxiety and don’t want to self diagnose or self proclaim, as a disclaimer. Ive had stomach digestion problems for the past 2 years (I’m 15), and it may be IBS or another health condition, however I strongly believe it’s anxiety. It flares up when I’m in stressful situations or I’m anxious. The problem is, I am always anxious for the smallest things. For example, a tennis lesson two weeks in the future or school in the mornings will give me cramps, bloating, diarrhoea, and the sorts. Sometimes I can’t sleep when all I have is just a tutor session the next day. Therefore, I’m assuming my stomach is especially sensitive to stress and anxiety. However, the main source of my stress is my dad. He gets easily angered and I’ve always been scared of him, I can’t meet his eyes and feel uncomfortable in his presence. He gets angered at me when I tell him I need to go to the toilet frequently or my stomach is hurting so I can’t eat. I feel stress when he does this to me, so my stomach gets even worse and it’s a cycle. How do I stop this? As I’m still 15, I don’t think I can remove him from my life easily, and my parents don’t bother to get medical feedback on my stomach, as they think it’s all my bad mentality and I just need to ‘fix’ it by myself. Any help would be appreciated.

Daughter too anxious to get help

replies: 3

My 12 yr old daughter started yr 7 lasting first semester by hiding with front office ladies of her school everyday. She becomes anxious in shopping centres to the point we have to leave instantly and sleeping at night is impossible unless I am with ... View more

My 12 yr old daughter started yr 7 lasting first semester by hiding with front office ladies of her school everyday. She becomes anxious in shopping centres to the point we have to leave instantly and sleeping at night is impossible unless I am with her. She is too worried about getting help as she believes she is normal and no one can help. How do you convince your children to get help?

Struggling with FIFO partner and my anxiety

replies: 4

Hi there, this is my first post on here but i really needed someone to talk to and see if any one experiences this and how they manage. Ill try and cut the story down, but my partner has always done FIFO, and most the time i dont mind it, i enjoy my ... View more

Hi there, this is my first post on here but i really needed someone to talk to and see if any one experiences this and how they manage. Ill try and cut the story down, but my partner has always done FIFO, and most the time i dont mind it, i enjoy my own time and then having him home, so it works, but the last month but anxiety has been really bad, i normally sleep wonderful, but i havnt been sleeping well, and once i have one bad night of sleep i then am so scared about going to bed again and it happening again, so then the cycle starts. he was home for 3 weeks and the last week i started sleeping amazing again, then he got a new job, 3 weeks away 1 week home. and since has has been gone i have been sleeping bad again im not scared about being alone, its more that im worried i cant sleep so i dont. Then last night he had beers with the boys and i saw a couple of girls there and freaked out Im just not coping with him being away this time, im at work today and my chest has been tight all day, i just want to cry its horrible. i just want him to come home I feel so overwhelmed with emotions and feel like im falling apart this week. i dont know what to do to calm myself and feel more myself and not be so needy towards him, any advice would be amazing. Thankyou xxx

Is my anxiety back? Or something worse?

replies: 5

Hello I have suffered anxiety & OCD for years and years. I have kept it pretty well controlled with an SSRI. Lately everything with COVID and other stresses I feel my anxiety creeping up. I have had some odd symptoms and wonder if it's from anxiety o... View more

Hello I have suffered anxiety & OCD for years and years. I have kept it pretty well controlled with an SSRI. Lately everything with COVID and other stresses I feel my anxiety creeping up. I have had some odd symptoms and wonder if it's from anxiety or something more sinister. Which of course just causes me more anxiety. I have a very very tight neck, like I have strained neck muscles. I have stabbing in my chest and a burning sensation in my throat. I also have one lymph node slight bigger than than the other. That was scares me the most. My pulse also seems to be bursting out of my neck. Last week I had shocking heart beats in that ear but I had a lovely massage on my neck and that sensation has gone now. I want to see a doctor, but don't want to be a hypercondriac. Which causes me more anxiety. I am so stuck

First time for everything

replies: 5

Hey people I thought id start with an intro post. This is my first time ever doing anything like this im not sure how I feel about it to be honest but hopefully I can contribute to this forum and help myself at the same time . I never thought anythin... View more

Hey people I thought id start with an intro post. This is my first time ever doing anything like this im not sure how I feel about it to be honest but hopefully I can contribute to this forum and help myself at the same time . I never thought anything was wrong with me until the past couple of years. Im a plumber by trade so always tried to have that tough guy mentality .. that "gotta get on with it" attitude. But in the back of my mind ive always had these thoughts of thinking im not good enough for anything and a general uncertainty about my life. I lost my job at start of the year because the company went into liquidation. Ive been walking around for the past few months with a constant feeling of self doubt. Feeling like someone has kicked me in my chest. I find myself constantly wondering and dwelling on things. Like something bad is going to happen but I dont know what. Ive only recently come to terms that I have anxiety an ive had it all along but its just never been dealt with and i know that this is going to be one of the toughest fights of my life. I dont want to rattle on because there is probably people on here are far worse off than me. But I hope we all can find true peace eventually.

Health anxiety. How do you cope?

replies: 13

Hi everyone. I’m interested in hearing everyone’s stories of health anxiety and how they cope with it. I work in healthcare, with people who are terminally ill. And I find myself constantly panicking and obsessing over little symptoms of my own and c... View more

Hi everyone. I’m interested in hearing everyone’s stories of health anxiety and how they cope with it. I work in healthcare, with people who are terminally ill. And I find myself constantly panicking and obsessing over little symptoms of my own and convincing myself I’m really ill. I’m only 21 and I don’t have any major symptoms of anything. My paranoia has gotten to the point where I’m terrified to go see my doctor about anything, for fear of bad news. Which is very irrational. But I finally have made an appointment with my GP next week to discuss my health concerns, and organise a mental health plan to see a psychologist about my anxiety. Has anyone here experienced this? How do you cope? Did a psychologist help? I want to hear all about your experiences with health anxiety. Thanks!

Did I overreact?

replies: 4

Hi all, Curious to get some opinions on a decision I recently took, if you have time. 4 years ago I moved into a boarding house, where I stayed for 2 years. I felt safe and had a sense of privacy. I got to know a few of the housemates very casually a... View more

Hi all, Curious to get some opinions on a decision I recently took, if you have time. 4 years ago I moved into a boarding house, where I stayed for 2 years. I felt safe and had a sense of privacy. I got to know a few of the housemates very casually and become good friends with one. Everyone (including me) had jobs or was somehow occupied, and we all passed like ships in the night. I then left Australlia and was overseas for 2+ years. I recently returned to Australia, contacted the same agency, viewed one of the rooms in the same boarding house, and signed a 3-month lease, thinking it would all work out well. The agent mentioned that all the previous tenants had left due to losing jobs amid COVID, so it was a totally different set of people. I decided (perhaps foolishly) to go ahead anyway and sign the lease. Unfortunately over the following two weeks a string of incidents occurred... * Two housemates loudly talking outside my door about "the new guy" and "what's he up to" etc. * One of the housemates just talking and talking at me when I was trying to get back to my room and I ended up having to close the door on him because he wouldn't stop * The police visiting once, apparently "just to check up" * A stranger tampering with the mailbox at the front then running off * One of the housemates half-jokingly blocking my way when I was trying to walk out of the building * A stranger asking me about someone living in the house as I walked out of the building * One of the housemates two floors down shouting obscenities for about an hour so loud I could hear them from my room even with all doors and windows closed, and slaming doors so hard that I could practically feel the building shake After all this I just didn't feel safe there. When the shouting/door slamming occurred I panicked, phoned a family member and stayed overnight with them, and ended up spending the past two weeks with them. Just today I met with the agent, got my remaining belongings out, handed back the keys and quit the lease. I feel like this all happened rather suddenly and maybe I overreacted? Was I right to feel unsafe given the circumstances? It seems like over a 2 year period the boarding house had gone from safe to unsafe. Maybe the world is generally less safe due to economic disruptions, COVID, inequalities? Do I seem obsessed with safety? But don't you kinda have to be, if the world really is becoming less safe? Is it my anxiety or is this real? What do you think?

Depressed because always alone

replies: 3

My family of origin have abused, isolated and excluded me etc - even to the point of Christmases alone for the last 5 years. But yet they all get along with each other and have joy at events that I never get told about. I am always alone. I have trie... View more

My family of origin have abused, isolated and excluded me etc - even to the point of Christmases alone for the last 5 years. But yet they all get along with each other and have joy at events that I never get told about. I am always alone. I have tried to make/keep friends but it is not the same. They all have their families and commitments to those healthy relationships. I guess it falls apart for me because my family members are toxic and not healthy relationships - so it leaves me alone - all the time. It didn't bother me as much early on but the longer it goes on the worse I feel and my families treatment of me seems justified as obviously I am unwanted as I am always alone and never included. COVID certainly didn't help matters for me either - with the occasional coffee catch up with friends gone. I do like my own company (well, not really - but have been crushed by my family that I have such low self-esteem that my own company is safer than facing the world). However, the occasional inclusion would make a world of difference to me. I don't know what I am posting for - maybe it might help to know if others experience the same - alone/isolation. Do people feel okay with it? Like I used to. Or does it affect mood, depression? I never had depression before all of this - I was quite charismatic and a bit of a social butterfly - always shy, but I interacted well with others. Now I am just a depressed, anxious empty crushed shell due to the people I loved most and who should have loved me most. Also, I am sick of people making false promises - eg we will call you next week or whatever and never happens and emails that go unanswered. It only adds to the feelings of alone and unwanted/forgotten/not important. And this feeds into the depression. I am just not going to bother anymore. Does this happen to others?? Thanks for reading.

What's happening?

replies: 10

Hi first time on here and feeling anxious. I don't know what's happened it's not like I've had PTSD but lately I seem to stress or overthink the minute I feel some sort of ailment. When this happens my brain goes into a spin and sit there thinking wh... View more

Hi first time on here and feeling anxious. I don't know what's happened it's not like I've had PTSD but lately I seem to stress or overthink the minute I feel some sort of ailment. When this happens my brain goes into a spin and sit there thinking what the hell it could be. Currently sitting here worried that something is not right with me, because I feel like I have a sore leg, my tongue feels strange and I think my tear duct is dry. I say I think I feel these because I'm not sure if it's a symptom of panic or phantom because I'm thinking them up. Never used to be like this. I used to have the patience of waiting to see if things would pass or otherwise take action. At the same time I'm scared of going to the GP sounding stupid or that there could actually be something. Anyone else ever feel like this?

Any tips?

replies: 3

Hi everyone, so I experienced another attack this evening after dinner for no reason that I can pin point. Had the usual tight chest, short breath, pounding heart, sort of strange feeling as though the blood was rushing from my limbs (hard to explain... View more

Hi everyone, so I experienced another attack this evening after dinner for no reason that I can pin point. Had the usual tight chest, short breath, pounding heart, sort of strange feeling as though the blood was rushing from my limbs (hard to explain), trembling, hot & cold and also find it heard to focus or think straight. i find myself pacing the house trying to find something to keep my mind off what is going on in my body but struggled. Then managed to get myself to stop and lay on the bed and get out the log book that my physiologist told me to record every time I have a attack with: what happened, the rating how intense out of 100%, what I was doing at the time and also I I know what triggered it. After writing my log I noticed I calmed down after about half hour and felt a bit more human. anyway I would really like to know if anyone has any tips of how to settle myself at the start instead of thinking “oh here we go” and snowballing the feeling by getting anxious that it’s happening!

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What should you do if you can’t remove the main source of stress and it might be causing health problems?

replies: 3

Daughter too anxious to get help

replies: 3

Struggling with FIFO partner and my anxiety

replies: 4