Support
Support

Anxiety

Anxiety is the most common mental health condition in Australia. Share your own story and learn about other member’s experiences with anxiety.

Start a conversation

FAQ

Find answers to some of the more frequently asked questions on the Forums.

View the FAQ

Forums guidelines

Our guidelines keep the Forums a safe place for people to share and learn information.

View the guidelines
Categories
Start a conversation

Pinned discussions

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

All discussions

Start a conversation

RealBobby Throwing up regularly
  • replies: 2

I’ve had a bunch of anxiety disorders for years, mostly agoraphobia and social anxiety but lately I get nausea and anxiety every time I eat, I now throw up after meals almost every day and keep losing weight because of it. I’m also failing every uni ... View more

I’ve had a bunch of anxiety disorders for years, mostly agoraphobia and social anxiety but lately I get nausea and anxiety every time I eat, I now throw up after meals almost every day and keep losing weight because of it. I’m also failing every uni course. I’ve seen many psychologists over the years but they never help. What should I do?

James54 Loss of love for girlfriend over a week
  • replies: 3

Hi guys, I’ve just recently started a relationship with a girl i have been into and really cared about for a long time. We are both 18 and we have been only dating for a month now but i have been diagonased with mild ocd since i was around 16 and at ... View more

Hi guys, I’ve just recently started a relationship with a girl i have been into and really cared about for a long time. We are both 18 and we have been only dating for a month now but i have been diagonased with mild ocd since i was around 16 and at the start of the relationship, i suddenly one day had no feelings for her felt like dead around her even though i knew i loved her. This lasted for a week and then slowly went away as i realised it was something with my anxiety. I had a couple good weeks feeling normal after that but now over this week i feel like i literally have no feelings for her, i don’t get the same feeling when i see her or with her, i almost feel depressed and guilty when around and thinking about her because i’m scared i don’t have feelings for her anymore even though i don’t want to lose her. I keep noticing other girls now when i didn’t before and it’s really scaring me, is this something to do with OCD, is it some sort of depression, will these feelings for her return because all i want to do is love her like i used too. Hope this made sense

CatastrophySam The Ebb and Flow
  • replies: 7

Right now I'm in a pretty bad place, full of panic and over analyzing every small feeling - twitching/pain/subjective weakness etc and trying to short circuit it with logical and rational thoughts. I always remember what a psychiatrist told me at the... View more

Right now I'm in a pretty bad place, full of panic and over analyzing every small feeling - twitching/pain/subjective weakness etc and trying to short circuit it with logical and rational thoughts. I always remember what a psychiatrist told me at the beginning when all of this started... I will always have anxiety however my control over it will get better and there will be times it comes back but my ability to control it will mean the fluctuations will get less and less. This has largely been correct. There were times at my worst when I was frozen and shaking uncontrollably on the bed thinking the worst... I haven't had that in 6 months. It has been since October 2019 when I noticed weakness in my arm and then my leg. Then the twitching started in my right leg. I can honestly say these 2 areas haven't progressed any or anything noticeably in 9 months... This logically should put my mind at ease immediately... but the anxiety in my brain will try to counter it by saying 'what if you do have something serious, but it's just a slower form of the disease' I then try to short circuit that thinking by knowing that if something is very slow (even though not realistic), then it's still okay. Right now I have trouble in my articulation. I noticed a few nights ago that I was swallowing too much (maybe some allergies) and a few days later my tongue felt tired/sore and I could articulate as easily. I also know I'm thinking about this too much which is making something that has been nearly a subconscious movement in to something I'm analysing for each and every word spoken. This has happened before and went away, which should put my mind at ease immediately but again my brain will counter the reasonable/logical thinking by saying 'what if it is getting weaker and you can't cope anymore?'. I know this is impossible, if you can't move something then you can't move something. It's as simple as that. Despite my logical thinking making overwhelming sense, the illogical/irrational thoughts still pepper away and come and go with intensity. Some weeks I feel like me again and others (like now) the world looks like a different place. I know through my own experience that it will subside again however practice makes perfect eg. mindful meditation/positive assumptions etc. If you're reading this and at the beginning of your journey, just know that it does get easier, and if you fall again, it's normal. You will come out of the fog.

hacketts New to dealing with extreme anxiety
  • replies: 2

Hey, I'm pretty new to all of this, in a way. I've been dealing with anxiety since I was a kid but have only started to acknowledge it/understand it in the past year. However, after I acknowledged it, it has become much worse, and after the recent se... View more

Hey, I'm pretty new to all of this, in a way. I've been dealing with anxiety since I was a kid but have only started to acknowledge it/understand it in the past year. However, after I acknowledged it, it has become much worse, and after the recent separation with my partner, it taken over my entire mind. I can't go a single day without shaking and feeling extremely vulnerable in my self. I've cut down of my drinking habits and try to do things that will calm myself down, but due to a lack of friends and motivation I feel stuck in my head a lot of the time. I feel like I'm the only one that could be feeling exactly how I feel and that thought really isolates me. I'm unsure of myself and have lost all my self confidence and enthusiasm. I'm not like who I used to be, and my confidence has really deteriorated. The anxiety makes me feel sick and helpless, and just so alone. I'm worried it will stay like this forever, and in the height of it I struggle to rationalize. Coping mechanisms are not my strong suit.

Paulastired Getting help in rural area
  • replies: 2

Hey, I am having major issues with anxiety - it is getting out of control lately due to a death in my family. I have done lots of things to manage it, i.e. food, exercise/yoga etc, but it is so bad now it is mucking up my work. I have been to the GP ... View more

Hey, I am having major issues with anxiety - it is getting out of control lately due to a death in my family. I have done lots of things to manage it, i.e. food, exercise/yoga etc, but it is so bad now it is mucking up my work. I have been to the GP twice for help and to ask for medication but refused as I scored 19 and needed 20 to "qualify". I have done a lot of my own reading and learning, and feel this is where I need to go. Instead I was given a script for sleeping tablets, which the pharmacists couldn't administer for some reason, and they need to compound these after I agree to a price. ?? I don't know it seems so stupid, and to wait for 2 weeks to see if I feel better. Anyway, how do you get help when your GP won't listen and says you don't really have a problem and just need sleep, when you really have a problem? I live in a rural area and feel like the doctors here don't think mental health is a real thing. Its hard to ask for help, and get knocked down.

Michelle34 how do you work?
  • replies: 3

How does everyone hold down a job with chronic anxiety? I'm nervous about going back to work as I am having a massive flare and I don't know if I'll be able to cope. I'm lucky in the sense that I keep getting offered more and more hours from differen... View more

How does everyone hold down a job with chronic anxiety? I'm nervous about going back to work as I am having a massive flare and I don't know if I'll be able to cope. I'm lucky in the sense that I keep getting offered more and more hours from different people but I have to keep knocking them back as I don't think I'll be able to manage. None of the people I work for know I have chronic anxiety as I am able to keep my shit together for the hours I'm at work and maintain being bright and bubbly (I have had one person complain to me that they would never hire so and so because they suffer anxiety) though I've had to chuck a few sickies because of it. I've never been able to maintain a steady job. I am a good worker, I always get asked to take on more and do more where ever I work but I get to this point where my anxiety is too much I start wigging out and I have to quit and the cycle begins again. I feel like I'm on a hamster wheel and I never really get any where.

GLJ My son left home with no job and is on drugs
  • replies: 2

Really struggling with anxiety and insomnia. My son, 18, finished year 12. Started an apprenticeship then lost his job for taking too many days off, showing up late, always on his phone. He is smoking marijuana a lot. I have a 13 year old daughter at... View more

Really struggling with anxiety and insomnia. My son, 18, finished year 12. Started an apprenticeship then lost his job for taking too many days off, showing up late, always on his phone. He is smoking marijuana a lot. I have a 13 year old daughter at home too. After 6 weeks of my son up all night, asleep all day, day drinking, doing nothing but live like a bit of a slob while we all worked, i told him to go find work. He packed a bag and left. He came back to the house while we were working and stole my birthday money. We had to change the locks. I have been blocked from him completely. I tried calling him once every day for 3 weeks, he just rejects my calls. Its been over a month now with not a word from him. Im a marathon runner, i work full time and im now extremely anxious and sleep deprived. Im so wired with worry of a night time. Its awful. any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Kmmmmm Increase in anxiety after changing meds
  • replies: 2

I have recently been tapering off of an antidepressant medication. My anxiety has been high, a constant feeling of unease and tightness is my chest. It’s so uncomfortable. I am wondering if I should just go back to my original dose. I really wish I w... View more

I have recently been tapering off of an antidepressant medication. My anxiety has been high, a constant feeling of unease and tightness is my chest. It’s so uncomfortable. I am wondering if I should just go back to my original dose. I really wish I was normal and did need all this pharmaceutical help. My medication is so high that my doctors will not write me scripts. I really cannot afford the psychiatrist, but my gp insists on it without any options for financing. I don’t know what to do to get out of this situation. I really want a normal life. I want to be healthy.

Booshark The new girl
  • replies: 2

Hi everyone thought i would join as I have been diagnosed with panic attacks, get some tips, advice etc from others on how they deal with stress / anxieties. Mine has come from living through the fires in January (we were surrounded), looking after m... View more

Hi everyone thought i would join as I have been diagnosed with panic attacks, get some tips, advice etc from others on how they deal with stress / anxieties. Mine has come from living through the fires in January (we were surrounded), looking after my parents (mother has high anxieties whose biggest fear is fire), COVID (I work the front line in a hospital where abuse from the public is a daily occurrence ), single parenting (home schooling is not for me), and now helping my son whose father has decided to move to the UK (who visited him and said goodbye to him during the week). Like everyone it’s been a hell of a year. Hope everyone is doing ok and managing the best they can, as that is all we can do and support each other.

ArtStones33 Is it reasonable to get DSP for anxiety and depression?
  • replies: 8

Hi everyone, I decided to reach out to this community to share some of my personal experience, and to ask for advice, I'll do my best to keep it short so a decent amount of things may be left out but I will get straight to the point. I am a 33 year o... View more

Hi everyone, I decided to reach out to this community to share some of my personal experience, and to ask for advice, I'll do my best to keep it short so a decent amount of things may be left out but I will get straight to the point. I am a 33 year old man who has suffered all my life with anxiety and depression, my earliest memory of anxiety was 4 years old, I have done my best to do what I feel society wants from me, when I was younger I got work, did my best with friends tried my best with girlfriends, getting a car, my own place all the things that society expects. for the last 10+ years I have basically become a shut in, in 2018 I went for help, I have seen doctors, counsellors, psychologists and psychiatrists, I have been on 3 different medications and about to try a 4th one. From 2013 to 2018 I had no income whatsoever this was due to shutting down completely and not being able to leave the house at all I only had support of family. the last 2 years of my life have been extremely difficult, my mum and I live next to threating neighbours (I can't get into the details of that) and I have been unable to drive my car for the last 18 months. to spite having worked for 3 years in my early 20s and getting a car a a girlfriend or two, I assure everyone that my anxiety is extremely debilitating, while at work I suffered every day and had to eventually quit due to depression. my anxiety is all over the place, at times it's so bad I'm as timid as a shy little kid and my fear levels are off the charts. As I said before I am 33, I am a guy who is approaching middle age and I don't see these issues going away, since anxiety and depression has always been apart of my life, since I have tried with mental health professionals, medication etc then shouldn't my government take me serious? I have applied and been rejected for DSP 3 times so far. So far also no mental health professional seems to want to say my condition is permanent, I can't see how it's not, I am almost half way through my life.... at what point will it be considered? So I'm here to ask...what should I do? what can I say to a mental health professional? I am tired of medication and I am tried of people trying to throw me back into work when I don't want it and can't do it.

As an organisation that supports people from across Australia, Beyond Blue acknowledges the Traditional Owners and Custodians of Country and their continuing connection to land, waters and community. We pay respect to Elders past and present.

First Nations Peoples are advised that this website may include reference to and images of deceased persons.

Beyond Blue is committed to safe inclusive spaces, policies and services for people of LGBTIQ+ communities and their families.

Helpful information

Stay in touch

Sign up below for regular emails from Beyond Blue, filled with information, advice and support for you or your loved ones.

Stay in touch

Talk it through with us, we'll point you in the right direction.

Call 1300 224 636

24 hours / 7 days a week

Chat Online

24 hours / 7 days a week

Email us

Get a reply in 24 hours

Copyright � 2026 Beyond Blue Ltd

All rights reserved

Contact us Terms of use Privacy policy Site map