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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.

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bkc98 Physical Symptoms Anxiety
  • replies: 4

I've been struggling with various symptoms over the past four months. Most of them I can attribute to anxiety, but one particular symptom has been scaring me. I've felt off-balanced and heavy when I stand up and walk around. It feels like someone is ... View more

I've been struggling with various symptoms over the past four months. Most of them I can attribute to anxiety, but one particular symptom has been scaring me. I've felt off-balanced and heavy when I stand up and walk around. It feels like someone is pushing down on the top of my head, overall just a very heavy feeling/pressure in the head. I'm wondering if anyone feels this? I'm really concerned about a brain tumor, and I want to get an MRI. But, I have health anxiety and frequently fear different ailments.

ArthurB Anxious every morning, self medicating
  • replies: 5

Does anyone else feel this way? I am fine for the first 2 hours in the morning, I go to gym and I am fit, but then terrible anxiety sets in. Every day. The only thing that calms me down is booze. This is my life now.

Does anyone else feel this way? I am fine for the first 2 hours in the morning, I go to gym and I am fit, but then terrible anxiety sets in. Every day. The only thing that calms me down is booze. This is my life now.

clairevj Health anxiety going great then gets me again!
  • replies: 4

Hey Guys Been a while since I've had any health anxiety but it has got me again!! Quick story below... My partner and I broke lease recently on his place then moved into my parents for a few weeks, we found the best house and got approved! So we were... View more

Hey Guys Been a while since I've had any health anxiety but it has got me again!! Quick story below... My partner and I broke lease recently on his place then moved into my parents for a few weeks, we found the best house and got approved! So we were really excited to move in. The weekend comes where we move in and turns out its his weekend to have his 2 children. They are the best ever but it was very hard trying to move our house and me keep an eye on them at the same time. Got through it during the day and then then Miss 3 got sick with vomiting all afternoon and night, had a home doctor come out in the mess of the new house and she was ok just had to monitor her. Ended up spending the rest of weekend moving with the kids which was really hard. On the Monday my partner advised that his ex wanted us to have the kids this weekend which i really didn't want to as we have so much to do, he has to work, we have to finish unpacking and setting up the house etc. After a bit of going back and forth he advised the ex he couldnt take care of them. I then come to work Tuesday and our company has recently sold so we have a new management team who had flown up from Sydney. They advised us of all new processes we have to do which was quite overwhelming. Anyway, since this week, my health anxiety has been crap. I have been feeling like i couldnt breathe, I had a home doctor come out on Tuesday night and he checked me over and said my chest and lungs were clear but i had a bit of a red throat. I thought that was ok then I went to work on Wednesday and thought I was having an allergic reaction, my sister took me to the doctors downstairs and they put me on a nebuliser and checked me over and said i have 100% oxygen, my chest and lungs are clear and its stress/panic. They did put me on prednisone though due to all the smoke from the bushfires nearby. Today, i do feel a bit better but I am getting back pain and feels like I"m still short of breath feels like I can't get that right amount of air! It's really uncomfortable and I just don't know how to go about it. Apparently my lungs are very clear but it doesn't feel it Sorry about the ramble I just thought I would put in the back story!

Health_Anxious_Mummy Health Anxiety My living nightmare!!!!
  • replies: 85

Hi , first time here as you’ve probably already guessed I suffer with health anxiety it all started 6yrs ago with a major panic Attack which required an ambulance and a stay in hospital as I really thought I was dying and new nothing about what a pan... View more

Hi , first time here as you’ve probably already guessed I suffer with health anxiety it all started 6yrs ago with a major panic Attack which required an ambulance and a stay in hospital as I really thought I was dying and new nothing about what a panic Attack was until that day , fast forward to now & cut a long story short I was diagnosed with a thyroid issue have been on medication now for a few years and it seems to be ok but it can sometimes play up which can increase my anxiety pretty bad when my levels are out I’m also on medication to try and combat the anxiety but sometimes when I’m really worried and anxious it doesn’t do a great deal . Like at the moment , about 6 weeks ago I was out with my husband and 2 year old and we were in a shop and I was literally fine talking away not thinking of a thing and then out of no where I got a very severe pain in the side of my head so bad I felt a bit sick and had to sit down it didn’t last long maybe 1min if that and it was gone had a couple of twinges later in the afternoon but nothing more after that and I have never experienced anything like it before as you can imagine for someone with health anxiety this has now caused me to think I have a brain tumour I thought not much more about after it happened and thought I was ok but last week I had a similar thing just not painful when I was driving my son to swimming I started to feel strange in my head and really foggy and kept zoning out and really struggled to sit through his lesson because I felt like something awful was about to happen , so now since last Tuesday I’m in a completely full blown anxious state and fearing the worst that I have a brain tumor as I have a sore neck and continue to have sharp pains on my head I don’t have headaches but I do feel off balance and really feel like I’m lacking concentration and my memory is shocking and getting stuck on words this is really worrying me I’m in such a state I do have an appointment with my doctor on Friday. I wish so MUCH I could just be normal and be like oh well whatever like when my husband has anything wrong he just doesn’t even think twice about it I wish so much I could feel the same but I just continue to go in a vicious cycle last month was esophageal cancer because I have reflux before that I was convinced it was my heart because my reflux was playing up I literally have had every test possible apart from a brain scan and all are always fine aside from my thyroid and low iron .

frogsandchickenss getting worse again, affecting me, need advice
  • replies: 7

Since 1st serious boyfriend, I been incredibly emotional, bouncing from excited to worried/panicky to horny in the space of an hour. My overthinking and general worry that I felt before him has been put under a microscope, & I talk to him about it an... View more

Since 1st serious boyfriend, I been incredibly emotional, bouncing from excited to worried/panicky to horny in the space of an hour. My overthinking and general worry that I felt before him has been put under a microscope, & I talk to him about it and he tries to understand but I don't want him to feel like he is doing anything wrong all the time by me always venting - it is healthy to do it and I won't stop, but when it feels constant I also need to manage it, which I don't know how. He makes me happy and is fantastic&the emotions that come with it is overwhelming at times Some issues 4 me are decision making (I cant make decisions it stressful and become agitated when someone insists I make a decision. Leads to guilt) general anxiety about hating work and uni, feel like am not in position to do anything for convenience last minute decisions, whether it is me or someone else. With friends I try to organise in advance, never works. My boyfriend is last minute & he is always doing things like "we could do this or this, might do this later if you want, or I might go out with them" and it stresses me. going out. I have to allow myself two hours to get ready so that I can cry and have a breakdown before. I think what if I know no one, or it's awkward, but also get agitated about what to wear, which is artificial, but it important to me to feel good, which I never do. Then I compare myself to others and feel worse. These breakdowns result in me staying home with depressed spirits feeling like people may be angry/disappointed in me. I have reasons to justify it, but I let it affect me As of late one stressor has been organising holiday with boyfriend. Both of us r doing 2 uni degrees and 5 jobs. We see each other when we can and go out and he does his absolute best, but its hard. His family is really religious and his mum doesn't like the idea of it, thinking it is an excuse to have sex. For me it difficult because my logic is no matter if it's 7 months of 3 years, that will always be an issue. When will we ever go away? It is early and I am happy to give it time, but sex and religion are things I have strong opinions about so it difficult for me. The purpose of this post was to get some ideas on how to manage this. It is affecting me and while I have to communicate with people around me - which I do - the second half is managing it myself, yet I am struggling and feel I have no one else to turn to.

Guest_9486 Why do I get so much anxiety about being needed!
  • replies: 1

So a therapist once told me to try and pinpoint what triggers my panic attacks so I can try to work on it. Turns out I have figured out I mainly get it when I feel like everyone depends on me which is a massive problem because I have little kids, so ... View more

So a therapist once told me to try and pinpoint what triggers my panic attacks so I can try to work on it. Turns out I have figured out I mainly get it when I feel like everyone depends on me which is a massive problem because I have little kids, so that’s ALL the time! I just don’t know how to fix this. Night time is worse as all my kids wake up through the night and pretty mich every time one of them cries out My body goes straight into panic mode and I spend most nights soothing kids back to sleep and then having to sooth myself down from a panic attack. I just feel so hopeless, like how will I ever get better if the things triggering my panic are a daily part of my life! And then the feelings escalate because I start thinking ‘everyone needs me but I’m a total mess who can hardly function!’ Very hard to give myself positive self talk when I just can’t get out of the panic spiral.

anxiousrecovery Anxiety and getting back into physical activity
  • replies: 2

Hi guys, I have had health anxiety and depression for the the last 6 months which was quite severe at one point however I am feeling like I am definitely on the mend aside from struggling to return back into fitness! It started with having a lot goin... View more

Hi guys, I have had health anxiety and depression for the the last 6 months which was quite severe at one point however I am feeling like I am definitely on the mend aside from struggling to return back into fitness! It started with having a lot going on in my life that I hadn’t processed and it led to having a panic attack at basketball one night. Since then I have battled severe physical symptoms - you name it I’ve probably had it. I am almost symptom free and am feeling about 95% back to normal HOWEVER, I was a very fit person before and now I’m struggling to do even basic exercise.. Has anyone struggled with getting back into exercise after periods like this? I am finding that as soon as I start to exercise my muscles feel stiff, shaky (almost creaky), like jelly and they feel fatigued almost instantly! That then kicks off my anxiety and i’m left feeling anxious with jelly muscles after 3 minutes of light stretches and squats etc. Anxiety can be helped with exercise and yet I can hardly do anything! I feel about 70 years old in my 25 year old body.

TL1994 Lost my job
  • replies: 3

Hey, I'm not usually one for posting on forums but I feel like I have no one to reach out to about this. Some background, I'm a 25 yo gay guy living in Victoria, originally from SA. I've lived a year and a bit after years of wanting to move and it's ... View more

Hey, I'm not usually one for posting on forums but I feel like I have no one to reach out to about this. Some background, I'm a 25 yo gay guy living in Victoria, originally from SA. I've lived a year and a bit after years of wanting to move and it's been a massive struggle so far. When I moved here last year, I was bouncing from job to job, struggled to make new friends and my living situation wasn't always secure. Anyway fast-forward to this year, I get a job in marketing/communications which is the field I studied, so I'm over the moon. I finally have security and I move into a beautiful apartment and finally, after working so hard I finally feel like at a place where I can be content and just live. My job started getting a bit chaotic, the agency was very disorganised and my boss was beyond difficult. I started getting burnt out and my depression and anxiety was sky-rocketing, I wanted nothing more than to quit, but I refused to because being jobless was terrifying to me. I ended up getting sacked just two days before the end of my 6-month probation because she couldn't afford to keep my role (the company was super small, like 4 people so it was pretty unstable). I was relieved but moreso in shock. I wasn't paid out a lot, I only have enough money for five weeks here, then I will have absolutely nothing and will have to move back to SA to my parents. I'm feeling horrible. I've worked so hard to build this life for myself and now I feel like it's going away. I've been job searching like mad but nothing is coming back to me, and even things did I will need to be hired asap, but these hiring processes can take a really long time. I have friends here, and I have an awful relationship with Adelaide. It's a place I really feel miserable because of past traumas. I know it's not the worst thing to happen to someone, but I'm feeling hopeless and that everything is falling apart. I'm terrified at the prospect of going back to live at my parents when I've spent so much energy in getting away from them. I know this seems so juvinile, but I'm so lost and feeling so hopeless.

Here_I_am What do you do when anxiety flares up again?
  • replies: 3

So I've been coping well over the past couple of months, even though there has been a fair bit of stress going on with a change of job, some re-jigging of finances, and managing my first experience of anxiety which manifests in a constant state of ne... View more

So I've been coping well over the past couple of months, even though there has been a fair bit of stress going on with a change of job, some re-jigging of finances, and managing my first experience of anxiety which manifests in a constant state of nervousness and regular wakings during the night with (relatively minor) panic attacks. I've been relatively symptom free for around 10 weeks now, but just over the weekend I noticed the low grade chronic feeling of alertness and racing thoughts starting up again, and last night I had the return of the waking up with a real jolt a couple of times thinking about how much I am not enjoying my current job and worrying again about stability and what I can do to safeguard my future. I ride my pushbike to work a couple of days a week, which is a gruelling and solid 65 kilometre round trip. I very much enjoy this as it's great self care, a fantastic challenge (especially in the Darwin heat!), and leaves me feeling quite energised for the day. This morning however, I did the ride but felt like I was on autopilot. My vision was tunnelled, and I didn't even get to marvel at the beautiful paradise that I live and work in as it came to life around me. I am on meds, and have made an appointment with my GP to try and get my mental health plan changed to a different psychologist as I didn't get a great deal from my first assigned psychologist under the plan. I'm just curious - for those who are further on up the road in their anxiety journey, is it something that comes and goes (obviously with stress and circumstances) even when you're doing everything right and taking really good care of yourself mentally and physically? I guess I'm just looking for some reassurance that I'm not going to fall as far as I did when anxiety first introduced itself to me. That was a dark place and I don't want to go back there. Surely there is some capacity to catch myself or control the fall? Hopefully this is just a bad couple of days.

Guest5643 How to learn to say no!
  • replies: 10

Hi i want to start this thread for people to help others with tips on how to learn to have the courage to say no. I would add some but i dont have any because im still struggling with trying to learn it. Unfortunatly people see my weakness and take f... View more

Hi i want to start this thread for people to help others with tips on how to learn to have the courage to say no. I would add some but i dont have any because im still struggling with trying to learn it. Unfortunatly people see my weakness and take full advantage of it. Today my neighbour asked to use my dryer to get her cat hair off her sheets. She has clean sheets i have her cat hair in my dryer and due to my hyperosmia the fragrant smell left in what was an odour free dryer has sent me nauseas headache major anxiety. I wish there was a self esteem type workshop you could go to and magicaly come out with confidence to stop being used all the time. Cheers lynne