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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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Gigi1234 Loneliness in year 12
  • replies: 1

It has come to a point that it’s critical I need to focus on myself. Recently, I have been so emotional and feeling so lonely. It feels like the only way for me to be able to improve my mental health is to be single until I am strong enough to handle... View more

It has come to a point that it’s critical I need to focus on myself. Recently, I have been so emotional and feeling so lonely. It feels like the only way for me to be able to improve my mental health is to be single until I am strong enough to handle my emotions, because if something bad were to happen I know it would take a long time to lift myself up again (which would be a problem since I’m in year 12 this year). But I feel so lonely. And my loneliness is why I feel so sad. I have so many great friends, but they are always talking about their boyfriends or what boys they are interested in. Which makes me feel even more lonely, despite the fact that I’m the one who has chosen to remain single. I’m unsure on how to make myself feel better about myself by myself. My therapist hasn’t been able to make me feel better. Meditation and talking to family doesn’t make me feel less lonely either. What do I do? I’m so stuck

Gadzooks What can I do when I can’t sleep?
  • replies: 10

Hi all, Couldn’t decide where to post this but since anxiety and meds are contributors to this figured I would try here. I can’t sleep, I try and try and yet despite being exhausted it doesn’t come for hours after I go to bed. I’ve had some issues wi... View more

Hi all, Couldn’t decide where to post this but since anxiety and meds are contributors to this figured I would try here. I can’t sleep, I try and try and yet despite being exhausted it doesn’t come for hours after I go to bed. I’ve had some issues with restless legs thanks you anxiety but going to gym has made it somewhat better. I know being on my phone at 1am isn’t helpful but I get so ‘bored’ and am more likely to think of or do bad things. I’m supposed to be on holidays and catching up! Any suggestions on getting to sleep? Starting to think I’m doomed to be anxious and exhausted forever. G

Dagony Anxiety about chosen one
  • replies: 10

Hello I've got a bad history with anxiety and OCD and at the moment I have this big fear of not being able to use contraception with my wife because my child will be the chosen one It sounds ridiculous but it's effecting me greatly I've spoken to my ... View more

Hello I've got a bad history with anxiety and OCD and at the moment I have this big fear of not being able to use contraception with my wife because my child will be the chosen one It sounds ridiculous but it's effecting me greatly I've spoken to my parter about it and she says god wouldn't give me mental illness to make sure the child is born But then my mind says maybe it's out of god's hands? I believe in god but don't follow a religion and this fear is starting to seriously effect me

pumpkin97 How do I turn off the bad thoughts?
  • replies: 5

Hi, I'm a 22 year old woman. I suffer from GAD and Depression and Ive been medicated for about four or five years. I've never experienced a very high level of anxiety, it's more like a side effect of my depression - but recently my anxiety has been s... View more

Hi, I'm a 22 year old woman. I suffer from GAD and Depression and Ive been medicated for about four or five years. I've never experienced a very high level of anxiety, it's more like a side effect of my depression - but recently my anxiety has been so awful. I can hardly stomach food, I throw up a lot (mostly mornings) because my stomach is so unsettled, and I feel like I can't turn my brain off. I'm constantly trying to block out negative and intrusive thoughts and it's just exhausting. My brain makes up the most ridiculous scenarios and won't let me stop fixating on them. I feel like I'm going to be trapped in my own mind forever and that it will cause me to loose the people I love and end up alone.

Qwert1234 I struggle each day to get through another
  • replies: 1

Each day I find that my anxiety prevents from being my normal self. I am no longer happy, feel isolated constantly, anxious what people think of me, fear of having no friends no future. My self confidence has degraded to almost nothing and I have no ... View more

Each day I find that my anxiety prevents from being my normal self. I am no longer happy, feel isolated constantly, anxious what people think of me, fear of having no friends no future. My self confidence has degraded to almost nothing and I have no will even leave my bed most days. I struggle to reach out to loved ones as I feel like a burden, I just want to make people proud. Sleeping at night is the hardest. My anxiety keeps me up as I fear a miserable week, month, year, future. Everything keeps me anxious at night such as whether people assume I have no friends, I am unattractive, everything I fear being seen as. It is at night I truly wish my suffering could end. I feel so unloved, so alone, like I’m slowly sinking into a pit of total misery and it is all my fault. I just need to escape

Themikanic Arachnophobia is destroying our relationship.
  • replies: 6

Hi Newbie here. My partner of 4 months is on a student visa from Brazil and living with me in regional Victoria. Our relationship is/was great. I'm 64 he is 33, we have many common interests and we are both active and we'll have to be after Christmas... View more

Hi Newbie here. My partner of 4 months is on a student visa from Brazil and living with me in regional Victoria. Our relationship is/was great. I'm 64 he is 33, we have many common interests and we are both active and we'll have to be after Christmas but I digress. Cris is articulate, intelligent and thoughtful and even cooks meals for us whilst searching for a job, but I'm mindful it's a bit difficult at this time of the year. I'm currently supporting him as his meagre savings have been spent. Cris told me about his extreme 'fear of spiders' which to me seems totally illogical. He believes they think of devious ways to get into the house and if/when they do every few weeks, it's pandemonium here. Cris loses all concept of what's logical and he believes the spiders will go out of their way to bite him and even kill him. He breaks into sweats if he encounters one and yells, screams, jumps up and down and becomes totally irrational. He wants me to kill the spider which I refuse to do, however I'm happy to take it outside, which isn't good enough as it can get back in again which compounds his phobia to an even higher level of agitation. Last night at a total loss of what to do and not being used to his screaming and yelling I just left him to deal with the spider and it was dispatched with seemingly half a can of fly-spray and I had to clean up all this white fly-spray foam off the carpet after he locked himself in his room, which coincidentally is totally cut off from the remainder of the house with a draught stopper to seal the bottom of the door against the spiders and insulation tape between the door jamb and the door just to make sure they cannot access his room at night. Apparently vinegar is meant to be a deterrent and this is sprayed on the floor most evenings just in case. There are three things that have arisen since last night. 1. He doesn't think I love him any more because I care more about the spiders and the stained carpet than I care about him...I do not and I love him immensely, do what I can for him and don't want to lose him! 2. The Summer brings open doors for fresh air and the chance of another spider entering the house is a distinct possibility, though I definitely haven't mentioned this to him. 3. After last night, though we both love each other and have discussed marriage in a few months, he genuinely thinks I no longer care for him and he will move to Melbourne as soon as he is financially able to. Please forgive my long post. Mike.

Ms_Hamo Fear of ED relapse
  • replies: 2

Hi, This is my first post, hoping to reach out to anyone who has had anorexia and helping for some hope for 2020. Sadly I can never seem to fully commit to recovery and got scared when I recently went back on meds and seeing a therapist that has reop... View more

Hi, This is my first post, hoping to reach out to anyone who has had anorexia and helping for some hope for 2020. Sadly I can never seem to fully commit to recovery and got scared when I recently went back on meds and seeing a therapist that has reopened a can of worms as such. I would like to chat with anyone who has any tips and similar stories, recoveries, relapses tips. thank you

Charlie2006 How do I know if it's worth going to the doctors to talk about anxiety ?
  • replies: 3

I've been feeling more and more recently that I might have anxiety. I have most of the symptoms but I also have asthma so ive been thinking that anything involving being tired, difficulty breathing and dizziness was because of my asthma. Does anyone ... View more

I've been feeling more and more recently that I might have anxiety. I have most of the symptoms but I also have asthma so ive been thinking that anything involving being tired, difficulty breathing and dizziness was because of my asthma. Does anyone think I should go to the doctor to find out ? (I'm under 18 so I can't just go to the doctor and my parents didn't know I feel this way; I haven't told them anything).

rational_thinker AIDS phobia
  • replies: 5

Hi everyone, this is my first time on this great forum: I have had anxiety and OCD for most of my life but could pretty much get it under control. Due to my social anxiety, instead of having a regular partner, I visited a few sex workers in the last ... View more

Hi everyone, this is my first time on this great forum: I have had anxiety and OCD for most of my life but could pretty much get it under control. Due to my social anxiety, instead of having a regular partner, I visited a few sex workers in the last three years. This eventually triggered off a wave of HIV paranoia more powerful than I have ever experienced. I lost track of my personal and professional goals. I compulsively Googled for information which basically made me feel so much worse. I thought my life was ruined- that I was faced with disability/death. Luckily I am sensible enough to understand that the rational and objective facts matter the most, and this has helped me struggle through a terrifying period. (1) Irrational Fear: I have HIV - Actually the Australian sex industry is well regulated with very low rates of STIs, furthermore heterosexual transmission of HIV is quite inefficient - after getting tested at a sexual health clinic, the test result I received (with 99%+ accuracy) was negative: this means that realistically, the chance of being infected from the encounter and then testing negative would be something like one in a million. (2) Irrational Fear: after getting HIV, I will die from AIDs - Actually, these days, if you are diagnosed quite early and have access to great healthcare, the prognosis is pretty good: 90% of HIV patients on medication have undetectable viral loads, and the most of the remainder have failed to take their pills properly. - My mind keeps zooming in on the terrifying phenomenom of transmission of multi-drug resistant HIV strains, but the literature shows that even these rare strains can be successfully treated- particularly in this day and age where there are many drugs. Nevertheless despite these reasoned and evidence-based findings, my terror sometimes clouds my sense of reality. I dread finding out I’ve been infected with a highly drug resistant strain and then have to battle to live another decade, just like those poor guys in the 80s. It has been difficult to function and I am now seeing a psychologist. Thank you for listening.

mixj illness anxiety with hiv
  • replies: 3

Hi guys Im new to all this so I'll see how I go. Im in a constant state of stress due to thinking I contracted hiv. I have a young family and worry I could have somehow given it to them. This all is crazy as Ive had so many tests and theyve all been ... View more

Hi guys Im new to all this so I'll see how I go. Im in a constant state of stress due to thinking I contracted hiv. I have a young family and worry I could have somehow given it to them. This all is crazy as Ive had so many tests and theyve all been negative. The anxiety I feel makes me think theres definitely something wrong physically. Im constantly so tired I feel like i could sleep all day its horrible. Does anyone else get extreme tiredness? I also get numbness in my hands and feet many times throughout the day. I am so caught up in my head its completely taken over my life, Ive been diagnosed with illness anxiety and now depression. Im just at a loss as what to do next. Ive been to see a neurologist as I thought that there must have been something going on in my brain as Ive had visual disturbances and sensitivity to light as well as the tiredness etc. Tests All came back normal. Its really hard for me to believe all this could be anxiety and stress doing all these physical things to me, I just cant get my head around it. I find myself so anxious worrying about my family its horrible. My psychiatrist has suggested ect which Im seriously considering doing. Its a scary thing to have done but if it helps I would be so thankful. Thanks for letting me vent guys. Maybe someone else has had a similar experience who knows.