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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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Fearce I have a compulsive liar disorder I think...
  • replies: 4

I am a Year 11 student, and I think I am constantly lying without even realising that i am lying. I have created huge lies throughout my years and I thought from lying, I could gain attention and sympathy. I was right, however, it only made things wo... View more

I am a Year 11 student, and I think I am constantly lying without even realising that i am lying. I have created huge lies throughout my years and I thought from lying, I could gain attention and sympathy. I was right, however, it only made things worse, mentally and physically. I am trying my best to keep this thread clean from lies and I am going to be honest for once in my life. I have used lies to avoid situations a lot. Sometimes people catch on and realise I'm lying. I have never come out to talk about this because I thought that I did not have a compulsive lying disorder. I have done my research and came to a conclusion that I am a compulsive liar. Last year, I had a friend who I was very close with. He started to change... It was like he was a totally different person. I created lies to make him give me sympathy and guilt from him becoming a different person. I told him that I got raped. I told him I attempted suicide 2 times. I told him I got a girl pregnant and she killed herself. I think you get the idea. He caught onto me pretty quickly and bullied me for it. Even till today. I once told a story of when i managed to run away from a gang of guys holding handguns. Everyone laughed straight away and called me out on it. I stood there crying inside and in disbelief of what came out of my mouth. This is when things became really bad. I actually believed I attempted suicide twice. Things are really stressful and messed up because i only have 1 main friend in my life and even now he is starting to drift away from me. I am scared of becoming alone and I need help.

Garnet New to this
  • replies: 1

How does one parent after experiencing trauma? I am English and overwhelming.

How does one parent after experiencing trauma? I am English and overwhelming.

Andy999 Anxiety taking over
  • replies: 2

Heey so I’m wondering if anyone has felt similar and possibly has any advice for me on how to deal with anxiety attacks. ive just started seeing a psychologist for my anxiety, I had a massive panic attack last Monday night (the night before my first ... View more

Heey so I’m wondering if anyone has felt similar and possibly has any advice for me on how to deal with anxiety attacks. ive just started seeing a psychologist for my anxiety, I had a massive panic attack last Monday night (the night before my first session) I could feel it building up for hours, talking to people wasn’t helping I didnt know how to calm it down, I even had a football game to play and I pushed myself to go but couldn’t say a word to anyone and felt like just running of the pitch but I didn’t even know where I wanted to go, on the way home it climaxed, I started getting tingles through my body I was convinced “this is it, I’ve hit the point of no return I’m never gonna get better” it was so scary I came home and completely broke down in front of my family. just yesterday so a week later something kind of similar happened, I’ve actually been improving a bit since last week, learning to accept these fears and worries and challenging them and all that and find it can really work but it’s very hard, yesterday I was feeling the best I had in ages, but then suddenly that arvo it all came crashing down, I started feeling abit off, just abit restless and I noticed it, I didn’t really know how to respond to this, I couldn’t immerse myself into tv or even talking about it with someone didn’t help, I started thinking “oh shit am I gong back to square 1 here” I kept telling myself I wasn’t but the feeling grew more and more intense, everything around was just to much it felt like I was just about to Freak out again, after hours it started to subside a little, I did some meditation when I got home which helped abit to. i was pretty shaken up to experience those feelings again, they continued with me quite abit today also, it’s really terrible it stops you from doing anything really, you kind of just sit there in this paralysed state of fear and makes it almost impossible to socialise, work, and live a normal life. but yeh any advice would be awesome, thanks

uptownfunk Going in circles in life
  • replies: 1

Just want to ask how have others determined to get beyond going in circles in life? Cheers.

Just want to ask how have others determined to get beyond going in circles in life? Cheers.

lifewonder constant panic attacks for the last couple months
  • replies: 1

Hello everyone, I have come across this forum, and I thought I would share what I have been going through. I will give a brief history about myself so it makes a little more sense. In my late teens, I lost one of my parents and that had a devastating... View more

Hello everyone, I have come across this forum, and I thought I would share what I have been going through. I will give a brief history about myself so it makes a little more sense. In my late teens, I lost one of my parents and that had a devastating effect on me. I was depressed for many years and it took a long time to find myself. My counselor diagnosed me with generalized anxiety disorder, likely because I kept having very intrusive thoughts about a particular thing and was always worried. For years I thought they would never go away, so I just learned to cope with the thoughts and eventually they subsided. In the last year, I saw an actual psychiatrist who confirmed I have GAD, and recommended placing me on medications. There was a point in time I took medications, but I eventually stopped them because I was feeling much better, and I realized that the coping mechanisms I was taught by my counselors was more then enough for me... however, also because in my line of work, any anti anxiety or depression medication is an absolute big NO... even when I was on the meds, I had to keep it a secret for fear of not being able to pursue my line of work, which would then only throw me into a bigger depression and anxiety In the last few months, I wasn't feeling great, as I was upset that nothing had been panning out in terms of a job, and I was literally broke. I was about to give up on my dream job, until I caught an absolutely amazing break and everything went into a complete 180. I had finally gotten the job I always wanted, it pays well, I have paid off my debts and everything else in my life if fairly good. Yet, I have had the absolute worst panic attacks of my life. I have gone to the hospital several times, thinking I was either having a heart attack, or my lungs were collapsing or something of the likes, yet all my results show I have cleanest bill of health... so what gives? This makes absolutely no sense to me.everyday I wake up I feel agitated, and then throughout the day I have at least one panic attack, characterized by shortness of breath, brain fog, dizziness and sometimes hand numbness... I can't even hang out in crowded or loud places because the panic seems to onset and get really bad, and I can't even focus on conversations with my friends. This is absolutely tearing me apart, and for the life of me I can't understand why it's happening. I have no intrusive thoughts, and I am relatively stress free, other then normal life stress

Samyol Anxiety, Depression and Future prospects.
  • replies: 6

Hi, I've dealt with anxiety for the whole of my life. Ever since being young I've always suffered from Generalised Anxiety Disorder and have had frequent panic attacks. Most of my panic attacks are a result of anxiety making me feel sick, which in tu... View more

Hi, I've dealt with anxiety for the whole of my life. Ever since being young I've always suffered from Generalised Anxiety Disorder and have had frequent panic attacks. Most of my panic attacks are a result of anxiety making me feel sick, which in turn makes me freak out that I'm going to be sick and then results in making me feel even more sick and I begin panicking and then it's just an endless cycle. I'm 18 years old and have not consulted a psychologist yet however I had seen a psychologist a few years ago as I had trouble attending school as a result of anxiety. I worked at a job for about a year before eventually having to leave as a result of illness/injury, when I returned after my injury I could no longer handle the workload as a result of anxiety and would call in sick to every shift eventually resulting in being let go. I no longer feel capable of working a job as even leaving the house tends to be extremely stressful as I get very sick from anxiety, this includes being glued to a toilet and cold sweats, shakes and such. I'm also currently dealing with un-diagnosed, on-going GI problems that I've posted previously before to get some insight and reassurance. My main question is, would it be possible at all for me to seek disability benefits? Generally I feel as though I'm incapable of working, but at the same time I doubt that my mental illness is serious enough to receive any benefits. I seriously dread the thought of working purely because of my anxiety as it severely impacts my quality of life. I have serious doubts in my capabilities to perform at a job and this in turn makes me even more anxious and I feel as though I will only ever let down my employers. I'm just looking for advice in general, I appreciate any and all replies. Thank you very much

ed_b Situation induced or inner anxiety?
  • replies: 3

I believe I have (and have always had) an anxiety disorder which makes rational thinking impossible. Fear grips me most of every day. My fear is that my business will go bust, which it looks like it will soon. I've thought it would go bust for over 3... View more

I believe I have (and have always had) an anxiety disorder which makes rational thinking impossible. Fear grips me most of every day. My fear is that my business will go bust, which it looks like it will soon. I've thought it would go bust for over 30 years and it hasn't happened yet. This time is different. I'm in trouble. My worst fear is likely coming true and I'm paralysed with terror. After 30 years of tiresome work, at 56 I could be ruined. Could be. If a sale goes through I could be ok. It's the could I can't live with. Every minute of every day is spent assessing the evidence for and against my fear. The evidence for throws me into a panic attack. I think I have an anxiety disorder, but who wouldn't? Not sure why I'm writing this. I just feel afraid.

ShazzaM80 Palpitations ruling my life.
  • replies: 3

I have been an anxious person from as far back as I can remember. Started when I was 3 when I witnessed my grandmother pass away from lung cancer, then the sudden death of my father when I was 5 years old. Fast forward, I had a baby at 15 whom had he... View more

I have been an anxious person from as far back as I can remember. Started when I was 3 when I witnessed my grandmother pass away from lung cancer, then the sudden death of my father when I was 5 years old. Fast forward, I had a baby at 15 whom had heart defects and she had 2 surgeries by the time she was 18 months old. I then had 3 other children who were heart healthy and then my 5th child had a hole in his heart. My 6th Child had a serious heart defect that required surgery soon after birth and again at 6 months of age. 7th child heart healthy. When I was 20 and pregnant with my 2nd child I began having palpitations which I was told was normal in pregnancy, however they continued after the birth of my son. Over the last 18 years O have had about 5 holster monitors and echos and echos and the cardiologist assures me I have benign palpitations or Pvcs. This year they have increased to be everyday and it's frightening me. My step father has had 2 heart attacks this year and my partner is in prison. I feel so alone and scared all the time so the doctor put me on medication. Since starting this I felt like I had my life back until 4 weeks into it the palpitations came back with a vengeance. Doc assures me it's not the medication but I'm stressed that it is the medication causing the increase. I guess I'm just after some advice or reassurance from people in similar circumstances.

Hamada Trying to accept my Anxiety but can't find others like me or an explanation.
  • replies: 2

Hey all, so recently iv'e been diagnosed with a panic disorder, but I don't think many people truly understand how bad it is, lately iv'e been switching on and off my meds because of withdrawal and starting a new batch, I developed a phobia of Seroto... View more

Hey all, so recently iv'e been diagnosed with a panic disorder, but I don't think many people truly understand how bad it is, lately iv'e been switching on and off my meds because of withdrawal and starting a new batch, I developed a phobia of Serotonin Syndrome and withdrawal and feel constantly trapped by it, before this started (A month ago) i was as lazy as a rug on valium, never really doing much, always in control of my emotions to a sociopathic degree and spent my days playing video games and going to the gym, after an overdose on preworkout it took about a week for the symptoms to kick in and the past 3 weeks have been a hellstorm of anxiety and nervousness. I just can't tell what is happening to me, during an emergency(My mother had to be taken to hospital) I sprung into action like I normally do and was relatively calm through the whole ordeal, then laid down and went back to my panic attacks, the void of my thoughts seems to be all-consuming like I can't escape from under it and my "coping" strategies last for a day or two at most and they're "harmful" strategies at that, I seem to spend nearly every moment in abject terror even when i'm focused on something or someone. I never left the house before apart from the gym, so I feel like im still in the same place doing the same thing as I usually would if i wasn't having these attacks, but I can never find any information on if this is wrong or good or bad etc etc, I can't seem to find any human stories about people who have had the same level of anxiety and constant panic attacks as me and what they did to even reduce it by 10%, does anyone have any advice or links to places I can go to read what I should be doing to get back to some semblance of my life? thanks alot.

timidpea Scared to get into the work force for the first time.
  • replies: 3

Okie Dokie, i desperately need to get a job soon but i have numerous problems in regards to getting and maintaining a job which gives me severe anxiety and i deliberately avoid searching and applying for a job. First, i have no mental support. I have... View more

Okie Dokie, i desperately need to get a job soon but i have numerous problems in regards to getting and maintaining a job which gives me severe anxiety and i deliberately avoid searching and applying for a job. First, i have no mental support. I have little to none close people in my life that are available or caring enough to reassure me and support me, so i'm on my own. Worst case scenario, i have to go to a job interview my myself. Second, my transport options are inadequate. I only have my learners and don't get much opportunities to practice so i can only take the bus and walk. Annoying thing about the bus is that they're only available every half and hour so depending on the time i could be late or too early (i hate being in public) and my physicality is atrocious. A mere 5 minutes of walking takes its toll... Thirdly, I'm Autistic. Fourthly, jobs don't feel secure to me? With school you're pretty much cemented a spot but with a job i feel i'd find it so hard to relax, especially considering the bitchy work place environments my mum describes! I'm scared to find myself stuck in a nasty employee environment. So far those are my concerns with getting a job, i did have some work experience and as much i didn't enjoy the work itself the people there were lovely. I hope i strike lucky and get a nice job but... yea, i'm scared.