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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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Tense_Sez Anxiety - Shortness Of Breath
  • replies: 12

Hi Guys, Fairly new here and can see a lot of threads on similar symptoms, but I'll share my story to let you all in on my situation and possibly find people out there who are in a similar place. Just about a year ago, I was at a concert and was tire... View more

Hi Guys, Fairly new here and can see a lot of threads on similar symptoms, but I'll share my story to let you all in on my situation and possibly find people out there who are in a similar place. Just about a year ago, I was at a concert and was tired and over worked - lots of alcohol and little sleep. I then felt a sensation of not being able to take a deep, satisfying and full breath. Being a healthy 22 year old male who regularly goes to the gym and had quite a good diet, I'd never experienced such a thing in my life and absolutely scared the hell out of me. I tried to calm down, checked my pulse, had some water but still became faint and lay down and started having tingling sensations in all my extremities. I was told that I just had a panic attack by some average looking 'medical officer' who thought he'd seen it all before (I study medicine and thought I knew more than him at the time). I was convinced it couldn't have been anxiety causing such insanely scary symptoms. I've been to a handful of doctors and had all the tests done and each one looks at me like I'm crazy, all my tests turn up normal (seems to be a common occurrence on this page), I've never actually been properly diagnosed or prescribed any drugs but have been to a psychologist. She's great but it just doesn't do anything for me. I never really catch myself thinking or worrying about things too much other than my health and have generally been relaxed most my life (or at least from my perspective), until this scare which has got me constantly thinking about my breathing. It's been a year since then and although my breathlessness has improved, I'm still plagued every day by it - and struggle to get a deep breath almost half of the day. When I breathe in, I get a super full breath and expand my chest to the point that it hurts my back, but still doesn't satisfy that feeling of a 'complete' breath. Just wondering if anyone currently/has felt like this and what people do to cope or how people have 'cured' it (might be a stretch). I know it's horrible to say but it almost eases my mind knowing there could be other people out there in the same boat as I am... Thanks Sez

NoodleChicken123 How to make friends when you're anxious and shy
  • replies: 7

hi! im 15 years old and in year 11, i recently moved to this new school (which im regretting a bit) but im struggling a lot to make friends/get close to people. i have anxiety which makes it really hard for me to just approach someone or sit with any... View more

hi! im 15 years old and in year 11, i recently moved to this new school (which im regretting a bit) but im struggling a lot to make friends/get close to people. i have anxiety which makes it really hard for me to just approach someone or sit with anyone i don't know, but even when i'm not feeling 'anxious' i'm naturally really shy and quiet, however when i'm close and comfortable with people (like i was at my old school) im talkative and funny and everything. now i feel so lonely, i feel like i'm surrounded by strangers all the time and on top of that i don't talk to my old friends that often, i feel deprived of meaningful conversations and contact with people LMAO. I'm kind of friends with these 2 girls, i sit with them at lunch, however they are the only ones i really talk to at all. there are some people in the grade that i say hi and bye to sometimes, but thats all. i feel so anxious that the other girls in the group are judging me or annoyed by me because of how shy i am (even though they seem nice), but i can't help it. i would like to somehow talk more and also gain more friends in my grade, any advice is very welcome. I feel i should mention that 1) i also struggle with clinical depression, sometimes its worse, sometimes i can cope, more recently it's been really shitty and i dread leaving my house every morning. 2) i am currently not seeing any therapist, i also just don't feel comfortable enough to talk to my family members about school. 3) it's an all girls school, not that that's really important.

Msk No longer feel that I fit in at work
  • replies: 1

I work in a small office there is 5 of us which includes my boss. We have had a new addition to the office staff which is great and she is nice, however I feel now that I don't fit in as I find my colleagues always whispering and usually when I'm at ... View more

I work in a small office there is 5 of us which includes my boss. We have had a new addition to the office staff which is great and she is nice, however I feel now that I don't fit in as I find my colleagues always whispering and usually when I'm at my desk which is away from every one else so I am out if ear shot. We have an office which is used by another organization and running joke now as its known as the revolving door whoever sits in there doesn't stay long in the job. Someone commented that maybe somebody should move in there and see if it works on them "as in leave", another colleague said who do mean, and they replied no I don't want to say. Again I was at my desk out of sight. Maybe I'm being paranoid but I just feel awkward as things have not been the same since the new person came onn board.

July26 Newbie - I'm not coping starting this new job.
  • replies: 6

Hi all, anxiety got the best of me today and rang in sick to a job i only started 2 days ago. It's an office job. I worked in another job for 28 years with no challenge so resigned and went to a completely different job as a Disability Support Worker... View more

Hi all, anxiety got the best of me today and rang in sick to a job i only started 2 days ago. It's an office job. I worked in another job for 28 years with no challenge so resigned and went to a completely different job as a Disability Support Worker. I found that this wasn't for me, as I'm an introvert and wasn't the best at peopling. So sent out my resume to local businesses seeing if they had any office jobs available and got one within 2 weeks. I panicked this morning while having a shower and started crying and hyperventilating and felt dizzy. I rang work and said my daughter was sick. I like the job it isn't stressful but I have a lot to learn, and I don't want to stuff up or not understand anything. I am putting a lot of pressure on myself to be a great employee. It's a small business, where my previous job was in an office of 50 people. I've had to start taking antidepressants again, when I started work as a Disability Support Worker cause I found it a little stressful and I cut back a little but have gone to full amount again yesterday as I'm not coping starting this new job. Now I have the guilts for not going to work after only 2 days and them thinking badly of me. I spoke to a counsellor this morning who said that I'm putting to high expectations on myself and that it will take about 3 months to learn the new job. I need to be happy with where I am at and that I will make mistakes and will be nervous for a little while. I haven't had to learn a new job for a very long time, so I guess this is all new to me. At my old job I knew a lot and had people come to me for advice, I guess I'm feeling insecure now... I'm hoping I can talk myself into feeling better tomorrow and giving it another go.

tuxedo_cat new nurse starting new job
  • replies: 2

Hi, I'm 47 and I graduated nursing in november last year. I started my first job as a nurse in aged care 5 weeks ago. I also have generalised anxiety. My confidence in my ability to do my job has taken a beating the last 2 weeks due to 2 mistakes I m... View more

Hi, I'm 47 and I graduated nursing in november last year. I started my first job as a nurse in aged care 5 weeks ago. I also have generalised anxiety. My confidence in my ability to do my job has taken a beating the last 2 weeks due to 2 mistakes I made on the job. No one was hurt by my actions but my confidence has gone through the floor because of it. Plus I've overheard the residential manager say a few negative things about me, so its a given that she doesn't like me either. Can anyone give me some advice on how to handle this situation, I cant leave yet because its a grad position and unless you have experience its hard to get another job.

JustChecking Hangxiety
  • replies: 1

Here I am, it’s midnight and I’ve just woken up after having a couple of drinks with a friend and I have the most overwhelming anxiety. It’s like my eyes shot open and before I even had the chance to orientate myself I was overcome with the familiar ... View more

Here I am, it’s midnight and I’ve just woken up after having a couple of drinks with a friend and I have the most overwhelming anxiety. It’s like my eyes shot open and before I even had the chance to orientate myself I was overcome with the familiar feeling of “why did I do that?”. Replaying every sentence I might have spoken from the night and convincing myself I did something stupid. Trying to reassure myself that I was with my best friend and in actuality I don’t think there’s much I could do that would elicit any judgment from her - but sure enough I going to look for something. Why can’t I just listen to myself when I say I don’t want to drink - I know I feel so much better after coming home from a social event after making the decision not to drink, and yet sometimes I still choose to and end up like this. It makes me feel so stupid. Just trying to breathe through it and tell myself texting her at 12:30am to apologise for something I probably didn’t even do is not a good idea. I feel like I’m the only person I know who experiences such intense anxiety with drinking... anyone else out there? Any advice for sticking to your guns when you tell yourself you’re not going to drink?

Guest_1643 Has Taken Years to Admit to My Anxiety
  • replies: 8

Hi fellow travellers. I'm Vanessa, I'm 35, living and breathing tonnes of anxiety. I have had the worst year of my life (2019... goodbye....) where it ended with needing to withdraw from work/study, and actually go inpatient. I had become a ball of a... View more

Hi fellow travellers. I'm Vanessa, I'm 35, living and breathing tonnes of anxiety. I have had the worst year of my life (2019... goodbye....) where it ended with needing to withdraw from work/study, and actually go inpatient. I had become a ball of anxiety, was barely sleeping, and kept pushing myself to achieve more and more. I thought everything was normal, but really I was so worried about every little thing, and got totally anxious about finishing my degree (never did!) and also about moving house. I stopped being able to function. A call to the Triage (Beyond Blue worker put me through) resulted in me admitting what was happening. I was very embarrassed, I thought, nice girls, good peple, don't get help, don't admit problems, just keep powering on. Anyway, I nearly lost my life with that attitude. Really scared posting here but i've overcome worse....basically just wanted to ask if anyone else had difficulty acknwoldging their anxiety, and took a while and bumps to get there? I had to get to such a low to actually open my eyes and realise that it's not normal to not eat/sleep for days and to never socialise and barely have any fun. Thank you for reading... deep breaths, clicking post!!

Sardine Philophobia? The fear of falling in love
  • replies: 5

Hi. I wanted to create this post as a sort of outlet and perhaps find some advice or otherwise help others who may find themselves in similar circumstances. To get straight to the point, I believe I have what is known as 'philophobia'. Put simply, ph... View more

Hi. I wanted to create this post as a sort of outlet and perhaps find some advice or otherwise help others who may find themselves in similar circumstances. To get straight to the point, I believe I have what is known as 'philophobia'. Put simply, philophobia is the fear of falling in love or the fear of emotional attachment. Now, I am aware that plenty of people are afraid of emotional attachment or entering a romantic relationship with someone to a certain extent. However philophobia and what I have personally experienced is a much more serious problem then simply feeling a little nervous before a date. I believe this problem has been with me for a while, however I only truly started to realise something was wrong last year when I started getting closer to someone that I had feelings for. There were a few other people that I had felt attracted to before this, but I always managed to convince myself not to pursue them for one reason or another. This time though, I really wanted this person. For a short while everything was okay, at least I thought it was. We talked and laughed together. We started getting closer and closer. But with each blissful conversation the pressure mounted, soon every day I would feel tired like a huge strain was being put on me. Now I look back and I can see these as signs of anxiety, but for some reason back then I didn't notice just how scared I was. Before long, I had become smitten with this person, still unable to see the disarray I was in. Then one day I woke up and its like something had just snapped. The very thought of this person or the idea of being in a relationship made me feel completely and utterly out of control. For a week I had constant panic attacks. I couldn't hold down any solid food. After that, I gradually learnt how to deal with it. I didnt vomit as frequently. I could go back to school, though I would still vomit every day and often had to resort to not eating a single bite until I got home from school. I was on edge all the time. I became anxious around everybody. This made it difficult to study or maintain friendships. I couldnt even look at the person I had feelings for. All I could do was avoid them. Absolutely anything that made me think of being in a romantic relationship triggered extreme anxiety. To me, it was hell. Things have gotten significantly better since then. But the fear is still there, lurking. I want to try being in a relationship, but I know I'll just fall apart again.

Monicas My anxiety is ruining and taking over my life.
  • replies: 5

I have been depressed lately as I feel I have given up trying to fight this anxiety. Every thing is destroyed cause of an a.xiety or panic attack. Even just going to the shops sometimes sends me into panic. What do I do. Everything on this planet pro... View more

I have been depressed lately as I feel I have given up trying to fight this anxiety. Every thing is destroyed cause of an a.xiety or panic attack. Even just going to the shops sometimes sends me into panic. What do I do. Everything on this planet provokes my anxiety and panic. Can't even have a cup of coffee without getting anxiety attacks. Everything I used to enjoy now sets of anxiety. Can't have anything anymore. Please someone help me. It I spiralling me Down into depression. I can't live on like this. It is agony. I just want to be happy and enjoy life. Can't go one day without anxiety.

AverageAusGuy Extreme anxiety when going through transitions
  • replies: 2

Hi. I have had anxiety and depression on and off throughout my entire life which has manifested for me in a variety of different ways. It seems like everything is going great for a couple of years and then it hits me out of nowhere. Usually it is whe... View more

Hi. I have had anxiety and depression on and off throughout my entire life which has manifested for me in a variety of different ways. It seems like everything is going great for a couple of years and then it hits me out of nowhere. Usually it is when I am going through a transition in my life (changing jobs, moving towns, starting a new relationship etc). Most people experience some anxiety when going through a transition but for me it is way above normal levels. I think for me I tend to focus (ruminate) on all the times when I have made mistakes or when I have tried something new in my life and it hasn't worked out. I recently lost a close family member and it has triggered some severe health related anxiety (which is new) for me as the death was quite sudden. I am struggling with the uncertainty of my own health quite badly now even though logically I know I am healthy. Does anyone else experience extreme anxiety when going through changes in life? Has anyone had experience dealing with health anxiety? Thanks

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