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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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Hamada Terrified of Serotonin Syndrome but can't find enough information on it.
  • replies: 4

Hey all, I only just made this account because I honestly feel out of options so I thought I'd ask here if anyone had any information that specifically relates to what i'm going through. Iv'e been my usual AD for about 6-7 years now however after com... View more

Hey all, I only just made this account because I honestly feel out of options so I thought I'd ask here if anyone had any information that specifically relates to what i'm going through. Iv'e been my usual AD for about 6-7 years now however after completely shredding my body with caffeine over a year (extremely high doses) iv'e developed a panic disorder that is entirely crippling, I am getting better slowly however after a visit to my psychiatrist he placed me on another AD for sleeping while I'm being weaned off my old ones, i'm not entirely sure of the T&C's here but i'm told we aren't meant to name medication names but I honestly have nowhere else to turn, I'm being weaned off medication and taking new medication (for 4 days) when someone mentioned Serotonin Syndrome, I'm hopefully presenting this in a way that isn't discussing medication. In anxiety fuelled rage I've researched myself into a mess and am now terrified of taking my meds which are effectively giving back my life because im terrified of this thing happening, I was wondering if anyone has any information on if I can develop it after 24 hours or if once I've taken it for a while I'm kind of in the "clear". Again, I may be breaking some forum rules but I honestly have nowhere else to turn and a very very long sleepless night ahead of me if someone can't point me in the proper direction. Thank you.

alexis123 feel like i am a burden to everyone
  • replies: 2

my anxiety is so constant and controls my life, i can barely do anything social anymore which as a result of that i’ve lost a lot of friends from me bailing all the time, i just think if i don’t go places i won’t be a burden because if i do i’ll ruin... View more

my anxiety is so constant and controls my life, i can barely do anything social anymore which as a result of that i’ve lost a lot of friends from me bailing all the time, i just think if i don’t go places i won’t be a burden because if i do i’ll ruin it

Stanlee14 Anxiety Managment Your Tips
  • replies: 1

Hello everyone! I wanted to create this thread to talk about tips and tricks to manage your anxiety. Recently I’ve been suffering from quite bad health anxiety. Just another chapter in my own mental health story, a plot twist I didn’t see coming. Pun... View more

Hello everyone! I wanted to create this thread to talk about tips and tricks to manage your anxiety. Recently I’ve been suffering from quite bad health anxiety. Just another chapter in my own mental health story, a plot twist I didn’t see coming. Puns aside, I wanted some coping tips from others. For me personally I find keeping myself busy with things and hobbies to do very useful for combating negative feelings. This is a bit difficult for me at the moment as I’m out of work. Another thing I do to combat negative thinkingis to have a set of positive phrases which I repeat to myself through out the day, like you are safe, you are loved, you can do this ect. Another strange one that I’m sure many with health anxiety can relate to is the nagging urge to google symptoms and illnesses every 5 mins. Every time I get this urge now, instead of googling I get on forum and spend that time reading and contributing to posts on here. A strange one but I feel it’s more positive than than the latter and felt I should share it. But I want to hear some other coping strategies that others use. Cheers in advance, Stan.

Zac32 Anxiety and can't breathe
  • replies: 3

Hey everyone I'm new to this kind of thing and don't no what else to do I'm a 26 year old male quit smoking after 4 years about 4 weeks ago (and no i do not crave a ciggarette) and I have anxiety the doctor has put me on anti-depressants but can take... View more

Hey everyone I'm new to this kind of thing and don't no what else to do I'm a 26 year old male quit smoking after 4 years about 4 weeks ago (and no i do not crave a ciggarette) and I have anxiety the doctor has put me on anti-depressants but can take weeks to work i need a imediate fix and have alot of thoughts but the main thing I'm stressing and panicking over is that I can't breath,my throat feels like it's closing and my breaths are shallow and when I take a deep breathe it feels like I can't fill my lungs up to the right capacity if thag makes sense it makes me panic alot and this has been going on for 3 days now I wake up in the middle of the night at lime 3am and instantly panic and can't breathe and I stay up the rest of the night worrying! I constantly stay inside all the time and hate even going to my leter box I hate where I live and will moving place help with the anxiety do you think? Will excersise help? Just really want to know what helps Sorry if this has been covered alot Thanks so much everyone Zac

nht anxiety attack as you fall asleep
  • replies: 5

Hi, has anyone experienced anxiety/panic attack as soon as you fall asleep. I get this quite often during the day when I take a nap. I also get it in the morning after I wake up from some short perid of sleep, then try to fall sleep again. It makes y... View more

Hi, has anyone experienced anxiety/panic attack as soon as you fall asleep. I get this quite often during the day when I take a nap. I also get it in the morning after I wake up from some short perid of sleep, then try to fall sleep again. It makes you very scared of trying to sleep then you give up trying to sleep. You lose more and more sleep because of that. If someone has been through this how do you cope or prevent it from happening

From_little_things When what you worry will happen in a social event, comes true: Sounding stupid in social gatherings!
  • replies: 4

Anti-anxiety advice states things like you are imagining everyone else thinks you're saying silly things. So, had to go to the airport to farewell school group, did my usual minimal speaking to avoid judgement. Then, school group has to do count off ... View more

Anti-anxiety advice states things like you are imagining everyone else thinks you're saying silly things. So, had to go to the airport to farewell school group, did my usual minimal speaking to avoid judgement. Then, school group has to do count off and they muck it up. I make a comment' you had one number to remember' in humour. I did repeat it 3 times as others joined my area. Seemed innane enough. But, NO, woman in front of me swung around and glared at me for saying it. So- there you go - I believe that what I say will be ridiculed and here's the proof! Please don't say ' what others think of you is not your business' because it really is, isn't it? How others see you is so influential on your own life. I just can't see how to do this social thing without agony.

Chooky1209 Managing anxiety with insomnia
  • replies: 1

Hi guys I’m new to posting on here! i just wanted to get some advice I currently am suffering really bad insomnia it has just triggered and I can’t break the cycle I have mediation before bed but I can’t keep the thoughts of what’s going on in my hea... View more

Hi guys I’m new to posting on here! i just wanted to get some advice I currently am suffering really bad insomnia it has just triggered and I can’t break the cycle I have mediation before bed but I can’t keep the thoughts of what’s going on in my head to relax me. Has anyone even experience this and have any advice on what I can do to make it better?

dawnstudent Being alone for the first time
  • replies: 1

I have been suffering with severe social anxiety for my whole life, it makes every aspect of my life extremely difficult for me. I am in a long term relationship (10 years) and think it may be codependent in a lot of ways and as such I have not fully... View more

I have been suffering with severe social anxiety for my whole life, it makes every aspect of my life extremely difficult for me. I am in a long term relationship (10 years) and think it may be codependent in a lot of ways and as such I have not fully grown up like most people, if that makes sense. I depend on my partner for a lot of things. Next year my partner will be going on a family holiday overseas for a month. I am invited to this holiday, however I have decided to study nursing next year and can't afford to leave study for a whole month to go with them. My issue here is that I have never been alone by myself, my partner has never gone on a holiday without me, and the thought of my partner leaving me alone for a month is terrifying me. This is happening late next year and I am already developing anxiety about it. I think because it will be a combination of the new study + going to nursing clinicals, and then being alone for that month that is really getting to me. Just the thought of doing nursing is causing me extreme anxiety, so adding the fact that my emotional/support "lifeline" will not be there for me during that time is adding to it. I know it sounds ridiculous but I have never been left to deal with things by myself ever in my life. I'm not sure how to deal with it mentally, is there something I can do to prepare? or literally just push through it and get over it as it comes?

Sam2019 reality vs anxiety !
  • replies: 2

Hi all First time poster here. I wasn't really sure where else to go. I'm a long time stress head who's grown up with some form of anxiety or another . I've always managed to keep it in check and it hasn't really gotten in the way of my life too much... View more

Hi all First time poster here. I wasn't really sure where else to go. I'm a long time stress head who's grown up with some form of anxiety or another . I've always managed to keep it in check and it hasn't really gotten in the way of my life too much . My main issue has always bee health anxiety . Anyway back in August I planned a trip away with the family for the first time with my 2 little boys and the wife away from Australia to a South Pacific island. Ever since coming back from that tripmy life has not been the same . I was stressed the entire trip about the lack of medical facilities and what would happen if the kids got sick . Then I got myself all wound up about catching something auwfull while I was there . Spent half the trip indoors cause I was worried about being bitten by mosquitoes and catching dengue fever . Then my luck I got bitten on the last day ! On my return home I spent days waiting for symptoms to pop up and spent countless hours on Google. I started feeling tired all the time and sleepy and though that was signs of infections . Went to the doc who ran a blood test and found high markers of inflamation and some low iron levels . That sent me into a spiral ! Which last about 2 month maybe 10 or 12 blood test with some numbers getting better and some getting worse. I ended up at multiple gps that kept saying forget the numbers they weren't that far out of range . But I couldn't get them out of my head ! I ended up having at least 12 blood tests, a ct scan and multiple other tests which kept coming back with nothing. My life became a misery of spending countless hours on Google at home and at work to the point where my.wife is getting sick of it . Then recently I started getting ectopic heart beats. So off I go to the go again who cooked me.il to a Holter monitor. They found lots of ectopic beats which sent me into another spiral dove into Google ! Went and did a stress echo which showed up normal and the cardiologist said just forget about them . U would think that's the end of it . But no.. more google and now I'm convinced I have heart inflamation from an infection I must have cought whilst overseas ! I'm breathless, tired and just over life ! Can anxiety really do all this ? Actually cause heart issues and manifest itself physically ? The lines between reality and anxiety have been blurred for me and I can't tell the difference anymore ! Any help would be appreciated !

kitykate I just don't know what to do anymore anxiety rules my life.
  • replies: 1

It impacts everything I do, I started a new job after leaving a really awful situation with work place harassment at my old job. I started getting paranoid that I wasn't doing things to my bosses liking and they were annoyed with me which made me sca... View more

It impacts everything I do, I started a new job after leaving a really awful situation with work place harassment at my old job. I started getting paranoid that I wasn't doing things to my bosses liking and they were annoyed with me which made me scared to go to work I'd have panic attacks in the bathroom trying to get ready, this lead to me calling in sick a few times, then I actually became geniunly unwell and was unavailable for a week to be rostered and now they want me to come in for a chat and I'm just freaking out about it thinking how I've gone and messed up a good opportunity for me. I keep convincing myself that people close to me are fed up and annoyed with me so I constantly ask if we're ok and I'm not being annoyed which ends up, you guessed it, making them annoyed. I feel like such a burden and that I'll never be able to hold down a job properly, I have so many bills to pay that I can't sleep at night, how did I get here? I don't even want to be awake most days I just want to stay asleep in bed and avoid all my problems, I'm speaking to my GP and she wants me to see a psychologist but I've done it so many times before and still have the same outcome because I never have enough motivation to help myself, it makes me so frustrated that I can't just live a normal life and I feel suffocated daily by a feeling this is all my life will be, I can't go 10 minutes without thinking how much of a failure I am and how much I've disappointed my friends and family with my constant failures. Why can't I just stop being anxious and depressed?