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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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ashkey How do you deal with a new type of anxiety?
  • replies: 3

Hello to everyone, My question probably doesn't sound like anything new but to me it is. I generally only experience anxiety with driving, it's been a problem for me for years but that is slowly getting better, so yay for progress! My problem now is ... View more

Hello to everyone, My question probably doesn't sound like anything new but to me it is. I generally only experience anxiety with driving, it's been a problem for me for years but that is slowly getting better, so yay for progress! My problem now is work related anxiety and what work has done to me to make me feel this way. I am in retail management and do a damn good job of it but come Xmas time something pops up which means I have to step into a role I can do but am just not wanting to do. It's happened to me 3 years now and happening again. I know I have the power to change things but I love my job and who I work with just sometimes it's a real toll. Lately a new manager has come on board which is supposed to be a good thing to support me. They have seniority over me but I still have to train them. Again, fine but it's come with challenges. My new anxiety has to do with this new manager and how instantly they have come in and trying to reinvent the wheel which is not broken. It's already frustrating my team who trust me and will follow me to the ends of the earth. This is only temporary for so many months but my question is, do I deal with it and feel this horrible nausea and dread every day and fake it for the duration or do I talk to my manager above them? I'm torn as this could make things worse I feel but I am just dreading waking up when I sleep and then I can't get back to sleep. I hate this so much. Any help or kind words to get through this would be greatly appreciated. I don't usually have problems, my friends know me for being so carefree so this feeling is very out of the ordinary for me. Thanks, Ashkey

Traceyintassie Tried all techniques for managing anxiety, nothing’s worked
  • replies: 2

Hi this my first post. I’ve tried all managing techniques listed for coping with my anxiety. I’m just getting worse. I was on meds for 16 years. I’ve been having neuro feedback with my psychologist. I think I’ve had 10 or more sessions so far. This h... View more

Hi this my first post. I’ve tried all managing techniques listed for coping with my anxiety. I’m just getting worse. I was on meds for 16 years. I’ve been having neuro feedback with my psychologist. I think I’ve had 10 or more sessions so far. This hasn’t helped either so far. I’m out of options.

LesDave Staying focused after unemployment
  • replies: 2

The next few months is going to be test to see if I can hold the previous bad anxiety at bay. Our project ended last week and while I had a lot of interviews, nothing eventuated. I am fully expecting nothing much to come up until February in my field... View more

The next few months is going to be test to see if I can hold the previous bad anxiety at bay. Our project ended last week and while I had a lot of interviews, nothing eventuated. I am fully expecting nothing much to come up until February in my field. This time of year everything goes quiet. I plan to: 1. take a break 2. only apply for jobs I think I really want for the next few months 3. live cheaply 4. stay in the present moment Any other tips you folks have will be greatly appreciated.

SCoo Throat tightness and anxiety
  • replies: 4

Hi guys just a question, does anyone have constant throat tightness? Mine comes in waves. I’ve had so many tests done and anything sinister has been ruled out but some days it’s terrible. I feel like I can’t breathe but my oxygen sats are fine. Im ho... View more

Hi guys just a question, does anyone have constant throat tightness? Mine comes in waves. I’ve had so many tests done and anything sinister has been ruled out but some days it’s terrible. I feel like I can’t breathe but my oxygen sats are fine. Im hoping it has something to do with my neck and constantly feeling tense. I’m hoping it goes away

LuLu04 Anxious talking about myself - hot, red face
  • replies: 2

Hi For at least 10 years I've found it uncomfortable talking about myself to people. Not all people and it's not all the time. It's just in certain situations I'll be asked a question about myself (what do you do for work?, how was your holiday?) and... View more

Hi For at least 10 years I've found it uncomfortable talking about myself to people. Not all people and it's not all the time. It's just in certain situations I'll be asked a question about myself (what do you do for work?, how was your holiday?) and I'll feel like I'm under a spotlight. The main symptoms are I start to feel hot, then red in the face and then I sweat. It's so uncomfortable and embarrassing. Then I start to over think everything and it makes it even worse! It happens randomly and sometimes I'm fine to start with and then mid way through the conversation it happens. I think now I almost expect it to happen which brings it on. I'm definitely more of an introvert then extrovert but I'm sociable and enjoy conversation but this makes me want to avoid talking too much about myself. I'm also a thinker and tend to internalise a lot of things. People always say how calm I am but I think that's probably because I hold a lot of things in rather than letting it out. I tend to hold a lot of tension in my neck and shoulders which also doesn't help. I've tried to deal with it for years and find ways of avoiding situations but I've decided I need to do something to get it under control as I feel like it's starting to get a bit worse and it is effecting my confidence. I am good at my job but I also feel like it's holding me back from progressing. Any advice would be very welcome - thank you

Guest5643 Physical disabilty aid question♿
  • replies: 1

Hi Does anyone here use a physical disabilty aid and have people make fun of it to the point they dont use it sometimes and then cop it pain wise afterwards? My 30kg dog has a large pram and while most people are nice about there are alot of people w... View more

Hi Does anyone here use a physical disabilty aid and have people make fun of it to the point they dont use it sometimes and then cop it pain wise afterwards? My 30kg dog has a large pram and while most people are nice about there are alot of people who can be very cruel and if i have to many rude comments in a short time frame then i get self consious and wont use it for a walk to avoid stigma. Im riddled with guilt cause my poor dogs struggling walking home. Lynne

ilyoonie OCD vs daily routine?
  • replies: 3

Hi everyone, Not sure if this is the right place to ask for advice, but I would just like a second opinion. I was diagnosed with GAD three and a half years ago, but for the past few months I've been struggling with OCD which I've never experienced ev... View more

Hi everyone, Not sure if this is the right place to ask for advice, but I would just like a second opinion. I was diagnosed with GAD three and a half years ago, but for the past few months I've been struggling with OCD which I've never experienced ever, so OCD is still something new and scary to me due to its uncontrollable nature. Anyways, these days I've been having a lot of intrusive thoughts, mostly around tidying and cleaning objects and myself. I find that I must be clean at a specific time each day. For example, I must shower at 9pm everyday, no later or my mind will spiral out of control. If I don't shower by then I will begin to feel dirty and disgusted, so much that it even becomes a physical sensation. I cannot seem to do anything else until I go shower because that urge is all that occupies my mind, and I begin to feel light-headed and dizzy and my brain feels like it's going to explode with the thoughts repeating over and over again. Sometimes, even just a few hours before showering I won't be able to stop thinking about it, it's like my brain keeps anticipating it and reminding me to not forget about it. However the problem is that to my understanding, OCD is about repeatedly carrying out rituals or compulsions that are irrational, however showering daily is definitely a rational and normal thing to do, and it's not like I am showering multiple times a day to feel clean, thus I am stuck with the question "is this really OCD?" I find that after cleaning, I feel immediately relieved, no longer dizzy, like everything is at ease and I can continue with my work again. Sometimes I even shower earlier before the set time just so that I can be free of the obsessive thoughts later on. It's definitely mind bogging because my brain knows it's something justifiable and that I have to eventually do it anyways, so it can fully control and convince me. However sometimes it's quite inconvenient to clean at the same time everyday due to my college schedule. My daily life is definitely disrupted from this thought, and it's just not showering, but many others I won't mention due to the character limit. So, my question is, what do you call this behaviour? the need to do something at a certain time everyday otherwise it prevents you from doing anything else? I'm feeling overwhelmed because I am wasting so much time being bothered by this routine when I have many upcoming exams, which seems impossible to study for when my thoughts are stuck somewhere else

redrighthand Anxiety paranoia
  • replies: 5

Hey everyone, I have suffered from depression, anxiety and an eating disorder for a while now. I find it really hard to reach out to people because I am ashamed of who I am. I've lied about my eating disorder for months now and I have been pretending... View more

Hey everyone, I have suffered from depression, anxiety and an eating disorder for a while now. I find it really hard to reach out to people because I am ashamed of who I am. I've lied about my eating disorder for months now and I have been pretending to just be eating healthy when really I've been skipping meals due to my anxiety and my feeling of severe inadequacy and it has lead me to make many embarrassing mistakes. I feel like everyone judges me and all my friends hate me. I'm hitting rock bottom as my partner might leave me due to my poor choices and that I won't have any friends. I'm scared to go to work or to talk to anyone about what's going on. I've apologised to my friends but they haven't responded to me and now, all I want to do is stay home, sleep and cry. I don't know what to do. I know I have to face this but I don't how and I don't know how to start caring for myself and giving myself worth and to stop caring about what others think. It's gradually ruining my mental health and I am at a loss as to what to do. I'm scared all the time.

healthanxietylou Health Anxiety- What was your Original trigger? PTSD related?
  • replies: 1

I had the worst health anxiety almost 2 years ago after my baby died- I thought I had everything and would google symptoms all day long- I went to emergency and the doctor a lot and had physical symptoms (heart palpatations, tingling hands and feel, ... View more

I had the worst health anxiety almost 2 years ago after my baby died- I thought I had everything and would google symptoms all day long- I went to emergency and the doctor a lot and had physical symptoms (heart palpatations, tingling hands and feel, muscle twitches, IBS) so I would latch on to everything. It was a living hell and I thought I knew what anxiety was as I never liked flying and the occasional social anxiety but compared to health anxiety those were mild worries. I'm so grateful to not be as bad now thanks to the right antidepressant. It still comes up occasionally and I just wondered what everyone else thinks their triggers for their health anxiety were originally? I honestly never knew it existed- I'd heard of hypochondria but I didn't think it was as bad as what I was going through. I live in a regional area so the support was pretty lacking- it took 5 months to get me to see a psychiatrist and that was only after I got private health care cover back. What do people who can't afford that do? don't be crazy and poor? It's appalling and heartbreaking that access to services aren't up to scratch in regional areas or to people who can't afford it.

Crawf95 Anxiety or Asthma? Thoughts..
  • replies: 5

Hi All, First post here - I’ve had anxiety and panic disorder since I was 17 (now 22). I’m wanting to see other people’s experiences with anxiety and asthma. Im currently experience chest discomfort - breathing tightness (not severe but mild). I do h... View more

Hi All, First post here - I’ve had anxiety and panic disorder since I was 17 (now 22). I’m wanting to see other people’s experiences with anxiety and asthma. Im currently experience chest discomfort - breathing tightness (not severe but mild). I do have asthma and use a preventive inhaler and ventolin when needed. Currently not helping. I went to my doctor today - who is actually really good, he had a listen to my lungs and narrowed it down to anxiety. I am not experiencing wheezing, shortness of breath at all. I keep taking a deep breath and forcefully coughing to try and clear my chest but nothing is there. Peak flow readings are at 700, quit smoking 2 months ago for this exact reason and my doctor believes I may be over medicating myself with ventolin and the preventive inhaler and wants to take me off both. Any advise or personal experiences would be great.