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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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IPlay Violent crying/breathing OR Panic attack?
  • replies: 3

3:00AM alone and I can't fall asleep because I'm sad, for reasons. Finally pull myself out of bed to come here, thinking it might be a healthy mental exercise to clear my head. Click on the beyond blue tab that was already open on my browser but befo... View more

3:00AM alone and I can't fall asleep because I'm sad, for reasons. Finally pull myself out of bed to come here, thinking it might be a healthy mental exercise to clear my head. Click on the beyond blue tab that was already open on my browser but before I knew it I was not able to really read anything on the screen because I was crying heavily. In a few moments longer I was crying out loud which went from what you might expect to hear from someone heavily crying out loud to uncontrollable hard breathing. Big hard uncontrollable and repetitive sounding breathes replaced the vocal cries. This lasted maybe 10-20 seconds, it's hard to recall. It felt vivid and surreal, like I had taken a drug. Like I didn't know what was going to happen next. I was scared. I find it hard to connect with my own feelings but writing this has helped with my understanding. I think I should have just stayed in bed.

FoggyAfternoon Gradually becoming health anxious?
  • replies: 2

Hi all, A few weeks ago I seemed to come down with some sort of viral infection. I experienced fatigue, chest pain (random sharp pain), nausea, headaches, rapid heart rate, shortness of breath and overall weakness. It eventually somewhat relented and... View more

Hi all, A few weeks ago I seemed to come down with some sort of viral infection. I experienced fatigue, chest pain (random sharp pain), nausea, headaches, rapid heart rate, shortness of breath and overall weakness. It eventually somewhat relented and I went back to work thinking that after a time I'd be back to normal completely. It never felt like this happened however. I would have days where I would become nauseous again, experience headaches or rapid heart rate. I had blood tests done twice (once at the start of all this) and one this week. Both came back normal, as did the chest x-ray I had. This kinda felt like it drove me to want an answer though, and I turned to Dr. Google on a number of occasions despite me knowing how bad that is. I've had nights of lack of sleep and just a continued feeling of "not right". While all this was happening, I have been worried about a new job I am potentially starting - wondering if I'm good enough for it, fun thoughts like that. I guess my question is, is it common for anxiety to cause some of those symptoms above? I'm usually not that anxious of a person but I'm starting to feel like the reality is that I'm making this worse myself... Appreciate everyone's time, thank you.

Peanutbutterfly Constant feeling of everyone hating/judging me + just generally not being able to act like a normal grown-ass adult. Help?
  • replies: 5

I should probably start by saying I've always felt this, even when I was a kid I would question the motives of those around me - because why else would someone be friendly towards me unless they need something? It's gotten a lot worse recently, to th... View more

I should probably start by saying I've always felt this, even when I was a kid I would question the motives of those around me - because why else would someone be friendly towards me unless they need something? It's gotten a lot worse recently, to the point where I will just break down and start crying the second anyone expresses any negative thoughts or emotions towards me, or even when they've said something that most other people would interpret as nice. Today, for example, I called in sick and my boss told me to take the next day off aswell which instantly set me off because if I was a useful member of the team I would have been asked to be there. My rational mind knows that they're probably just not wanting me to show up sick and infect everyone else and if they were really mad I'd probably just be fired on the spot, but I still can't stop the internal monologue of it being my fault because I'm not useful or competent enough for them to want me there. Anytime I'm given any kind of responsibility it makes me upset because I don't feel like I can do anything right but at the same time I get frustrated with myself when I have no responsibility because that means I'm too stupid to do what everyone else can do with ease. I don't go out with friends anymore because the second I open my mouth it seems like a chore for my friends to have to listen to me talk. The rest of the time while I'm not hating myself I'm panicking about how I'm going to get home, what if the club I'm at thinks I'm a little too drunk and kicks me out, is everyone secretly laughing at me behind my back because I can't dance, and a million other things. I'm too nervous to drive because the people on the road are horrible (seriouly, I've been abused because I stopped to check for oncoming traffic for half a second longer than the person behind me would like). I can't catch public transport because coordinating bus and tram timetables also stresses me to the point of tears and shaking. I've tried different medications (can't even remember what). I felt like none of them made a difference. I've tried just forcing myself to go outside and act like everything's fine which worked for about a week until I flipped out. Talking to people makes me feel invalid. Especially when I've got no actual problems/trauma to cause this, I'm just defective. Then I feel like they think I'm faking it for attention. I'm tired and worried all the time, and I just don't know what to do with myself.

HenrysFriend Has anyone ever experienced a panic attack like my first and worst?
  • replies: 4

I was a 22 year old electronics technician servicing country sites when I had my first, and worst, panic attack. I was driving alone towards Cunnamulla. It was getting near dusk and my thoughts were focused on the job ahead. Then from nowhere I had a... View more

I was a 22 year old electronics technician servicing country sites when I had my first, and worst, panic attack. I was driving alone towards Cunnamulla. It was getting near dusk and my thoughts were focused on the job ahead. Then from nowhere I had an uneasiness, a sense of foreboding. Very quickly it became a sense of impending danger and before I knew it I felt threatened by everything around me. It was like 2nd world war stories of people running as bombs rained down on them. I decided to hide in the scrub. I stopped the car on the side of the road and bolted for the bush. Scaling a fence I remembered that I hadn't locked the car. Ran back to secure it and as I was locking the door it started to ease. "Maybe I could just lock it and hide in the car." I thought. Then inside the car "It's getting late. Maybe I could just drive on for a bit and if it happens again I'll pull over." As I drove on it just went away. The first thoughts were an unbelievable sense of relief. Better than winning lotto I'd reckon. Just elation at the thought I was going to survive. And finally "Oh sh*t. What if it happens again? In a minute from now. An hour. What if I am talking with the customer and it happens then?" As time went on I felt secure that it was over. And it wasn't a bender after a great night on alcohol and drugs. I didn't take drugs cause I couldn't stand the thought of being out of control. And I only had a few beers the night before. Since then I have had many panic attacks but never anything like that one. Has anyone else ever had anything like it? Would love to hear from you if you feel you can talk about it.

H3ll0 Lost soul
  • replies: 1

Hi everyone, first time posting and I feel like I'm not sure wether this is worthy of posting but I really need some help and advice. I just recently broke up with my fiance and have realised that I let the doubtful and bad thoughts in my head make t... View more

Hi everyone, first time posting and I feel like I'm not sure wether this is worthy of posting but I really need some help and advice. I just recently broke up with my fiance and have realised that I let the doubtful and bad thoughts in my head make that decision for me. The thoughts that were going on in my head were "I'm not good enough", "I can't make her happy", "she is better off without me". I let all of that get to me and let the thoughts take over the feelings. I never stopped to see how my heart was feeling because I was too worried about the negative thoughts. I talked myself into leaving her and running away from my problems How do I get out of my head and start feeling again?

Anxietyisdestroyingme92 im 27 a new mum and struggling with severe health anxiety
  • replies: 3

all my life i have struggled with general anxiety which has developed into health anxiety with the loss of my step mum from cancer. I always jump too the worst case scenario. I have had muscle twitching in my legs from 20 weeks pregnant. I am 3 weeks... View more

all my life i have struggled with general anxiety which has developed into health anxiety with the loss of my step mum from cancer. I always jump too the worst case scenario. I have had muscle twitching in my legs from 20 weeks pregnant. I am 3 weeks PP and i am still getting them and also percieved weakness and atrophy, i had an exam and doctor could not note any weakness. i convinced myself i have MND. now i had bad tachycardia and was in ER last night they thought blood clot. they said they should do a CT because i tested a bit high on the blood clot test so i did it but they said i now have increased risk of breast and lung cancer because of it and there was no clot. I am now flipping out that i will have cancer later in life because of this. I need reassurance and seeing a mental health specialist next friday. I hate this anxiety it ruins my life and i am a new mum and need too be here to look after my baby. I am so sad scared and miserable. Thankyou for letting me vent.

Guest_1584 Do you find everyday people meet eyes a lot , out and about, or do you with others ?
  • replies: 8

Hi people. Yaknow , l don't even know how to say or talk about what l'd like to here , and l'm not sure if this happens for you too or others , everyday people out anywhere , or what. But l'd really love to hear any thoughts or observations or maybe ... View more

Hi people. Yaknow , l don't even know how to say or talk about what l'd like to here , and l'm not sure if this happens for you too or others , everyday people out anywhere , or what. But l'd really love to hear any thoughts or observations or maybe you have the same thing or something like , whatever . l'm a fairly tall guy 6ft, and people just notice me , l hate it , been happening my whole life, so that alone is one issue. l dunno if it's just because l'm tall , or if l attract their attention because l tend to do this stupid eye contact thing. l don't mean too, l'm not even into people on the street or shops or whatever and l'm not eyeballing them, it's just where my damn eyes go. l hate it but as soon as l let my guard down l notice l'm just doing it again. l've had some weird reactions too now and then from people , as if l'm really eyeballying them but l'm not even thinking , just looking into blank as l go about my stuff. To top it off, l seem to have something about my eyes that people notice in split seconds like expressions, or something. People pick up if l even just glance their way in a split second, strangers l mean . l mean l'm not the sorta person that walks the street or shops saying hello to everyone far from it actually l'm extremely private. But yaknow, people will often smile or in a shop say some small talk or whatever so it's not like people are uncomfortable and warily catching my eyes type thing in that way. Although that has happened too. Does anyone else get this stuff out and about with total strangers you pass or are around somewhere, walking down a shopping center, anything, anywhere. ? Do you find people notice eyes in a split second , a glance, anything ? Do you have a bad damn habit like mine of looking at peoples eyes when you drop your guard ? Do people in general watch this type of thing with themselves you think ? Maybe it's simply that l'm extremely observant and l'll not only notice peoples eyes but everything else around me too. lt's a real real bad habit l can tell ya. Just wish l could go out and be invisible and just go about my business. Another thought to is last few years , people although appearing casually about their day, are very very very wary now , of anyone , with all the crap happening these days , and not only, but being brainwashed by tv ads and media telling us to be aware or some garbage . And l think people really are maybe to now you know. l dunno, or maybe it's just me.

lonelyglassesgirl Constant growing anxiety that I might have schizophrenia, feel hopeless
  • replies: 3

Over the past two years, I have had an increasing fear that I might have schizophrenia. Unfortunately, this is manifesting in my becoming increasingly obsessed with reading articles about schizophrenia risk factors, which isn't exactly reassuring as ... View more

Over the past two years, I have had an increasing fear that I might have schizophrenia. Unfortunately, this is manifesting in my becoming increasingly obsessed with reading articles about schizophrenia risk factors, which isn't exactly reassuring as I have several -- including a grandparent with it, my mum having a difficult pregnancy and traumatic birth with me (inc. pre-eclampsia and apparent hypoxia), and myself having early-onset diagnosed developmental disorders and mental health issues including OCD, GAD, and panic attacks (all diagnosed before age 15). I know that all of these are risk factors for developing schizophrenia, and now I've become convinced that my life is hopeless and I probably/definitely will develop it. Since the end of 2016, I've been having severe difficulty sleeping (on and off), and also catastrophising about this. The very first time it happened, I thought I was having a manic episode as I didn't feel tired and I also briefly became nocturnal involuntarily. But now I do feel tired when this happens and return to a normal sleep pattern after the episodes, which are generally 2-3 nights in a row once or twice a month. Also, nearly all (75%) of my extended family members have more severe mental illness than me, and it's possible that my uncle has schizophrenia also. Thankfully, my immediate family members have less severe issues, but the overall picture isn't very hopeful. I just keep thinking that at any moment I will develop really severe mental health issues, so I wonder what the point is of pursuing my goals. I keep having panic attacks and, either as a cause or an effect of these, being convinced that I am about to have a psychotic episode. I also experienced two traumatic events last year, the first of which triggered the return of the panic attacks (following about 5 years with barely any), and the second of which made me so frightened that my dad thought I was having a psychotic episode. I'm also confused about the boundary between catastrophising and having negative thoughts, and having an actual delusional belief. Because sometimes I have catastrophised so much that, in retrospect, it actually seems quite delusional. This especially happens at night, when I can't sleep. Is there any way to reduce this anxiety? I feel like every time I go to a psychologist, it's the same thing of me spending almost the entire time asking if they think I am developing schizophrenia.

Autumn77 Just need a chat and support
  • replies: 4

Hi everyone, I just experienced my second 'attack'. I suffer from SAD and it messes with my head. I did the mistake of going off my medication. Back on it now for 3 months and so regretful. I've been off work for 6 weeks and started crying last night... View more

Hi everyone, I just experienced my second 'attack'. I suffer from SAD and it messes with my head. I did the mistake of going off my medication. Back on it now for 3 months and so regretful. I've been off work for 6 weeks and started crying last night because I'm ment to return. Earlier that day I had an anxiety attack. I'm obviously not ready yet? And need more time. So Im going to the Dr.s to get another medical certificate for 2 weeks. I think this is the right thing to do. Because last night I was so distressed that I thought resigning would be a good idea. Because I don't know if this is the right job for me anymore with my condition. I work in retail/optcal store in a shopping center and deal with too many people. I just don't know what to do. I don't know what is right. I feel weak and a sense of letting myself down and others around me. I've always worked and think I should be able to. Thanks for reading.

SwansandSharksMan Yelling
  • replies: 2

Do you find yourself constantly having reminders of your childhood? Constantly remembering teachers and parents yelling at you? Has it made you scared in general? Has it made you have trouble making decisions? Do you have flash backs about it? Has it... View more

Do you find yourself constantly having reminders of your childhood? Constantly remembering teachers and parents yelling at you? Has it made you scared in general? Has it made you have trouble making decisions? Do you have flash backs about it? Has it made you angry? Or perhaps has it made you determined never to be angry with people?