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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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mad_woman Alone & coping with anxiety.
  • replies: 2

I find my anxiety very scary,mainly being alone,it scares me so much.I have no family or friends here where I live.I am a carer to my two sons with autism.they live with me.I am so lonely most of the time,but worse still very scared,I hate the nights... View more

I find my anxiety very scary,mainly being alone,it scares me so much.I have no family or friends here where I live.I am a carer to my two sons with autism.they live with me.I am so lonely most of the time,but worse still very scared,I hate the nights.its getting worse.I am 57.

Butterfly64 Head Pressure
  • replies: 6

Wondering if anyone else has unrelenting head pressure? I've had it for 3 years and tried every medication, therapy and alternative treatment there is and nothing has helped. Had CT scan and MRI both normal. It is always there but sometimes unbearabl... View more

Wondering if anyone else has unrelenting head pressure? I've had it for 3 years and tried every medication, therapy and alternative treatment there is and nothing has helped. Had CT scan and MRI both normal. It is always there but sometimes unbearable. I'm going to try neurofeedback soon - after that, I'm out of options. I've read up on tension headaches and it sounds like that's what I've got, except that mine NEVER goes away

Emerald12 Suffer from very bad anxiety - please help
  • replies: 5

Hi, for years now I suffer from terrible social anxiety and just to leave the house when I’m not working is a massive battle.. I’m nearly 30 years old and I can’t even go to the supermarket or fueling my car up without freaking out , I am getting mar... View more

Hi, for years now I suffer from terrible social anxiety and just to leave the house when I’m not working is a massive battle.. I’m nearly 30 years old and I can’t even go to the supermarket or fueling my car up without freaking out , I am getting married next year to the love of my life and I am very worried as I need to do a speech and my social anxiety is terrible .. so worried the words won’t spit out and it’s choking me .. please what will help me .. I’ve tried exercise and everything and none of that stuff helps , my anxiety is to strong it over takes me every time thanks

mad_woman Too scared to sleep,recent pain meds & sleeping meds,have made me sleepwalk & have falls when I get up.stopped the meds but still happening.
  • replies: 4

I am so scared to sleep,I keep sleep walking & having falls.Tried to go to sleep so tired but anxiety kicked in.Last night woke up on kitchen floor,fell backwards & hit my head.My knees & legs are covered in bruises & very swollen,can barely walk.Too... View more

I am so scared to sleep,I keep sleep walking & having falls.Tried to go to sleep so tired but anxiety kicked in.Last night woke up on kitchen floor,fell backwards & hit my head.My knees & legs are covered in bruises & very swollen,can barely walk.Too scared to have a shower in case I fall,its in a bath,so not totally flat surface,its been a week now. Havent had any sleep or pain meds for nearly a week now. I am 57 female,first time ever taking stronger sleep meds & pain meds,originally for oesto pain,really bad side effects.I cant stand up for too long & house is a disaster,my anxiety is super high now.

Rururumble Work Stress - TGiF
  • replies: 2

Its with great relief that Friday is here, 2 days to chill out. However work is on my mind. I struggle with conflict and am confronted by other members of the team getting angry but being aggressive. I start second quessing, blaming and remonstrating... View more

Its with great relief that Friday is here, 2 days to chill out. However work is on my mind. I struggle with conflict and am confronted by other members of the team getting angry but being aggressive. I start second quessing, blaming and remonstrating with myself. My internal voice is active and gathering evidence that Im not good at my job. My anxiety is hitting fever pitch and if I cannot debunk my negative thoughts I will be living into them. Decided to try this forum as a way of debunking the negative thoughts and getting some perspective so I can over come my anxiety and empower myself.

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?