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

All discussions

Beaser Feeling Scared Again.
  • replies: 69

Hi and best wishes to everyone. I know that there are people doing it so much harder than me. But i just feel defeated at the moment. Im just so lonely and i miss my ex partner so much and i know i have to move on .I started a new job that i was goin... View more

Hi and best wishes to everyone. I know that there are people doing it so much harder than me. But i just feel defeated at the moment. Im just so lonely and i miss my ex partner so much and i know i have to move on .I started a new job that i was going well at but i couldnt go in on Wednesday and i feel really bad about it. Im sick of fighting this battle and im tired from it. Just how much do i have to go through . Im sorry to be on such a downer but i dont know where to turn to at the moment. If i break it down im lonely and scared.I wish every one a good day . Brett.

PsychedelicFur For those who suffer with BDD
  • replies: 17

Hello there, Hope you are all doing ok. I want to start a thread for those who suffer from Body Dysmorphia, otherwise known as Body Dysmorphic Disorder. I’m struggling. It’s utterly debilitating. For those who suffer from BDD then you will understand... View more

Hello there, Hope you are all doing ok. I want to start a thread for those who suffer from Body Dysmorphia, otherwise known as Body Dysmorphic Disorder. I’m struggling. It’s utterly debilitating. For those who suffer from BDD then you will understand when I say sometimes you just don’t feel ‘right’. Like when you are out at someone’s house or at the shops.. you need to just hurry home because you feel uncomfortable. I have a sense of agoraphobia. I feel very uncomfortable when I have to leave the house. I don’t go to the shops much anymore because I am worried people will pass me and think “WOW! She is the most ugliest woman I have ever seen in my entire existence.” Does anyone else deal with this? I walked to the Post Office last week and I felt massively uncomfortable as cars drove passed me. I felt like everyone was judging me and looking at me and thinking I’m just atrocious looking. I’m scared of leaving the house for public transportation and going to university. I feel disgusting all of the time.

BlueLily Last minute anxiety making medicine in to a source of stress
  • replies: 4

I've been doing dancing as a hobby for sometime, my medicine, which I enjoy as a way of taking my mid off work and busy life. During this I've had stage fright for a while. But with various strategies overtime I have been able to overcome the anxiety... View more

I've been doing dancing as a hobby for sometime, my medicine, which I enjoy as a way of taking my mid off work and busy life. During this I've had stage fright for a while. But with various strategies overtime I have been able to overcome the anxiety to an extent. So now leading up to a performance I feel confident and feel like I've long passed my stage anxiety. However, few hours right before the performance I start feeling anxious, about potentially feeling anxious during the performance that can result in completely messing up or forgetting my steps. The silly side of this is, even if I forget or mess up my steps it's not a big deal, happens to people sometimes. Sometimes they talk about it but everybody is there to learn. My mind realises that it's irrational but not when I'm about to go to the performance. Hence my medicine turned in to a source of stress. Has anybody had similar experiences and hopefully some tips?

ABC01 Your best strategy for anxiety in the moment. Lots of answers please.
  • replies: 11

Dear All, I am asking for how you deal with an active panic/anxiety moment. What is your technique, and can you explain it for me, so I may replicate it when I am in need. They can be at home, but I am also interested in techniques for when I am outs... View more

Dear All, I am asking for how you deal with an active panic/anxiety moment. What is your technique, and can you explain it for me, so I may replicate it when I am in need. They can be at home, but I am also interested in techniques for when I am outside and in public places.I would like as many answers as possible.I appreciate any and all of your experience and advice. Thank you,ABC01

Guest_04459512 I don't Like school that much.
  • replies: 2

I don't like school. But don't get me wrong, I have friends and stuff. Its the teachers. They are not pedophiles but still they are weird. as in I don't understand why they ARE teachers. I don't want to show my age or anything but ill say im younger ... View more

I don't like school. But don't get me wrong, I have friends and stuff. Its the teachers. They are not pedophiles but still they are weird. as in I don't understand why they ARE teachers. I don't want to show my age or anything but ill say im younger than 20 when this will hopefully post. my father is understanding and trying his best to help, but doing this stuff is hard. I just want to leave. not as in die, but just go to a better place. my school is also trying, as Ive had my experiences with them and i know they are also trying their best to be a good school. i just wanna be home schooled. the teachers that make me say this the reading teacher the maths/sub teacher and the P.E teacher. I really hate the "reading" teacher. he makes students angry even if they are not who started it. as in the teacher started it. for example, my friend wasn't doing good and was really tired. she had a kind of annoyed face. The teacher then said "I know you hate me, But you cannot show me that attitude" keep in mind, she didn't say anything to the teacher. she was just tired. she tried explaining that she didn't know she looked angry and tried to apologise, but the teacher said "No talking back IN MY CLASS! your getting a time out." while the P.E teacher just does P.E that is uncomfortable. the sub teacher is horrible. when he does maths, he doesn't let the students learn. he just says " No, thats not how you do it, do it this way" while he writes in their book but he doesn't explain anything. just essentially giving out free answers without letting the kids learn. im sorry if i exaggerated this but all examples are things that did happen. at this point ive been searching for a way to get me home schooled easily. and i don't know if i can even do it.

Guest_48170496 It's hard
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I started having anxiety attacks about 6 months ago. I am on meds and seeing a spycologist but it does not seem to be going away? Will I ever be myself again? I miss the outgoing, carefree me. I feel like my husband and child is suffering due to me n... View more

I started having anxiety attacks about 6 months ago. I am on meds and seeing a spycologist but it does not seem to be going away? Will I ever be myself again? I miss the outgoing, carefree me. I feel like my husband and child is suffering due to me not being able to get this under control. Please help.

Berry_ Feeling ashamed and incapable of working
  • replies: 2

I'm not sure if it is appropriate for me to write this here since I don't get panic attacks. I just feel incredibly nauseous, and that disrupts my sleep and eating. I'm almost 21 and haven't worked in the past nine months as I said it was because I w... View more

I'm not sure if it is appropriate for me to write this here since I don't get panic attacks. I just feel incredibly nauseous, and that disrupts my sleep and eating. I'm almost 21 and haven't worked in the past nine months as I said it was because I was focusing on my final year of undergrad. This probably sounds like a very privileged thing to say, and I know I just need to push myself to be comfortable—but I have tried that. I have worked in the past in various jobs, but I always leave abruptly because I feel like I never become comfortable or adjust over time like everyone else. Then, I feel embarrassed to still be anxious months later. I have an older sibling who has offered to help me find a job where they work, but I refused because I felt like I could not do that job, and I don't want to be an embarrassment to them. Since then, they have kept saying that someone my age should be working and pointing out how they work and study an even harder course than I do while managing both. But they are just so much more confident than me. To build up my confidence, I thought I should apply to retail or hospitality. However, I self-sabotage and only apply for jobs posted a while ago because I am afraid of how much better other people are at the job—especially those who are younger than me and get paid less, making me feel undeserving of a job. I am slowly running out of savings, so I really do need to find a job, but I feel as though there is no job I could possibly be good at (and my degree is no longer of interest to me).

crumbly_rain depersonalization
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recently I've been feeling like my memories are not my own. does anyone else feel like that? like when I remember stuff abt my life it doesn't feel like mine. it feels like I'm watching someone else's memories. even recent memories from a week ago fe... View more

recently I've been feeling like my memories are not my own. does anyone else feel like that? like when I remember stuff abt my life it doesn't feel like mine. it feels like I'm watching someone else's memories. even recent memories from a week ago feel like a distant thing, like remembering a movie I watched a while ago.I've heard this kind of thing falls into depersonalisation/derealisation but idrk. I've been diagnosed with anxiety and depression, and have had many people (including a few psychologists) tell me they think I have bipolar disorder. could that be a part of it?

Mordred 23 YO - Can't leave the house, don't know where to start.
  • replies: 2

Hello, I'll try to keep this short. I am 23 YO male and I have been suffering from severe social anxiety and OCD for at least 6 years now and it has only gotten worse. Enough is enough I need to get help but I don't even know where to begin and if I ... View more

Hello, I'll try to keep this short. I am 23 YO male and I have been suffering from severe social anxiety and OCD for at least 6 years now and it has only gotten worse. Enough is enough I need to get help but I don't even know where to begin and if I can even bring myself to do it. I'm wasting away. the SAD in particular has only worsened as I've let it decay my brain for this long. I can count on probably 2 hands the number of times I've left the house in the last few years and I've only left it twice in 2024. Last Christmas I had to go into the Sydney CBD for a Christmas dinner and there were only about 15 people there total ( 7 of which were family) but I couldn't take it so I just had a panic attack and cried by myself like a baby on the balcony the whole time. I am 23 and have never gone to a party, can't drive and never have, never had a girlfriend, I can't even look at people in the eyes or go to the mailbox without being paranoid, and when someone knocks on the door, I hide. It's at the point where I'd probably rather die than leave the house to go to the hospital if I had a medical emergency or something. I have no consistent income and have never worked because I can't leave the house and im in a semi rural area, so i'm isolated. I rely on my family for most things which is selfish and kills me inside. I was making okay money trading crypto earlier this year, but since September or so, that hasn't been going well. My immediate family knows my situation and my extended family definitely suspects it but I don't talk with them much. My mother has been asking me for help for years but I always chicken out. OCD has also gotten worse. For example, I meticulously brush my teeth for 20+ minutes and take screenshots of the timer app to make sure on my phone. I also shower for ridiculous amount of time, to get rid of "contamination". The real kicker is false memory OCD which is torturing. For example, I'll obsess for hours and stress that I poured vodka in my tea???? and that I swear i could taste it. I also have to do a holy cross gesture over the toilet seat to make sure it isn't contaminated and to check each point of it. I could go on and on. So yeah, where do I even begin? I can't talk to people on the phone either and I feel like bringing a family member to an appointment at my age is embarrassing. I'm also obsessively worrying that a doctor will just say im "faking" and dismiss me, but in reality I should've been heavily medicated years ago.

Guest_32500613 What can I do I'm at my witts end
  • replies: 1

Hi all, never thought this would happen to me but I'm defenetly going through noise anxiety I have nonidea why and way it is so sudden, I have new neighbours who are constantly playing music the bass is annoying and stuck in my head all the time even... View more

Hi all, never thought this would happen to me but I'm defenetly going through noise anxiety I have nonidea why and way it is so sudden, I have new neighbours who are constantly playing music the bass is annoying and stuck in my head all the time even when when it's not playing i can still hear it in my head, I have an issue now we're every noise I hear from there side makes me think it's the music playing on and on and on, Unfortunately I had to have the local visit them at 3am in morning to ask to have the music turned down I'm pretty sure that just made it worse,I have contacted the environmental protection agencie aswell but they don't deal with this issue, I have to contact my local council grrrr It all started a month ago when I came home from.hospital after being sick pheunomnia, I have to get up for work daily at 5am they are constantly playing bassy music wich can be heard all through my house I am renting and Unfortunately just resigned our lease for another 12 months so it ant move until then, I am literally getting home from work sitting on my couch with headphones on trying to relax and that's all I can hear all the time, they are defenetly not the type to approach with this issue, what have others done that could help I have tried everything I'm even dealing with it right now it makes me nervous and sick.and I keep wondering when it's going to start or stop it's on my mind at work aswell it's affecting my life making my wife and I very unhappy it use to be nice and quite everything was fine and now this I hate it it's driving me mad, tomorrow I will be contacting the land lord for there property to see if they can help, gee I wish people would have a bit of consideration for others, thanks all