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Anxiety

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Chris_B Forums etiquette: give support to receive support
  • replies: 0

Hi everyone, particularly any new members who may be reading. From time to time, we get contacted by members who are unhappy that they haven’t received a lot of replies to their posts. Our community champions work very hard to make sure that all newb... View more

Hi everyone, particularly any new members who may be reading. From time to time, we get contacted by members who are unhappy that they haven’t received a lot of replies to their posts. Our community champions work very hard to make sure that all newbies are welcomed when they first post, and we understand that it’s a big step to post for the first time on a forum like this, especially if you aren’t feeling great. It’s important to remember, though, that these forums are a community of real people, just like you, not a one-on-one support environment like going to see your psychologist. To get the best out of being here, one of the best tips we can offer is give support to receive support. Being a good community member means: participating in different threads (not just your own), replying to people who have taken the time to reply to you (even if it’s just to say thank you), and... posting words of emotional support and encouragement when you see others who are hurting and reaching out. You don’t have to feel obliged to solve the problems of others: that’s not what we’re here for. But you can offer empathy and what you’ve learned from your own life experiences, even if it’s just a line or two, eg. “I don't know what to say, but I want to give you my support and tell you I care about what is happening to you and hope life will get better soon.” Try to develop an interest in the journeys of others here on the forums. You may be surprised at how good being an active, caring member here can make you feel. For those of you who have had good experiences giving support here on the forums, please post in this thread here and let us know how it has helped you on your journey.

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Laurila Feeling defeated
  • replies: 4

Hi there, This is my first post as I am a new member here. I'm reaching out for support as I feel like I've come to a dead end and I don't know what to do next. I've struggled with anxiety for my entire life. I've tried medication but I didn't like h... View more

Hi there, This is my first post as I am a new member here. I'm reaching out for support as I feel like I've come to a dead end and I don't know what to do next. I've struggled with anxiety for my entire life. I've tried medication but I didn't like how it made me feel numb, so eventually I came off when I felt ready. I see a psychologist on a regular basis and have been for quite some time. I try and exercise a few times a week, I've even joined a soccer team. I eat relatively healthy as I notice when I eat unhealthy I feel more anxious and down. I meditate, although I could do this more regularly. I have a supportive family and an amazing partner who understands and does what he can to support me when I need it. I am 27 and I guess I've put so much time and effort into managing my anxiety that to have it resurface again and again...it becomes exhausting. At the moment I have a career that is very demanding and I know it triggers my anxiety but I can't leave it because of finanacal reasons and because I would feel like a complete and utter failure if I did leave. I worked so hard to get into this career and I'm finally there. Now that I'm there, I struggle on a daily basis to regulate my emotions and be present. At work, my mind fly's so fast all day and I don't usually get breaks. It leaves me feeling so emotionally drained. I then feel I have little to give to my partner and to my friends and family because all of my energy goes into work. As a result of the ongoing stress and anxiety I have started to become numb. This scares me. I am usually a very caring person, but because I feel so depleted of energy, I feel I have nothing left in my tank to give. I'm getting sick in a regular basis because of the stress too. The stress is turning me into someone I don't like. My usual strategies are not working. If you have experienced something similar to me I would love to hear from you!!

Bee71 High functioning anxiety in nursing just crippling, please help
  • replies: 8

Gathering the courage to write this and seek help has taken me over a year. I am a new grad registered nurse (RN). I changed careers to fulfill a lifelong dream and graduated with most units marked as high distinction. The scope of practice and respo... View more

Gathering the courage to write this and seek help has taken me over a year. I am a new grad registered nurse (RN). I changed careers to fulfill a lifelong dream and graduated with most units marked as high distinction. The scope of practice and responsibilities of an RN are huge, and as a student during pracs I started to develop anxiety, manifested as dizzy spells, nausea, sweats, shortness of breath, insomnia and tachycardia, which was relieved by deep breathing, aromatherapy, exercise (whenever possible) and attempts at meditation. Unfortunately my anxiety is getting worse and my attempts at controlling it are failing. I just got a new job and my induction week was nothing short of horrendous. I felt overwhelmed resulting in being unable to remember simple instructions given 5 minutes prior!, and becoming “blank” when performing routine procedures. My behaviour was so obvious, I needed constant prompting from my colleague. Next week I will be on my own and I am already thinking that I will not cope. Nursing positions for grads are highly competitive this days and I wax extremely lucky to get a job. The funny thing is that people that meet me think I am calm, collected, capable and knowledgable... no one really knows the hell I am going through. I confided to my GP my symptoms over a year ago and she suggested that I possibly had “high functioning anxiety”, she sent me to a psychologist whom to be honest wasn’t helpful...after asking for my symptoms she gave me some internet printouts from Google about mindfulness. I haven’t taken any anxiolytics or antidepressants just yet but I am at breaking point and will consider anything. I have made another GP app. I would like some advice from the community about this issue. Thank you in advance. 🤯

Phoebe23 I need help. Fear of change.
  • replies: 3

Hi, I'm a 19 year old female who has extreme anxiety to change. I find myself in a new situation and by the end of it I find myself leaving them and feeling so much happier as I let fear overcome me. It's gotten to the point where I'm currently apply... View more

Hi, I'm a 19 year old female who has extreme anxiety to change. I find myself in a new situation and by the end of it I find myself leaving them and feeling so much happier as I let fear overcome me. It's gotten to the point where I'm currently applying for a course and I'm just so scared and have so much anxiety surrounding it. I'm scared I won't like the course even though I do enjoy the foundations of it. I'm scared i'm not good enough, that i'll fail or i don't belong in this career industry that i've decided to go into. I know its going to change my current life routines and it something that i cant help but stress over. I recently quit a second job that I only had just started as I hated every aspect of it but the stress with having to tell everyone that just consumes me. Now this course im starting I have to tell my current boss about it, they still don't know i've left my second job and are unaware of this new course im starting. But I need to tell them as I start in 2 weeks and need to give notice about my availability. Basically I just have so much fear with new opportunities and commitments and I think i lack the strength and courage to fully commit to something. I take the easy way out instead of sucking it up and pushing through. How can I change my mindset and develop confidence in myself, because my lack of confidence in myself is extremely clouding my judgement and creating unnecessary fear in my everyday life. thanks so much in advance

Clarissa26 Family
  • replies: 4

Hi I am going through my some big moves in my life. And I sometimes feel that my family doesn’t support me. I know they are trying but I’m really struggling with it all.

Hi I am going through my some big moves in my life. And I sometimes feel that my family doesn’t support me. I know they are trying but I’m really struggling with it all.

Tori_nawec I really need advice. It’s all too much.
  • replies: 44

It’s a long read.. but I’d appreciate anyone’s help. Two months ago, while at work, all of a sudden I felt so short of breath, my chest/shoulders were tight and my head was spinning. no history of mental illness or really no clue what an anxiety symp... View more

It’s a long read.. but I’d appreciate anyone’s help. Two months ago, while at work, all of a sudden I felt so short of breath, my chest/shoulders were tight and my head was spinning. no history of mental illness or really no clue what an anxiety symptoms were, i thought i was dying. I left work immediately to try and sleep it off. It didn’t get any better, so off I went to the doctor with extremely high heart rate, and I couldn’t breathe. Emergency Room it was for me. I had two ecg’s, blood tests, chest X-ray, and left with discharge papers saying “Anxiety reaction” .. the first month was HORRIBLE. I laid in bed 24 hrs a day. I hardly ate. (Lost 10kgs) I was too fragile/scared to even walk down my stairs. It’s the worst thing I’ve been through being in constant fear if something will happen to you. i saw a psychologist. currently 3 sessions in. She is helping me to come to terms with it all. But my symptoms are very on and off and it’s so hard to deal with. My main symptom that started all of this, was my shortness of breath and something I really can’t get over, in two months, my breathing is the same, and tbh it’s becoming normal to me to not be able to breathe I genuinely feel like my shortness of breath gives me anxiety, and I almost get anxious about getting anxiety symptoms. Sounds a little dumb. I went back to work today for three hours. It was a STRUGGLE. And has taken me all day to feel semi ok. My coping mechanism is literally to lay in bed. Im trying to eat and sleep better, exercise more, but I just feel so OVERWHELMED when I’m around people. Like everything is going so fast around me but I’m just, there. The shops, work, around a lot of family at a time, I just wanna go home. (I live alone) I just want to know if anyone has a similar story with their feelings and symptoms : - shortness of breath/ tight chest when trying to inhale deep. It’s resulted in me having pain under my left collarbone/shoulder when I take a deep breath anytime now cos I feel like I’m trying to do it all the time but I can’t help it. I just have the urge.. my breathing is the main issue for my anxious feelings!! I feel like I want to break my collarbones just to get a deep breath sometimes. (calm breathing just doesn’t do it for me?) - dizziness, blurry eyes, dry eyes, headaches, unmotivated, tired all the time, denial, feeling like something is medically wrong still. Can’t concentrate. I’ve also been thinking about medicine.. Maybe it’ll help me get through the day.

Mrs_Jackson Living with health anxiety
  • replies: 4

It's hard work living with health anxiety and knowing that sometimes you're going to get sick and my health isn't always going to be good. Does anyone have any advice. I'm on medication for anxiety which helps day to day moods but then I'll get a hea... View more

It's hard work living with health anxiety and knowing that sometimes you're going to get sick and my health isn't always going to be good. Does anyone have any advice. I'm on medication for anxiety which helps day to day moods but then I'll get a headache or gut pains or something and that's enough to send me into full blown anxiety! That feeling of fear. It's so hard to live with!! can anyone relate?

Claydo Are these feelings normal for anxiety?
  • replies: 4

I seem to cycle through my feelings/emotions every 2 weeks or so. I’ll start feeling really agitated with a cringy dirty feeling which makes me squirm for 2/3 days and then I get depressed for 2/3 days then I come out of it and start feeling really g... View more

I seem to cycle through my feelings/emotions every 2 weeks or so. I’ll start feeling really agitated with a cringy dirty feeling which makes me squirm for 2/3 days and then I get depressed for 2/3 days then I come out of it and start feeling really good and positive for around 2 weeks. I start thinking I’m on the mend and this time I’m going to get better then boom I start feeling anxious/agitated and ruminate over things I did 15 years ago which I haven’t thought about for years. I really struggle with the dirty agitated feeling and I feel like I have this buzzing sensation from my head down my left leg to my foot. The psych tells me it’s just anxiety but it feels like it’s something different more like BIpolar but I don’t get the upside/manic periods.Sometimes I feel like it my meds which make me feel this way but I know they’ve helped a lot with my anxiety. i feel like I’ll never get better and this is what my life is now. I guess I could have something worse like terminal cancer but I feel like im a shell of a person to who I use to be before this all happened 2.5 years ago. Do others have similar experience?

CourtneyJ Travel is a stressful and terrifying experience for me
  • replies: 1

Hi 32 year old GAD sufferer here. So I'm really writing this for 3 reasons: 1. To get some encouraging words 2. To get my anxious thoughts out of my head, get some perspective and hopefully self-assurance 3. To vent my frustrations My GAD is normally... View more

Hi 32 year old GAD sufferer here. So I'm really writing this for 3 reasons: 1. To get some encouraging words 2. To get my anxious thoughts out of my head, get some perspective and hopefully self-assurance 3. To vent my frustrations My GAD is normally very well managed with medication, meditation, aromatherapy and CBT. But it doesn't seem to matter how well I'm managing my symptoms my anxiety always overwhelms me when I travel somewhere I've never been before. Whether it's a 2hr flight to another state or going overseas, it makes no difference. Taking planes is STRESSFUL. I'm not afraid of flying I just feel horribly claustrophobic in an enclosed space with dozens of strangers. When I'm talking stressful I'm talking shaking, loss of appetite, manic thoughts, excessive sweating etc And then I get to my destination and the first night in the hotel is TERRIFYING. A foreign space, different noises the feeling of isolation. I actually have to numb myself with alcohol just to calm down (don't even dream of actually sleeping). Now this isn't a surprise to me really but I get VERY frustrated that it still happens. I expected that the more I travelled the easier it would get. After 10 years and at least half a dozen trips (including overseas) it's still as hard as the very first time. I get angry at my illness (and a little at myself which I know is not fair or healthy) for causing me so much distress. And for taking away the positive emotions that come with travelling. So tonight I'm in a hotel room, in bed, all tense and terrified. I know that I'll be ok tomorrow when I see my friends... But that's 16 hours from now. I will call my mum tonight (chatting with her always relaxes me) but inevitably it will have to drink myself into numbness to cope tonight.

annabay Intense chest discomfort/feeling of 'heart' fluttering/struggling to breathe
  • replies: 3

Hi, this is my first post on here so I hope it's okay! I've had anxiety ever since I can remember and have been in therapy since I was 13 - I'm now 23. I've had panic attacks in the past so am aware of how they feel in my body and have learnt techniq... View more

Hi, this is my first post on here so I hope it's okay! I've had anxiety ever since I can remember and have been in therapy since I was 13 - I'm now 23. I've had panic attacks in the past so am aware of how they feel in my body and have learnt techniques to calm myself down and subside them. However, over the past couple of months I have experienced chest discomfort on such an intense level I've taken myself to the emergency room in fear I'm having a heart attack. The feeling changes all the time, but it has lasted for weeks on end now and I'm just learning to live with it - it's horrible and I am exhausted. It feels like a fluttering in my chest, or like there's air bubbles in there, or like someone is squeezing my heart, or tugging on it. Sometimes it burns, sometimes its sharp. It changes and moves all the time - sometimes its in the centre, or to the left, or goes over to the right etc. It went away for one week and I was finally able to sleep, now it has returned. It usually flares up the worst when I'm settling down to sleep, but now its creeping into my days and can come on from nowhere. I've had ECG's and chest x ray's and blood tests and the doctor's keep telling me it's not my heart and that it's anxiety or oesophagus spasms. I however find this hard to believe when it feels so intense in the moment and thus my anxiety then carries me away with it - I end up getting to a place of panic that is so severe I can't calm down until I go to the hospital and get reassurance. Has anyone had anything similar to this happen to them? How did you fix your symptoms? I'm just looking to feel less alone as it's a very exhausting. Hope everyone is doing well

I_am_awkward_ How do i manage anxiety.
  • replies: 6

Hi, I am new to beyondblue. I feel like i cant talk to anyone about how im feeling. I have no idea why i am feeling the way im feeling. I will be starting to see a councillor thursday but never seen one before and no idea what im ment to say. I am si... View more

Hi, I am new to beyondblue. I feel like i cant talk to anyone about how im feeling. I have no idea why i am feeling the way im feeling. I will be starting to see a councillor thursday but never seen one before and no idea what im ment to say. I am sitting on my couch having a panic attack for no reason at all. I just need ways to help me manage my anxiety. I cant sleep because of it. Im exhausted but i dont know how to turn my brain off or get rid of this feeling in my stomach. I have a 5 year old son and a single mother and this is making it hard for me to do things with him. Its making it hard for me to be the best mum for him and i feel so guilty. Ive tried so many things ive found online to help anxiety but nothing seems to work. Please if anyone has any idea that has helped them out i would love to hear about them.