Support
Support

Anxiety

Anxiety is the most common mental health condition in Australia. Share your own story and learn about other member’s experiences with anxiety.

Start a conversation

FAQ

Find answers to some of the more frequently asked questions on the Forums.

View the FAQ

Forums guidelines

Our guidelines keep the Forums a safe place for people to share and learn information.

View the guidelines
Categories
Start a conversation

Pinned discussions

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

Start a conversation

chris0626 How to cure this type of OCD?
  • replies: 2

Hi, I am a 21 years old male who has been straight all my life, I always enjoy staright porn and I have a boobs obession. I have always have crushes on girls even though I never have sex before. Around two week ago, I suddenly start question whether ... View more

Hi, I am a 21 years old male who has been straight all my life, I always enjoy staright porn and I have a boobs obession. I have always have crushes on girls even though I never have sex before. Around two week ago, I suddenly start question whether I am gay or straight, It makes me feel extremely anxious and uncomfortable throughout the day. I would always look at other men and women to check if I am sexually attracted. I often get these random gay thoughts which scare me and digust me a lot. It makes me so stressed that I couldn't enjoy my straight porn as I was before. This gives me a feeling that I might turn gay. There were few days that I feel normal again and I start watching my porn collection. But after few days, It hits me again. How do I make it gone forever? Or am I really becoming gay. I have experience a OCD earlier this year when I thought I got a cancer or decease and I went to the doctor to check many times. And I experiecne social anxiety a lot.

Autumn77 OCD in public. What do you do?
  • replies: 12

Hi all, As we know, with a lot of mental disorders, people haveOCD tendencies. I just want to know, that I'm not the only one. So I'll go first....at a supermarket, if a product is in the wrong spot, I pick it up, pretent to look at it, and then retu... View more

Hi all, As we know, with a lot of mental disorders, people haveOCD tendencies. I just want to know, that I'm not the only one. So I'll go first....at a supermarket, if a product is in the wrong spot, I pick it up, pretent to look at it, and then return it to its right spot. Ha!

BBUser90 Being happy makes me uncomfortable...
  • replies: 2

So at the ripe old age of 34 I've just had the realisation that the biggest trigger for me when it comes to self medicating with drugs/alcohol is that I find it really uncomfortable to be happy and energised. I think this could be the reason that I’v... View more

So at the ripe old age of 34 I've just had the realisation that the biggest trigger for me when it comes to self medicating with drugs/alcohol is that I find it really uncomfortable to be happy and energised. I think this could be the reason that I’ve spent so much of my life in self destructive relationships where I essentially act as an enabler in the relationship with partners who have their own addiction issues. Now that life is going really well and I’ve gotten to a place where I’m not needing to “look after” my significant other and I’m in a job that I really love - I keep finding myself feeling fresh, excited, happy and proud of myself but it is immediately followed by a feeling of restlessness and discomfort that I feel like I have to quell by bringing my energy levels down via drugs and alcohol. What kind of bloody twisted wiring do I have in my brain that I can’t stand the feeling of being happy! Now that I realise what this feeling is I can remember feeling like this even back in primary school. If I was ever succeeding at something I would immediately freak and just quit or find an escape route. I can remember coming first in a cross country race and the moment I heard people cheering me on I panicked and stopped running. It’s like deep down I really don’t want to succeed or be happy? Is this just a deep, rooted fear of failure? Or a need to control my circumstances if I feel like I can’t control my emotions. Does anyone else struggle with feeling happy? How do I get past this so I can actually live life to my full potential instead of constantly self destructing and stopping my personal growth in its tracks.

Wayne86 Sleep Paralysis and extreme Déjà Vu
  • replies: 4

I am unsure as to whether this is anxiety related but I have been subject to frequent sleep paralysis over the last 10 or so years (own research done to narrow down what this is called) eg. Wide awake unable to move or scream, Electric shock like pul... View more

I am unsure as to whether this is anxiety related but I have been subject to frequent sleep paralysis over the last 10 or so years (own research done to narrow down what this is called) eg. Wide awake unable to move or scream, Electric shock like pulse pulsating through my entire body, the feeling of someone or something present in the room and extreme fear. Whilst I am now used to the frequent “episodes” of this (whilst still very frightening) I have in the last couple of years been also getting what I believe is déjà Vu but it’s not like any déjà Vu I have experienced before. It feels like everything I see, read or do is something that I have seen, read or done before in a kind of loop of life in some ways it feels and it is very uncomforting and makes me feel light headed as if I am going to pass out. I have tried to explain this to people but I feel like they don’t understand or think I am making it up and that I cannot truly explain what is happening to me. Can anyone shed some light on what this is? How You deal with it if you’re experiencing the same thing?

Dwwmills Finding happiness uncomfortable.
  • replies: 7

Hello. I’m just wondering whether anyone else has experienced this. I’ve found in the last year of my recovery I have times where I feel quite happy but I have times when I find it difficulty accepting or trusting this feeling. I don’t want to sound ... View more

Hello. I’m just wondering whether anyone else has experienced this. I’ve found in the last year of my recovery I have times where I feel quite happy but I have times when I find it difficulty accepting or trusting this feeling. I don’t want to sound like I’ve had a horrible life and I’ve never been happy before because this is just untrue. It’s as if it’s easier to deal with negative emotions than positive ones. I’m not anxious about it or obsessing over it. It’s just something that I had not expected.

Ryankelly221 Anxiety, Stress, Overthinking, World Issues, What should I do?
  • replies: 2

Hi all. Right now as I'm typing this I'm feeling okay with myself, but for the past two weeks now I've been having severe on-and-off again Anxiety Attacks. I haven't had a panic attack yet, but my stress is starting to affect my physical health now. ... View more

Hi all. Right now as I'm typing this I'm feeling okay with myself, but for the past two weeks now I've been having severe on-and-off again Anxiety Attacks. I haven't had a panic attack yet, but my stress is starting to affect my physical health now. I'm losing my appetite and I'm beginning to feel Nihilistic at times, losing interest in things I used to be passionate about. I'm taking more naps, I skip breakfast, I can't do things I enjoy to de-stress, as that stressed feeling is still there... What I'm stressed about is the concept of Climate change. There isn't any specific thing I'm worried about... It's the broad, general concept behind it that worries me. I can look at any opinion or any bad news about it and I begin to stress out. So far I've donated $135 to the Rainforest alliance but my anxiety tells me that I need to give away all of my money if I want to see it stopped. (More constructively, I've been planning on selling some of the clutter in my room and I'm going to use that money for charity.) It doesn't help that the internet is full of... Differing Opinions on the topic. And I don't know what's the truth or not. Sure, more is being done and we're more aware of it nowadays... But I have a habit of overthinking the subject to the point where I make up stories in my head, I have flashes of situations that could happen simply because it feels believable and that there's evidence out there that it could happen. I really don't want to see good people being hurt. I've actively pulled myself away from Twitter and Facebook, simply because I just can't handle any shred of bad news. At this point I'm thinking about getting medication so I can get my own life back on track. With such severe anxiety like this, what should I do?

Tinas Anxiety and hopelessness
  • replies: 4

Hi. First time on this site for me. I have been living with anxiety most of my life. I’m 47 now. I have problems going out without my companion coming with me. It’s been like this for the last 7 years. I have an ok life but lately I have been feeling... View more

Hi. First time on this site for me. I have been living with anxiety most of my life. I’m 47 now. I have problems going out without my companion coming with me. It’s been like this for the last 7 years. I have an ok life but lately I have been feeling very anxious and lonely especially at night. My mind doesn’t want to relax and it just goes around. It seems this time is all about my past and what I have had and lost and it all makes me feel so sad. I can feel this wave of sadness actually run through my body when I think about certain things. Like the dogs I have had or my mum who has passed. I know they are gone and there is nothing that can be done about that but my silly mind plays tricks and it’s like I’m loosing them all over again the pain is that bad. I want to go to a psychologist but I can’t seem to get there I always cancel the appointment because I’m just so tired and make excuses not to go out and drive myself there. I have seen many in my life before but it’s like everything I want to do, when the time comes to go I make an excuse not to go not to drive and don’t want to go alone. I have stopped doing so much now it seems nothing will make me happy I have lost interest in everything that use to make me happy and I give into myself and just curl up on the couch and sleep. I should have such a happy life. I have what I need to make a happy life but I’m just so anxious about everything all the time I don’t feel the happiness. Im hoping by writing this out I might feel a little better

Ocean88 Constant over thinking about the worst in every thing
  • replies: 7

Im soo exhausted of my anxiety i keep thinking of asteroids hitting the earth and dying fear of death i fear public places i fear what people think of me how i look i always have these thoughts of losing my kids i cant deal with myself anymore i real... View more

Im soo exhausted of my anxiety i keep thinking of asteroids hitting the earth and dying fear of death i fear public places i fear what people think of me how i look i always have these thoughts of losing my kids i cant deal with myself anymore i really nees help but i dont think nothing will work to stop my thoughts

Autumn77 Acceptance of your disorder
  • replies: 4

Hi all, I have a SchizoAffective disorder and have recently accepted this fate. A few things woke me up. The first one was going off my medication and believing I was ok and could manage without it. I was so wrong. I was ok because of the medication.... View more

Hi all, I have a SchizoAffective disorder and have recently accepted this fate. A few things woke me up. The first one was going off my medication and believing I was ok and could manage without it. I was so wrong. I was ok because of the medication. Had a semi meltdown and now off from work to recover. The second one was hearing my psychiatrist say, you cannot fix genetics. And she's right. It's genetic. My mum has schizophrenia and so does my brother. Did you go through this denial? And then acceptance? I'm I going to be stupid enough to go off my medication again? What's you story.

BexStar1993 Philophobia/Touching/Kissing Fear.
  • replies: 6

When I think about actually being intimate with someone. The feeling is intense. It feels like I'm going to die. Like if I really open-up they might turn around and kill me at any moment. My Phobia seems to revolve more so around Kissing & the intima... View more

When I think about actually being intimate with someone. The feeling is intense. It feels like I'm going to die. Like if I really open-up they might turn around and kill me at any moment. My Phobia seems to revolve more so around Kissing & the intimate/emotional state it ensues, I cannot force myself to “French Kiss” a boy even if I truly like him and want nothing more than to be close to him. At the time of my brain thinking about kissing him; Anxiety/Panic happens as it does with similar touching type things (Holding hands, touching bodies). Just a look/touch; something particularly intimate such as Kissing can make panic happen. The more attracted I am to someone and the more they reciprocate my feelings the worse it is. I resonate with "Philophobia", I used to be a very affectionate human- but in recent years have developed a fear of touching people in general & especially in an intimate manner (my logic being -if they don’t touch me they lack the power to hurt me). This was how I lived for roughly the past 4/6 years only managing to touch people (without emotional intimacy). Ive been spending time with a man who seems perfect in most ways; Ive been able to hold his hand, run my hands over his body, cuddle etc but can't physically manage to Kiss him in the way he'd like "French kiss". I really like him & think about trying to "make out" with him or touch him often but can’t override the flight/fight response that occurs in my brain at the time of the thoughts, no matter how hard I try. I don't want to hurt this man or to have the relationship fall apart as a result of my inability to be Intimate/emotionally close to him as he wishes to be with me. It is not because I don’t wish to be that close to him or that I don't want to kiss him - It’s that I feel unable to force myself to do so even if it’s what I want/wish to do. I have been trying to Overcome this issue; I don't know what else I can do except try my best to live out what I picture in my mind & what I want to be capable of doing with/to him- but am having little-no luck with improving my situation. The fear is that the pain will repeat and the risk is not worth that chance. The fear reaction is to avoid relations, thus avoiding the pain. The more one avoids the source of their fear, the more the fear increases.”

As an organisation that supports people from across Australia, Beyond Blue acknowledges the Traditional Owners and Custodians of Country and their continuing connection to land, waters and community. We pay respect to Elders past and present.

First Nations Peoples are advised that this website may include reference to and images of deceased persons.

Beyond Blue is committed to safe inclusive spaces, policies and services for people of LGBTIQ+ communities and their families.

Helpful information

Stay in touch

Sign up below for regular emails from Beyond Blue, filled with information, advice and support for you or your loved ones.

Stay in touch

Talk it through with us, we'll point you in the right direction.

Call 1300 224 636

24 hours / 7 days a week

Chat Online

24 hours / 7 days a week

Email us

Get a reply in 24 hours

Copyright � 2026 Beyond Blue Ltd

All rights reserved

Contact us Terms of use Privacy policy Site map