Anxiety

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

FAQ

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

Forums guidelines

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

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

aside health anxiety disorder
  • replies: 7

hi, I have health anxiety disorder off and on. I convinced myself I had multiple sclerosis then when I had a baby I convinced myself she had autism and had post natal depression with obsessive compulsive disorder, now I am obsessed by the item I migh... View more

hi, I have health anxiety disorder off and on. I convinced myself I had multiple sclerosis then when I had a baby I convinced myself she had autism and had post natal depression with obsessive compulsive disorder, now I am obsessed by the item I might go into early menopause, and have some symptoms but Dr says way too early to tell.... It's like I have heard too many bad stories or know too many things about bad things happening to others. I am convinced sooner or later something awful will happen to me and I won't cope . I have seen a Counselor when I had post natal depression... She told me about mindfulness... I never really managed it but got over the depression with drugs and seeing my daughter develop normally.the ms thing I had tests and Dr said I was OK. Had two mri 's wasting time and money... I am often anxious and obsessive of my health...Dr Google is bad for me! I become obsessed and try and come to terms with life with diseases I don't even have... I have experienced the grief of these things and so much fear!!! I know so much about autism and Ms! I guess I am posting to see if there are others who feel the same way or who understand tthis fear and anxiety and where it comes from and what maybe helps them... SIMILAR THREADS Health anxiety Health anxiety fears Health anxiety is taking over

Keira2 Work not going well
  • replies: 3

Hello, I am new here, it is some difficulties at work that brings me here. I've been working there for 4 years. Going back to 2015/16/17, I had a role where at least half my time was assisting another colleague in her role, and actually I was put int... View more

Hello, I am new here, it is some difficulties at work that brings me here. I've been working there for 4 years. Going back to 2015/16/17, I had a role where at least half my time was assisting another colleague in her role, and actually I was put into that particular role because the workload was too much for my colleague to handle on her own. In 2017 she resigned, and I moved into her position, but I didn't get an assistant like she had. I quickly began to struggle and began doing minimum 12 hour days, still unfortunately not managing the work load. The long hours have been very tough on my physical and mental health, but the worst thing has been the treatment from some of my colleagues that comes along with not being able to keep up with my workload. Seeing them treat each other really nicely, but then speak to me rudely and clearly dislike me hurts. Recently someone has been brought in and part of her roll is to help me out, but I keep getting annoyed at her as I feel she doesn't help enough and she takes a lot of time off. It is maybe okay for me to feel this way internally, but I know it's not okay to show her that I feel that way, but unfortunately I do show her that I feel that way (I go very quiet and with my body langauge it is clear the way I am feeling) and I have ruined our working relationship. I know I am doing the wrong thing, and I always immediately regret it and am sorry. And so now the work environment for me is that I feel hated by my colleagues who think I'm incompetent (maybe they are right), and I have made the girl supposed to be helping me hate me. I think it cannot be long before I get fired with things going this way. I get really scared about this, and then in turn not being able to get another job, and not being able to keep a roof over my head. This may sound like a ridiculous fear, but the situation is more complicated than that, my life is really turning out as a disaster and everywhere I go people seem to hate me and make it clear they think I am stupid (even my own family told me I was too stupid to get a degree and a job out of it while I was in the middle of a degree), which maybe I am, but I can't do anything about it. Sorry, just wanting to vent, and it has helped as I can think of worse things that could happen.

jayv90 health anxiety attack for ms and negative thoughts
  • replies: 8

hi all, I've recently just had my first real anxiety attack. im 28 years old male. i haven't really had much going on in 12 months, all i do is work and come home and watch netflix. I've been very anti social. so a week ago i found out a friend of a ... View more

hi all, I've recently just had my first real anxiety attack. im 28 years old male. i haven't really had much going on in 12 months, all i do is work and come home and watch netflix. I've been very anti social. so a week ago i found out a friend of a friend was diagnosed with ms. i immediately started feeling terrible for this person and started researching ms. after googling for however long i started to believe i had the symptoms, small pins and needles in hands/ shooting stabbing pains in hand. i started to get very un easy, pacing up and down, until the point where i just wanted to get home. the next day i went to the doctors and told him what happened, he check all my nerves, my eyes, blood pressure and told me that I've stressed myself out that much I've given myself these symptoms. i was okay for a few days but i still couldn't get it off my mind, and in doing so the small pins and needles/ shooting stabbing pain in my hand and came back. i went back to the doctors and he re checked me,took a blood test, he suggested maybe going to speak to someone so i guess this is me doing that now as I'm still uneasy. a few days later my blood test came back and no surprise at all I'm a healthy 28 year old male. i told the doctor about my pains and he said its because I've worked myself up that much. he said go see friends, maybe join a gym, set little goals to look forward to. i guess the problem I'm having is that because I've researched it so much i know ms doesn't come up in a blood test, so I'm struggling to accept I'm healthy. I'm trying to say to myself its all in my head. but I'm anxious because i do have physical symptoms and I'm struggling to believe that my head can do this to me because as i said, this has never happened to me. a few days ago i joined the gym and i went on a date to help clear my mind, but i can't escape the thoughts. last night i had a friends birthday and this is where i really become un easy. so i spoke to my friend that knows the person recently diagonised with ms, and he told me that he had an attack 10 years ago, where he woke up and couldn't move. then i remembered a situation that happened to me once, i had a nightmare and i woke up but i couldn't move, but then it felt like i woke up again. i googled it and i found it straight away to be sleep paralysis, so i never thought of it again until last night. that played on my head all night, to the point where i was that anxious i wanted to leave but i made myself stay

AnotherOne12 Off Balance / Dizziness / Bright Lights Jelly Legs
  • replies: 2

Hello, hoping to get some other stories to help me work out what is happening. I recently started taking an AD for anxiety and started on the lowest dose. After a few weeks I went up a dose and all of a sudden had dizziness when looking a certain way... View more

Hello, hoping to get some other stories to help me work out what is happening. I recently started taking an AD for anxiety and started on the lowest dose. After a few weeks I went up a dose and all of a sudden had dizziness when looking a certain way, an off balance self swaying feeling and for some reason I cant walk into a shopping mall or grocery store or under bright lights otherwise my legs go all jelly and I feel it seems to trigger an anxious adrenalin rush. Anyone else had or have these feelings? Its really weird and a bit freaking out. I told my doc and he didnt know whether it was a side effect of the meds or my anxiety. Any help please...

liamf22 Random episodes of extreme social anxiety and brain fog when I am normally a social stress-free person (depersonalization?)
  • replies: 2

I'll occasionally (once every month or 2) have a period that can last from a few hours to a week where I experience extreme social social anxiety. I feel like I don't remember my identity or who I am, it feels like my brain is extremely foggy and my ... View more

I'll occasionally (once every month or 2) have a period that can last from a few hours to a week where I experience extreme social social anxiety. I feel like I don't remember my identity or who I am, it feels like my brain is extremely foggy and my thoughts are racing super fast. I can't focus on anything and my short term memory feels like it is barely working. I become very depressed as I feel like i'm stuck in my head alone and I don't remember how to socialize or to be me. I just can't stop thinking that im a failure I am and I feel socially inept. When talking to even close friends it feels like I have to pretend to be who I was. I begin to stop answering my phone and cut off all my friends because socializing just causes me to feel extremely tired and depressed. I then have to make up excuses for why I didn't answer my phone because it wouldn't make any sense to them if I told them the truth as I am normally a fairly energetic person who enjoys socializing and doing things with my friends. After these episodes finish and I start feeling like myself again, I completely disregard the episode as an issue and think it's stupid that I ever felt that way. I slowly build up confidence again and start thinking well of myself and enjoying life. Just before the episodes start I'm always feeling more confident than I usually do and life is looking up then I just start feeling it again for no reason. The reason I finally decided to do anything about it is because of a very bad episode I had today. I had my first shift of my first job (I'm 16) and I started to feel this way a few hours before it. I was feeling extremely anxious about it and knew that an episode was beginning but I forced myself to go. When I got there I was feeling extreme social anxiety and I just couldn't focus on anything they were teaching me, I was being super awkward, I forgot everything they said straight away and it felt like my brain wasn't working, I had trouble introducing myself to people and there was nothing I could do about all this. I felt like a complete idiot and just didn't want to exist in that moment. I have no idea what causes it but when I read about depersonilization, the way it was described seemed similar to what I was experiencing. It has been an hour since I got home from the job and I am fairly sure the episode is over but I knew if I didn't do anything now then the cycle would just repeat.

IWantToFeelBetter I’m struggling
  • replies: 4

Hey it’s my first time writing in these forums. So I’ve been dealing with intrusive thoughts for months now and they’ve honestly turned me in to the worst state of person possible. I’m so scared of myself and I feel like I’m turning into a psychopath... View more

Hey it’s my first time writing in these forums. So I’ve been dealing with intrusive thoughts for months now and they’ve honestly turned me in to the worst state of person possible. I’m so scared of myself and I feel like I’m turning into a psychopath or going crazy and it’s not good. I’m crying all the time and my head always hurting, I look around and everyone else is always so happy I just feel like I’m faking all my emotions. I don’t understand how to deal with this, does anyone else feel like this? Has anyone beaten feeling like this? I

Angie66 So worried
  • replies: 3

hi lm new and lm trying to find myself again..But 9 mths l lost my beautiful daughter to Lung cancer ..It was aggressive and she only had 6 mths to live..She was 29 and very healthy never smoked..Doctors were shocked also..lve my father,sister and no... View more

hi lm new and lm trying to find myself again..But 9 mths l lost my beautiful daughter to Lung cancer ..It was aggressive and she only had 6 mths to live..She was 29 and very healthy never smoked..Doctors were shocked also..lve my father,sister and now my daughter..l helped my mother with my father and sister illness and l havnt been able to grieve them..Now my daughter has passed my mother has beeb very aggressive and hasnt been around for me..Im have a beautiful supportive hubby and 2 other children who have completly disowned my mother from the control she has over me..Im seeking help but now my doctor as me on a low dosage bp medicate as my blood pressure rises when lm overwhelmed.. l need to find me as 5 years of hospitals has taken its toll on me..Im frighten someone else is going to be ill and pass..Just dont know what to do??

LizzieBaby Hi I'm new, trying to keep anxiety down while preg
  • replies: 1

Hi everyone, My doc suggested to come here yesterday. I'm 5 weeks pregnant and have just started casual work in dentistry. I've worked in the field for a long time but it causes me huge amounts of anxiety I need to be very careful about stress and hi... View more

Hi everyone, My doc suggested to come here yesterday. I'm 5 weeks pregnant and have just started casual work in dentistry. I've worked in the field for a long time but it causes me huge amounts of anxiety I need to be very careful about stress and high BP, my first baby was stillborn last year due to preeclampsia. Part of me wants to just give it up for baby's sake but I don't want to run away from it. I want to face it. If anyone has any advice I would be very grateful. Thank you

Powerful_mind High pressure job and an overflowing feeling of Anxiety
  • replies: 2

Hi there, this is my first post so bare with me. Bit of background... I’m a social worker and in a very high pressured job. Most people quit in the first 3 months... I’m coming up to that 3 months and one day after the Easter long weekend I started t... View more

Hi there, this is my first post so bare with me. Bit of background... I’m a social worker and in a very high pressured job. Most people quit in the first 3 months... I’m coming up to that 3 months and one day after the Easter long weekend I started to get IMMENSE feelings of anxiety about going to work. I wake up a few times during the night over thinking about something I have to do or about a meeting coming up that could be confronting or if I do something wrong what will happen to me? I think what this all boils down too however, is that my previous job started to make me feel this way in the end and it was at no fault of my own. The supervisor was OCD perfectionist about work and would niggle at every single thing I’d do, pull me in for a review meeting, tell me all the things I’m doing wrong (even when I’m doing exactly what I’m told) and then send me off my way with no support at all.... 8 people quit the same month I did so that gives you a bit of an idea... My current job is very supportive... I get complimented on my work often and reassured that what I’m doing is the right thing, I just get super stressed that I’ll slip up and then it will all go down hill from There. Yesterday at a training I met another person in my same role who lived in a different city. She could relate with me and it made me feel so much better to talk to someone other then in my office. I can’t do that every time I get anxious though and I don’t know how much longer I can go feeling this way... waking up with a knot in my stomach and tight chest, going to sleep the same way. Over and over again. I also think because I am a social worker I should be able to deal with this. But nothing prepares you for shitty bosses that basically traumatise you into thinking your always going to be doing something wrong!! i try and move past it by doing word finds... remembering that my supervisor wouldn’t be sitting in her lounge at 2am thinking about me and all the things I have to do and that probability of me being fired on the spot for ‘making a mistake’ is really really low and I’ll probably just get told how to do it right the next time. I’m so challenged and I’d love to meet some people that can relate to me! Thanks!

Anna95 Health issues getting me down
  • replies: 1

Hi everyone, I wanted to post a thread as I've been feeling so alone lately. I have chronic anxiety and depression and my life is very stressful right now, I've noticed I have been isolating myself lately and maybe relapsing. I have just been diagnos... View more

Hi everyone, I wanted to post a thread as I've been feeling so alone lately. I have chronic anxiety and depression and my life is very stressful right now, I've noticed I have been isolating myself lately and maybe relapsing. I have just been diagnosed with iron deficiency which may explain why I have been feeling so tired lately - however, the underlying cause may be a chronic autoimmune disorder I am going through the stages of being tested for. All of this on top of my normal daily stressors (currently working part time and studying full time), living 600 km away from all family and support systems and feeling distanced from my partner has got me feeling considerably down. I feel embarrassed to talk to my GP as I already have so much going on and I haven't had much success with psychologists in the past. I guess I am looking for advice and maybe just someone to talk to and tell me what I am feeling right now is normal. Anna xox