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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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RoPo_27 Nervous spasms?
  • replies: 4

Hi, was wondering if anyone could relate to the sensation what are almost like spasms - akin to hypnic jerks. It is like my anxiety is centralised in my shoulders, back and neck - I will react to this sensation as though I am hearing nails on a chalk... View more

Hi, was wondering if anyone could relate to the sensation what are almost like spasms - akin to hypnic jerks. It is like my anxiety is centralised in my shoulders, back and neck - I will react to this sensation as though I am hearing nails on a chalk board, tilting my head to one side because it is difficult to deal with the sheer amount of copious energy. Another thing is when I am alone and in the dark I feel the need (such that it is half-voluntary, half-involuntary) to twitch (convulse, spasm, whatever) almost like I am jumping at a bad thought. I get this engulfing urge when around other people but can sort of subdue it enough so that I do so called "mini-twitches" or coil up. Sometimes when these kind of things get really bad I have to lie down and just let it happen - and feel the urge to wave my arms and head around in a flailing motion. Sounds a bit odd in the written word, but can anyone relate? Thanks

MakeTheWorldABetterPlace An apparently 'successful' person with mental illness who is struggling with the notion of going back to work – Please help
  • replies: 40

To the outside observer I'm a very 'successful' person. I'm a single guy, 32 years of age, I live a alone. I get on well with family. I have a few good friends. I have a PhD. I have a job as a researcher. I have a house that I'm paying off and a car ... View more

To the outside observer I'm a very 'successful' person. I'm a single guy, 32 years of age, I live a alone. I get on well with family. I have a few good friends. I have a PhD. I have a job as a researcher. I have a house that I'm paying off and a car that I own. Outside of work I haven't really had much else one. I have done well at work, but I'm now burnt out. I have worked extremely long hours (+weekends) doing lots of work that is itself hard to do. I've stopped work and taken over three months leave so far. My diagnosis is depression (with mixed anxiety), generalised anxiety disorder, social anxiety disorder and panic disorder. I'm seeing a psychologist and a psychiatrist every fortnight or so. Also, I'm on medication. I have had other medications in the past. My sick leave will be exhausted soon and for some unclear period of time at this stage I will be on income protection while I recover. After a sustained period of working hard I've become burnt out, exhausted, cynical and anxious. This didn't come out of nowhere. I was finding it more and more difficult to get out of bed and make the 1.5 hour or so journey each way to work every day. This led me to increasingly arrive late or abruptly call in sick. In the end, despite my efforts to undertake a herculean task I was unable to finish the task on time. Nor was I able to finish the task by the several rescheduled due dates that followed. I was spent. Exhausted. This was 'the straw that broke the camel's back' as such. At the moment, I may not be 'rational', but I find it hard to imagine going back to work: where I was; or somewhere else. The stress is just too much to handle. I feel that my depression and anxiety are discounted and misunderstood a bit because I'm ostensibly 'successful'. It has been very difficult to achieve what I have. For the last 8 years, at the very least, I have had to deal with the repeated fallout of working too hard (a virtue, something society praises and admires – despite the emotional turmoil it can create). This instance is the worst ever for me. I feel thoroughly broken. I have thought long and hard about how to solve this problem solve. But I'm just exasperated. I spend much of my days just sleeping at the moment. Has anyone else struggled similarly with the idea of returning to work? If so, what did you do and what were the outcomes? What would you suggest?

Megz28 Job hunting stress and anxiety
  • replies: 2

Hey everyone this is my first ever post. I have suffered from anxiety off and on since I was in my 20’s. My current bout of anxiety is debilitating. I especially suffer in the morning just to get out of bed is so difficult . Recently I have resigned ... View more

Hey everyone this is my first ever post. I have suffered from anxiety off and on since I was in my 20’s. My current bout of anxiety is debilitating. I especially suffer in the morning just to get out of bed is so difficult . Recently I have resigned from my job of 17 years. I resigned because there was a management change and I was being pushed out for the preference of younger people. I experienced so much anxiety leading up to my decision to leave. I had a new job lined up 2 weeks after I left my old one. I started Monday and knew immediately that it was not the right fit for me. I resigned the next day. That experience has meant my anxiety has gone now to an unmanageable level. I feel so daunted about job hunting after 17 years in one job. Also the guilt of finances on the family. Just feeling helpless now and finding it very difficult to face the day. Everyone tells me just find a new job - but getting my cv and applying just seems so hard at the moment.Would appreciate anyone’s advise or similar experience.

Trying55 Is it OCD or is it normal?
  • replies: 6

Hi, So for the past few years since I was about seventeen, I have been struggling with OCD. Before the event that triggered this, I was completely rational about things and did not feel any compulsions to subdue my obsessions. However, since acquirin... View more

Hi, So for the past few years since I was about seventeen, I have been struggling with OCD. Before the event that triggered this, I was completely rational about things and did not feel any compulsions to subdue my obsessions. However, since acquiring the condition, life has been very different. I am trying to learn to overcome and resist my compulsive hand washing but, a continuous obstacle that seems to arise is my inability to identify what an anxious response to a situation is and what a normal response would be. I honestly feel so immersed in my anxious thinking that I feel I have forgotten what a practical hygienic response is to things. So, how do you know what a normal response is? How do you know whether you're overreacting or not? How do you know whether you're thought is completely reasonable or just a manifestation of your anxiety? I honestly I have no idea whether any of this really makes sense but I'm hoping someone will be able to somewhat understand what I mean. Thank you for your time, Trying55

Fizz_wizz First time posting anxiety about work
  • replies: 19

Hi everyone this is my first time posting so I hope I'm doing it right. I have always suffered with anxiety and depression and got help and have been great for 10 years. I have worked in retail In the same place for 7 years and I was happy but recent... View more

Hi everyone this is my first time posting so I hope I'm doing it right. I have always suffered with anxiety and depression and got help and have been great for 10 years. I have worked in retail In the same place for 7 years and I was happy but recently got the opportunity to move into a different roll in a different store but same company I have totally freaked out with panic attacks vomiting and not eating and just wanting to hide, my anxiety is consuming me I have a choice to stick it out or go back to what I was doing before with the chance I get less hours I'm really confused and don't no which way to go if anyone has any advice I'd really appreciate it.

BorderCollie Pit in stomach makes a come back
  • replies: 8

Hi all, I've never done this before and feel like a bit of a flog, but figured it might help to share. I upset someone yesterday, & being a people pleaser I've found it hard to shake. I was sort of seeing this guy, I think he may have overreacted but... View more

Hi all, I've never done this before and feel like a bit of a flog, but figured it might help to share. I upset someone yesterday, & being a people pleaser I've found it hard to shake. I was sort of seeing this guy, I think he may have overreacted but regardless he doesn't want to see me anymore. I'm fine with that, because I know he did things that upset me too and deep down I knew he wasn't a good match, so this is probably a blessing in disguise. However the beauty of GAD has got me thinking he'll run my name through the dirt, which is completely out of my control I know.. but it's also got me questioning whether I'm a good person and all sorts of shitty thoughts that I was managing, up until today. I've also lately had a pit feeling in my stomach, which to be honest I haven't had since I was a little girl and didn't know how to cope with it all. I would usually call my mum but I feel like I rely on her too much. I think I'm just having a bad day and feeling very unsure of myself, but if anyone has any tips on how to stay present I'd love to hear them. My head at the moment is thinking about yesterday and thinking about tomorrow. I've learned a lot this last year about myself and how to manage my anxiety, and I've been warned by my psych that I'm bound to have days where I go back to "the old ways'' which today certainly has been. I just thought I would try a different avenue in self help, so thanks for anyone who is willing to listen or respond. Cheers

Tigerlily77 Ruminating Thoughts
  • replies: 1

12 Months ago I weened off my SSRI medication in the hope that i would be able to deal with my anxiety more holistically. The SSRI I was taking effected my libido and after being with my now partner for 2.5 yrs . That was the only re negative side ef... View more

12 Months ago I weened off my SSRI medication in the hope that i would be able to deal with my anxiety more holistically. The SSRI I was taking effected my libido and after being with my now partner for 2.5 yrs . That was the only re negative side effect however it started to bother me and needless to say my partner was pressuring me to stop taking them because of this. I knew however that they were keeping me together but thought maybe if i found a way to fix my brain chemistry then i wouldn't need them take them again and so the last 12 months began with serious withdrawals and brain balancing and learning new coping strategies. I have spent a small fortune of blood tests, naturopaths and supplements which 12 months later I'm still struggling. I feel like I've done everything i can do holistically to reduce my anxiety even removed my contraceptive implant and have also started living a life alcohol free (not as easy to do as i thought) after realizing that I had been using my nightly few glasses of wine to self medicate for the better part of the last 15 yrs. I feel a million times better physically however after huge life stressors in the last 6 months I am having crippling ruminating thoughts and looking at going back on medication again due to obsessive ruminating thoughts about the most ridiculous things. I obsess about any slight irritation . Mainly sensory things that bother me like noise and smell. Over the last few years I've become really noise sensitive and it has consumed by life the last few months mainly because once something bothers me I can not stop thinking about it and I become obsessed with fixing it even when its totally out of my control. Its become debilitating to the point that i'll end up crying in frustration because it just wont stop. Does anyone have any suggestions that work for them? I find it incredibly difficult to mediate and find repeating the mantra "stay here" to focus on what is right in front of me at that moment to stop the thoughts however my mind has often really gotten well away from me before i remember to do that. Thank you for listening ... This forum is such a safe place for me as its nice to have people understand what I'm going through with out the "crazy" looks.

Why94 Weird symptoms, what should I do?
  • replies: 5

Hello. I'm Diego 23 years old, I'm new in this forum and new also in what I think is anxiety (I'm still trying to figure it out) I will try to keep it simple. Two months and a half ago I started having palpitations and feeling faint at work, I end up... View more

Hello. I'm Diego 23 years old, I'm new in this forum and new also in what I think is anxiety (I'm still trying to figure it out) I will try to keep it simple. Two months and a half ago I started having palpitations and feeling faint at work, I end up in ER where after an EKG they told me it was just stress or dehydration, after two days off I went back to work and ended in emergency again. This time the doctor booked me a holter monitor. I had to wait about 3 weeks for the visit and the results and those weeks where the worst of my life I think I experienced extreme anxiety, didn't feel to eat or go out or do anything because of the fear of having palpitations again. I was feeling dizzy, sick, and doomed. After I got the results of the holter monitor (they where fine) I felt more relaxed and stopped having panic attacks but now after two weeks that I don't feel that I'm anxious I started having weird symptoms like numbness in my limbs, burning in my arms and back of my neck, chill sensations on the left side of my face, aches and pains ecc. Just want to know if there is someone else that is having this same symptoms? What should I do? I went to see my GP and she just told me that it was anxiety, but how can she know without doing any tests? I too believe that this are side effects from my anxiety because it seems that if I ignore the symptoms or I keep my self busy they kind of disappear, It would like to verify that is not something else, after two months like this I start to feel desperate and I'm starting to think that I will be like this the rest of my life and that I'm doomed, it's not easy to ignore this symptoms and I'm scared to lose control and become crazy one day. Any recommendations? What symptoms do you have? How long before you recovered from this? I will be always like this? What should I do?

Pineapple8 Just learning.
  • replies: 4

I’m currently a full time university student and work part time as a coach. Over the past few months I’ve been experiencing excessive worrying and stress that I feel is always out of my control. In the past weeks these feelings of nervousness and nau... View more

I’m currently a full time university student and work part time as a coach. Over the past few months I’ve been experiencing excessive worrying and stress that I feel is always out of my control. In the past weeks these feelings of nervousness and nausea have become so uncontrollable and are really impacting my ability to carry out daily life. I find going to Uni and sitting in lecture halls so overwhelming, just going to work makes me feel so anxious and on edge, and I’ve also noticed I’m not doing the things I love as much. I was very much into the gym and now I just don’t feel like going? I used to love being up early and now I find myself sleeping in and even when I wake up I feel exhausted and I start worrying the second my eyes open. I took the leap yesterday and visited my gp as it almost feels unbearable and I’m started to become increasingly angry with myself (over these feelings)... I’m finding it really hard and feel somewhat alone? Self talk is the biggest thing I’m struggling with. I would love to hear some of your experiences and how to cope with this. Thank you

fakeplastictrees I think I'm having a mental breakdown.
  • replies: 3

I'm just really bothered by so much in recent days. There's just too much information and it's messing with my head. All the news that gets shown really messes with my head and makes me worry. I just don't know how to think rationally now. View more

I'm just really bothered by so much in recent days. There's just too much information and it's messing with my head. All the news that gets shown really messes with my head and makes me worry. I just don't know how to think rationally now.