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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

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MS1612 Anxiety and sleep
  • replies: 6

Hello, my names Michelle. I have never posted on here before and am quite surprised I'm not overthinking this. I have over the last 6 months or so felt a spike in Anxiety to the point I am unable to sleep properly. I don't want to resort to sleep med... View more

Hello, my names Michelle. I have never posted on here before and am quite surprised I'm not overthinking this. I have over the last 6 months or so felt a spike in Anxiety to the point I am unable to sleep properly. I don't want to resort to sleep medications or really medication in general as I try to avoid it if I am able, this is really just a personal preference of mine. I feel constantly exhausted but the moment my head hits the pillow I feel an increase in my heart rate and I'm unable to stop my brain from overthinking situations that are quite frankly are not worth loosing sleep over. I know I need to find better ways to deal with the anxious feelings that seem to take over, but I seem to struggle to overcome this. To be honest, I really want to just feel happy, well rested and not constantly in fear of something bad happening (I suppose a lot of people would feel the same) My question is, does anyone struggle to sleep during peek Anxiety times? If so what avenues have you found helpful to enable a good nights sleep? thank you for taking the time to read.

dani123 struggling
  • replies: 2

work is my life.. recently i have been getting very bad anxiety about going to work. I have always had anxiety but never to this extent. feeling sick in public is my biggest trigger. a week ago at work i was very sick, since then every time i've had ... View more

work is my life.. recently i have been getting very bad anxiety about going to work. I have always had anxiety but never to this extent. feeling sick in public is my biggest trigger. a week ago at work i was very sick, since then every time i've had to go to work my anxiety would kick in which has caused me to be sick and need to leave. My sleeping is very interrupted i feel all night long i am constantly thinking and worrying. Because i feel sick i am not eating so my energy levels are extremely low which is causing me to stress out even more and be very dizzy. i am so worried this is going to have an effect on my job in the future. has anyone been in this situation and can maybe offer some advice feeling very low. thanks

in_search Involuntary thoughts of negativity
  • replies: 5

I have a mind which pokes me unnecessarily with negative rubbish. I know a negative thought will come - and I say myself DON'T think about it - but, I give in and the thought pokes me and "pulls me down". And I feel abused by my own mind. Example, if... View more

I have a mind which pokes me unnecessarily with negative rubbish. I know a negative thought will come - and I say myself DON'T think about it - but, I give in and the thought pokes me and "pulls me down". And I feel abused by my own mind. Example, if I am eating peacefully, I will remember a friend who humiliated me for eating too much. If I am talking to a girl, I remember a friend who bullied me because he was jealous. If I am confidently doing something, I remember someone who unnecessarily mocked me and I feel negative and depressed and lose at what I do. If I look at a girl who is attractively dressed, totally unnecessarily mind says - 'u have a daughter, one day even she will wear something like this', and equally unnecessarily a forceful thought comes up and brings my daughter in such an outfit and I am begging for the thought 'not to come'. The more I beg, surely, it comes. If my dad is unwell, suddenly, my mind says, 'let him die, there will be no responsibility, u will be free'. And I know it is not true as I love my dad beyond what words can express. I have a positive mind of reality and a negative counterpart always picking on the positive mind and mocking it and making it fail and lose always. It makes me such a loser in my mind. 1 - What am I suffering from. 2 - What should I do ? I also have another issue listed here in this thread - https://www.beyondblue.org.au/get-support/online-forums/anxiety/constant-unrest-and-loud-reactions---what-is-happening-to-me-#qr7PAnHzvGGEbv8AAOnT_A (may or may not be related, not sure).

rachlowndess what the hell is going on?? -  Understanding my physical symptoms when having a panic attack
  • replies: 3

hey im new and i really need anyone and everyone's advice. so i have this thing where if i hear any loud noises then (and this is the part im unsure of) i think i have a mini panic attack? i have had a panic attack before, and that lasted about 20 mi... View more

hey im new and i really need anyone and everyone's advice. so i have this thing where if i hear any loud noises then (and this is the part im unsure of) i think i have a mini panic attack? i have had a panic attack before, and that lasted about 20 minutes and i felt like i was gonna die and it took me ages to recover from. this type of so called 'panic attack' is more short (5-10mins max) and its more that in that situation i want to die than i feel like i am gonna die. my breathing speeds up, heart beats fast, and my mind just kinda shuts down. i can't hear, see, or feel anything except for hearing that particular noise, and feeling numb and uptight. can you guys help me out? my psych has not been helpful in this whatsoever

Hummer Do I really need a psychologist
  • replies: 2

So I’ve had a rough couple of weeks due to my anxiety and depression. I recently updated my mental health plan and a new referral to my psychologist. I’ve booked the appointment and so on. But my main question do you have days were thoughts go throug... View more

So I’ve had a rough couple of weeks due to my anxiety and depression. I recently updated my mental health plan and a new referral to my psychologist. I’ve booked the appointment and so on. But my main question do you have days were thoughts go through your head, do you really need to go to the psychologist? Because I feel better. But some days are crap. Also psychologist Will they just repeat the same stuff like previous times which has happened

BarbieR Anxiety causing Insomnia
  • replies: 3

I’ve come to the realisation that my Anxiety is the cause of my Insomnia or the other way around. I’ve tried everything but prescription medication, and yes, CBT, but I’m in a vicious cycle and I just want some sleep so that I can function and hopefu... View more

I’ve come to the realisation that my Anxiety is the cause of my Insomnia or the other way around. I’ve tried everything but prescription medication, and yes, CBT, but I’m in a vicious cycle and I just want some sleep so that I can function and hopefully work on my Anxiety. Is anyone in this rut?!

ForeverTrying2019 Multiple Anxiety/Panic attacks during the night preventing falling asleep
  • replies: 1

Hi everyone, Only recently have I really begin to understand and develop coping skills to help me really work on enjoying my life and not have my anxiety rule me. Interestingly after so many years, I have only recently experienced the physical sensat... View more

Hi everyone, Only recently have I really begin to understand and develop coping skills to help me really work on enjoying my life and not have my anxiety rule me. Interestingly after so many years, I have only recently experienced the physical sensations and symptoms of anxiety – previously all mental dysfunction. This has been really hard to cope with and very debilitating trying to work while everyday experiencing so many different symptoms and ailments. The most difficult symptom being a constantly increased heartrate which has caused me to also have panic attacks which I previously had not experienced. I am now on heart medication to slow my resting HR down and since then the panic attacks have stopped. I have been seeing my psychologist and recently also doing kinesiology and significant amount of meditation and have for the past 4 weeks stopped using benzodiazepines which I had previously needed irregularly. So then a few nights ago I noticed myself struggling to breathe and some of the initial panic attack symptoms before I went to sleep but I shrugged it off for the most part and thought I wont let it pull me in, I put my sleep meditation on and off to sleep I went. Then a few hours later I woke up in a jolt of anxiety/panic my heart racing and my chest feeling like I was being crushed, I then calmed myself down quickly put my sleep meditation back on and tried to go back to sleep - or so i thought. Some cycle then began which has me extremely worried. Between being awake and then falling into sleep when the body starts to relax, it seems my body is for some reason becoming extremely anxious in that level of consciousness, just as I am about to actually drift into sleep I will jolt awake and then the whole cycle will continue every 15-20 minutes for up to a few hours. I had hoped that this would be a one off scenario but it happened again last night and I was awake with the same repeated cycle from approx. 11pm – 3:30 am. I was in tears after waking one of the last few times, I just cant understand what the hell is going on. It is terrifying - I am exhausted and all my body want to do is sleep, but it literally will not let itself. I am struggling today because my regular daily anxiety is far harder to manage after such bad sleep deprivation. Does anyone have an experience in this – is anyone able to offer any suggestions? With the progress I have recently made I do not want to go backwards. Thank you in advance.

AnotherOne12 Positional Dizziness / Positional Hypotension using or upping antidepressant meds?
  • replies: 1

Recently started using a low dosage and all seemed well. After two weeks commenced uping the dose and noticed dizziness and when I went from one position to another, felt really shaky light headed. Anyone else with these side effects? Just wanting to... View more

Recently started using a low dosage and all seemed well. After two weeks commenced uping the dose and noticed dizziness and when I went from one position to another, felt really shaky light headed. Anyone else with these side effects? Just wanting to see if its a general effect that people experience. Thank you

Now Making social connections
  • replies: 3

I have anxiety/depresssion/panic disorder/chronic pain, and have done so over a number of years. I have good professional support and have coped on my own for the most part with their assistance. I have a husband who no matter what can not understand... View more

I have anxiety/depresssion/panic disorder/chronic pain, and have done so over a number of years. I have good professional support and have coped on my own for the most part with their assistance. I have a husband who no matter what can not understand my conditions & that is fine, it is his make up, my parents are deceased, I have a 10 yr old son with learning difficulties & level 1 Autism, I have suffered workplace bullying and resigned as a result and started studying; I am in my final year of a Masters in Social Work and have just started a part time job this year. I have had neck surgery a week ago for damage discs in my neck and so far things seem to be going well with that. I am hoping that it will help with the other aches and pains I have felt over the time, as I wish to get fit and exercise regularly, as I know this is good for mental health. My psychologist and I have discussed the issue of making a social network, that is able to support my needs to connect with people; as my parents and former work colleagues were the ones doing this previously and their was a balance between home and work for me, but since I have not worked for 2 years, I have found I have become incredibly lonely. How do you make new friends as an adult, I don't even know what type of things I could do as a hobby, as my life has always been my family. My husband was always the one who was out and about joining groups and things and I was at home on my own or with my son when he came along, I have spent a lot of time alone. Now my mother-in-law is living near us and he spends most of his time helping her, so I have this week decided that I need to start to get my life back on track & look at my surgery as a way of doing this, we live about 20 min out of a larger town and the fact we both work there & our son attends school there have decided that we will sell and move into there, which will be good & I am excited, but in the mean time, how do I try to maintain positive and start to make connections, as I can see it will be very easy for me to slip back down depression wise, as I spend a lot of time on my own & I don't want to feel as depressed as I was prior to surgery, thanks.

Biospythagorikos Cyclically afflicted by severe Anxiety and paranoia
  • replies: 2

Is the following typical of anxiety disorders? I have been plagued since adolescent with regular, almost cyclic, bouts of crippling anxiety. These are accompanied by ridiculous paranoia and unbidden thoughts. I had thought that this was related to wo... View more

Is the following typical of anxiety disorders? I have been plagued since adolescent with regular, almost cyclic, bouts of crippling anxiety. These are accompanied by ridiculous paranoia and unbidden thoughts. I had thought that this was related to work stress but about a year ago I left my high stress job to study and be a stay at home parent. I am also running a small market business on the side. The bouts of anxiety have not diminished. I realise now that I am not in control of this process and my brain seeks out anything to anxiously riff on. I don't believe I have panic attacks. My extended periods of mild to moderate panic. The cyclic bit is that one week I feel like nothing can stop me. I'm on my way to a PHD. They might just as well give it to me now as I am such an academic super star. My market business is going great and the kids... I am always worried about the kids. The next week I am dropping courses, feeling like I should not even be on campus, that I am a fool for thinking that I could do this, that the Uni is plotting against me to try and get me to leave. That my very presence is diminishing the experience for the other students. That there is no future in what I am studying. That my market business is just a ridiculous indulgence. That my friends have turned against me for any number of perceived slights. That extended family members have been slipping accumulating poisons in my drinks at family gatherings for years. That my partner has had enough of me and it is probably only a matter of time before they leave. That I have failed as a parent and set a weak example for my children. During these phases of the cycle any social contact precipitates a few days of paranoid analysis of every thing that was said to me and moments of mortification when recalling things I said, how I behaved and what people must be saying about it. These paranoid thoughts are unbidden and unstoppable. What is worse is that over the years some of them have built up into ridiculous chronicles in my head with full back stories all built on stupid paranoid untruths. I breath life in to these by acting on them. It is like a creeping ball of expanda foam slowly engulfing everything before it and turning bad. I have read loads of books about this, and think I have a bit of an understanding of CBT. I eat well, don't drink and exercise when I can. But this if anything seems to be getting worse.

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