Anxiety

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

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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

All discussions

Guest_2496 can't relax
  • replies: 12

Hi all I'm close to 60 and have dealt with anxiety on and off for a long time. On and off because there are days, weeks, months without it but for now it's back and I'm struggling to get it under control again. I've been seeing a psychologist for abo... View more

Hi all I'm close to 60 and have dealt with anxiety on and off for a long time. On and off because there are days, weeks, months without it but for now it's back and I'm struggling to get it under control again. I've been seeing a psychologist for about two months (this time) and I think it will help but all that dragging up everything that went wrong in your life is not fun! Really want to get to some strategies to get the anxiety under control and to keep it there but I know we have to go through the get-to-know you first. And having dealt with it so long I'm worried that none of the strategies work - it never goes away?! A lot of life events have happened in the last few years and since stopping work 2 years ago I haven't been able to really get on top of this. To add to the state of general anxiety, like others here I have health anxiety. At the moment I'm very overweight, unfit and always worried I'm going to have a heart attack. I'm working on the weight and fitness but of course it takes time. anyway...there's more but that's enough for now! have been finding reading the threads helpful so thanks to all of you out there for sharing and encouraging each other.

Clarissa26 Mornings
  • replies: 8

Hi everyone I find the mornings the hardest, I wake up feeling sick or thinking over stuff. It makes it hard to start the day. I feel sad.

Hi everyone I find the mornings the hardest, I wake up feeling sick or thinking over stuff. It makes it hard to start the day. I feel sad.

aidavrich Lonely
  • replies: 4

I'm not sure if this is the right thread for this but anyway. I more or less just wanted to voice my thoughts and see if someone could help me on this matter because I feel stuck. For the past few years or so I've been a very lonely person, I don't h... View more

I'm not sure if this is the right thread for this but anyway. I more or less just wanted to voice my thoughts and see if someone could help me on this matter because I feel stuck. For the past few years or so I've been a very lonely person, I don't have anyone to talk to at all and the last time someone messaged me on any kind of social media is around six weeks ago and I just want people to talk to. The thing is, I suck at conversation so that's probably part of the reason no one wants to talk to me. I honestly just feel like the odd one out and I wasn't expecting my teenage years to be like this, and I'm almost 16. I never have anyone to talk to on social media or anyone to hang out with, partly because I dont like doing stuff with people. I see all these kids at on their phones constantly talking to people with notifications probably blowing up their phone, I've never experienced that and probably never will, which honestly sucks so much. This is probably also I bit silly of a thing to say but everyone I know has at least over 300 followers all the way up to like 3,000 and here I am with 106 followers. I used to have around 200 but I noticed it started to go down because people were just losing interest in me. I'm not surprised either because I never post anything because I'm insecure about myself and think I would get judged, even when I do, I get no comments and barely any likes. I just honestly don't know how to get out of this situation, I'm just so lonely and wish I had people to talk to.

CrazyGecko89 Struggling with anxiety and stress.
  • replies: 5

After trying to help a friend deal with depression they've suddenly stopped talking and even blocked contact. Since they live alone I don't know if their ok or if the situation is temporary and they need some time alone. Unfortunately all the second ... View more

After trying to help a friend deal with depression they've suddenly stopped talking and even blocked contact. Since they live alone I don't know if their ok or if the situation is temporary and they need some time alone. Unfortunately all the second guessing has caused my anxiety and stress to hit hard. I've spent the last few days feeling sick, fatigued both emotionally and physically it makes day to day activities a struggle. I've tried distracting myself with varying success but the two questions of are they ok? and is the block temporary? keeps resurfacing making things draining.

Cloudee Help to calm down
  • replies: 2

Hi. I have aspergers and have often had problems with anxiety and depression. Lately it's gotten much worse for me. It started when I began to get recommendations in my youtube feed for someone called Jordan Peterson and after googling him and watchi... View more

Hi. I have aspergers and have often had problems with anxiety and depression. Lately it's gotten much worse for me. It started when I began to get recommendations in my youtube feed for someone called Jordan Peterson and after googling him and watching his video I found out about these groups called redpill and MGTOW. Basically they are reddit groups that masquerade as self help tips for men but most of the posts are mocking women. Since then I haven't felt too good. I know that we live in a democracy with free speech but I'm wondering how far that goes with people encouraging others to hate on a whole gender. Afterall, I can't help that I'm a woman. I just feel like I'm under attack and just thinking about all their hateful jokes, pictures an opinions makes me feel ill. I know they aren't the majority but still makes feel uneasy. Lately I have been waking up a 3am with the feeling that something terrible is going to happen and haven't been getting back to sleep. I think I've just picked up some biases as well in that I'm noticing and focusing so many more stories about women being murdered or assaulted or teenage girls being assaulted. I think I need to stop reading these things on the internet but obviously with aspergers I like computers and interacting on computers and I like to read the daily mail. If anyone has any advice, that would be great. I'm trying real hard to just focus on other things like reading books but this sleeping thing is really getting me down now. I know I need to calm down but I'm finding it very hard to do.

Mummybee Health anxiety in overdrive, help!
  • replies: 9

My health anxiety has gone into over drive this last 24 hours, and I feel I am really not coping today. I have been twitching 24/7 for the last couple of months, my GP did some neurological tests and an MRI and said it was most likely anxiety related... View more

My health anxiety has gone into over drive this last 24 hours, and I feel I am really not coping today. I have been twitching 24/7 for the last couple of months, my GP did some neurological tests and an MRI and said it was most likely anxiety related and just to relax.... I had just gotten used to the twitching and now ive started these little jerks, like when youre trying to go to sleep and you feel a limb jerk, but its not just when im trying to go to sleep, its whenever im resting. Its a long weekend, I know even if I ring tomorrow morning I wont get into my GP for a least a few days and then im only going to get a neurologist referral which will take AGES for an appointment, and just the thought of waiting has me in a spin. apparently this jerking is part and parcel of Benign Fasciculation Syndrome, but my mind isn't believing it and have convinced myself I have a horrible neurological disease like MS or MND. Im looking at my beautiful children and picturing myself in a wheelchair unable to care for them or watch them grow up. Sorry for the rant, I just needed to get some of it out Mummybee

Kaywolf909 Bad Anxiety can anyone recommend any helpful techniques?
  • replies: 2

I’ve been having trouble with anxiety since 2016 but now it only seems to be getting more harder to cope I’ve been put on medication which only seem to make it worse as I now get nausea and sweating so I got switched on to another medication but my d... View more

I’ve been having trouble with anxiety since 2016 but now it only seems to be getting more harder to cope I’ve been put on medication which only seem to make it worse as I now get nausea and sweating so I got switched on to another medication but my doctor told me I should work on techniques to control my anxiety a lot more since I seem to go more into a panic attack the longer he was seeing me I would be so grateful for anyone’s help to stop making me feel so nauseous when I go out in public and I suffer both from anxiety and social anxiety if that helps

brave_heart Crippling anxiety getting worse
  • replies: 3

Hi all, My first post here, reaching out to see if anyone has experienced similar feelings. I am yet to go to a GP (booked in for next week) but have been doing a lot of research about my symptoms and things that seem to be my triggers. The anxiety I... View more

Hi all, My first post here, reaching out to see if anyone has experienced similar feelings. I am yet to go to a GP (booked in for next week) but have been doing a lot of research about my symptoms and things that seem to be my triggers. The anxiety I feel is crippling me and getting worse by the day. For around 6-12 months I have been feeling quite severe symptoms (and quite moderate symptoms a few years before that) but I think it has been going on at a milder level for much, much longer. It is getting to the point now where my heart is often racing, I feel light headed, I throw up a lot, lose my appetite a lot, I'm often constantly shaking and jittery, and can only get around 5 hours of sleep each night on average. I work from home (as a contractor, not an employee) so I am quite isolated in a way, and I don't know many people as I relocated from elsewhere a few years back. I live with my partner, and he works full time. I used to be great at staying motivated, it's been rewarding being self employed and the flexibility is great. But now my head is becoming my own worst enemy, I am less productive and much less motivated. I don't even know what is causing the stress, just that I feel this sense of needing to control everything - because if I don't, something will go wrong. I am afraid of absolutely everything, and my mind is constantly racing, dreaming up ideas of what could possibly go wrong. I've tried reasoning with the irrational thoughts, I've tried fighting against them, I've tried meditation and breathing/muscle relaxation techniques but nothing has helped me so far. In fact, it seems to be getting worse. A lot of it is to do with my partner, I am absolutely petrified that he will hurt me (not physically) or leave me, or decide that I'm not good enough for him. But I realise a lot of my behaviour could potentially be pushing him away as I'm always on edge, always asking a million questions, analysing every tiny little thing, and I can never just relax and be happy. I'm like that with all aspects of my life (not just my relationship with my partner). I do not know how to just calm down, live life in the moment and stop stressing about things that haven't even happen yet. I am particularly concerned as it is a dream of mine to have children and I'm not young (33), but I'm holding off because of my concerns about my mental health. If anyone has any tips or suggestions, or has been in a similar place, I'd love to hear from you. Thank you in advance!

Riseabovethedark Anxiety stopping me from applying for dream job.
  • replies: 1

Hi, so i’ve had this awful couple of months at work and my anxiety seems to be holding me back from moving on and getting my dream job. My current job is stressful and as a casual I work with new people each day. It’s not the people making me anxious... View more

Hi, so i’ve had this awful couple of months at work and my anxiety seems to be holding me back from moving on and getting my dream job. My current job is stressful and as a casual I work with new people each day. It’s not the people making me anxious...I think it’s that I don’t feel like I have a team anymore if that makes sense? There’s nobody really to back me up or help out if I make mistakes. Last year I worked with the same people every day and we were like a well oiled machine. If one person made a mistake, the rest would fill the void and help to fix whatever it was. Now it’s all up to me and it’s too much pressure. I want to get a new, better job (my dream job) but i’ve been doing this job for so long that I sometimes have a panic attack just thinking about going for interviews and writing KSC, which just leaves me exhausted. The job I want is what my uni degree is for but I can’t seem to push past the anxiety, which is frustrating in itself! I don’t know how to get out of this funk and to find the courage to get a better job. It doesn’t help I keep mucking up.

cat23 OCD getting worse
  • replies: 1

Hello I have always had some form of OCD. My mother had also got OCD and checks everything. However my OCD had gone from checking things into contamination OCD. I feel this has happened when I started working at a hospital. I get worried when I see a... View more

Hello I have always had some form of OCD. My mother had also got OCD and checks everything. However my OCD had gone from checking things into contamination OCD. I feel this has happened when I started working at a hospital. I get worried when I see anything that remotely looks like blood and I obsess about being clean so I don’t contaminate myself or my daughter. I feel I am running out of options to fix this. I have seen a psychologist that did not seem to help. I do not like the idea of medication however I will almost try anything to get back more quality of life. Any suggestions or advice on this would be appreciated.