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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

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Koby16 How do you know?
  • replies: 2

I have been suffering anxiety and panic for as long as I can remember. I don't recall a time where I felt 'normal'. It has started to impact my wellbeing - where I used to manage it, I now can't seem to get a handle on it. I have physical symptoms al... View more

I have been suffering anxiety and panic for as long as I can remember. I don't recall a time where I felt 'normal'. It has started to impact my wellbeing - where I used to manage it, I now can't seem to get a handle on it. I have physical symptoms all day and am at a point where I can't tell if it is real or anxiety driven. I find myself going is this real chest pain, is this numbness real, do I have a cold? The truth is I can't tell..it all feels the same - debilitating. I am writing this now in the early hours of the morning because I have woken up with anxiety and can't seem to get it under control, How do I know wha is real. How do I manage the anxiety? It seems once I get one symptom under control, a new one pops up to take its place...

familygirl Help, my new boyfriend has anxiety
  • replies: 9

I am trying to understand what is going on with my boyfriend. We have been seeing each other for just over 2mths and still haven't spent a full day together. He tells me he suffers from anxiety and has been seeing a psych and is on medication. He has... View more

I am trying to understand what is going on with my boyfriend. We have been seeing each other for just over 2mths and still haven't spent a full day together. He tells me he suffers from anxiety and has been seeing a psych and is on medication. He has been under a lot of stress at work as well and working long hours and is always tired. He tells me he loves me and that I mean the world to him, but he won't spend any longer then a overnight stay and he's off first thing in the morning. It seems he always has an excuse. I don't understand how someone who says they love you doesn't want to spend any time with you. I have been hurt a lot in the past by previous partners just wanting a good time and I'm wondering if he's just another one or whether he is genuine. I just don't understand how he could not want to spend time together if he really did had feelings for me. It doesn't help that I have trust issues either I guess. If anyone can help me understand where he is coming from that would be great. All he has told me is that he feels like I would think he is a boring person, I've asked him about his anxiety but he has avoided the topic.

LZ1234 OCD impacting all aspects of life
  • replies: 3

Hi, I've recently been diagnosed with OCD and am seeing a psychologist. This is helping, however, I still struggle day-to-day to do normal things. Someone in my family has come home a little bit sick and I immediately had an anxiety attack. I now can... View more

Hi, I've recently been diagnosed with OCD and am seeing a psychologist. This is helping, however, I still struggle day-to-day to do normal things. Someone in my family has come home a little bit sick and I immediately had an anxiety attack. I now can't leave my room in fear of catching the sickness. I have a fear of using the bathroom and kitchen and can't even go outside to get a drink of water in fear of it. I'm constantly living like this everyday. I've never met or talked to anyone else with OCD. I'm keen to get some advice from someone who has been through it and knows how it feels. I've got a lot of people supporting me (eg, family and boyfriend) but I feel like they don't actually understand what i'm going through. Thanks

Lizzie_K From the mum of a daughter with anxiety
  • replies: 3

I love my daughter dearly and when she recently told me she’s been suffering from anxiety at school and has been for a few months... My heart broke for her and what she’s been suffering on her own and for me for not seeing it. If it wasn’t for a very... View more

I love my daughter dearly and when she recently told me she’s been suffering from anxiety at school and has been for a few months... My heart broke for her and what she’s been suffering on her own and for me for not seeing it. If it wasn’t for a very close friend at school noticing that she wasn’t herself recently I would’ve never of known. She only told me tonight that she didn’t really want to tell me, as she wasn’t ready to. She’s asked me not to tell her father and I find that really hard. We are a close family and I usually discuss most things with my husband, and to keep something so important from him I’m finding that very hard. I am respecting her wishes and not telling him as I know how important it is for her to be in control of her anxiety and choices around it. I take time each day for one on one so she can speak with me about anything if she needs to or nothing if that’s the case. Some days she doesn’t have anything to say and like today she had lots. She’s not ready to speak with a professional yet either. She gave me permission to speak with a Social Worker I work with and that was very helpful for me to talk to someone about it but also to get some advice on how I can help her without making it worse. So here I am, she had a bad day today and a friend made it worse and there were lots of tears. I listened to her, I gave her some advice, I told her I loved her and what happened today wasn’t her fault and I support her in whatever decision she makes about resolving today’s dilemma and going forward. I love her so much and I want her pain and anguish to go away. I know it’s not going to be any easy or quick fix and I need to be strong for her and tell her how well she’s going managing her anxiety and life in general. She’s 15 and sometimes I wish for her to be 5 again where the worst thing that happened in her day was a grazed knee and the first thing she wanted to do when she saw me was say I love you and head in for a huge cuddle. We all struggle with our own demons and whilst my daughter is struggling with hers I have to hide mine from her and that my friend is one of the hardest things I’ve had to do.

Nooche Self sabotage
  • replies: 2

Hi I’m really struggling to keep myself together, i have been married for 12 years and I’m scared we are not right for each other, every time there’s a social outing I straight away say I’m not going it’s my first reaction I don’t even know why I do ... View more

Hi I’m really struggling to keep myself together, i have been married for 12 years and I’m scared we are not right for each other, every time there’s a social outing I straight away say I’m not going it’s my first reaction I don’t even know why I do it , I feel anxious inside and can’t stop thinking about it i feel a huge relief when it’s over, this is what happens before hand my head spins and I can’t have a proper conversation I jump to conclusions in my head I start to self sabotage the relationship in my head by predicting what will happen which then In turn is destroying my marriage I question myself and I don’t feel I’m who I want to be and need to get out to stop the thoughts , I get depressed from it all and I see the look on her face is what is wrong with you and I don’t know what to say or do.

PomInSydney Anxiety after drinking
  • replies: 5

Hi there, I'm new to beyond blue so this is my first post. I had a heavy night out on Saturday, and had the 'beer fear' all of Sunday. I was pretty hungover so simply tried to keep myself distracted and calm, and put it out of my mind as 'just a hang... View more

Hi there, I'm new to beyond blue so this is my first post. I had a heavy night out on Saturday, and had the 'beer fear' all of Sunday. I was pretty hungover so simply tried to keep myself distracted and calm, and put it out of my mind as 'just a hangover'. Here I am on Monday, still feeling it. I was up early to get to the gym which did make me feel a little better, but I'm sat at my desk with my heart racing, body trembling, knot in my stomach, and I can't focus on anything. I feel very tired too, as I believe the anxiety I have been feeling meant I had a poor nights sleep and I had some stressful dreams. Is it usual to have heightened anxiety for two days post-drinking?

JellJell Dental Fear. Please help me!
  • replies: 5

I was hesitant about posting on here but my fear is getting the better of me and I don't know what to do. I'm having this massive fear when it comes to the dentist. I do suffer from anxiety in general which I think is making this so much worse. I hav... View more

I was hesitant about posting on here but my fear is getting the better of me and I don't know what to do. I'm having this massive fear when it comes to the dentist. I do suffer from anxiety in general which I think is making this so much worse. I have bad teeth. My mouth is over crowded and my brushing habits weren't the best when I was younger. I haven't been to the dentist because of this fear for quite some years. Recently I have noticed my two top wisdom teeth have come through. They aren't painful at all and I didn't even realise they were there but I can see there isn't enough room for them to come down to the same level as my other molars. I have also now started to worry that I can see a small part of one on the bottom left of my mouth. There is no pain top or bottom. I'm terrified that they are going to need to be removed. I know I need to go to the dentist and see what is happening but just the thought of being told they need to be removed is scaring me. My brain is just like panicking to find any way out of doing this. If anyone has any advice or thoughts that may help me at all please it would be appreciated. This fear is making me feel stupid. Thanks

Feeling_lowsy Feeling scared
  • replies: 15

Hi All, Doing everything I’m meant to be doing to deal with the anxiety and depression yet still feel scared almost all of the time. Even logging into this forum as a first time user is challenging my emotions. Please be kind on your reply.

Hi All, Doing everything I’m meant to be doing to deal with the anxiety and depression yet still feel scared almost all of the time. Even logging into this forum as a first time user is challenging my emotions. Please be kind on your reply.

Bigtony Sleep problems
  • replies: 5

Hey guys, I have a bit of an issue I can’t seem to find anywhere when I look on the internet, before I speak about it I understand a lot of people have sleep anxiety where they can’t sleep, but mines a bit different. Around 1 year ago this problem st... View more

Hey guys, I have a bit of an issue I can’t seem to find anywhere when I look on the internet, before I speak about it I understand a lot of people have sleep anxiety where they can’t sleep, but mines a bit different. Around 1 year ago this problem started where i got bad anxiety from drinking energy drinks and I tried to go to sleep at 4 am and I couldn’t I just laid there with bad anxiety, it didn’t happen every night after that but eventually it became a constant thing, (That was a one time thing with the energy drinks, I don’t drink energy drinks or coffee or do drugs) but after that I got a weird habit stuck in my brain where it I stayed up till 4 am or later I’d lay there having panic attacks not being able to sleep, and this was 100% of the time if I stayed up that late, if I went to sleep at 3 am or earlier I am fine no anxiety, but over time my sleep has gotten worse now I don’t like to stay up past 1 am, I can’t go out with friends because staying out late scares me incase I don’t make it home in time for my sleep schedule, but yes basically the sleep anxiety only exists if I stay up past my sleep boundary and I will have panic attacks all night until I realise I should stop trying to sleep, any suggestions? It sucks but it’s not the worst thing as long as I avoid staying up late

Void511 Returning to work 
  • replies: 1

I am so anxious to return to work it’s been 9 years since I’ve held done a job.Ive had jobs lots of them I only seem to last a few weeks.I am currently looking for work which is so stressful as you could imagine.I stopped socialising and basically cu... View more

I am so anxious to return to work it’s been 9 years since I’ve held done a job.Ive had jobs lots of them I only seem to last a few weeks.I am currently looking for work which is so stressful as you could imagine.I stopped socialising and basically cut me self off from the world completely 3 years ago.I noticed I was down right depressed and anxious all the time.Yes I was on weed at the time which wasn’t helping, I noticed I was just trying to do anything to escape reality.It was a year long struggle to become sober. Now two years clean with a couple of beers once every now and then and me dozen cigarettes a day habit.Yes I did stop cigarettes only lasted 6 weeks. Done that twice in past 2 years.So that’s a little of situation lately.