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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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Hme44 Asbestos anxiety
  • replies: 3

Hi, I have a long history of ocd and anxiety which often attaches itself to something specific in my life. Currently and for the last year my partner has been working with Telstra pits and has been trained to remove the asbestos ones and replace them... View more

Hi, I have a long history of ocd and anxiety which often attaches itself to something specific in my life. Currently and for the last year my partner has been working with Telstra pits and has been trained to remove the asbestos ones and replace them (does not do it everyday) I have developed and unbearable anxiety and fear of asbestos. He wears all the appropriate ppe and follows all the rules however I can’t help but think it is coming home on his clothes under the Ppe or on his phone he might have used after doing it or his work iPad which all get used after work hours. We have a young child and I think this is why I get so worried. My partner assured me it’s fine and he would never put us at risk but I can’t stop worrying. It has gotten to the point I make him get changed outside and leave his clothes there which I know is totally unfair. Does anyone else have this anxiety ? How did you help manage it. I’m also thinking it’s floating around everywhere and every time we go somewhere I’m finding myself checking walls and fences etc. I know it’s silly but I can’t help it, would love to hear from others who have this worry or from anyone who can assure me. Thanks

willrad Panic attacks increasing HELP
  • replies: 4

I am 21 years old 76kg and 177cm tall and quite healthy i work full time. I have had anxiety for years now and it has recently gotten worse so i thought i would just list the issues im having. Firstly my anxiety is almost always related to how i feel... View more

I am 21 years old 76kg and 177cm tall and quite healthy i work full time. I have had anxiety for years now and it has recently gotten worse so i thought i would just list the issues im having. Firstly my anxiety is almost always related to how i feel physically, i have had a heart ablation for SVT and since then i have been very aware of my heart beat and anything abnormal (to me) makes me anxious and panic. I have had multiple tests since then and a halter monitor for 24 hours and everything is fine but still whenever I have a skip beat or chest pain i panic and this is happening daily now and affecting my work. Secondly I also cannot exercise due to the feeling of a racing heart even though i know its normal I always have a panic attack after exercise and now i have no motivation even though i really enjoy sports. Exercise feels like a panic attack. Thirdly I have also been getting anxiety from certain foods like if i eat a food i dont often eat such as spicy food or mushrooms i get anxiety from thinking im allergic for some reason!? And then this can lead to a panic attack it just feels like anything that happens to me gives me a panic attack. It is mainly related to heart and chest pain but even if i have sore back or leg my brain will find a way to link the pain to a heart attack. I just want 1000 tests and an MRI to give me closure that i am fine even though i know im fine. Even if i get tests i feel like the doctors missed something and ughh it just sucks. I was on meds but don't want to rely on meds forever but also dont want to feel like this? thanks and sorry for the grammar i wrote this after a panic attack. So quick recap: Heart is the main cause, cannot exercise without panicking, allergy/food anxiety, chest pain/skipping beats anxiety THANK YOU!

demipouce anxiety about existentialism and death
  • replies: 1

Questions about existentialism ? I have been feeling really oppressed recently and have been thinking constantly about my own death and what misery the death of a loved one would bring to me as I am stranger to that feeling. I don’t believe anything ... View more

Questions about existentialism ? I have been feeling really oppressed recently and have been thinking constantly about my own death and what misery the death of a loved one would bring to me as I am stranger to that feeling. I don’t believe anything has triggered this thinking, I am of nature very anxious and overthinking is a big problem for me. Also being very curious I started asking myself all those questions and it has brought a lot of sadness and stress to me. Eventually those ‘over thoughts’ go away quite quickly but I am worried I will struggle to forget about the human’s only destiny, death. This is the type of questions / thoughts that harass my head and I will like some help to put them into perspective … 1 - Why am I ‘me’ in this era ? How in all those millions of years , am I being in 2018 ? Is it as simple as my parents having intercourse and me being the fastest sperm ? Are there any odds in the fact that I could have been born during the Middle Ages ? 2 - How does it feel like when we are dead? How to stop thinking about how the emptiness will feel like even though it will not feel like anything ? I am petrified about death, I am very adventurous and like living the life on the edge but the fact that there will not even be blackness because blackness can only be felt if our organs were still working is terrifying .. 3 - Can anyone enlighten me on the fact that we only know about to be as humans, we have no memories whatsoever of the past of the universe. We only know how to be humans since our hearts started beating, so does this mean we don’t only have one life ? I know there are religious believes for everyone but I am more likely looking for an atheist answer. 4 - If we live in a body, why couldn’t we live in another body in the future ? Without any memories of the life we lived in. 5 - How do I stop from worrying about loosing my partner or loosing my own life and how devastated It would be if any happened ? 6 - Is the daunting feeling of knowing the universe will keep on going even when we are gone as scary as I think it is ? Or am I really the only one … PS : Are there any resources / books I could read to help understand our existence and why the universe is the way it is ? Thank you for your help !

nicenite Just started at a new job, anxiety is weighing me down
  • replies: 2

I've just started my first full time job as a nurse after uni. I've suffered with social anxiety, and anxiety surrounding my family since year 10. In my new job I'm really struggling with confidence to talk to senior workers and I constantly feel lik... View more

I've just started my first full time job as a nurse after uni. I've suffered with social anxiety, and anxiety surrounding my family since year 10. In my new job I'm really struggling with confidence to talk to senior workers and I constantly feel like I'm doing things wrong and forgetting things. I feel like my colleagues can tell I don't know what I'm doing and are talking behind my back. I get very overwhelmed when the day gets busy and have even been on the verge of tears at work one day. I feel so stressed going in to work that I struggle to relax at home and feel like I can't do any other activities besides work. When I work a PM shift I spend the whole morning worried at home and even feel sick to my stomach. Any help or tips are appreciated! Thanks

Heids Coping mechanisms for anxiety and OCD.
  • replies: 3

I have recently moved to a small community in outback Western Australia. I take medication to try and assist my anxiety and OCD but it doesn’t seem to be working as well anymore or I am just not coping as well. I’m 8hrs from any major town/city so it... View more

I have recently moved to a small community in outback Western Australia. I take medication to try and assist my anxiety and OCD but it doesn’t seem to be working as well anymore or I am just not coping as well. I’m 8hrs from any major town/city so it’s very isolated. I was wondering if anyone had any coping mechanisms or strategies to help? Thanks in advanced

Lacie New job
  • replies: 2

Hey everyone, so this has been affecting me for sometime and now it is really affecting me, I have been working for the same company for over 7 years, and I want to get out.. I have applied for many other job, I have no problem going for the intervie... View more

Hey everyone, so this has been affecting me for sometime and now it is really affecting me, I have been working for the same company for over 7 years, and I want to get out.. I have applied for many other job, I have no problem going for the interview I get a tad nervous but when they offer me the job or to go for a trial I literally can’t physically go into the work place, I had a trial this morning I got all the way to the place and I couldn’t get out of my car, I can’t even explain why though it’s like I start having negative thoughts in my head and it gets so bad that I can’t go in. And this morning I just lost it crying in my car because it is really affecting me but I don’t know how to deal with my thoughts and just take that step into going into the work place.

HarlowWynter Sleep help
  • replies: 1

Hi, I am having trouble with sleeping not getting to sleep but staying asleep. I wake up at 4am every morning and cannot get back to sleep, i am exhausted and i know it only adds to my anxiety. Most of the time i wake up feeling nauseous, does anyone... View more

Hi, I am having trouble with sleeping not getting to sleep but staying asleep. I wake up at 4am every morning and cannot get back to sleep, i am exhausted and i know it only adds to my anxiety. Most of the time i wake up feeling nauseous, does anyone else get the same? Any tips on how to get a more restful sleep? I should mention i am not on medication as I'm trying to recover without for now. I am open to taking natural supplements if there are any suggestions for that. Thanks.

SDeliahS Does anybody have this issue? Stress, Anxiety and Digestion
  • replies: 6

Hi, I am feeling quite alone with my issue, I have never spoken to anyone that experiences the exact issue that I have. - I will go through a period of feeling good, happy and energetic - no health concerns whatsoever and I think clearly. If anything... View more

Hi, I am feeling quite alone with my issue, I have never spoken to anyone that experiences the exact issue that I have. - I will go through a period of feeling good, happy and energetic - no health concerns whatsoever and I think clearly. If anything I feel excited, but like a good stress, for example working on an interesting project at work or meeting with friends. This will last between a week to a month. I feel like I'm living normally. - Then I will all of a sudden start feeling 'off' (with no obvious triggers, its almost like my body starts not coping anymore). I get anxiety in the evenings, get cramps in my gut after eating. I will then start feeling dizzy after talking to people, my stomach pains get so bad I can't eat, and my anxiety will go through the roof. I then need to take it easy for a while to allow my body to recover. It feels as if my body gets exhausted from feeling 'normal' and I need to recover by not doing much and not experiencing emotions as they'd affect my body to the extreme. This cycle has started to repeat itself over a few years now. My grandfather had bipolar, but I googled it and can't identify with it. I still think rationally when I feel 'normal' and don't make rash decisions. I also don't feel depressed. I have seen psychologists but they just give me the 'anxiety' label. Help! Does anybody experience what I experience?

Bethy_M Anxiety - Dad with cancer
  • replies: 2

Hi... I'm new here. After googling this afternoon about anxiety I came across this forum. Ive always struggled at times with anxiety but Ive always somehow managed it on my own. Until maybe now... November last year my dad was diagnosed with lung can... View more

Hi... I'm new here. After googling this afternoon about anxiety I came across this forum. Ive always struggled at times with anxiety but Ive always somehow managed it on my own. Until maybe now... November last year my dad was diagnosed with lung cancer. In the new year he had 2/3 of his lung removed, 2 months ago he started treatment. My dad is the world to me. He lives with us (seperate living) Things have been tough. My dad is the strong one of the family. Always puts things into perspective and always there for me. I left the job I was in for a totally different job just over a month ago so that I am here more for my dad and two children. I was having to take to much time off with dads treatment and him being so unwell and needing me. Which is fine, Ill do whatever I have to for my family. I dont tell people how I feel... but my heart is broken. I wake up in the morning and face the days but Im just rolling with it. This morning I woke up and I felt anxious and so irritable. The house work was annoying me the kids and they werent doing anything wrong. I made myself take them out for the morning but once we got home I was so exhausted I went back to bed. Some nights Im not sleeping. Some nights Im having horrible dreams that my children have cancer. It just feels never ending. I feel like Im juggling so many different balls. Trying to be ok for everyone. I even feel terrible for writting this and making anyone go to the bother of reading it. But I need to start somewhere. I am yet to head to my gp. Its hard because sometimes Ill feel fine and others it hits like a ton of bricks and the day I go to make an appointment I feel fine again and think Im being silly and wasting their time. Not sure where to start.

Littleone23 Scared about health
  • replies: 7

Hi guys, I’m going through a hard patch of GAD (general anxiety disorder) and OCD since I was 12... I was going really well until a few weeks ago I started getting panic attacks daily... The reason this started was when I read an article about the as... View more

Hi guys, I’m going through a hard patch of GAD (general anxiety disorder) and OCD since I was 12... I was going really well until a few weeks ago I started getting panic attacks daily... The reason this started was when I read an article about the aspartame in Diet Coke causing brain disorders such as Alzheimer’s. Now my brain is FREAKING OUT, I haven’t had a period since I was 15 (I’m not 27 but I’ve had 3 recovery periods) so my head is like “You’ve had artificial sweeteners your whole like and no hormones to protect your brain so now your doomed to Alzheimer’s” Someone please help I’ve been having panic attacks on the daily