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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. Remeber, this is anonymous and the Beyond Blue team are here to help if you need it This section is for people who are experiencing anixiety 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 you 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 worthile 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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T4 Why cant i beat my anxiety
  • replies: 10

HI every one I have severe anxiety for 7 years which cause me lots of horrible symptoms such as chest pain, tachycardia, palpitation, fatigue and many more and it has affect my life greatly such as difficult sleeping and causing panic attack making g... View more

HI every one I have severe anxiety for 7 years which cause me lots of horrible symptoms such as chest pain, tachycardia, palpitation, fatigue and many more and it has affect my life greatly such as difficult sleeping and causing panic attack making going to school difficult but for the past few month I go help and it seem to ease but now it all back the horrible symptoms the constant fear that something wrong with my heart, but I been to four cardiologist all giving me Echocardiogram, stress echocardiogram, ecg and bloods all which were fine but I keep worrying I was able to convince myself I was fine and felt better but now it all back and I don't know what to do. Thanks in advance

ac1991 Physical effects of anxiety - loss of appetite?
  • replies: 3

Hey everyone Lately I have been quite stressed and anxious about a lot of things. Since this time, I have probably not been taking care of myself the way I usually would because I'm not in the best mental state. I have been feeling full as if theres ... View more

Hey everyone Lately I have been quite stressed and anxious about a lot of things. Since this time, I have probably not been taking care of myself the way I usually would because I'm not in the best mental state. I have been feeling full as if theres jelly in my stomach and it wont digest, which makes moving around hard. I wake up in the middle of the night with this sick, anxious feeling and a nervous butterfly feeling in my stomach. I still get hungry, and I will eat small amounts, but maybe 40 minutes after eating the feeling in my stomach returns. I am also having pains in my chest and stomach and unable to sleep. Slightly dizzy too. Does this sound like anxiety symptoms? Any tips?

BlackCat90 Left my job due to anxiety
  • replies: 27

Hi guys, This is my first post. I've been battling anxiety for about 9 years now. I'd thought that I really turned a corner when I finally got through my teaching degree and landed a job at the school of my dreams last year. I had a great time there ... View more

Hi guys, This is my first post. I've been battling anxiety for about 9 years now. I'd thought that I really turned a corner when I finally got through my teaching degree and landed a job at the school of my dreams last year. I had a great time there last year but this year it just never felt right. There was a change to the leadership which brought a lot of changes to the school and our workload. I initially thought 'I love the kids, I'm happy to have a job and I can make this work'. I ended up being miserable though. I suffered insomnia, felt sick driving to work and always felt edgy/anxious while I was there. I got to breaking point and decided to take some time off to get better with the hope to go back. Today I made the decision to resign as I don't want to risk further damage to my mental health. I swing from feeling enormously relieved about this decision to feeling terrified and just wanting to hide under the doona. My family have been supportive but none of them have been through this. I guess I'm feeling a bit alone at the moment and was wondering if anyone else has had this kind of experience? I'm finding it hard to see how things are going to work out. I'm hoping it will be for the best because I'm putting my self and my health first but I'm just having a tough time coming to terms with my decision. Thanks!

gloria10 Avoidance
  • replies: 4

Hi, So I've been trying to work out why I struggle with work and I think one of the issues is avoidance. It can be if I avoid a confrontation or getting upset at work and even now I realised I've been putting in a lot of energy to avoid Work for the ... View more

Hi, So I've been trying to work out why I struggle with work and I think one of the issues is avoidance. It can be if I avoid a confrontation or getting upset at work and even now I realised I've been putting in a lot of energy to avoid Work for the Dole. I know it isn't a bad thing, I know that it helps with confidence and keeping active with the community, but I find myself trying to avoid it and I realise I do this a lot as well. I also find it hard when I feel backed into a corner like there's no other choice (which is how I feel with this situation) and I guess I just feel agitated. Has anyone gotten help with avoidance and has it helped? I am going to see a counsellor soon and think this will help. Just feeling a bit anxious at the moment.. I think I am also worried about failure. Workplace providers can put a lot of pressure on and I'm worried I won't be able to achieve what they ask. I guess I haven't had much luck with them. Gloria10

ED17 Work, panic and repeat..
  • replies: 2

I finished uni at the end of last year and went straight into my current full time job (I started interning there while at studying, then worked part time while studying, and have been there almost three years now), but had to quit last week because ... View more

I finished uni at the end of last year and went straight into my current full time job (I started interning there while at studying, then worked part time while studying, and have been there almost three years now), but had to quit last week because I just couldn't cope anymore. Since going full time this year I can't stop making so many mistakes and forget really important things almost every day - this is not an exaggeration. This has resulted in me missing deadlines with clients and forgetting to hand in important forms for my company. Im not a stupid person and have always excelled in work and school (but have always been very forgetful about minor things like where I have put wallet down etc) but now I can't even seem to function with basic tasks! I feel panicked all the time and this makes me freeze up and take longer on tasks then I should, so I end up working late into the night or getting up really early in the morning to try and finish my work in time. This is not helped by the fact I work from home so have no separation between work and home life (sometimes I don't leave the house for a week because I don't have any reason to, and literally all i do is work, panic and sleep) Everyone else I work with keeps up with their (much larger) workloads and I am always the one letting down the team, its just so upsetting because this is not the person I am. I have always been reliable and take work very seriously. So, like I said I quit my job because I couldn't handle the stress any more. My mum, who has had depression almost her whole life and has been worried by the change in my personality finally convinced me to go to the doctor who put me on a starter dose of an SSRI, so I am hoping this helps me get back to being myself because I hate this so much. I honestly feel like my next mistake is just seconds away and I always have this overwhelming feeling that well.. basically the world is going to end. My boss has said she will give me a good reference and help me get another job, but I am working until the end of this month (we are required to give 4 weeks notice) and I just feel like I'm going to stuff up big time before my time is up and I wont have a reference anymore... and then wont be able to find another job because they are my most important one. I'd love to hear from anyone else who has gone through similar, or has some techniques to deal with this fear... I cant wait for this job to end but am also so scared of what to do next..

Anxiety_hell Plz help with anxiety
  • replies: 9

My anxiety is out of control its like I'm scared to do anything. Get chest pains all the time from anxiety having them now it just seems to much its hopeless and never going to stop, I try to talk my self out of it, it makes me so tired, I just want ... View more

My anxiety is out of control its like I'm scared to do anything. Get chest pains all the time from anxiety having them now it just seems to much its hopeless and never going to stop, I try to talk my self out of it, it makes me so tired, I just want to hide in my bedroom or I end up at the hospital. I have a 15 yr old daughter and just feel like the worst mum wife person that I just can't get over this stupid anxiety. I just want it to stop I don't even know where it comes from what I'm worrying about. I watched and took both my parents to the hospital when they had heart attacks both OK thank god but now for the last 13 years I have been living in this hell. I won't put a date on my wedding I feel like I just don't have the energy to do it. Just want to hide need help to get out of this big black hole I hit bottom in and no way of getting out Thanks to anyone that can give advice or any story's u have so scared going crazy

worrier92 never thought i was anxious
  • replies: 17

Hey All, Im very new here and never posted anything like this. Im a little nervous however i read some very similar threads to how i feel. I am a 24 year old Registered Nurse who constantly suffers hypochondria and anxiety. I always new i suffered an... View more

Hey All, Im very new here and never posted anything like this. Im a little nervous however i read some very similar threads to how i feel. I am a 24 year old Registered Nurse who constantly suffers hypochondria and anxiety. I always new i suffered anxiety in specific moments however over the last couple of years it seems to of increased without me knowing it. I have suffered family deaths and issues as well as heartbreaks. I am recently engaged to the love of my life, however that seems to of caused me to have an increase in anxiety too. When i first started at uni the lectures used to say the more you know about the body the more you will self diagnosis. And it is so true. I am hoping to find others in the same boat and really work out a way to stop it, as it is getting to the point of becoming 24/7. A while ago i was constantly short of breath and couldnt catch it. I kept telling myself i was really sick and had lung cancer etc. I went to the doctor and got diagnosed with reversible bronchial lung disease. I went on a puffer which helped however i still get short of breath. The doctor believes there is more anxiety related symptoms going on. I will always feel sick and tired. Always panicking that i have some type of cancer. I diagnose myself and cannot stop thinking of death. When i go to bed, i feel my heart racing. Just before i randomly got short of breath and felt so sick in the stomach. It is happening everyday and i am getting so sick of feeling stressed and worrying about having a terminal illness. I constantly think i have bowl cancer and stare age at my bowel motion sussing it out. The doctor states the likelihood is minimal. Im really hoping that someone else is like me and can give me tips. Its making me so depressed but know one would know as i try to hide it. My fiance doesnt take my physical symptoms seriously as they understand anxiety so thinks nothing physically is wrong. I dont know where this obsession and diagnosis constantly came from but i cannot get rid of it. HELP!

ScaredBetty Feeling Detached from reality and not myself
  • replies: 2

Hi there I just wanted to know if anyone else has ever experienced the same thing as I am experiencing now. Im 18, and over the past few weeks I have been having moments in the day (usually afternoon) where I begin to feel strange in my head, I feel ... View more

Hi there I just wanted to know if anyone else has ever experienced the same thing as I am experiencing now. Im 18, and over the past few weeks I have been having moments in the day (usually afternoon) where I begin to feel strange in my head, I feel dizzy and light headed and I start feeling like Im losing my perception on things around me. I have felt for these past few weeks like I am not myself, I have felt sometimes that I am losing control of myself and losing my grip on reality. Some background knowledge to know is that for majority of this time I have been sick with a cold, and for the past few days my head has been very congested. I am not sure if this feeling is coming from the sickness, I am not even sure if you can be sick for so many weeks like I have been. I am on anti depressant and anti anxiety medication and have increased the dose now because of how I have been feeling lately. I cant pinpoint the exact time these feelings started, I remember waking up one night and feeling like it wasnt me, I looked in the mirror and I felt completely seperate to myself and like I couldnt tell what was real. It is such a hard feeling to describe but Ive tried my best. Also may help to know I did smoke weed for a week or two on a daily basis, and I dont know if that has messed with my head and made me start feeling like this. I suppose my main worry is that these feelings will never go away and I will never feel normal again.

_FallenAngel_ Hi, thank you for adding me!! weight issues, anorexia and other mental health issues, struggling, guilt :'(
  • replies: 11

Hullo everyone, I have recently joined beyondblue and it's wonderful to hear you all I am single 30, living in Sydney. Lover of fine arts, oil painting, and sketching sorts of arts. Currently taking art classes at The Rocks. My primary diagnosis is A... View more

Hullo everyone, I have recently joined beyondblue and it's wonderful to hear you all I am single 30, living in Sydney. Lover of fine arts, oil painting, and sketching sorts of arts. Currently taking art classes at The Rocks. My primary diagnosis is Anorexia Nervosa which I have battled for 11 years now. Bipolar II Disorder, with Non-Melancholic Depressive episodes; GAD and Personality Disorder. Life hasn't been the best but eating (or not eating) I have control over and I know that triggers my other mental health issues which results in extreme dieting, starvation, over-exercising and most of the time, nobody notices not even my brother because eating is such a fundamental pleasurable activity that people just assume you're doing it, even when no one's watching. Anorexia plays a big part in my life. I would say it is the top dog of all my health issues. So I start my morning by weighing myself, it's a very regiment thing for me waking up, everything is in order and it can be very difficult because I share with my brother and he is often up before me and that kind of behaviour for people to do is not normal so I have to do in secret. I feel extremely ashamed sometimes as I feel I'm abusing his trust and space. Anyway I will weigh myself and whatever the scale says I wouldn't be happy if I had lost weight, and I wouldn't be happy for sure if I had gain weight. It causes so much anxiety before weighing myself every time and if I had gained weight, it affects not just my mood, it brings upon strong depression and really bad mood swings and I feel awful about myself (it is pretty bad anyway, but it would be pretty bad if I had gained weight. I remember growing up, I was such an inquisitive child at school and at college my mind was never focussed, was restless, always wandering, I could not pay attention, always used to be so fussy around food, poor body image but I was very proper which turned into perfectionism and it changed my life forever... but I started to expect the same from others including my family and as a result a lot of broken friendships, relationships, conflicts at workplace... In my youth it only got much worse and inclined to a point where it has now become a big part of my life. However I am in recovery and hope to beat it without relapsing Of all my mental health issues, if God can take away one I wish it would be anorexia for sure Bless you all lovely people take care XXX

CJ7 Agitation associated with anxiety/depression
  • replies: 2

Hi all, I am really struggling with CONSTANT agitation/feeling on edge. It doesn't have to be for a reason, but I can never just relax or unwind. It feels so deep down in my body and it's hard to explain. It's this anger and restlessness that I haven... View more

Hi all, I am really struggling with CONSTANT agitation/feeling on edge. It doesn't have to be for a reason, but I can never just relax or unwind. It feels so deep down in my body and it's hard to explain. It's this anger and restlessness that I haven't found a way to relieve. Its affecting my relationship as I snap over anything that irritates me in the slightest. And it's everyday things, and I always feel horrible after. For example: I struggling with anxiety around being late even if there's not a certain time to be somewhere. If I'm going somewhere 20 minutes away I leave with over an hour to get there. If going with my partner and we don't leave on time (super early) I will get panicked and then snappy and angry toward him. Hes very supportive but I'm sure there's only so much he can take. It's not fair for him. Does anyone else experience this? And any tips of how to elleviate this feeling or how to cope with it? I hate that this is taken out on my partner. I get this guilt and self hatered after I snap at him for no reason as I wonder if I'm just a angry person. Thanks in advance.