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
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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

cakeboss Hi does anyone else suffer from health anxiety
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Does anyone else suffer from health anxiety .I suffer from anxiety panic attacks and somtimes if im not feeling well i think the worst and start looking up on the net things releated to whats wrong with me at the time and thinking the worst .I have g... View more

Does anyone else suffer from health anxiety .I suffer from anxiety panic attacks and somtimes if im not feeling well i think the worst and start looking up on the net things releated to whats wrong with me at the time and thinking the worst .I have good weeks and bad weeks and am currently seeing counciler which is great to help with the over thinking .Does anyone else get pains in the stomach with anxiety and panic attacks.love some positive advice.

TinyDancer2017 Does this sound like anxiety?
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Hi everyone, Just wondered if anyone had any similar experiences to this: Every few months (at best) and weeks (at worst) I get this really weird feeling... It's hard to describe, but it's as if the world feels like it's not real. It's like everythin... View more

Hi everyone, Just wondered if anyone had any similar experiences to this: Every few months (at best) and weeks (at worst) I get this really weird feeling... It's hard to describe, but it's as if the world feels like it's not real. It's like everything has been stripped away and I can see how weird everything is... Noises sound different too, kind of dull... Do you think this is connected to anxiety? After a while, the feeling passes and things go back to normal, but I'd like to know why it happens. Thanks.

Lozzy33 Anxiety or Brain Tumor?!
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Hi there I am new and am suffering what I think is some pretty intense anxiety. I have just moved home to Aus from the UK and ever since I got back I have started getting all these strange symptoms such as tension headaches (tightness around my head)... View more

Hi there I am new and am suffering what I think is some pretty intense anxiety. I have just moved home to Aus from the UK and ever since I got back I have started getting all these strange symptoms such as tension headaches (tightness around my head), heart palpitations, numb arm, tiredness and just feeling 'off' and not myself. I knew a girl my age who recently died of a brain tumour and now I am convinced all these symptoms are possibly a brain tumour. I am so scared and I am freaking myself out thinking about it 24/7. I visit the doctor who performed some tests but thinks I am fine and referred me to a psychiatrist. As well as this I have started to feel a bit out of it, not thinking straight, sometimes confused. And I have had 2 panic attacks this week. Is anyone else experiencing anything like this? Or should I seriously be forcing my doctor to send me for an MRI? Help I'm really frightened and obsessing about it.

AnxiousExistance Anxious, on the Autism spectrum and lost in the system of workcover....
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I have a pretty extreme anxiety disorder as well as alot of other issues and Ive been experiencing 12 months of issues from workcover that has caused so much drama that its making my condition worse and my son and I will be homeless soon because of t... View more

I have a pretty extreme anxiety disorder as well as alot of other issues and Ive been experiencing 12 months of issues from workcover that has caused so much drama that its making my condition worse and my son and I will be homeless soon because of the insurer EML bullying me by stalling my payments by up to a month at a time till all up I was late with rent 11 times over 6 months and this caused my landlord to freak out on me, I had never, ever been late with rent before this, i prided myself on my rental history but EML have crushed it......now as a result I have no rental reference due to the conflict with my landlord and EML are still bullying me despite them literally causing me to be homeless and telling me they cant help me fix the issue they caused....I turned up to an IME today on time going by the details EML gave me...I wasted an 80km drive because they cancelled the appointment 2 weeks ago without telling me...my anxiety makes it so hard to leave my house because of serious physical symptoms so this wasted trip has just made me feel like they are going to continue messing with me till I fully snap....I'm so close to just giving up because of how much they've wrecked my life...wrecking my landlords reference is essentially like burning my house down...I have no support network and can only rely on EML who dont have my best interest at heart....I even caught them out colluding with a rehab firm to lessen my compo after 3 doctors said the condition is likely permanent, luckily I had sms proof they lied and its kept them at bay but I dont know where to start as far as getting help to fix the damage they caused, I put in a complaint to work cover thats been ignored and the firms like slater and gordon arent interested unless there is a big payday involved....I have mental and physical issues that require a specific type of home and I'd never had an issue getting a house before this but now no real estate will even look at me because of rent issues caused by EML....I have proof they are messing with me to the point of damaging my life but I'm at a loss as to where to get real help that wont take years....I need help now.....I'm homeless after 12/11...While EML mess me around I cant even get housing assistance ..any advice?

Mrscoasty Out of control
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Hi everyone! I am a 41 year old woman who had my first panic attack when my daughter was 1 (I was 27). I’ve been on medication since then. My anxiety and panic has been up and down in all that time but right now it’s flared up again. My job is fairly... View more

Hi everyone! I am a 41 year old woman who had my first panic attack when my daughter was 1 (I was 27). I’ve been on medication since then. My anxiety and panic has been up and down in all that time but right now it’s flared up again. My job is fairly stressful but it hasn’t ever been an issue for me, I thrive on that sort of stress. Right now we are about to buy a house, and I can’t get this thought out of my head that something bad is going to happen to me before then and I’ll never get to enjoy it. Then I get sad because I haven’t seen my Mum in ages, she lives 2 1/2 hours away, and in my current state of mind driving to see her is out of the question. I’ve done the drive before but the thought of it right now makes me feel sick with nerves. My thoughts are ‘I’m having a heart attack’ so I hate being alone. We went out for tea the other night for my husbands birthday and I needed to go to the loo....I freaked out having to be in there by myself. I did it, and didn’t die, but it scared me. It feels like I am just waiting for something to happen. An impending sense of doom. I usually make myself say the alphabet backwards. It’s goid in making me concentrate on something else. Everyone says that exercise is great, but I can’t do that. One, I’m by myself, and Two, it raises my heart rate which triggers a panic attack. I love going to sleep at night. I get a break. But I hate going to sleep last. I have to be asleep before my husband. I don’t know how to get better. I feel like I’m totally out of control spinning around in a vortex and just going through the motions each day, waiting for something terrible to happen. Thank you for reading.

Guest_523 Worried about being judged, being misunderstood and not taken seriously.
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I get medication that I take every now and then for panic attacks/sleep. I work extra hard to do the right thing and only take this if absolutely necessary. I am very responsible as I only get a small prescription every 3 or 4 months. I saw on the ne... View more

I get medication that I take every now and then for panic attacks/sleep. I work extra hard to do the right thing and only take this if absolutely necessary. I am very responsible as I only get a small prescription every 3 or 4 months. I saw on the news where they are going to make it harder to get this due to some people being uncool with it. Great, now I am worried that I will be judged in the wrong way. However my record does show that over the long haul that I have been responsible but you know me! I have to worry about something so now I am going over in my mind how I will be given the fish eye whenever I get my prescription filled. Jeez I worry a lot.

Crystal3 I don't know what's wrong with me
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so it stared when I started to use drugs I thought I couldn't swallow and thought I was vomiting and chocking on my vomit, but awhile I had a different drug and I had my first panic attack or at least I think it was, I was at a party I started pacing... View more

so it stared when I started to use drugs I thought I couldn't swallow and thought I was vomiting and chocking on my vomit, but awhile I had a different drug and I had my first panic attack or at least I think it was, I was at a party I started pacing and my heart was racing I was dizzy and felt this werid feeling in my stomach I thought I was going to die all these thoughts were just going through my head and I was freaking. But after about 30 minutes it went away but recently I have had very bad health anixety like I just think about stuff and if makes me freak out and I think I'm dying when I'm not, like in class the other day I got the same feeling in my stomach I got when I had the second drug I was dizzy and thought I was going metal and felt like I couldn't breathe and was feeling really enclosed then I spoke to my dad and It calmed down but this happened after a family friend freaked me out and said that my brain is fried and I was at these formal photos and just looking at everyone make me freak out I got light headed and the other day I was at the beach in the water and it was hard to breathe, my breathes were short and my friends got me out and my heart was racing and I felt like I was choking which most of the time I think I'm choking. I feel that all the time and the other night I went drinking with my friends and I didn't drink much and I felt like I was going to die I got the feeling In my stomach I felt enclosed on the bus and really hot and light headed and I could breathe properly it was like short breathes, the other night I make my mum drive me to the hospital cause I looked down my throats and I could see my epiglotis I didn't know what that was I thought it was a bone and I felt like It was making me choke and the hospital told me it was a swallow tonisal and if it gets bigger go to the hospital so all night I kept waking up thinking I stoped brething So the next day I went to my doctor For that and another problem and when I thought I had something I started looking up all these symptoms and I felt like I had them and she told me I didn't and then it went away she told me that I should speak to someone about my aniexty so now I am

Tryinhard Hi I’m a newbie
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Feel like my life is spiraling out of control. I’ve made some very poor decisions now I might be facing a jail sentence. Diagnosed with depression at 16, older I get the more anxious I get.

Feel like my life is spiraling out of control. I’ve made some very poor decisions now I might be facing a jail sentence. Diagnosed with depression at 16, older I get the more anxious I get.

anxiousgirl97 newly anxious & need some advice.
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so for the past month i've been suffering from severe bouts of anxiety and panic attacks, and believe this was triggered by a bad comedown from a substance (which occurred almost a month ago), however have seen slight improvements within the weeks go... View more

so for the past month i've been suffering from severe bouts of anxiety and panic attacks, and believe this was triggered by a bad comedown from a substance (which occurred almost a month ago), however have seen slight improvements within the weeks gone. However, a few nights ago I had a few cups of black tea before bed (unaware that black tea had caffeine in it) so was up all of the night with insomnia stressing about not being able to sleep, and didn't sleep at all that night and I have slept the past night, but have woken up yesterday and today feeling just as bad as the time of the comedown, with constant rapid heart palpitations, shortness of breath, nausea, loss of appetite again. Therefore I reckon i've relapsed, I had started to feel better last week, and i've never felt this bad before and had some panic attacks prior but they never carried on, and would usually disappear. I'm 19, and am also at uni, so times have been stressful and it doesn't help when i'm feeling like death. It feels like there isn't any light at the end of the tunnel, it would be great if someone could help me out.

Kaylee13 Social Anxiety......
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Today was my daughters preschool orientation and my social anxiety decided it would make an appearance as well. Within 10 minutes of being in a room crammed with parents, kids and teachers I literally couldn't handle it a second longer and politely a... View more

Today was my daughters preschool orientation and my social anxiety decided it would make an appearance as well. Within 10 minutes of being in a room crammed with parents, kids and teachers I literally couldn't handle it a second longer and politely asked for directions to the bathroom, as I walked into the bathroom I had an anxiety attack and sat in there for 10 minutes trying to get my shit together so I could get back to my daughter and partner who I knew would be wondering where I am. I couldn't bring myself to walk back into the room so instead, I sat outside on a chair looking at the paperwork we were given pretending to read it whilst really thinking how stupid I looked sitting outside reading paperwork when I should be inside the classroom with my daughter. I was plotting a way to make a quick escape without anyone noticing, can you believe that? It was my daughters special day and here I am trying to find a way out because I can't stand being in a room with other people. A teacher came over and asked if I was ok and if I would like a glass of water, I told her I was ok. She asked why I was sitting outside and by this stage, I was completely overrun with anxiety and anxious thoughts I couldn't even think of a lie I just told her straight up I had anxiety and I needed some fresh air, she seemed apologetic and said she was sorry for asking. I feel like a failure of a parent for not being able to walk back into the room and be with my daughter and I feel like an idiot for telling her a teacher I had only just met I had anxiety. It took me years to tell my family I had anxiety and here I am telling a teacher at my daughters new preschool I have anxiety. Today confirmed I really need to get some professional help and this Monday coming I'm taking the steps required to get some help.