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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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Fear_Is_A_Part_of_Us Anxiety is not something we can 'defeat', but manage.
  • replies: 5

Slightly unfortunate to have only 2500 characters so I will try to keep this succinct. Having suffered anxiety to what I would argue as bad as it gets - I thought I'd share something I learned through my suffering. I suffered trademark severe anxiety... View more

Slightly unfortunate to have only 2500 characters so I will try to keep this succinct. Having suffered anxiety to what I would argue as bad as it gets - I thought I'd share something I learned through my suffering. I suffered trademark severe anxiety symptoms - very invasive thoughts, fear of losing my sanity, regular panic attacks, bouts of de-realisation, analysing every thought & every behaviour, fear of mental illnesses (I was convinced I had OCD and bi-polar at one point), all which ultimately led to depression. What I found I was trying to do was 'beat' anxiety. I have always been headstrong. It was me versus this disease. And I refused to lose. I refused to suffer and change my lifestyle because my thoughts were behaving like a hurricane. I was going to beat anxiety, one way or another. The problem was, no matter how hard I tried, something would always trigger my anxiety. I would be having a conversation, forgetting how I was being perceived, to receiving a quick 'shock' to the brain which would make my heart skip a beat, and I would become instantly hyper vigilant about my surroundings and start questioning my sanity and and lo and behold, I begin to panic. I was losing. And I kept losing. I lost so much, that I gave up. Anxiety had won the battle, I couldn't win. Keep in mind, I have never been suicidal. I am too optimistic, no matter how bad things got, I always believed in a better tomorrow. Now, you might think accepting defeat was a bad thing to happen. After some deep thought and some time, I came to realise that anxiety is a part of me. It will always be a part of me. I will never be able to completely eradicate anxiety, but what I could do was ignore and acknowledge invasive thoughts as part of my anxiety and I never wanted to act on them, and that if I was to go insane then that is what the world had planned for me, and in the same vain if my heart was beating so fast, I could not stop a heart attack if I wanted to. This recognition, this acceptance, in conjunction with a SNRI (life-safer), saw the triggers of my anxiety no longer 'trigger' a panic or cycle of negative thoughts. And funnily enough - as I no longer was triggered, the frequency of the triggers went down, enormously (over time). I still get triggered sometimes. But acceptance is key. I had lost the battle, but I won the war.

Bundy_girl Anxiety is over coming me.
  • replies: 4

Hi I'm new to this site, I'm 46, menopausal and have a lot. Of medical issues, I'm finding hard most days to be positive and strong as the world around me knows, I constantly shake ,have mega brain fog , cry at the drop of a hat ,am seeking councilin... View more

Hi I'm new to this site, I'm 46, menopausal and have a lot. Of medical issues, I'm finding hard most days to be positive and strong as the world around me knows, I constantly shake ,have mega brain fog , cry at the drop of a hat ,am seeking counciling and a phycologist, but feel very over come by the smallest thing.Never needed anyone until now as I have faught to be the rock for my children and there supporting role I must as a mother do. sadly I have lost many a family member over the past 10 years,due to cancer and now as I'm on my third round now, I'm feeling weak,anxiety and depression, but I need help for myself to be the person I once was. my life story has been all over the place but found contentment in raising my beautiful children one almost 21 and another almost 13. I breathe, I love to garden but can not find the strength to even do that ,I'm living a lie with my kids pretending I'm ok while there at school ,but drop the minute they leave only to rush at 2:30 everyday to make them think I'm ok. please any suggestions would be taken regards a crazy mum at the moment xo

Livvylou76 High functioning anxiety
  • replies: 6

Hi there, ​first time here. Having a day off work as at the moment it's all too much. I A teacher so reports and as I have no other teachers who I plan with (only one in my year level) I'm planning all by myself too. I miss my team teaching which I d... View more

Hi there, ​first time here. Having a day off work as at the moment it's all too much. I A teacher so reports and as I have no other teachers who I plan with (only one in my year level) I'm planning all by myself too. I miss my team teaching which I did all the time last year. Only reason I'm not doing it is because there is only one of the year levels I'm teaching this year. Feeling as though I'm a shit teacher, can't stop the negativity and feeling as though I'm not teaching a as I should. I'm currently on antidepressants and have been for most of my life (I'm 40) Not wanting sympathy just needing acceptance that this will pass and it will be ok. Any hints to get me through this????

mackabee66 Anxious and paranoid all the time - care too much what people think
  • replies: 17

Hi all Does anyone have any tips on how to stop caring what people think of me? I have suffered with a particular type of anxiety for 30 years now. I have always had low energy levels and chronic fatigue. This has affected my walking slightly. I alwa... View more

Hi all Does anyone have any tips on how to stop caring what people think of me? I have suffered with a particular type of anxiety for 30 years now. I have always had low energy levels and chronic fatigue. This has affected my walking slightly. I always get people smirking at me in the streets when they see me walking towards them and even work colleagues try and avoid walking anywhere with me. The more this goes on, the more my brain has reinforced these feelings. This affects every part of my life including going out/not wanting to go out. It has turned me into a very paranoid man. I am 50 years old and have been suffering with this for 30 years now. I feel like nothing will ever change. Mackabee66

1983MrP Dont think of the colour Red
  • replies: 8

Hi all. I have had a dream a few months ago that i had hurt my children. I dont know how or what i did but after thinking about it all day i felt so horrible i could not sleep. Now i have had some time and meditation training i am slowly getting past... View more

Hi all. I have had a dream a few months ago that i had hurt my children. I dont know how or what i did but after thinking about it all day i felt so horrible i could not sleep. Now i have had some time and meditation training i am slowly getting past this. But still sometimes i worry what if i can hurt my kids. Im not that person.... my brain just takes me away... how do i shut it down... honestly i would never hurt my children and it scares me when i think i can so as i said dont think of the colour red

Larnzi Any advice when your behaviour from your fears stuffs things up
  • replies: 1

Hi, Sorry this is long but I need some advice because I'm pulling my head apart with worry. I have suffered anxiety all my life but didn't know what it was until a couple months ago. I had to have an operation 5 weeks ago & being my first it triggere... View more

Hi, Sorry this is long but I need some advice because I'm pulling my head apart with worry. I have suffered anxiety all my life but didn't know what it was until a couple months ago. I had to have an operation 5 weeks ago & being my first it triggered of my anxiety that I haven't been able to get myself back from it. I wrote a letter to friend thanking them for coming to visit me & sending me texts to check on me as only one other friend did this. I dropped the letter in their letterbox rather than giving it to them when we were at work because I was embarrassed. Then I did a stupid thing 2 days later & sent them a text saying there was more to me writing the letter but I couldn't talk about it still because it's still hurts & one day I would tell them - this was only on reference to the fact that I felt disappointed in other people who were not there for me when I've been there for them. They didn't reply. Then on Monday after when we were leaving work & I went to give them the second part to the letter,they freaked right out, she had read the text I sent the wrong way to what I had meant it to mean & we had a discussion that made my anxiety go through the roof. I was terribly upset after that because I have a huge fear of people I care about leaving my life. I was really quiet at work on Wednesday as it was my first session with a psychologist & they texted me later saying they noticed I was not myself & they thought they'd let me be & to take care. Then yesterday it came up,they apologised for overreacting, saying to me all they could think was oh no not again (not sure what or who that was in reference to) & sorry for freaking me out. But then later when I was talking about how I didn't sleep Monday night they said "I'm pretty sure I had something to do with that & I probably shouldn't have said some of the things I did" and then they said "Well maybe..." & stopped themselves. I asked what they were going to say & they said they need to think before they talk & they don't want to upset me. They then said how they like everything to be positive & happy. All that has gone around my head since is what was coming after that "maybe" because it was obviously something that would hurt me. I know I can be clingy because of my anxiety & fear & I am terrified I have screwed up this because I cannot control my anxiety. I don't know what to do because I don't want to loose them from my life. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Larnzi

Dall Problems staying away from home
  • replies: 4

At the age of 10 (1984), I had a charmed life. I had 2 loving parents and a younger sister (by 6 years) who I had a typical sisterly relationship with i.e. I loved her very much but she annoyed me much of the time. We as a family we lived in a nice 2... View more

At the age of 10 (1984), I had a charmed life. I had 2 loving parents and a younger sister (by 6 years) who I had a typical sisterly relationship with i.e. I loved her very much but she annoyed me much of the time. We as a family we lived in a nice 2 storey home with loads of children to play with in the area. And even though my Dad did drink heavily it didn’t bother me. He still helped me in my life i.e. homework, bullies, discipline, love and affection. He was never aggressive or violent to us. I was an extremely happy and carefree child. Then gradually things started to change. The first time it happened, I remember it like it was yesterday. I had agreed to stay at one of my best friends houses. This would be the first time I had stayed at Kelly’s house but I had had numerous sleep overs prior and on many different occasions. I was very familiar with the sleep over etiquette. Even though I had only known Kelly for a couple of months, we were very close. Then at sundown, approximately 5pm, what began as an action packed night full of fun and excitement suddenly turned into intense feelings of panic and fear. I simply could not stay there. I had to go home. From that day on I have experienced difficulty with sleep overs, camps and travelling any distance from home. I still suffer from this debilitating disorder. In fact just recently I booked a cruise with my close friend for 4 nights and couldn’t go in the 11th hour. What is wrong with me? Why does this happen to me? It is so debilitating. After reading through the beyondblue pages, I wonder if maybe I have developed an anxiety disorder.

Melfunction81 Help! I feel like a space cadet
  • replies: 3

Hi all. Ive been taking the same antidepressants for about 2 years. My dose was increased about 6 months ago and Ive had no issues except the few times I've forgotten to take it and I get horrible withdrawal symptoms like feeling dizzy, headache, nau... View more

Hi all. Ive been taking the same antidepressants for about 2 years. My dose was increased about 6 months ago and Ive had no issues except the few times I've forgotten to take it and I get horrible withdrawal symptoms like feeling dizzy, headache, nausea, a weird zapping sensation in my head, rapid heart rate, tingling in my fingers and generally just feeling spaced out. Anywho my problem at the moment is that I haven't missed a single dose of my medication but I feel those same symtoms now. It started yesterday was worse today but now I just feel awful. Has anyone had this happen to them before? Anyone have any ideas? I cant afford to see my GP for a few weeks so just thought Id ask TIA

Mia325 Need advice
  • replies: 3

In general i sometimes struggle to turn off my brain. As in just turn off the thoughts which are leading me to a negative mindset which causes fights with my partner who is starting to get annoyed at me asking the same things over and over. Fair enou... View more

In general i sometimes struggle to turn off my brain. As in just turn off the thoughts which are leading me to a negative mindset which causes fights with my partner who is starting to get annoyed at me asking the same things over and over. Fair enough even i know that but i struggle with stopping myself overreacting to things as well and i have been working on it to just stay calm and ask questions instead which now isnt working. I get anxiety over if i should talk to my partner or not. (Amazing guy) purely because i dont want to burden him and i just want to be able to discuss things with him if we have a problem without my mind running off on me and into things that arent true or ridiculous which then causes a fight because of me. If i was to talk i have a habit of talking too much which is annoying and i basically dont want to piss him off for repeating myself and making him deal with the exact same situations over and over again as a result of me being unable to not overreact or simply unable to walk away/turn off my negative thoughts. To the point just need help controlling a very over reacting and over thinking mind thats causing me to slowly not be myself. Thanks

grassbees Social Anxiety Disorder- what employment options do I have?
  • replies: 4

Any job where I deal with other people causes me irrational anxiety that grows and ultimately leads me to mental breakdown (unless I quit or get myself fired, which are my escape strategies). I'll need to re-enter the workforce eventually but can't t... View more

Any job where I deal with other people causes me irrational anxiety that grows and ultimately leads me to mental breakdown (unless I quit or get myself fired, which are my escape strategies). I'll need to re-enter the workforce eventually but can't think of any jobs suitable for a person with my condition. I'm undergoing CBT and will eventually go on medication to help. But even so, has anyone got any ideas on what are the best and worst jobs for people with my condition?