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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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mchal4 OCD thoughts about getting yelled at...
  • replies: 2

Hi all ! Can anyone else relate to flashbacks about getting yelled at, maybe by a superior or supervisor ? How should you handle or deal with these ? Thanks.stay safe.

Hi all ! Can anyone else relate to flashbacks about getting yelled at, maybe by a superior or supervisor ? How should you handle or deal with these ? Thanks.stay safe.

borderline_insanity Anxiety With Potential Relationships
  • replies: 3

Anxiety has been a constant struggle almost my whole life, one of the worst triggers being potential relationships. I'm completely fine when someone is interested in me - the problem arises when I start to feel the same way towards them. It terrifies... View more

Anxiety has been a constant struggle almost my whole life, one of the worst triggers being potential relationships. I'm completely fine when someone is interested in me - the problem arises when I start to feel the same way towards them. It terrifies me beyond comprehension, and I start to over think it, resulting in frequent panic attacks that eat away at me. Usually I love the idea of being in a relationship, so I guess I'm wondering why I get so unbelievably scared when the idea becomes an actual possibility. I'm currently in this position now and I don't want to run away from something potentially great just because of unnecessary fears that I can't explain. Why do I feel like this and how can I manage/overcome it?

Becky087 Negative Thought Patterns
  • replies: 9

"I'm never going to be good enough for anything." "I never do anything right." "Why did I say that? I'm so awkward. Everyone hates me." "I'm ugly/I'm fat/I look terrible without make-up/I have no style." "I hate myself/my personality/the way I look."... View more

"I'm never going to be good enough for anything." "I never do anything right." "Why did I say that? I'm so awkward. Everyone hates me." "I'm ugly/I'm fat/I look terrible without make-up/I have no style." "I hate myself/my personality/the way I look." "My dreams/goals are unrealistic and I'll never achieve them." If any of these sound familiar, please tell me how you deal/manage when you start to get into these spiraling negative thought patterns. These same questions come into my head literally every day and I believe them. When others tell me I'm pretty/nice/they like me as a person/not fat/going to get where I want in life/talented/capable, I don't believe them and think they're just saying these things to be nice. I have no self-confidence or self-worth whatsoever and am constantly very self-conscious. It's exhausting and everything I've tried just doesn't work. Any advice?

Wornout_worrier Anxiety about WW3-
  • replies: 3

I have always been anxious, which increased 10fold when my daughter was born with a heart defect. I hardly leave my children. I work as close to their school as I can manage, and try to survive on a small wage as best possible to enable me to spend a... View more

I have always been anxious, which increased 10fold when my daughter was born with a heart defect. I hardly leave my children. I work as close to their school as I can manage, and try to survive on a small wage as best possible to enable me to spend as much time as I can with my two kids. I have always had this cycle of anxiety, where at the times I feel shaky and scared , I suddenly find myself planning and prepping for disaster spending endless hours on the internet figuring out how on earth I am going to keep myself and my kids alive in a catastrophic world. It gets so bad I don't sleep. Now with the recent news my anxiety is skyrocketing. I have also just interviewed for a new job and it seems highly likely I will get the position. It is in a shopping centre I am convinced would be a terrorist target, which is the reason I quit my job there 2 yrs ago. I keep telling myself to calm down, that I can't control everything and that a promotion would be beneficial for my family. Any other suggestions?

leigh1972 ANXIETY - CATASTROPHIC THINKING
  • replies: 7

I have had anxiety for as long as I remember and have mostly self-managed throughout my life with regular top ups of counselling when needed. I have found that my anxiety changed as I evolved as a person. When I was young my anxiety manifested in pan... View more

I have had anxiety for as long as I remember and have mostly self-managed throughout my life with regular top ups of counselling when needed. I have found that my anxiety changed as I evolved as a person. When I was young my anxiety manifested in panic attacks, then as I got older into social anxiety. When I became a mum, it was back to panic attacks and also PND. Now in my 40's I am being visited by a seemingly unending flow of catastrophic thoughts - everything from being killed in a car crash to someone murdering my daughter. As a logical person I know this to be unlikely but once you pick up the thread of those types of thoughts, they are very hard to let go of. I find I can be having just a normal thought when it suddenly segways off into an absolutely diabolical scenario! Lately, I have been having night time anxiety... waking up consumed with terror over a 'noise' or else waking up petrified from a nightmare where I am being pursued. I am thinking its because my parents are embarking on their first overseas trip in early May, I have started a new job and my daughter is going away for a week in May as well. Any 'change' acts like a trigger for my anxiety to take hold. I have tried breathing through it, getting up and reading a book and getting up to have a cup of tea. I also self-talk but it seems the voice of my anxiety is stronger. Does anyone else suffer catastrophic thinking?

CO814 My Job is Making Me Anxious, Should I Quit?
  • replies: 1

I got my first job about a month and a half ago and it makes me feel horrible. Talking over the PA, making small talk in the break room, conversing with customers, everything is making me nervous. Even worrying about whether I'm packing groceries too... View more

I got my first job about a month and a half ago and it makes me feel horrible. Talking over the PA, making small talk in the break room, conversing with customers, everything is making me nervous. Even worrying about whether I'm packing groceries too slow. I'm 15 and I was diagnosed with social anxiety and depression last year. Things have been spiralling downhill ever since and since I got a job things have been even worse. All I do now is worry about my next shift, when I'm out with friends or family or if I'm alone in my room. It's all I think about now. Before every shift I feel sick and I can't stop myself from remembering previous mistakes I've made and how my supervisors/co-workers hate me for it. I've considered resigning but I don't want to disappoint my family and I don't want to stop making money. The only reason I haven't resigned is because of the income, I love going to events and festivals but asking my parents for money makes me feel guilty and I hate it. So without a job I won't be able to go out with friends or to events anymore. Without my own money I won't leave the house as much as I do which already isn't a whole lot. Recently I've been thinking that if I quit it'll be harder for my to get a job in the future because of my anxiety and the employers looking into my records or whatever they do. I don't know if the money is worth the anxiety, what should I do?

EllenG Making new friendships with social anxiety
  • replies: 1

Hello everyone I'm currently doing a full time post graduate course and working part-time. I have always had social anxiety, plus I don't drink, which makes it difficult to make stronger friendships when all my acquaintances are going partying and dr... View more

Hello everyone I'm currently doing a full time post graduate course and working part-time. I have always had social anxiety, plus I don't drink, which makes it difficult to make stronger friendships when all my acquaintances are going partying and drinking to socialise. I have a few of these friends who I make small talk with online, but I don't know anyone (other than my boyfriend) who I would feel comfortable going out with. My interests are in outdoor activities, watching movies and nature/animals. I feel too nervous about going to a meet-up or club where I don't know anyone. Thanks for reading my post!

Kst20 Social anxiety is winning
  • replies: 3

Hi there, I finally decided this morning that I needed to reach out after I came to the realization that my social anxiety is destroying my relationship. It's very long story but I have been the 'shy' girl my entire life which is easy to get away wit... View more

Hi there, I finally decided this morning that I needed to reach out after I came to the realization that my social anxiety is destroying my relationship. It's very long story but I have been the 'shy' girl my entire life which is easy to get away with when you're young. I never realized how bad it would get or that it was even a disorder until this past month. Realizing my behavior had a name was a big step for me but also a crippling one. I'm too embarrassed to talk to my partner about it. History aside, most recently my issue is with speaking to my partners parents. We've been together two and a half years and I just can't get over this intense fear of them judging me. It all came to a head last night when my partner went to dinner with them (I wasn't invited but didn't think anything of it) He came home and stated that his Dad said he hates me....... This was crushing to me. As anyone with social anxiety knows, this is my worst fear coming true..... I immediately had a rush of feelings. I felt sick to my stomach, upset, and defensive... after all I'm not dating his dad and I could see that his dad had really gotten into his head. We've had a fantastic relationship and I'm terrified of losing him. Social anxiety has ruined my relationships before and I don't think I can handle it happening again. Help!

New_mumma Post natal anxiety
  • replies: 3

Baby is 4 weeks old. Since she was a week old, I've been constantly getting flat and then started to get anxiety. I last had anxiety about 4 years ago which was finance related as I was made redundant. What triggered this anxiety was hearing about fr... View more

Baby is 4 weeks old. Since she was a week old, I've been constantly getting flat and then started to get anxiety. I last had anxiety about 4 years ago which was finance related as I was made redundant. What triggered this anxiety was hearing about friends of mine potentially separating. They have since been working through things. But it has made me question my relationship. I fear that it can crumble. ​I get the anxiety build up in the late afternoon to early evening, which I think is related to me being a tired new mum. I am taking medication at the moment as a short term option until I start counseling and the I might go onto an antidepressant. Im honestly sick is feeling this anxiety and saddness. Im looking for hope that things will get better

FastFoward Is this anxiety
  • replies: 4

Hello I had a strange experience today that I have had before but was somewhat different. I was at work (barista) and felt the chest tighten that I feel all too frequently - like something has been injected into my chest and is causing a tingle and t... View more

Hello I had a strange experience today that I have had before but was somewhat different. I was at work (barista) and felt the chest tighten that I feel all too frequently - like something has been injected into my chest and is causing a tingle and tightening feeling. I thought ok, just a panic attack (never been to a doctor about this but a simple google told me what it was years ago). Then it got a little different though. Suddenly everything became seriously more pronounced. Volume went up, colors exaggerated, cold and hot spots that were extremely exadurated all over my body but continuously changing, my vision was kind of flickering, and I felt light - like I was floating. It was like something had lifted something that had been muting all my senses. And I felt like I was going to faint too (I have never fainted in my life but I could feel myself slipping away). I know it is normal to think something is seriously wrong during a panic attack but since I found out what they were I have always accepted them and thought - "you feel like you are going to die but that is just not the case - you are fine" - no matter how bad they where. But this was different, all I could think is that "I'm glad i'm not alone at home because if I collapse here someone will notice straight away and get help". Then a local came in, who I always have a chat with, and I was like - "oh no, he's gunna see something is up". I greeted him and asked him how his day was. I could here myself talk but it didn't feel like it was coming from me. Like I was observing the conversation from just within myself, I was deeper within and there was a kind of glass barrier separating me from the front I was putting on. Anyway, it was weird, very uncomfortable and it lasted in its intensity just a few minutes. But it continued too some extent for about an hour. I was just able to keep it at bay by keeping myself very bust and blanking my mind whilst I cleaned and cut tomatoes etc. Licky no one else cam in for a while. Anyway, has anyone else experienced something like this

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