Immediate support
Immediate support

Anxiety

Anxiety is the most common mental health condition in Australia. Share your own story and learn about other member’s experiences with anxiety.

Start a discussion

FAQ

Find answers to some of the more frequently asked questions on the Forums.

View the FAQ

Forums guidelines

Our guidelines keep the Forums a safe place for people to share and learn information.

View the guidelines
Categories
Start a discussion

Pinned discussions

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

All discussions

Start a discussion

happyannie My Journey
  • replies: 11

My battle with anxiety and severe depression started for me when I was nine years old after something traumatic happened to me. I then became a teenager and trouble for me began, I was always restless,had lots of friends but always felt alone I alway... View more

My battle with anxiety and severe depression started for me when I was nine years old after something traumatic happened to me. I then became a teenager and trouble for me began, I was always restless,had lots of friends but always felt alone I always had the feeling that something bad was going to happen,these feelings where so bad I felt sick most of the time. I left school, got a job as a hairdresser in the family business, I worked hard, and I also learnt how to party hard, I discovered a numbing agent it was called drugs and alcohol. I was twenty,full of life but always searching for something better, I soon discovered that my life was very complicated and that holding onto my secret since I was nine was coming to the surface, so my way of coping was numbing myself as much as possible. Then one day I was at a friends house and her cousin was visiting from the Gold Coast, and I was in love, he was gorgeous he had blonde hair and was riding a motor bike. So we went out a few times as a group but soon discovered we only wanted to talk to each other.Well he never went back to the Gold Coast, he stayed, got a job, and we fell madly in love. I thought everything was pretty good in my life but I still had my demons. We got engaged and twelve months later we got married. Everything was beautiful, we started our lives together but I was always anxious and on edge. We moved to my hometown where my amazing parents and brother lived, my brother was a hairdresser as well he was the salon manager. I was twenty four and we just found out that we where going to have a baby. Our beautiful daughter was born and I soon discoveted very early on that being a Mum

Supergirl IS THERE SUCH A THING AS OVER-EXPOSURE?
  • replies: 4

Six months ago I suffered from agoraphobia and was unable to leave the house for fear of panic attacks and of what other people would think of me. I am obese and very self conscious about my weight, I have been bullied for most of my life and verbal ... View more

Six months ago I suffered from agoraphobia and was unable to leave the house for fear of panic attacks and of what other people would think of me. I am obese and very self conscious about my weight, I have been bullied for most of my life and verbal abuse seems to stick in your mind for a long time. I have a good Psychiatrist and with some counscelling I was able to start leaving the house doing short exposure therapies. Each time I did a bit more, and with each success came confidence and the paranoia less. A few months down the track I found I was going out all the time and about a month before Christmas the crowds were insane. I think in the field of Psychiatry they call this therapy flooding. I wasn't sleeping and was extremely anxious and stressed which resulted in a severe panic attack last Friday in the midst of a crowd of people at a shopping centre I know well. I didn't pass out and was able to escape the crowd and get into a quiet place and spend 10 minutes breathing deeply and then meeting up with a friend to go home. I had to go back into the shopping centre so this was stressful as I just wanted to crawl into bed and never venture out again. Had I regressed? I feel that I have done too much shopping in busy places and it doesn't seemed to have eased off any since Christmas. I am irritated, exhausted, fed-up and ready to give up. I have to ask the question has all this exposure been too much? Have I gone to the other extreme and has it been detrimental to my health? Has anyone got any advice? I have 3 days at home to rest for now, but have to face the crowds again after that and am not looking forward to it. How should I handle it. I need to put into practise some relaxation techniques and deep breathing when I'm not anxious so that when I am, I can use this to my advantage. Anxiety disorders take up so much energy in your life and prevent you from living a life that you really want to live. I have suffered from social phobia, panic attacks, depression and agoraphobia on and off since I was very young. When my condition started there was no information available and no-one to talk to about what was happening, it was a terrifying experience and one I'll never forget. Thank goodness there is so much information out there now for young people, they no longer have to suffer in silence. I would appreciate any feedback anyone else has in the area of exposure? How much is too much. I find with everything,, I am an all or nothing girl. HELP!

SimAly Thinking something is going to happen
  • replies: 7

Hi i haven't posted before, so here goes. Hoping someone can help me or understands what I'm feeling. I'm 35 and I have been suffering anxiety for just over 5 years now and it was bought on after I had my first daughter. I had PND and anxiety bought ... View more

Hi i haven't posted before, so here goes. Hoping someone can help me or understands what I'm feeling. I'm 35 and I have been suffering anxiety for just over 5 years now and it was bought on after I had my first daughter. I had PND and anxiety bought on by discrimination from my workplace after having my daughter. I moved on and slowly have been fighting this battle. I was good for a while.... Now the last few months I have had a bad feeling that something Is going to happen. I convinced myself that I was having a stroke after a close relative had a severe stroke. I was taken to hospital for tests by ambulance and after tests and a MRI I was told I was fine. I have numbness around my left side of my mouth and when I have anxiety it gets worse. My husband has been diagnosed with a heart condition and I'm finding it hard to keep positive. All I think about is the worst, think how am I going to cope raising 2 small children if something does happen to him. I have also started to think that there is something wrong with both me and my loved ones. If my daughter tells me that she has a pain in her head or arm, I start to get anxiety and think that something going to happen to her. I'm so scared that someone i love is going to die, and I get anxiety and panic. I'm constantly on edge and can't help but think that something bad is going to happen. Today I Have bad anxiety and I think that something bad is going to happen, then tonight my daughter wasn't feeling well and I freaked out and I want to cry. How can I overcome this? I'm not seeing a psychologist at the moment as money is tight and I can't afford to see one.

Katherine22 Early morning anxiety/overwhelmed atm
  • replies: 5

Hi just needing some advice on early morning anxiety and coping with life at the moment please. I have suffered depression for over 15 years and anxiety the last probably 3 years now. I have had early morning anxiety for about two years but it sort o... View more

Hi just needing some advice on early morning anxiety and coping with life at the moment please. I have suffered depression for over 15 years and anxiety the last probably 3 years now. I have had early morning anxiety for about two years but it sort of hung around a few weeks then went, but now it's back. I had to have major surgery 2 weeks ago and it's been a ok recovery ups and downs but the last week the early morning anxiety has been bad. I wake up every morning about 3-4 and can't sleep for hours. My mind is racing through the past and its v difficult to stop it. I'm also pretty stressed as my family is always here not just for a visit but to stay for two weeks. I don't cope when too many people are here(plus I have a small house) I also can't cope with noise very much. My husband finds it hard when my family is here and it strains our relationship also. Life is just a bit bad for me at the moment, thanks guys for your support.

Murray11 Physical symptoms- postpartum anxiety or something else
  • replies: 6

Hi all, This is the first post from me, I'll try and keep it succinct... Firstly, I have a 2 year old son and 13 week old daughter. Approx. 4 weeks after having my daughter I started experiencing physical symptoms which I attributed to breastfeeding ... View more

Hi all, This is the first post from me, I'll try and keep it succinct... Firstly, I have a 2 year old son and 13 week old daughter. Approx. 4 weeks after having my daughter I started experiencing physical symptoms which I attributed to breastfeeding and tiredness including visual disturbances of flashing lights when standing up, dizziness, brain fog. Progressively I then started getting numb lips, numbness in my right arm, burning sensations in both arms and feet, with these last symptoms appearing only in the last few weeks. I have seen my Dr and am awaiting results of a blood test and a brain MRI. He mentioned MS to me and since then I am convinced that's what I have, although (even though I know better) after googling the symptoms, I have realised that anxiety and MS (and other neuro conditions) can have quite similar symptoms. I don't think of myself as an anxious person but I guess I'm reaching out to others who may have felt these symptoms, to see if you might see something in my story similar to yours... The reason why I think my symptoms could possibly be anxiety related is that my dad was diagnosed with Parkinsons Disease two years ago, which I feel sick about whenever if it discussed or I think about the future, I laugh and find things funny but see the future as "grey" due to dad's parkinsons and a strained relationship with my mum since the birth of my son two years ago, despite "happy" things happening in my life such as the birth of my daughter and my sister's wedding in October '17... I worry if people don't text me back straight away I've offended them or they don't like me any more, I worry my husbands friends avoid him because he's married to me and I recently thought my sister was avoiding me because I was annoying her despite her being my person I can call no matter what. I also worry about anything happening to myself, my husband or kids, which makes possibly having MS terrifying. Car accidents, terrorism, etc. Does this sound like anxiety? Or normal thought processes for the society we live in? Seeking answers.

Moonstruck Causing mega-anxiety for me - but trivial to others!
  • replies: 4

For many years I have had the use of a work computer here at home - for my personal needs as well as work. It is the only type, program etc that I am familiar with. Continuing to work for this particular boss is becoming more and more impossible and ... View more

For many years I have had the use of a work computer here at home - for my personal needs as well as work. It is the only type, program etc that I am familiar with. Continuing to work for this particular boss is becoming more and more impossible and the cause of major stress, anxiety and even illness. (I have talked about this in detail on High Functioning Anxious People) the only thing standing in the way of my "freedom" is my having to get my own laptop as he will immediately remove the computer. I have many years of personal stuff on the hard drive. I have no idea how to retrieve it, if I should retrieve it, what to do with it, or let it go goodness knows where! I haven't a clue what kind of new laptop to get. The only type I am familiar with costs 3 times as much as any other brand or program. I could go in tomorrow and buy a laptop. I have no idea what Step 1 is when I get it home. Nothing - the only ones I can afford all have Windows. I don't know how to use Windows. I asked a few Computer Businesses who advertise that they come to the home and help "mature aged" people like me set up and get online. They also did retail sales and immediately went into a Sales Spiel telling me what ones they had for sale in their store and wanting to sell me one. I have not even decided which store to buy it from yet!!! I am afraid if I quit the job (which I MUST for my health's sake) I will be cut off from friends, family, the Internet, you guys on Forum....everything! I am terrified and no one seems to understand what a Huge Undertaking this is for me. I know all of you have laptops or desk tops that you work easily......but I wouldn't have the faintest idea unless it was exactly the same program/type I have had for nearly 20 years!! I went into a store, asked some questions and the guy could have been speaking Japanese...I couldn't understand one word he said!! the stress and fear of being without this link to the world is overtaking my every thought, the worry and anxiety about it gets worse each day. My work situation gets worse each day and I cannot see a way out! I feel like a prisoner! Not knowing what laptop to buy and how to work it is making me really ill - but others just say "Oh you'll be fine once you have a play around with it". A play-around??? What does this mean? How do I even get "on the air". they don't seem to realise I need to be instructed from STEP ONE!!.........who do I turn to next?

LittleSoftie Advice on how I could have reacted better to an event today
  • replies: 9

Hi, please can someone help me to understand how I could have handled myself better today, Im just now calming myself down after a panic attack and have taken a pill to help. I took my 10 month old son to the pool today and spent a good fun hour walk... View more

Hi, please can someone help me to understand how I could have handled myself better today, Im just now calming myself down after a panic attack and have taken a pill to help. I took my 10 month old son to the pool today and spent a good fun hour walking him around some water fountains where loads of other kids were playing and having fun. We had put our stuff in a little shady spot near the edge behind a wall where people/ parents could sit and supervise. A family rocked up and sat in front of us on the wall... all good, then their young girl sprayed us and our things with water, I said "hey hey stop" and she realized that she'd soaked us and stopped.. all good.. kids are kids, then her sister did the same and sprayed my little boy, so without fuss I picked up our stuff and moved us back a meter. Still all good...again kids are kids and I'm sure they didnt do it on purpose. then the father turned around, noticed what had happened, laughed and turned back. Then the mother rocked up and settled into the exact spot that I'd just been moved out of. I got annoyed and reacted I said "oh my god". The parents then turned on me and spoke rudely saying "what's your problem" and "it's a pool for Christmas sake". I picked up my son and we left with the whole family staring and scowling at me. I got my little boy home and asked my partner to watch him then went to the bathroom and broke down completely. Why can't I handle things like that?... I felt bullied... is that just me or was I in the wrong... I'm so sick of being pushed around. Help.

Kemooo Is social anxiety worse the next day for you ?
  • replies: 3

Went to a new year party with my friend from church to his friends, I knew a few poeple there, after while alot came like 15+. My anxiety was getting so over the top, when i talk to poeple I feel so weird and insecure and like I didnt know at all wha... View more

Went to a new year party with my friend from church to his friends, I knew a few poeple there, after while alot came like 15+. My anxiety was getting so over the top, when i talk to poeple I feel so weird and insecure and like I didnt know at all what to talk about and just felt like leaving straight away, it kills me inside, there was this cute girl amy ive met at church once, she seems quiet like me and think I really like her, I didnt talk to her much but when I did I enjoyed it. I think ill need to ask my friend about her and his fairly close with herm Anyway sometimes I think the worse part is the day after when you analyze what happened, and I just feel like poeple would be talking about me and saying how weird and non talkative I was. And how I wish I didnt even go.

Metoo New to this and a bit unsure
  • replies: 3

Hi, This is my first post, I'm new to the forum, please be gentle. I'm a 47 year old father of 3, trying to work through a few things but feeling overwhelmed. We've got an ongoing dispute with our neighbours, we're trying to do things the right way, ... View more

Hi, This is my first post, I'm new to the forum, please be gentle. I'm a 47 year old father of 3, trying to work through a few things but feeling overwhelmed. We've got an ongoing dispute with our neighbours, we're trying to do things the right way, solicitors etc whilst our neighbours are using bullying type tactics. I've always been what people may call a worrier, I always imagine the worst case scenarios, especially when it comes to the kids. I stress when they go near a swimming pool, or a play park, I can never sit back and relax. This has now escalated the longer this dispute continues, I feel in a constant state of anxiety. As a male i feel weak, the thought of further confrontation with our neighbours makes me shake. I can't eat properly as i have little appetite, its been great for the waste line though, back in to my 33" waste jeans. I find it hard to talk to anyone about what I'm feeling. I do bottle things up, but this is worse, it's like if I talk about it then its really happening, and I think I'm trying to play it down so it doesn't seem so important. Sorry if this seems a little disjointed perhaps I should have planned it first. If i had to some this up i feel scared, lost, tired and weak. I've never spoken to anyone about this, and wouldn't know where to start. I suppose I wonder if there are any other blokes out there who feel almost cowardly because there anxiety makes them almost powerless to cope....

mld1994 Scared it isn't just anxiety...
  • replies: 5

Hi, this is my first post here and its a long one so please stick with me (sorry!). Basically, I'm super scared that my symptoms aren't anxiety related?...Back story : Recently moved interstate, went without my partner for 2.5 months, started a new j... View more

Hi, this is my first post here and its a long one so please stick with me (sorry!). Basically, I'm super scared that my symptoms aren't anxiety related?...Back story : Recently moved interstate, went without my partner for 2.5 months, started a new job which I hate, and had no proper social connections. Had my car broken into and personal belongings stolen...I suddenly could not eat for 3 days, I felt sick to my stomach when I woke each morning (butterflies in tummy type sensation) and I just had that weird nervous sweating feeling that made going to work extremely difficult. Fast forward 4 months in. I start noticing foreign symptoms; I've lost A LOT of weight. I've got subtle neck ache/pain. I start feeling extremely lethargic and weak, I would feel shaky, as If my legs would cave in. Que first Doc appointment. Low iron he thought. On iron supplements for 2 months. Symptoms got slightly better (if I believed so). Completely off the iron supplement now. Next lot of symptoms come into play; still feeling weak and tired, weird strange head pains/cramps/stabbing on left side that would only last 2-3 seconds but are SO debilitating when they happen, weak stomach (nausea, butterfly feeling), dizzy/trippy feeling like somethings "kicked in", sudden rise in body temp and my heart would beat deep and fast (these symptoms happen at different times btw). I then start GOOGLING; Brain Tumor, Aneursyms, Meningitis...I've convinced myself I have a terrible neurological disorder. I try to remain calm and rational each day, but the symptoms take over and I think "NOPE! There IS something not right!!". Eventually the next big thing happened. Que, what I would now learn was most likely my first ever panic attack, but at the time I thought I had a catastrophic brain "thing" (I won't go into the symptoms, its hard to describe). I ended up in ED. CT & MRI Scan, basic Blood Work and a basic Neurological test (reflexes, pulling things, eye pupils ect) and guess what? I'm (supposedly) completely healthy. The ED doctor said basically now that we have ticked off the serious and deadly conditions, lets look at anxiety and depression....So, here we are now. I am still so scared that this is NOT anxiety. And knowing that all of my tests have came back clear, only makes me look deeper into other diseases. There is SO much more to say and I start therapy soon...but Can anxiety/depression REALLY do this to the body? HELP. I am 22 year old female and I feel like I am dying. Why me?!