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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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Chris_B Forums etiquette: give support to receive support
  • replies: 0

Hi everyone, particularly any new members who may be reading. From time to time, we get contacted by members who are unhappy that they haven’t received a lot of replies to their posts. Our community champions work very hard to make sure that all newb... View more

Hi everyone, particularly any new members who may be reading. From time to time, we get contacted by members who are unhappy that they haven’t received a lot of replies to their posts. Our community champions work very hard to make sure that all newbies are welcomed when they first post, and we understand that it’s a big step to post for the first time on a forum like this, especially if you aren’t feeling great. It’s important to remember, though, that these forums are a community of real people, just like you, not a one-on-one support environment like going to see your psychologist. To get the best out of being here, one of the best tips we can offer is give support to receive support. Being a good community member means: participating in different threads (not just your own), replying to people who have taken the time to reply to you (even if it’s just to say thank you), and... posting words of emotional support and encouragement when you see others who are hurting and reaching out. You don’t have to feel obliged to solve the problems of others: that’s not what we’re here for. But you can offer empathy and what you’ve learned from your own life experiences, even if it’s just a line or two, eg. “I don't know what to say, but I want to give you my support and tell you I care about what is happening to you and hope life will get better soon.” Try to develop an interest in the journeys of others here on the forums. You may be surprised at how good being an active, caring member here can make you feel. For those of you who have had good experiences giving support here on the forums, please post in this thread here and let us know how it has helped you on your journey.

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Feather_Robin Feeling lonely and scared
  • replies: 10

Hi everyone. I have had anxiety all my life it just comes and goes. But it's really here this time and I feel so horrible. I'm worrying about everything my mind is racing, I feel sick and my heart is constantly racing. I've tried to be logical and ca... View more

Hi everyone. I have had anxiety all my life it just comes and goes. But it's really here this time and I feel so horrible. I'm worrying about everything my mind is racing, I feel sick and my heart is constantly racing. I've tried to be logical and calm myself down but I can't stop thinking about the worst possible situation. I feel like I just want to run away or be a dark room and just sleep so i don't have to be awake to feel like this. I've tried my a b and cs but it's just not working. I just wanted to post on here so I don't feel as lonely and I just need someone to tell me everything is going to be okay xx

Lara1 Will it ever go away?
  • replies: 3

Ive suffered from anxiety and depression intensely for the past 3 years. Ive been struggling with horrifying inner thoughts, feeling like I'm never good enough and numerous panic attacks. Ive been seeing psychologists and psychiatrists and I've been ... View more

Ive suffered from anxiety and depression intensely for the past 3 years. Ive been struggling with horrifying inner thoughts, feeling like I'm never good enough and numerous panic attacks. Ive been seeing psychologists and psychiatrists and I've been doing everything they tell me but my anxiety still doesn't seem to go away. My mind blows events out of proportion dramatically which increases my anxiety. Does anyone else feel the same as me? You try so hard, you do everything the doctors/psychologists/everyone tells you to do yet no results have come... and its been years now. I definitely have improved but the feelings haven't gone. I'm so exhausted from feeling this way and i just want it to stop. Id do anything to make myself more happy - any advice?

MisterM Needle phobia
  • replies: 2

Hi all, I have this bad needle phobia, I can't watch another person getting injected, it makes me feel sick. I also nearly fainted a few times when getting blood taken. This is a problem more so now that I am considering going back to uni to study nu... View more

Hi all, I have this bad needle phobia, I can't watch another person getting injected, it makes me feel sick. I also nearly fainted a few times when getting blood taken. This is a problem more so now that I am considering going back to uni to study nursing. A nurse I know said the field involves injecting patients. Anyone here manage to overcome their needle phobia? If so, how? Thank you.

Lulu_411 My first panic/anxiety attack
  • replies: 3

Hi everyone! I wanted to share my story of my first anxiety/panic attack to 1.see if anyone can relate (feels good to know you are not alone) & 2.i may provide someone else out there with the comfort of a similar story to theirs. ive always been a wo... View more

Hi everyone! I wanted to share my story of my first anxiety/panic attack to 1.see if anyone can relate (feels good to know you are not alone) & 2.i may provide someone else out there with the comfort of a similar story to theirs. ive always been a worrier. My mind has always run at a million miles an hour ever since I can remember. The endless possibilities of what could go wrong, I never saw it as a problem but just that I was a cautious person. i had been in the same career for almost 6 years. I was comfortable in my field, but I was bored. I felt I needed s change. I decided to move on to a COMPLETELY different industry that I had no experience in. I was nervous, but excited. the interview process for this new job was stressful, and I think this is where the anxiety started building. I had been told I had got the job but had to start in 10days. Given how long I had been with my current employer I was required to give 4 weeks notice. I had become quite close to my employer after 6 years do I decided to talk to her about possibly leaving with only 10 days notice. I felt physically ill leading up to our meeting, I wasn't eating and I was constantly worrying about this horrible conversation I was going to have. The news didn't go down well, she was very upset/ angry and disappointed in me. I felt like a horrible person, but I had no choice. i began my new job, not feeling so great and very nervous. The first week went by and everything was so new and overwhelming. I wasn't eating, which I thought was just from nerves, I just wasn't hungry. I would go to bed at night dreaming about all the information I had to remember and wake up in a panic. Friday I got sick, I went to bed and I could feel my heart racing, my whole body pulsing.. I had a fever of 38.5. I took myself to hospital and my resting heart rate was 150bpm (normal is around 70-90). I spent the night. I just wasn't myself, I was sad and a mess. Once home I just couldn't leave the house to go to work. I would work myself up with worry to the point of vomitting, still not eating. I ended up quitting my new job and going back to my previous work.. Things are good now.. But I worry I will never be able to move on to a new career..

Bluey_moon Intrusive thoughts and anxiety
  • replies: 7

Hi I have recently been diagnosed with GAD and obsessive thoughts. I also have a paranoia i,m developing scizophrenia. Lately my intrusive thoughts have been more like a voice (my voice). Like i'll my son i love him and suddenly i hear a thought, do ... View more

Hi I have recently been diagnosed with GAD and obsessive thoughts. I also have a paranoia i,m developing scizophrenia. Lately my intrusive thoughts have been more like a voice (my voice). Like i'll my son i love him and suddenly i hear a thought, do you really, very clearly, like a voice, but my voice ( i think but i self doubt a lot). Or i'll be playing with my kids and i'll hear myself say, "you wont be doing that when you dead", but i dont say it out loud only in my head. Is this normal, i have told my GP and a phyciatrist, but they think its just my thoughts? I'm so confused.

greeneyes91 Anxiety Symptoms are ruining my life
  • replies: 5

Hi guys. I am new to this site, to be honest I am all out of options and I guess wanted some tips from people going through the same thing. I have been severely ill now for nearly 3 years, struggling from ibs, sinus, constant stomach bugs and colds a... View more

Hi guys. I am new to this site, to be honest I am all out of options and I guess wanted some tips from people going through the same thing. I have been severely ill now for nearly 3 years, struggling from ibs, sinus, constant stomach bugs and colds and always feeling tired. I've had every test under the sun (even had my appendix removed) to try find out what is wrong, it so hard to believe that anxiety is causing all of this. I don't honestly remember a day where I didn't feel sick or light headed. I've missed so many days from work im worried I will lose my job. Im wondering if it is worth going down the road of medication? I have tried everything- except for medication. Ive done meditation, yoga, breathing courses, cbt, counselling, relaxation massage and nothing seems to help my symptoms. I am hoping someone will read this and understand how much this is ruining my life and all of my relationships in it as I never go out anymore, I am always sick and only 24 years old. Any help would be greatly appreciated

One_Day_A_Millionaire Waste Of Space. Wasting My Dreams.
  • replies: 3

I've had enough and reached rock bottom or a dead end with nowhere else to go. Some days I feel like screaming. I feel I'm a waste of space and wasting my abilities. The thing is I'm bipolar and have anxiety that goes with it which I accept as everyo... View more

I've had enough and reached rock bottom or a dead end with nowhere else to go. Some days I feel like screaming. I feel I'm a waste of space and wasting my abilities. The thing is I'm bipolar and have anxiety that goes with it which I accept as everyone has a health related issue of some sort. I deal with it and get on with life but my dreams are very important to me. I want to do my HSC next year and then University and eventually start writing for publication even just for a magazine or something small. The thing is I can't concentrate unless on my own ( which I've tried to overcome but can't ) and I live in a small house with three adult family members and I try every thing to concentrate but nothing works while they watch Tele etc. I blew so much money in my early years and I have severe debts and can't save for years because it will be years before I get a pay that I can actually save. So there goes my chance of getting bond saved and a chance of getting my own personal space. I work full time which makes matters worse because not only does it give me hardly any time for study and that we are all home at night together which still gives me no space. I know some people will say I'm procrastinating but I just need to know how to concentrate with all the distraction. I am now 38 and my dreams will slip me by and I will die unhappy if I don't act now. How do people concentrate while reading in a doctors surgery I will never know. I want to beat the problem but don't know how. Tonight I had the lounge room to myself and started reading a good book then when Dad came home I got so frustrated and depressed because I had to stop. Then I get really irritable and annoyed because all I want is my own place but due to mistakes I made from my teenage years on with booking up so many debts I'm stuck in this rut thinking I've messed up my life big time. I get one shot at this life and my dreams will not come true and I will be buried a very sad soul if I don't work out how to beat the problem. As nearly all of us know once you make a financial mistake with a bank they won't give you a second chance. I started a small free writing course three weeks ago and as per usual I'm so far behind. To be honest I get so far behind in courses etc due to always needing my own personal space it gets me anxious and irratible. I'm so worried my dreams won't come true if I don't work out how to beat this. I'm anxious, irratible and very scared. I just want to succeed

Quivz What to do in the meantime?
  • replies: 2

I have been in therapy for severe anxiety for about a year and a half now. I have yet to perceive any improvement. I understand it may take a very long time to see any, but that raises the problem of what to do now. I am unable to maintain any sort o... View more

I have been in therapy for severe anxiety for about a year and a half now. I have yet to perceive any improvement. I understand it may take a very long time to see any, but that raises the problem of what to do now. I am unable to maintain any sort of work, but after assessment by centrelink i don't qualify for disability. Therefore i had to go on newstart (which is for job seekers), but i struggle to meet those requirements as they mostly involve activities which induce my anxiety, not to mention the ever present threat of succeeding in getting a job which i am unable to do, which will cause me to quit or get fired, which will disqualify me from newstart. And if it is a really long haul for me through treatment, how am i supposed to live. Will i just have to come to terms with being broke and dependent on others for food and shelter through the best years of my life? I've tried to find ways to make money from home, but haven't been able to make a cent. What do other people do? Is there some solution i've overlooked.

hope2015 where to start from??
  • replies: 9

seriously have no idea where to begin. i have had anxiety for majority of my life, and it has gradually gotten worse. ive gone from being able to control it, (and actually leave the house like a normal person) to now most days not wanting to leave th... View more

seriously have no idea where to begin. i have had anxiety for majority of my life, and it has gradually gotten worse. ive gone from being able to control it, (and actually leave the house like a normal person) to now most days not wanting to leave the house, and if i do need to leave the house i will have anxiety. I believe that my husband doesnt help the situation. i have a 8 month old bub, i have noticed more so that since having bub ive been home and not wanting to leave the house unless i need to go an see the gp for either bub or myself. I have since seen my gp who i had a pretty good chat with and dr has prescribed medication for me. i have 2 types, both of which have side effects and upon reading the side effects of both i gave myself an anxiety attack. i feel trapped sometimes. DH attempts to be supportive but also puts me down when arguing which doesnt help me on my end, if he is with me while im having a panic attack he does this frustration Huff and puff at me and anxiety goes through the roof... I dont know what to do, i have seen a psychologist in the past. ive tried breathing techniques, meditation gives me anxiety. (when i get anxiety- my heart feels like its going to jump out of my chest, i cant think straight, i get sweaty, shortness of breath, the occasional vomit, but i always have a bowel movement can be up to 8times a day *sorry for the TMI*) i know i need help, just dont know where to start. i feel overwhelmed. this post probably doesnt make sense.

Stillflying Intentional panic attacks?
  • replies: 4

I haven't been able to find anyone who seems to share this "issue" that I have so I thought I'd ask here. I had some work related stress and anxiety which lead to panic attacks at work. Through seeing my GP and a temporary regime of medication and a ... View more

I haven't been able to find anyone who seems to share this "issue" that I have so I thought I'd ask here. I had some work related stress and anxiety which lead to panic attacks at work. Through seeing my GP and a temporary regime of medication and a psychologist, I was able to not only learn to deal with the panic attacks, but recognize what small ticks could trigger them and in time the panic attacks stopped. Now a year later I find myself at a weird point where panic attacks sort of bubble on the surface, I recognize them and intentionally "pop" them for what I could only describe as some sort of endorphins rush. I don't have to do that but I can't seem to stop myself intentionally do it. Its not distressing me but I cant help but feel it's a bad habit and going to keep the panic attacks sort of bubbling on the edge there. Has anyone had any experience with this?