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. 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

Guest7765 anxiety help
  • replies: 2

Hello guys well for the last like 2 year I have had anxiety and panic attacks. Now centrelink apparently won't accept any more medical exemption certificates because apparently they only accept so many before you are required to look for work or stud... View more

Hello guys well for the last like 2 year I have had anxiety and panic attacks. Now centrelink apparently won't accept any more medical exemption certificates because apparently they only accept so many before you are required to look for work or study. There is no way I am fit to work or study, i even tried doing this Civil construction course that they forced me to do but my anxiety started getting bad and i stopped. What can I do? M

Elaja25 My anxiety attacks me again/ why my anxiety always come back
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Hi everyone this is my 2nd post yeah my anxiety attacks me again last night that causes me lack of sleep i think i only had a couple of hours of sleep thats why i feel im not in good mood the negative thoughts overwhelm me again been good for the pas... View more

Hi everyone this is my 2nd post yeah my anxiety attacks me again last night that causes me lack of sleep i think i only had a couple of hours of sleep thats why i feel im not in good mood the negative thoughts overwhelm me again been good for the past day i already didnt take my sleeping tablet at night until yesterday i feel something again on my body (health issue) first i have hyphertension for almost 7 years now and i only 35 years old when we move to a new house i have medication taking for over 3 years now ,thats the only medication that my suite me but i run out of prescription so to make short i look for a new gp to look after me just to continue my old medication but this new gp change my prescription to a new one he gave me 3 different tablets that didnt suite my blood pressure and now my anxiety start to come back again and yesterday i felt something wrong again to me every time i pee theres a painful feeling and the to make short again everytime theres a health issue to my self my anxiety come backs .althought i tried to fight it by doing something useful and avoid thinking too much and make myself productive. But why my anxiety always come back? Do you guys ask this too?

MaryD Social anxiety sux
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I have social anxiety. My biggest fears are talking to people, visiting family and friends, eye contact, embarrassing myself, seeing myself in a mirror, hearing my voice on a recording and the list goes on... I am a married mum of two beautiful kids.... View more

I have social anxiety. My biggest fears are talking to people, visiting family and friends, eye contact, embarrassing myself, seeing myself in a mirror, hearing my voice on a recording and the list goes on... I am a married mum of two beautiful kids. My husband is wonderful but has little understanding of my illness. None of my family or friends know what I go through. My anxiety is so bad i can't even make myself call the counsellor to book the appointment. I worry about EVERYTHING.... my health, my kids safety, my husband's health and safety, the future, the past, mistakes I made yesterday, mistakes i made five years ago, something I said to a check out chick at the shops last year, how I look, how I sound, how others see me ......... Basically it's a struggle to get up, run the household, put the smile on and pretend I am a good person. My kids keep me going.... but then I worry that once they grow up and move on then I will fall apart

Chicken_Wings Head zaps, memory & reading
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Hi Everyone, Was wondering if anyone else has issues with their memory, brain zaps and reading when they are feeling anxious? I feel like I forget how to spell, or forget things I should know. Sometimes I'll be reading and read the sentence wrong, or... View more

Hi Everyone, Was wondering if anyone else has issues with their memory, brain zaps and reading when they are feeling anxious? I feel like I forget how to spell, or forget things I should know. Sometimes I'll be reading and read the sentence wrong, or be reading and have to read it again cause I didn't understand what it said. I also have sort of light headed, dizzy spells. Today for example I am tired, and I feel like I'm not reading well and I have a tense feeling in my head. These symptoms appear when I'm tired and then they make me anxious and so the symptoms get worse. I was wondering if this happens to other people too (it would be really reassuring if it did!).

Sally101 Sleep anxiety - please help!
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Hi there, I suffer from severe sleep anxiety. It reared its head last May out of the blue - causing a month or so of chronic anxiety, a bit of depression and hopelessness. I felt like I would feel like it forever. I ended up going on antidepressants ... View more

Hi there, I suffer from severe sleep anxiety. It reared its head last May out of the blue - causing a month or so of chronic anxiety, a bit of depression and hopelessness. I felt like I would feel like it forever. I ended up going on antidepressants which immediately helped and had sound sleeps and manageable anxiety for the next 7 months. In December I came off them but instantly became anxious with no sleep again, going back on the same ones didn't help and am now on another but it hasn't had the same effect. I may sleep well for 3 nights then have 5 terrible nights and my anxiety during the day consumes me. I've tried meditation work shops, yoga, I've been seeing a sleep psychologist for the last 7 months but nothing seems to be helping. Sleeping pills are the only things that get me to sleep on bad nights but they seem to make me just as anxious as having no sleep. I'm at my wits end, it's really interfering with work and my day to day anxiety is incontrollable - any advice possibly would be greatly appreciated

Adrian2014 Anxiety and drinking alcohol
  • replies: 41

Hi all, I have been having a hard time recently with anxiety and it has started to affect my daily life. I first suffered anxiety when I was around 24, I am now 30. It was after a fairly big life event, I was diagnosed with cancer although it was cau... View more

Hi all, I have been having a hard time recently with anxiety and it has started to affect my daily life. I first suffered anxiety when I was around 24, I am now 30. It was after a fairly big life event, I was diagnosed with cancer although it was caught very early and I made a full recovery I had never really suffered from anxiety until after this, so I wonder if it was a trigger. I ended up taking CBT and it seemed to help and I got over it by changing jobs and doing something like stressful. Anyway, I then emigrated to Australia from the UK and have been fine, until recently. I have never really been able to handle hangovers and often engage in 'hair of the dog' to quell my anxiety. The last two weeks though it's got pretty bad, I didn't go to work for 3 days as I couldn't leave the house to go to work. I'd end up drinking from 9am which makes me feel better temporarily. I went to the GP who prescribed me some medication, i took it for the first day but i felt horrible on it. I resolved to myself that I would try to get better naturally by eating well and exercising etc. So last week was really good, however I then ended up getting really drunk on friday, felt awful on saturday so drank all day. Then sunday was the same. It's now Tuesday and I haven't been to work as i'm stuck in a bad cycle. The thought of going to work in the morning feels me with dread. I obviously can't keep on like this as I will lose my job if I keep taking days off. I know the alcohol is the root of the problems, I need to really moderate it and then I will be ok. Hopefully I can wean myself off today and get a good night sleep. Has anyone else been caught up in this self medicating with alcohol situation? I honestly don't think I am an alcoholic as I don't crave a drink when my anxiety is absent. It's just when it strikes, normally due to alcohol withdrawal I end up drinking again to make me feel better. I have hardly been eating the last few days and I have knots in my stomach. I woke up with terrible anxiety at like 4am and had to stop myself from reaching for some alcohol. I just don't now what's causing it. Anyway this is a good site! RELATED THREADS Anxiety after night out drinking? Drinking anxiety Anxiety and alcohol equals despair Anxiety, depression and alcohol

Jiminy_Clickit Anxious, Alone and Depressed...Hi, I'm new here.
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Hi all. I have just visited this site for the first time today after a recommendation from a friend. I’ve been having a terrible time recently, with what I suspect is both Anxiety and Depression. Reading information on this site, I have symptoms of b... View more

Hi all. I have just visited this site for the first time today after a recommendation from a friend. I’ve been having a terrible time recently, with what I suspect is both Anxiety and Depression. Reading information on this site, I have symptoms of both, and I am going to see a GP tomorrow. I’m 28, and have been feeling down for many years, albeit at a manageable level. Apart from trouble sleeping, I’ve never had many friends and absolutely no luck with girls - the biggest thing that I regularly feel depressed and think about at night time. Most wouldn’t know I suffer like this - I manage to put on a smile at work and at the few social events I go to. I go to the gym a few times a week, enjoy outdoor activities, and travel regularly. Recently it has all become a bit too much. A new store manager at work, who is perhaps unqualified for the job, has made my work unbearable. There is a lot of extra workload on myself and the other assistant manager that wasn’t there previously, and some of his other habits are causing a lot of stress in the workplace - not just for myself and the other assistant, but all of the staff. I now dread going to work each morning, and sometimes physically feel like I want to vomit on the way. In contrast to this, but another cause of anxiety and insomnia, is the new girl at work. I fell for her the minute she said Hi, in a way I’ve never fallen for anyone before. Normally too shy to approach any girl for a date due to nothing but rejection in the past, I asked her out within a week. She said she's just come out of a serious relationship, and isn’t in the headspace for dating. It’s been two months now, her exams are over (causing her a lot of stress) and now all I think about is how and what I should do with her outside of work to win her heart. I’ve read through a bunch of posts in this forum and nearly all of them mention how lucky they were to have a supportive partner, or that they felt they were pushing one away. It seems almost impossible to start a new relationship with these struggles. We get along great though, and she does seem interested in spending time together - which terrifies me. Hanging out alone with the most amazing girl I’ve met in 28 years and not knowing if she’s emotionally available yet or not keeps me awake. I think having someone in my life with a positive attitude and a big smile who makes me feel wanted would help a lot - it’s something I’ve never had before, and we all deserve to be loved don’t we?

Scotchfinger Have you forgiven yourself?
  • replies: 75

There are things I find hard to even admit to myself, let alone tell a bunch of strangers on a forum. Not jailable offences but still things I am in no way proud of. I think for some of us, guilt is like a chronic disease. it erodes our soul. It make... View more

There are things I find hard to even admit to myself, let alone tell a bunch of strangers on a forum. Not jailable offences but still things I am in no way proud of. I think for some of us, guilt is like a chronic disease. it erodes our soul. It makes us think we need to keep suffering in order to pay for our sins. And it affects our relations with people in a negative way. So I can't just say I've been a victim in life because I've also been one who has caused others pain and anguish. I don't need to hear your sins, just the fact that you continue to suffer guilt like me.

Tilly72 I hate anxiety
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Hi, I'm not one to talk about my anxitey as I've always managed it on my own, but 4 months ago I was weened off my antidepressants and I'm in a good place, but this anxitey is horrid.....I'm always feeling ill, tight chest, loss of appetite .....it's... View more

Hi, I'm not one to talk about my anxitey as I've always managed it on my own, but 4 months ago I was weened off my antidepressants and I'm in a good place, but this anxitey is horrid.....I'm always feeling ill, tight chest, loss of appetite .....it's like I'm breathing it through all day....I wish it would stop as I hate being controlled...I don't want to go back on tablets as it was the most horrid process getting off them, in fact I'm sure I still have side affects for them....ahhhhh don't even know why I'm here and saying all this.....just my Dr keeps saying I will be fine, it's just your anxiety, so now I just won't go see him....so I suppose I'm here to remind myself I'm not alone.....ok sorry for not making any sense

Whycantlifebesimple Feeling so fed up right now 😢
  • replies: 11

Im a bubbly nothing makes me sad care free kinda gal on the outside..... but ive managed to fool everyone. Im 35 and i use to cry every night up until mid last year. I have never told anyone that a friend of my parents abused me when i was 11yrs old.... View more

Im a bubbly nothing makes me sad care free kinda gal on the outside..... but ive managed to fool everyone. Im 35 and i use to cry every night up until mid last year. I have never told anyone that a friend of my parents abused me when i was 11yrs old. I cant stand the word molest. It makes me physically sick and i think my defence mechanism deleted that word for me throughout my younger years to help me cope in life. I get so nervous/anxious when i have to leave my house and front people. Its like i fight myself everyday. I also feel like a manipulator because inside i feel so small and broken but because i "force" myself to be social, my friends and family say im the life of the party. In saying so im not pretty at all but i think its because im funny is the reason they think that. People also come to me with their problems and i never tell them what they should do but i "advise" them. My thinking is they came to me for a reason so i should give them a reason why they did. I never compare my problems to anyones because big or small its a problem for the individual. I dont want people to think im easy to push around. Just lately ive been feeling really down. All i need is someone to appreciate me. I started going to church and every sunday i use to cry coz the sermons seemed as if it was aimed at me. Mind you i was not a believer. I realised when i finally forgave this man for what he did i then forgave myself for holding on to it for so long (it might not sound reasonable to some)but i never cried at night over it since mid yr last year. Mind you i cry when things get too much but i have a high high tolerance for things. I just needed to vent and i even feel bad for venting on here coz i dont want to burden anyone.