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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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Corey anyone feeling the same?
  • replies: 3

hey all new to here im a 20yr old male been dealing with anxiety and panic disorder since i was 14 i left school at year 9 because i could deal with it anymore after i managed it a bit better i went to tafe and did my yr 10. i got on a good medicatio... View more

hey all new to here im a 20yr old male been dealing with anxiety and panic disorder since i was 14 i left school at year 9 because i could deal with it anymore after i managed it a bit better i went to tafe and did my yr 10. i got on a good medication that seemed to help alot and things were looking great then the girlfriend i was with died of a heart condition at 16 which really threw me down again, i started feeling alot severe anxiety and developed depersonalization and derealization, i still dont know how to deal with the ex girlfriends death and it and its been a 4 or so years now and im with another girl who has supported me threw everything and makes me very happy but this anxiety crap is really affecting our relationship, i cant work, i cant go out of the house and if i do i find it really hard to drive and i grew up restoring cars its my passion and i loved driving before things got really bad but now i just cant do it and if i try to drive someone from my family has to come with me i have been threw all this before and have overcome all this before and seen many health professionals and i know it cant hurt me but still its a automatic thing that just happens, i feel unreal and spaced out like im not connected to the world around me almost invisible in a way and when i do leave home i feel uneasy and insecure like im in a foreign place full of fear and dread even tho ive been there many times before, then the panic sets in ect. i get obbsessive thorts and unwanted thorts and like i will do somethign thats completely out of character ect. and i have a bit of OCD with touching things a certain number or times it is servre and i really try to avoid it, all of it is really affecting my life and i just want to be my old self again and not be a burden to everyone, i know that when im not thinking of it i feel 100% normal and i know i need to break the automatic response and change it to a more pleasant response, i know alot about anxiety and why it happens and what happens inside the brain and body and i probaly could help alot of people on here but all im asking is a bit of reassurance that all this is anxiety? i plan on using my strategies alot more like mindfulness and relaxation do plenty of exercise and quit smoking cigarettes and no i have never taken any drugs apart from my anxiety medication and cigarettes which are bad enough and i dont drink due to my anxiety im afraid of how i will be if i did drink plus alcohol dosnt mix well with the meds im on, i also plan to change my diet ect. i really want to dig deep and get control and live comfortably even if my anxiety is still there i just want to live at peace with it all. any help would be great thanks

Jeenie64 Never had Anxiety before not handling well...
  • replies: 4

Hi everyone. I have developed anxiety due to having eardrums operated on. Went pretty much deaf in an instant and within days drove me over the edge with panic attacks and lack of sleep. In a week I was put on medication to sleep. Tried anti depressi... View more

Hi everyone. I have developed anxiety due to having eardrums operated on. Went pretty much deaf in an instant and within days drove me over the edge with panic attacks and lack of sleep. In a week I was put on medication to sleep. Tried anti depression tablets for only 3 days and came off those due to excessive shaking and made me feel worse. I then went on a Herbal remedy which within a week it quietened me down. Haven't really had a panic attack since I started this 9 days ago. My hearing is slowly coming back but I am still dealing with anxiety. I am usually a fit healthy athlete and go to gym everyday. This has changed my life since operation on 11th Sept a month ago. Just want my old life back.

Baileigh I need help with anxiety. It seems to have gotten a lot worse very fast.
  • replies: 5

I am 17 now but I have had anxiety for as long as I can remember. Only recently though, have I realised that all those feelings were actually anxiety. I also suffer from hypochondria so I tend to blow things out of proportion and so I am not really s... View more

I am 17 now but I have had anxiety for as long as I can remember. Only recently though, have I realised that all those feelings were actually anxiety. I also suffer from hypochondria so I tend to blow things out of proportion and so I am not really sure if by doing that I am making my anxiety worse. In this past year I have felt that my anxiety has gotten a lot worse, and that I have developed a sort of mild depression. I mean that it is there, however the thing that gets to me the most is my anxiety. I can remember a few years ago going to friend’s houses and going to the movies and parties and now I can hardly leave the house. I have always been prone to getting homesick when sleeping at friend’s houses, however now I can’t even go over there just for the day. I get extremely overwhelmed at parties and now have completely stopped going. I went to one around this time last year. I was very anxious to go but because it was for one of my best friend’s birthdays I went. While I was there I just broke down crying and had to go home. I now find it hard to leave the house for anything other than school and work, though during this year I look off a lot of days because I couldn’t bring myself to go. I have, what seems like an endless list of symptoms, physical, mental and emotional and I find it hard most of the time to deal with them. I know mental illness doesn’t make you less of a person, but sometimes, when my anxiety is at a high peak it can be hard to believe. The worsening of my symptoms is extremely affecting my social life. I spend a lot of time in my room, I can’t have friends over, if people are over at my house, (people other than my family) I feel very overwhelmed and I feel like I am suffocating. I can’t talk to teachers at school and so I am not doing as well as I can at school and this is worrying me a lot as I am in year 12 next year and I want to do well. In addition to my anxiety making me feel crap about myself it is worsened because my friends don’t really understand that I can’t help the feelings I have, and so when I have a panic attack and have to cancel plans at the last minute they get upset which makes me feel worse about myself. I am on anti-depressants now and have been on them for about 5-6 months, though I don’t know if they are working that well. I want to try and overcome my anxiety, especially my social anxiety because it is the one that is affecting me the most, though I find it hard to because 95% of my anxiety and panic attacks have totally know cause and so it is hard to try and calm myself down. I have mum there to help me, and it is good because she knows how hard it can be as she suffers from anxiety and depression herself, however I find it very hard to talk to her sometimes. I am starting counselling at school next year though I am extremely nervous to do this because I can’t talk to people. What I really want to know is if there is anyone who knows and good tricks or things for me to do in order to calm down my nerves, especially when there is absolutely no reason for my panic attacks. Thank you, Baileigh.

Myfanwy Anyone have health anxiety ?
  • replies: 4

Does anyone on here have health anxiety ? How do you deal with it ? How do you differentiate what is just anxiety and what is a real illness ? I've been worrying about a heart attack for a couple of months (since I noticed my bp at the GPs surgery wa... View more

Does anyone on here have health anxiety ? How do you deal with it ? How do you differentiate what is just anxiety and what is a real illness ? I've been worrying about a heart attack for a couple of months (since I noticed my bp at the GPs surgery was 182 over 127 and the GP said nothing to me about it being so high). I am on blood pressure medication. I woke up this morning with pains in the left breast which has never happened before. I am not sure whether to go to the GP today or wait until my appointment on Monday.

Danni Please tell me i'm not alone
  • replies: 5

I am doing the bare minimum to scrape through in school. I hate having to go to sleep because that's when I think the most. I feel like a burden to anyone to has to put up with me. I only like going out when I drink because that's the only thing that... View more

I am doing the bare minimum to scrape through in school. I hate having to go to sleep because that's when I think the most. I feel like a burden to anyone to has to put up with me. I only like going out when I drink because that's the only thing that helps the insane anxiety, the terrified doomed feeling I get when I'm in public. I get really depressed a lot. I am sensitive and small thing effect me way too much. I feel guilty for feeling this way because I know how much better off I am than so many people out there suffering much worse than I am. I just feel worthless, pointless, insignificant and alone. I think I wrote all this cause I just wanted to be able to talk to someone about it. I don't talk to anyone and that's probably half my problem. I just wanted to get this off my chest. As well as let anyone know who might be reading this that I am here if anyone wants to talk to me. I'm not sure how this site works yet but if you just want to talk to someone and you find a way to contact me I will do anything I can to help.

anxiousguy Anxiety/OCD or am I just going crazy?
  • replies: 2

I have generalised anxiety disorder with obsessive compulsive features. I want to enlighten the beyond blue members about something that has caused me a tremendous amount of anxiety and internal stress this year. Back in April my father painted the k... View more

I have generalised anxiety disorder with obsessive compulsive features. I want to enlighten the beyond blue members about something that has caused me a tremendous amount of anxiety and internal stress this year. Back in April my father painted the kitchen door about midday. About dinner time that night approximately 6pm my cat brushed against the newly painted door and then brushed against my lower leg/feet. I immediately took off my pants and socks and threw them on the ground and got changed. A few days later I checked the socks and pants for paint stains to which I saw no paint stains. Still, I threw out my pants but I kept my socks and put them through the washing machine with other clothes items. I then checked these washed clothes items for paint stains for which there were none. Ever since this I have these images that paint is now on all my clothes that have gone through the washing machine. This is completely irrational thinking but no matter how much I tell myself this these thoughts still plague me. There is this snowballing worrying that I now have to replace all my clothes and it is just really irrational and non sensical. I am currently seeing a psychologist about anxiety (with obsessive compulsive features) but do people think I am maybe starting to go crazy because I sure feel like it. This silly worrying about paint is crazy, I mean surely people put dry paint splattered clothing articles through the washing machine and the paint doesn't budge let alone turn into wet paint affecting the other clothes. So I just don't know what's going on with my brain now. Am I turning delusional or crazy or is this just one of the reasons I am currently getting professional help via medication and counselling for anxiety/OCD?

rosiee_ Needing Answers
  • replies: 2

I know I have a problem and it's been coming and going for a few years now.I went to my local GP and finally went and saw someone. She made me feel stupid as i couldn't answer her questions like what causes you to feel this way what are you doing whe... View more

I know I have a problem and it's been coming and going for a few years now.I went to my local GP and finally went and saw someone. She made me feel stupid as i couldn't answer her questions like what causes you to feel this way what are you doing when you get these feelings and most of the time honestly nothing.I have not been able to pin point what causes these feelings I could be watching my favorite tv show and I could get a hot cold flush, feelings like I'm dizzy and my heart skips a beat and its just horrible.I find myself being so emotional over everything and I cry a lot over the littlest things.She has put me off going to see someone else, I dont want to go on any medication I want to treat myself naturally and I dont think I can afford $120+ an hour.Ive come to the point where im stuck I dont know what to do and Im just over feeling this way its taking it out of me and I constantly feel nervous and sick.I just want this dark period in my life to end.

Blondyroses Social Anxiety???
  • replies: 4

I have been diagnosed with general anxiety disorder, PTSD, mild depression, mild OCD. I have had this all my life ( I am 54-female) but only diagnosed around 42. Psychiatrist at 53. I have been on medication since 42. I am happily and blissfully marr... View more

I have been diagnosed with general anxiety disorder, PTSD, mild depression, mild OCD. I have had this all my life ( I am 54-female) but only diagnosed around 42. Psychiatrist at 53. I have been on medication since 42. I am happily and blissfully married to my soulmate for 18yrs. What I am finding now (in the past 7? Yrs), is that if I go out without my husband I have a panic attack and severe anxiety and I have to escape the situation immediately. I can say yes, quite happily when invited to go out, but after that I just don't want to go. I always set a time limit on where we go as I feel trapped (or in case I do). If we don't leave immediately I become very distressed and I just leave. Is this social anxiety?? I also prefer small group settings or not go at all. I can only go to local shops by myself but if husband is home, I prefer him to come to. It's like I feel that if I am out without him, that it's not right or doesn't feel right? I can't really describe what I feel as I just know panic sets in. Is it because things are out of my control if I go out with friends? Not sure. Does anyone else have these feelings?

tanhal1 Help
  • replies: 4

Last five weeks my anxiety has peaked. Just carrying this sickness in my belly and sting in my eyes everyday. So sick with anxiousness. It's starting to effect my ability to function. Actually threw up this morning because of the sick feeling. Please... View more

Last five weeks my anxiety has peaked. Just carrying this sickness in my belly and sting in my eyes everyday. So sick with anxiousness. It's starting to effect my ability to function. Actually threw up this morning because of the sick feeling. Please, I need advise.

Bluebird84 Is it anxiety?
  • replies: 1

Every now and then it feels like my heart is in my throat, I can feel my heart beat very strong, it takes my breath away and I need to remind myself to breath. I don't panic or anything, but it's starting to worry me. Is this anxiety or maybe a heart... View more

Every now and then it feels like my heart is in my throat, I can feel my heart beat very strong, it takes my breath away and I need to remind myself to breath. I don't panic or anything, but it's starting to worry me. Is this anxiety or maybe a heart issue?