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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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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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Shell4444 My life has gone temporarily haywire
  • replies: 2

Hi all,many things have happened to me over the past couple of years - loss of job I loved which led to a job I hated, death of a friend whom I was the only executor, listed as next of kin and her general dogsbody then facing having a much delayed kn... View more

Hi all,many things have happened to me over the past couple of years - loss of job I loved which led to a job I hated, death of a friend whom I was the only executor, listed as next of kin and her general dogsbody then facing having a much delayed knee replacement. When i was about to return to work my back started to play up and now the ceo of the organisation has decided I am not capable of driving a work vehicle even though i have clearance from 3 doctors and she has never met me. I have sailed through everything except now the ceo's actions have been the icing on the cake and have eroded my confidence to such a state I have started with anxiety attacks and today had a panic attack waiting in the doctors rooms. I thought I was going to keel over and my heart was racing so hard he gave me an ecg. How does everyone else cope in these situations. I want to resign from work, I've gone from 40+ hours per week to 7.5 hours per week, I was cutting down hours and starting work back in a job I really enjoyed but not to 7.5 hours. I am feeling like they dont think I can carry out the job anymore and this I find devastating. My husband is very supportive and does not want me to resign because he does not want me home dwelling on what is going on. I have written a "diary" to get a lot of this stuff out of my head. My doctor has started me on medication and he at long last realises what I am going through and wants to see me later in the week to discuss anxiety medication. I am also seeing a psychologist. I would really like to know I am not going mad and that I will get past this, at the moment I would like to find a nice safe place and hide for a while.thankyou,Michelle

Kgf Help! I need to justify a big life decision taken in the middle of major anxiety.
  • replies: 4

We need to move house as our landlord is developing. We were rejected for one house and I went into a tailspin. I immediately dropped our distance criterion and started looking in other suburbs out of fear of being homeless. We have just signed the l... View more

We need to move house as our landlord is developing. We were rejected for one house and I went into a tailspin. I immediately dropped our distance criterion and started looking in other suburbs out of fear of being homeless. We have just signed the lease on a property that is 15 mins drive from our daughters school and further to my husbands work. My husband agreed to it I think just to stop me being anxious. Unfortunately I am now having constant panic attacks and crying in front of the children. It is a lovely house but so far away. We are not from sydney and know nothing of the area we are moving to. My husband is away all weekend and I have no other support. Yearly to six monthly moves and social anxiety keep me mostly at home. I am experiencing waves of fear that are uncontrollable. I need reassurance please.

viper57 panic attack
  • replies: 2

Hi last week my son and partner came to visit me for a few days I was fine until they went home on sunday did cry a lot though last night they were on skype soon after I had a big panic attack ended up at hospital today I feel so down and crying hope... View more

Hi last week my son and partner came to visit me for a few days I was fine until they went home on sunday did cry a lot though last night they were on skype soon after I had a big panic attack ended up at hospital today I feel so down and crying hope this isnt going yo happen all the time need some help

DJ_4x4 I dont know how to help my slef
  • replies: 8

All my life i have never asked for anyone's help but now i need to do something about my life. Please help me. All my life I have suffered form high levels of depression, stress and anxiety. At the age of 14 i was so down on life i needed to do somet... View more

All my life i have never asked for anyone's help but now i need to do something about my life. Please help me. All my life I have suffered form high levels of depression, stress and anxiety. At the age of 14 i was so down on life i needed to do something to change it. I felt like ending my life. Thank god i decided to stay that is something i will never do again as long as i live. But in deciding the stay i choose to live with myself and hide my feelings and problems away from the world to see. Now i am a 32 year old man living in a world that i made for myself. No one knows who i really am not family nor my closets friends.i have never asked of help from anyone in all my time nor have i said anything about my problems before today. My friends know me as the guy that will just disappear from time to time. When I have a large break down or anxiety attack the only thing i know to do is to leave the situation. But have never tolled them why. Sometimes i feel like a ghost just warking around observing the world go by. No one see me who I am or the world that i live in. I am so very quiet. So much so i can go for days without speaking a word. I suffer from large and small anxiety attacks on a regular bace.just typing this is so hard for me right now. I am now at a point once again in my life that I need to change. i don't really know what to do with myself i just know i can't go on livening like this. I know i need some kind of help but can't talk to anyone about it. I fear if i did i would be locked up in a mantel home or put on meds and lose what ever sanity i have left. Sometimes i think about just sell up all i have and moving into the wild away from people altogether . I am now 32 but i still feel like that 14 year old boy trying to decide what to do.

fifi :( major anxiety attack
  • replies: 4

so hard to breath cant work out if i want to cry or vomit or just sit under my desk and rock so over the ups and downs . I felt fine this morning but bam i find out my husband has his last day of work today and now i am in a mess . he is such a good ... View more

so hard to breath cant work out if i want to cry or vomit or just sit under my desk and rock so over the ups and downs . I felt fine this morning but bam i find out my husband has his last day of work today and now i am in a mess . he is such a good man and works his butt off but still cannot find any workobviously that causes all sorts of problems for us as his self esteem has been this year was supposed to be our year and it has turrned into the worst year of my/ our life just dont know what to do any more so sick of constantly having to fight so hard just to live surely it was never meant to be this hard not that i expect to breeze through without a problem in the world but a slightly easier road would be great to find if only for a little while . sorry if this post seems vauge and if it does not make sense am finding it hard to type through the flood of tears is appearing to be troublesome

krack01 Help! anxiety and relationships
  • replies: 1

Hi everyoneI have a tough situation with my partner for 5 years and I need some understanding.My partner suffers from anxiety, she has had this diagnosed and has been on medication before. She was told that she was a rare case where her anxiety level... View more

Hi everyoneI have a tough situation with my partner for 5 years and I need some understanding.My partner suffers from anxiety, she has had this diagnosed and has been on medication before. She was told that she was a rare case where her anxiety levels were off the charts but her depression levels were very low. She came off medication after a few months as she didn't like the way she felt and suspected she still wasn't happy with her life but couldn't truly feel that as it was being masked by medication.She is a long term marijuana smoker since her very early teens and now uses that as part of self medicating for anxiety. It's worth noting I don't smoke and her smoking has led to a few minor issues.Since having our child 2 years ago our relationship has been patchy, We have both made mistakes but not those uncommon to many relationships. I feel I have been very patient and forgiving with her, while I don't feel I've been afforded the same luxury.Recently her anxiety has snuck in to our relationship. Our bickering over small things has made her fearful of even the smallest argument. This I believe has led her to start to become anxious about me calling, messing and coming home. That in turn has made her anxious about whether our relationship is right for her and now we are in a vicious circle. She says she loves me but doesn't know if she is 'in love' with me.Continued

Marnz Is it possible I have social anxiety?
  • replies: 5

Hey guys, Im 21 and always been a very introverted and shy person. I've never been very good at socializing in large groups of people but in the last year it's gotten worse. I've been introduced to a lot of new people in the last year as I got a boyf... View more

Hey guys, Im 21 and always been a very introverted and shy person. I've never been very good at socializing in large groups of people but in the last year it's gotten worse. I've been introduced to a lot of new people in the last year as I got a boyfriend with a very large family that I'm not use too as I grew up with just mum and dad, and I knew that would be hard for me to adjust to anyway. But I find that whenever I am told of an event with them or an event with anyone who I havnt been friends with for along time I get filled with fear. I feel anxious and sick and I just want to avoid going at all. If I can't avoid going I get even more terrified and sit there the whole time with my mind racing about what they might be thinking of me. I like the people there, I just can't get any words out. It's making me really hate myself because I don't know what to do and I think they think I am rude and don't want to talk to them but that's not the case at all. I just physically feel so overwhelmed with fear I can't get any words out and I don't know what to do...

Jainist Chest pains and severe anxiety
  • replies: 6

Hi all, I'm 40, married and a mum of 2. To keep it simple, I have suffered panic attacks since I was 18. Spent most of my twenties with few episodes. Thirties, a few episodes of depression/anxiety and panic. I turned 40 this year and my anxiety has n... View more

Hi all, I'm 40, married and a mum of 2. To keep it simple, I have suffered panic attacks since I was 18. Spent most of my twenties with few episodes. Thirties, a few episodes of depression/anxiety and panic. I turned 40 this year and my anxiety has never been worse. I am currently experiencing chest pains. It feels like my chest muscles and upper back are torn and sore. My heart has been racing for days, sometimes out of control. I have been walking, breathing, stretching and also practicing The Linden Method. His "Panic Eliminator" audio is genius and has REALLY helped me. (This method reminds you that anxiety is actually a fear of fear and you mistake the heart racing/sweating/mind racing as the FEAR you're so afraid of) Has anyone else experienced these horrible chest pains? When combined with the usual lost feelings of doom that anxiety can bring it's truly horrible.

Schmegs Seperation Anxiety/Too many changes
  • replies: 2

I have recently been diagnosed with severe anxiety, I've lost count how many panic attacks I would have in one day! My life turned when I had my 3rd child and my grandparent went into a nursing home extremely ill and I haven't been able to go and see... View more

I have recently been diagnosed with severe anxiety, I've lost count how many panic attacks I would have in one day! My life turned when I had my 3rd child and my grandparent went into a nursing home extremely ill and I haven't been able to go and see her. I am used to always looking after her and doing things for her and with her. I'm after some advice on how I can turn my life around or how have you turned it around? I'm currently stuck in a body of aching, tired muscles that made me believe I was dying of some nuero disorder and that is the beginning of panic attack after panic attack, sometimes so paralysed I can't get out of bed. I'm currently under the care of my doctor but after other peoples experiences and advice.

Mary4670 Fear of death is crippling me
  • replies: 4

I was raised in a strict Christian household but rejected my religious upbringing as a teenager. For many years I have considered myself agnostic. Rejecting religion was difficult for my family who continue to encourage me to return to it. This is so... View more

I was raised in a strict Christian household but rejected my religious upbringing as a teenager. For many years I have considered myself agnostic. Rejecting religion was difficult for my family who continue to encourage me to return to it. This is something I simply can't do. I've been through a few traumas in my life but nothing that many people before me haven't experienced. Eg sexual abuse as a child, infidelity, divorce. I have been stoic through any trials that come my way and most people would tell you I appear calm and collected. Over the past 6 months however, my fear of death (not particularly just mine but the death of those around me) has plagued me. My parents are elderly and I am a single parent. I'm horrified and heartbroken at the thought of their death. My parents will die soon and while most people would be very sad but appreciative of their long life, I am bereft. I spend hours in tears at the thought they might die. The idea of burying them and having them decay and rot in the ground terrifies me. I know they believe they will go to a beautiful place and be with their loved ones in heaven but all I see is decaying flesh and their bodies being consumed by insects. Lately I have been thinking that once my children move on with their lives and leave there may be no further point in living for me. My mind has turned to how I might carry that out. I have friends, interests and a good career, but none of this seems to help. The thought that something might happen to my children also paralyses me with fear. I could never bury my children and go on living. I know rationally that there is no reason for this to happen but I watch the news and see tragedy everywhere. Why should I be exempt? I see people go to family funerals and be extremely sad, but I break down at the thought of people dying that I don't even know. When I think of going to my own parent's funeral I am uncontrollably heartbroken and it saps my will to live. I'm afraid that when the day comes that I have to bury a parent that I will reach breaking point. I am not someone who ever falls apart publicly, but I can feel this coming like a wave that's about to crash and drown me.