Anxiety

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

FAQ

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

Forums guidelines

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

Pinned discussions

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.

All discussions

Nessie12 Anxiety and Panic Attacks
  • replies: 2

Hi i am new to this site, so i'm hoping that i am writing in the correct section. i have had anxiety and panic attacks for about 14 months i am on 30mg of an antidepressant, worked well for a start - put on 10kilos with it, i have waves of being ok a... View more

Hi i am new to this site, so i'm hoping that i am writing in the correct section. i have had anxiety and panic attacks for about 14 months i am on 30mg of an antidepressant, worked well for a start - put on 10kilos with it, i have waves of being ok and not so. im going to Bali on monday and im not even looking forward to it, i don't like flying and im worried if im going to have panic attacks over there as i have been having some the last couple of days. Does anyone just get waves of where they feel like there going to pass out. i never have but want to know if this happens to anybody else? its horrible.

Andy24 Anxiety, I feel Stuck.
  • replies: 3

Hi, my name is Andy i'm new to this....terrified as all hell to write in fact. I signed up in hope to get advice or give advice about anxiety....not that i have had it for that long. Around my birthday last year i had my first panic attack. i didnt k... View more

Hi, my name is Andy i'm new to this....terrified as all hell to write in fact. I signed up in hope to get advice or give advice about anxiety....not that i have had it for that long. Around my birthday last year i had my first panic attack. i didnt know what it was, i just got dragged to the doctor in such a state of sheer panic. The G.P said that i had GAD. Im currently one two medication: one for the GAD and another to control a tremor which i now have developed due to my stress. Some days i wake up and can't get up, not for a lack trying. I get angry all the time because its my fault i let myself get this way and that im stuck this way and i'll never get better... in the end all i can do is try anything and keep routine.

Gopeel Trying to live with anxiety
  • replies: 3

Hi I'm new to this forum I've been living for years with anxiety mostly it's not too bad but occasionally it spirals out of control, I've tried talking to my family but they just sit there and say they don't understand. At the moment it just flared u... View more

Hi I'm new to this forum I've been living for years with anxiety mostly it's not too bad but occasionally it spirals out of control, I've tried talking to my family but they just sit there and say they don't understand. At the moment it just flared up with a vengeance because my much loved elderly dog is very sick. It's driving me crazy went to the doctor and he put me on benzodiazepines but I don't want to take drugs too much but in the short term I will. Just needing someone to talk to that understands, so that's why I joined this forum

Always_anxious Anxiety is taking over my life
  • replies: 2

I've suffered from anxiety since I was a little girl and have been on medication for it for the past 6 years. 16 months ago I gave birth to my first son and am due to be married later this year, I am completely happy with my little family and my husb... View more

I've suffered from anxiety since I was a little girl and have been on medication for it for the past 6 years. 16 months ago I gave birth to my first son and am due to be married later this year, I am completely happy with my little family and my husband to be. I have recently got a new job the first since having my son. Since this change my anxiety has just spiralled out of control. I can't eat, I can't sleep I constantly feel unwell it's driving me crazy. I've tried deep breathing relaxation and all of that to try and convince myself I'm not anxious but nothing works and I'm at my wits end. I have a family to raise and this anxiety is preventing me from doing that. I also have a very irrational fear of throwing up which absolutely consumes me when I'm at work or getting ready for work on top of all that when my body becomes too stressed it shuts down and I pass out, this does not help the anxiety because now I'm worrying about that too.. Please someone give me some advice I'm completely lost and feel absolutely pathetic that I can't control my own anxiety..

sooty22 new to this forum need advice
  • replies: 2

hi, i have always suffered from mild anxiety but have been ill for twenty years with chronic fatigue syndrome and then emigrated here three years ago from the uk and found that i had graves disease. i had a total thyroidectomy two years ago but canno... View more

hi, i have always suffered from mild anxiety but have been ill for twenty years with chronic fatigue syndrome and then emigrated here three years ago from the uk and found that i had graves disease. i had a total thyroidectomy two years ago but cannot get my meds optimised as got many problems and the meds dont suit me. I have been hypo thyroid for most of this time and the anxiety has got worse and worse so that i get bad attacks even if i get a phone call thats different, going to friends, being taken shopping etc. i had to go to wellington nz last week for my daughters graduation and had such an anxiety attack on the plane because it was too hot, even for my husband, that i felt ill and the anxiety would not switch off all week. my bp goes up about 160/120 with the attacks but normally is about 117/78. i have been told i have low cortisol and adrenal fgatigue which could be making it worse. i was on 18.75 of an antidepressant in the uk half a tablet but here they only do capsules of 37.5mg and that is too much. I ve been on a different medication .5ml but its not helping and upping it seems not to help either? any advice on what to do? i did see a pyscologist and had a medical plan but she told me im not depressed which i know and basically that was it. I thought cognitive behavour therapy was supposed to give you strategies to cope? any help would be grateful.

claire33 its back.....
  • replies: 3

i have been pretty flat these last 6 weeks and last night had a realisation: my anxiety is back. its been 3 years and i am still on my medication so thought i was safe but there have been some signs.... fast heart rate, sweating, feeling guilty, havi... View more

i have been pretty flat these last 6 weeks and last night had a realisation: my anxiety is back. its been 3 years and i am still on my medication so thought i was safe but there have been some signs.... fast heart rate, sweating, feeling guilty, having trouble remembering everything that needs to be done, rearranging the house, avoiding uni work, getting really angry, sleeping excessively, not wanting to "bother" my friends and family with my problems, and feeling generally agitated most of the time. going to the GP soon.....

GreyDonkeys Anxiety has ruined my life...
  • replies: 2

this is my first time doing anything like this. so um hi everyone. My story begins in yr. 8 (2006) when I went to a school production and as I got on the bus I felt breathless and lightheaded and then fainted, this was the beginning of my "anxiety" a... View more

this is my first time doing anything like this. so um hi everyone. My story begins in yr. 8 (2006) when I went to a school production and as I got on the bus I felt breathless and lightheaded and then fainted, this was the beginning of my "anxiety" attacks. Nothing like this had ever happened to me before so I put it down to dehydration and that’s what it seemed to be. But then in the summer of 2007 I was doing cadets (surf life saving) and I had two anxiety attacks in one day and one of them was while I was in the water. I had no idea what was happening to me, it was very frightening and for it to happen on the beach in front of so many people made it that much worse. I was totally and utterly embarrassed. That afternoon I got home and told mum, we both put it down to asthma and she brushed it off while I felt like an idiot. Yr. 9 (2007) was a total blur with me having anxiety attacks left right and center. My first 'major' one was when I was in religion and I got short of breath, thinking it was my asthma I went to my locker to get my ventolin which is where I completely lost it and had a full blown attack. My attacks were varied from shortness of breath to hyperventilating to blacking out in which case I would have to be carried by teachers. They would also be from anywhere between only 10 mins to a few hours. One of the worst cases was on school camp, I went on a challenge high course and had an anxiety attack while up there and my weekend just got worse from there, I have never felt so humiliated in my life. I hated it! it was like having an attack for 3 days straight, I was exhausted, they were almost going to ring the ambulance but I begged them not to. The teachers also wanted to call my parents to tell them what had happened, they did which I didn’t forgive them for. I hated the fact that mum and dad knew. I dint know why, I think I felt they would be disappointed. Anyway through the year I saw the school counselor who attempted to help me with "strategies" they then also passed me onto a psychologist. I felt neither of them were very helpful and the strategies I was supposed to use I felt were just pointless, for instance I had to go through the alphabet. I guess it was hard for them to help me when there didn't seem to be any one cause. The one person I could count on when having an attack was my yr. 9 coordinator, I have no idea why but he was the only one that could calm me and actually comforted me. I will be forever grateful to him for what he did, he definitely got me through the year. Yr. 9 was one of the hardest years of my life. My anxiety attacks made me feel different (that I wasn't normal), that I wasn't in control and everyday that I went to school I felt embarrassed in front of my peers. After yr. 9 there didn't seem to be as many attacks but they were still there. I was still seeing the psychologist but I was really doing it just to keep my mum and dad happy. But inside of me I started to feel down, sad and worthless. I began having dreams and thoughts about harming myself, one day at school I took an overdose (I have never told anyone that before) but not with the intention of dying more that I didn't care what happened to me, and of course nothing happened I just felt really sick and dizzy. But those thoughts were still there, I ended up talking to one of best friends about it, I just wanted to get it off my chest. After a couple of weeks my friend came to me telling me that she was going to go to the school counselor with what I had said, I told her that if she did our friendship would be over. A few days later I was on the bus home when I got off mum was in the car waiting for me which was odd cause our house was within easily walking distance, not thinking too much of it I got in. I could feel the tension in the air I asked her what was wrong and as we were speeding down the highway she told me that the psychologist had rang informing her of my thoughts. I immediately burst into tears. In that moment I was seriously thinking of jumping out of that car at 100km/ph., I felt dead inside, I felt mums disappointment, I felt that my life was not worth living right there and then, I didn't want to have to deal with the consequences and I wanted it all to be over. I have no idea what stopped me but for that 30 min drive that’s all I thought about while blubbering. When we got to the psychologists I refused to go in but in the end I did, we weren't going to leave, as my normal psych wasn't there I had to talk to someone new. So I talked...and I talked and got everything off my chest. How I felt my relationship with my mum wasn't very good and that she didn't understand me, how I felt I was a failure, and how I wanted to kill myself. When I walked out I felt like the biggest weight had been lifted off my shoulders, but I found this was only a short-term fix. When I went back to school I distanced myself from my usual school friends and found a new group, I learnt not to talk to them about my anxiety and sadness if I wanted to feel somewhat equal and if I wanted the friendship to last. I went to the psychologist a few more times that year (2007) but felt it wasn't helping anymore, I didn't find there strategies useful and they wanted to include my mum and I didn't and overall I just didn't feel like the understood. So through the rest of my high school years I had anxiety attacks and still had dark thoughts but didn't seem too bad so I kept quiet. In 2011 I had a gap year and as you can imagine it was not very stressful (I had to have 2x knee surgeries) so from what I can remember I didn't have any attacks but this was one of my happier years because towards the end I became close friends with these two girls. I had never felt so happy, included, equal and loved as I did with my new found friends but also my family and I can safely say if those two girls weren't in my life I believe I would not be alive today, they saved me from myself. In 2012 I arrived in Ballarat for university and stayed on campus. Within the first couple of weeks I had my first anxiety attack in what felt like forever, and it was the first one I ever had intoxicated, as you can imagine it was not a pretty sight. It went on for at least 4 hours until I blacked out. When I woke the next morning all I could think about was the fact my new 'unit' friends would think I was a lunatic. I was mortified that they had had to witness it and that next day I had another one. These anxiety attacks brought back all those unwanted feelings I had left behind a year ago. So I went to the doctors that weekend and asked for help. My GP gave me two options; either sees a psychologist or medication. I had tried talking to someone before and it didn't work, I wanted the possibility of these attacks gone I didn't want to embarrass myself in front of my new friends ever again so I took the medication, which seemed to help. I didn't have any more attacks but I still had the unwanted feelings. One time in my room on campus I was feeling quite down and thought about suicide but I couldn't, the fact that I couldn't go through with it made me feel even worse so I took an overdose knowing nothing drastic would happen but hoping to god it would. Obviously nothing happened I just felt a bit sick. Then when I would go out drinking with friends, I would really drink, say 9-15 standards or more in 6 hours. Mixed with the medication, I was a mess. The positive was that in those few hours I would forget everything wrong in my life and it would seem to be rainbows and sunshine but then the next day would be even worse with all those feelings coming back along with the embarrassment of the night before. So this summer (2013) I went back to the GP and she gave me a higher dosage of my medication, 20mg, and it has made me feel somewhat better. Kari

Greyhorse Scared :-((((
  • replies: 3

Stuff I am new to here and just want to get off my chest what has been happening to me for the past few months as its scaring the hell out of me!!! I got a new job and this is where everything started.... I would and still get hot and cold flushes, d... View more

Stuff I am new to here and just want to get off my chest what has been happening to me for the past few months as its scaring the hell out of me!!! I got a new job and this is where everything started.... I would and still get hot and cold flushes, dizzy spells, nausea.......I was that bad a few weeks ago I thought I was going to die!! It was my birthday and I was driving home, got stuck in traffic and then it hit like a ton of bricks.....I went all hot that I had to strip my jumper off and open the window, it was a cold day too! By the time I got home I was shaking, white and freezing cold! I felt warm but I was like ice inside....my doona, my winter dressing gown and windcheater didn't warm me up at all!!! I have been for blood tests to see if I was going through early menopause but I am not!!....... Dr says its anxiety as he can't find anything wrong with me!!! So what is wrong with me?? Or am I really ok and it's just stress??? I feel like I am going mad or there is something really wrong with me in my head !!!! I am scared and just over it!!

Ym Situational Anxiety - Feeling inferior to significant other
  • replies: 1

I've 'managed' anxiety for the past few years but every once in awhile it rears its ugly head again. My anxiety is situational based. i have just returned from a fun trip to the U.S where I got married. Upon return, my husband started picking on thin... View more

I've 'managed' anxiety for the past few years but every once in awhile it rears its ugly head again. My anxiety is situational based. i have just returned from a fun trip to the U.S where I got married. Upon return, my husband started picking on things he thought were my weaknesses and then started getting dismissive. I'm trying really hard to think logically and identify how much of it is my anxiety exaggerating it. It's been two weeks of me putting on a positive, brave face but I can't see an end. There's no improvement. I'm so sorry that I may be venting instead of being constructive. I just want to flip out and scream that I think it's unfair that I'm suffering and everyone else is OK. I feel desperate. I'm trying to tackle issues as they arise so my anxiety doesn't spike, but I feel I'm getting blocked by my husband. He think anxiety is an 'excuse' or a 'cop out' for my lack of drive/success. Does anyone else deal with people that don't accept anxiety? Or aren't the compassionate type in general? I feel like alarm bells are going off that I've made a mistake with him. Is it anxiety or is it really an issue? I won't stand up for myself because I'm scared of being alone. How do you drag yourself through it?

Katmorri Worrying
  • replies: 1

Keep getting anxious about the future, everything is so amazing but I am ruining it cos I am worrying with the constant feeling its all going to come crashing down at some point I can't just be happy

Keep getting anxious about the future, everything is so amazing but I am ruining it cos I am worrying with the constant feeling its all going to come crashing down at some point I can't just be happy