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

HelenM can anyone tell me what's going on?
  • replies: 19

I've not been on the forums for a week or two. I'm having new symptoms that don't make sense. By the beginning of June I was coming out of a 5 month depression - it was mild for me. Then one day I developed horrendous fear (mental rather than physica... View more

I've not been on the forums for a week or two. I'm having new symptoms that don't make sense. By the beginning of June I was coming out of a 5 month depression - it was mild for me. Then one day I developed horrendous fear (mental rather than physica ) that I'd go right down again. After an awful week it passed and I started back up. Within 4 weeks I was fine again then wham- the same horrible fear Which passed after a week. I went on to have 3 pretty good weeks - then fear again though not just as intense but debilitating. This went after a couple of days. So I begin to relax - then last Friday -just four days later here it is again - very like the one before in duration and intensity. My GP thinks it's unpleasant but has no answers. In 12 years of depression I've haven't had fear anything like this bad. My depression and anxiety are minimal - I don't know what's going on. Just now(ie in the last few days) the only thing that's holding me back is the belief that this will return. Because it's so new to me I am unable to see how it can possibly resolve. Can it? Please if any of the answers are negative don't tell me. Also I can't see a psychiatrist as they'd recommend CBT which I've done lots of. I feel totally lost in all this and whilst I'm grateful for the good days the fear is blighting my life. Thanks for reading, Helen

gmc Anxiety and ongoing treatment
  • replies: 3

Hello everyone, It's been 5 days already since I am in a state of anxiety that I can't actually calm down.I am going through some latent stress with a renovation and some of it accentuated lately, so based on some triggers that I already recognize, I... View more

Hello everyone, It's been 5 days already since I am in a state of anxiety that I can't actually calm down.I am going through some latent stress with a renovation and some of it accentuated lately, so based on some triggers that I already recognize, I have started to feel very worried again, on no reason, just thinking of "what if...' and anticipating all sort of scenarios. I have no one to talk about this, except my therapist, that I see once a week, and it's just eating me inside. I am ongoing treatment for anxiety and depression and I am thinking over and over that my dosage is not enough, because I am thinking that being in such a state is not normal while being in a treatment. I am seeing my psychiatrist in 2 weeks, but maybe I should see him earlier... My therapist said it's not about increasing dosages, it's about the way of thinking. My psychiatrist says it could be increased, as I am taking the lowest dosage. Maybe the answer is somewhere in the middle. I should talk to them more about this... I just can't calm down, even if I know how things will work. I am aware of my situation, at least part of it, but I can't stabilize myself more. I am fighting hard to keep this as "only time will make it happen", but it's too hard. Feeling of guilt just flood me. I can't think by myself of way to just sit and think of the possibilities and just realize the best of them - to wait. I know the end, but I can't stop and just not race in my head with a thousand miles per hour. I can't be alone, my I am, most of the time. Something just eats me inside. Should I see my psychiatrist earlier? Should I call my therapist or write to her? What can I do to just stop and slowly analyze?

viper57 anxiety when not feeling well
  • replies: 2

Hi I am still not well from sinus getting anxiety from it today im a bit off taken all medication including antibioctics and sinus tablets maybe its this causing anxiety dont know does anyone get this

Hi I am still not well from sinus getting anxiety from it today im a bit off taken all medication including antibioctics and sinus tablets maybe its this causing anxiety dont know does anyone get this

BigBunny Hello, new here *waves*
  • replies: 4

Hello beyond bluers *waves* I signed up today because recently my ptsd has been getting worse and I thought joining a forum like this would be a good idea. I've had anxiety/depression all my life but last year I was admitted to hospital and the docto... View more

Hello beyond bluers *waves* I signed up today because recently my ptsd has been getting worse and I thought joining a forum like this would be a good idea. I've had anxiety/depression all my life but last year I was admitted to hospital and the doctors misdiagnosed me with serotonin syndrome. they took me off my anti-depressant cold turkey and for 2 days I had shakes/tremors, lost feeling in my whole body and saw things moving around my hospital room eg: my blanket would move by itself, my heart rate would go up to 160 just lying there and once the doctors came in asking me "why aren't you breathing?". unfortunetly on my third day in hospital I asked if I could go home and a young doctor didn't want me too, he wanted me to go to the psych ward. as I wasn't well and not thinking I said 'ok' because I thought they'd help me but they made me worse I spent 10 days in the psych ward and because I was taken of my usual medication so fast I had a psychotic episode I'd never had one before. as a result of this all this I now have pts, I shake & have develop a stammer especially when I go out. several things can trigger what I call an "episode", if I think someone has said something negative to me it sets me off, I make a loud noise (like I'm in pain and don't stop), my arms go up in the air & get stuck there, I shake and cry. even the smallest thing can cause me to make a noise eg: the teabag tag falling into my cup of tea, or dropping a tea spoon. If you have read this far, I thank you >=:) and if you have pts or anxiety I would love to hear from you. BB

Peter_A-W Hello, new to this so I thought I would say a little something
  • replies: 3

Hi my name is Peter and have just decided to check this forum after joining Blue Voices. I'm 36 and only a couple of years ago went to see someone to help me get my life sorted out. I always thought any problems I had were just who I was and that I h... View more

Hi my name is Peter and have just decided to check this forum after joining Blue Voices. I'm 36 and only a couple of years ago went to see someone to help me get my life sorted out. I always thought any problems I had were just who I was and that I had to live my life around my fears and inadequacies. Having spent most of my life this way, always questioning everything and really struggling social and just having no confidence and really low expectations about myself and my life, to find out that I had severe anxiety and social phobia and there was a way for me to get more out of life was amazing. I have been very lucky in that the doctor I am seeing was someone I was very comfortable with straight away and we had a connection that has allowed me to trust him. Also a family that have always backed me and never once throughout my life of just doing nothing have done anything but support me. I haven't got any friends, it has always been hard to trust people and get to know them but I know why now. I haven't really worked either over the years but am trying hard to get work now. This for me is the hardest part and something that frustrates me. As I don't have much experience or work history and at 36 years old people don't want to employ me. I've written letters to places, even mental health places and told them my story but no luck so far. I have written about my anxiety in some cover letters to explain my lack of a work history but don't know if that puts them off. Anyway I feel incredibly lucky to be where I am now and thats why I wanted to join blue voices and this community. I want to be able to pass on any support I can to others as I know how much that building your confidence can help. Also the biggest part of getting to where I am was being able to talk to other people with similar stories, to find out you are not alone was just an amazing feeling. So hello everyone nice to meet you and hope to talk more soon.

BigBunny anyone else have PTS?
  • replies: 5

Hello, I didn't title my first thread well, just put 'hello, I'm new here'. I would like to talk to others who have been diagnosed with ptsd (post traumatic stress disorder) mine has been getting worse as I posted in my first thread. thank you for re... View more

Hello, I didn't title my first thread well, just put 'hello, I'm new here'. I would like to talk to others who have been diagnosed with ptsd (post traumatic stress disorder) mine has been getting worse as I posted in my first thread. thank you for reading BB >=:)

kafrinbear Panicking in the traffic
  • replies: 2

I've been reading a few threads and I'm not having a very good day. So, through the tears that are streaming down my face right now I'll try and write some things that will hopefully make me feel a bit better. My family are out right now so I am home... View more

I've been reading a few threads and I'm not having a very good day. So, through the tears that are streaming down my face right now I'll try and write some things that will hopefully make me feel a bit better. My family are out right now so I am home alone. I am home alone right now because of a busy intersection. I laid awake most of last night and have given myself a headache on top of the last of a winter cold (stupid cough is driving me crazy) because of the fear of driving through an intersection I dislike. To go out with my partner and my kids today I needed to be able to drive through this intersection, a busy multi-directional, multi-laned intersection that was the scene of an awful fatal accident just a few weeks ago. It's not just this intersection, there are a few around that I avoid. I hate the traffic and being boxed in the middle lane when driving about my city. I like the left lane, I can easily escape the road if I need to, pull over or take the turn into a side street, catch my breath and continue on. Sometimes too I can take the left turn, do a u-turn and go straight through an intersection in the left lane without hiccup. My tactics for doing what I need to do. Today however I couldn't avoid this intersection in a daunting part of town that's not familiar at the end of an again-daunting freeway. I thought this was new, well worse in the last year but I've come to realise that I always got overwhelmed in traffic. I grew up and learned to drive in the country, when I went to the city I got panicky in the traffic. It's just as I didn't live in the city it wasn't that often that I went there and as it was a big trip my ex-husband would mostly be driving. Now I have moved to the city so I'm hit with these problems once a week and not once every 6 months as it used to be. So I now realise it's a big problem. Today it's stopped me from spending time with my family and I can't accept that. I've seen the doctor (maybe 4 months ago) about this and I have a referral to see a psycologist but I just haven't picked up the phone and made the appointment. edit: there's more I had to cut this post down for the character limit.

Asha I don't know what I'm doing
  • replies: 1

I'm brand new to this so I don't know if I'm doing this right but here goes. i was sole carer for my mum who had borderline personality disorder and dysthymia, she self harmed and had multiple suicide attempts, she died last year. I've been diagnosed... View more

I'm brand new to this so I don't know if I'm doing this right but here goes. i was sole carer for my mum who had borderline personality disorder and dysthymia, she self harmed and had multiple suicide attempts, she died last year. I've been diagnosed with depression, anxiety and recently PTSD. I just started uni and I'm finding it really hard to cope. Honestly the anxiety is the worst, I hate spending time in public and going to classes and having to be social is just bad. Sometimes it gets to the point where I can't leave the house. That combined with the PTSD parts that mean random things set off flashbacks and panic attacks and bad nightmares. I really want to reclaim my life for me after years of it being about my mum, but it's not going well and I'm regularly asking myself why I'm bothering considering that I consider myself generally crap at life. I feel alone and like I'm a freak. I don't know what to do.

Ellsie Hovering between stress and anxiety?
  • replies: 2

I'm new to the forums and new to potentially anxiety/depression. Throughout most of my teenage years, I felt depressed and had mild panic attacks particularly during the HSC. However, the fear of failure, disappointing my parents pushed me through an... View more

I'm new to the forums and new to potentially anxiety/depression. Throughout most of my teenage years, I felt depressed and had mild panic attacks particularly during the HSC. However, the fear of failure, disappointing my parents pushed me through and I felt like I managed to stay afloat. I brushed these thoughts aside and just told myself it was exam stress. Today I had a bad incident at work and I couldn't recover from it. My thoughts kept spiralling in circles - a part of me knows that I should let it go and move on but the a part of me can't let it go. I've been putting myself down the whole day and the more I do that, the more worthless I feel. I link it on to other parts of my life, I'm not deserving of my job, I'm not worthy of having a caring boyfriend, I'm disappointing my family. Over the years I have progressively found it more difficult to be easy going on myself. Having read through some other forum posts, it makes me feel my issues are insignificant that I'm wasting people's time while there are other people out there with real problems. I feel better after articulating my thoughts!

Mumof02 Feeling like an outcast
  • replies: 4

Yesterday I had yet another massive panic attack. I had gone 2 weeks with out one and finally felt in control. But for some unknown reason my anxiety built up with a simple conversation with my partner, basically over nothing. I felt it building and ... View more

Yesterday I had yet another massive panic attack. I had gone 2 weeks with out one and finally felt in control. But for some unknown reason my anxiety built up with a simple conversation with my partner, basically over nothing. I felt it building and before I knew it I was gasping for air, hyper ventilating, grabbing at my skin, pulling my hair, negative thoughts were rushing through my head... Like look at me I'm such a failure, he must think I'm an idiot for this, I need to get away, my chest was so tight and the tears just flew. I was such a mess. It lasted a good ten minutes before I calmed down. The feeling left was numb. I feel so bad for my partner, he shouldn't have to deal with this.. I feel so crazy. Out of control. Im booked in tonight with my GP. I'm so scared to admit that something is wrong with me. It his feeling is really not nice