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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. Remeber, this is anonymous and the Beyond Blue team are here to help if you need it This section is for people who are experiencing anixiety 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 you 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 worthile 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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Teacher9 General anxiety over changes in my life
  • replies: 1

Hi everyone, I have had a lot of changes in my life lately. I moved out of home for the first time, i got married not long after, and will be living by myself as my husband works in qld 21 days of the month and comes back for a month. I previously li... View more

Hi everyone, I have had a lot of changes in my life lately. I moved out of home for the first time, i got married not long after, and will be living by myself as my husband works in qld 21 days of the month and comes back for a month. I previously lived at home because i felt more comfortable in my surrounds, had my own space even though i was surrounded by family and had that security while partner was working away. Now we are married, things just seem so different and think i'm over thinking my situation. In a ideal situation i would only be going home to a house by myself after working through the day, but i am only a casual teacher and might get 2-3 days a week (another cause of general anxiety in my life), this makes days feel longer and more isolated. Hubby only left for work today and i went to my parents house afterwards feeling sad and felt that sense of security again. I used to always feel overwhelmed and anxious for a few days after my partner leaves. I am staying at my parents tonight because when i feel anxious/sad i like to be around people...even if i'm locked in another room, i still like the feeling of knowing people are nearby. I wish my husband had a normal job but the money is so good, he is doing it for our future. He said he will stop if it got too much, but I want him to do it for us. I don't want to feel a burden on my parents, rocking up back home only a few weeks after i left lol, even though they know the situation and said to stay here if i'm not comfortable at home. Its not fear of being in a house by myself, its just change of routine and isolation.I know of women who's in same position with their men working away but they have children to keep them occupied. I can't even have a dog in a rental property! Any tips or anyone in similar situation?

Moana Getting Anxiety about having Anxiety
  • replies: 2

Hi Im 34 yrs old and have a decade of cannibas use behind me, after using for long period of times I developed serve aniexty to the point I had to take a benzodiazepine to be able to function,usually I would come right after a couple of weeks and be ... View more

Hi Im 34 yrs old and have a decade of cannibas use behind me, after using for long period of times I developed serve aniexty to the point I had to take a benzodiazepine to be able to function,usually I would come right after a couple of weeks and be fine again untill I started using cannibas again,. Now out of fear of the aniexty returning I feel I have developed aniexty over getting aniexty, dose anyone eles have this? It's been going on for two weeks now, one day I'm fine the next I feel slightly anxious and it just snows balls into bad Aniexty within hours out of fear of getting Aniexty!! It's crazy!

DamienW71 Distorted reality.
  • replies: 1

Anxiety is constantly with me. I'm a gentle suburban dad & husband with an amazing, supportive wife & two beautiful kids. I have very secure employment locally and lots of good friends & family. About two and a half years ago we went through a big fi... View more

Anxiety is constantly with me. I'm a gentle suburban dad & husband with an amazing, supportive wife & two beautiful kids. I have very secure employment locally and lots of good friends & family. About two and a half years ago we went through a big financial crisis & we nearly lost our house. This seems to have had a big impact on my emotional state ever since. We managed to get through the crisis & are now in a good financial state. I know view daily life and the world I see around me with trepidation. I have many anxious, sometimes depressive thoughts. I fear confrontation in day to day life, even just going to the shops. Much of what I see, read or hear on the news contributes largely to my current state of mind. I see a counterculture of US gang-styled bravado amongst much of the youth in the area I live and the suburb in which I'm raising my kids, and that has a big impact on me. I'm told that what I have is a distorted sense of reality. Can anyone relate to this? Would love to hear from people with similar thoughts as mine.

shellshell jelly legs
  • replies: 1

ok bad day Im a community support worker. Client with a lot of problems bad fall broken bones alcohol pain killers I think I had a panic attack the sweat was pouring off me, shaking hands, felt like I was going to pass out not good hit the bottle mys... View more

ok bad day Im a community support worker. Client with a lot of problems bad fall broken bones alcohol pain killers I think I had a panic attack the sweat was pouring off me, shaking hands, felt like I was going to pass out not good hit the bottle myself when I got home. will probably feel hung over tomorrow not good.

Kirkyboy89 Confused and distressed
  • replies: 4

Hi all, Over the past 3 years I've experienced panic attacks that have lasted a few minutes and then would dissipate and I would 'snap back to reality'. These seemed pretty standard (increased heart rate, confusion, sweating, light headed and feeling... View more

Hi all, Over the past 3 years I've experienced panic attacks that have lasted a few minutes and then would dissipate and I would 'snap back to reality'. These seemed pretty standard (increased heart rate, confusion, sweating, light headed and feeling a little ill etc). However 12 months ago I experienced one of these attacks and just felt like I never really 'came back' to reality from the attack. For the last year I've been extremely anxious about things that never used to bother me (i.e. seeing friends, going to the movies, catching trains, playing sport). I feel disconnected from myself and can't concentrate a lot of the time and spend a lot of time sleeping. It's very frustrating knowing how outgoing and confident I was a year ago, compared to how I feel now with fear and confusion around every corner. My GP prescribed medication however I opted not to take it after some research on the medication. Does anybody else experience this kind of feeling, and if so how did you overcome it? Are medicated approaches the best path to take or would people suggest talking to a psychologist? Is there a chance that this could be caused by a physical problem? Thanks for any help in advance

shellshell social anxiety
  • replies: 5

Ive always thought that I was complete outcast and the worlds playing an evil trick on me. I was looking up about and watching people talk about social anxiety and it was then I realised how extremely debilitating it can get and I thought that's me!.... View more

Ive always thought that I was complete outcast and the worlds playing an evil trick on me. I was looking up about and watching people talk about social anxiety and it was then I realised how extremely debilitating it can get and I thought that's me!....My doctor told me I had severe anxiety some years back that was over a centrelink thing and never really went into any detail about my anxieties. Ive realised Ive suffered for most of my life never really knew what was wrong with me just always believed Im pathetic and a social retard. I was severely bullied at school Abandoned bye my mother at 8 she left in the middle of the night ran away with another man my father was very controlling, even as a child I remember thinking that my mother never loved or cared for me, I always had the feeling she never liked doing things for me. I was watching some things on the internet people talking about social anxiety and one thing that stuck was this guy who said social anxiety comes from a time in your past where you felt shame, well that works because I really did feel shame when my mother left us, I tried to hide it in school at the time because I didn't know how to explain it I could see everyone elses mother loved them so so much and they would never leave that made me ashamed of myself. I don't talk much people have always said that, I have no friends. Son and daughter that's all, there grown up now I raised them on my own. Im getting chest pains a lot now because Im really stressed about some things going on. I get really bad chest pains when I feel panicky and it feels like my body is toxic poisonous inside, my palms sweat and I cant think straight. I don't know if this is some kind of panic attack. I am working now, jobs in the past never lasted for long. Im having issues with work but don't want to get into it. Ive had men in my past but that always turns out bad. Theres a lot of things ive left out..sorry for the rant everyone.

JJ1509 Anxiety Help.
  • replies: 1

Well Hi, Don’t really know how to start this off as I have never been one to open up, but some how this so much easier being behind a computer screen where I can't fumble up my words and feel like I am just whining. I don't know where to start my sto... View more

Well Hi, Don’t really know how to start this off as I have never been one to open up, but some how this so much easier being behind a computer screen where I can't fumble up my words and feel like I am just whining. I don't know where to start my story so ill just start at the beginning. My first years of life I grew up in a single parent household my father didn't want much to do with me as he preferred the company of a bottle. When I was four my mother fell in love with a farmer and soon after that they were married. We moved to live with him on the farm. I grew up thinking this man was my father. From the first time I can remembered I hated this man. The way he always treated my mother like the hired help, The way he treated me the same because I did not live up to what his idea of what a boy should be. Years went by and so did the years of abuse to put it bluntly the more people he could make miserable the happy he would be. My mother being the wonderful women she is she put up with it, always trying to see the best in everyone. My Mother had two more beautiful children with him a girl first then a boy. My sister also coped some torment from him as being a girl was so much less of a person then being a boy. He used to have such a great way of making a person feel so low and so worthless that you used to start to think that what he was actually saying was true. When I was around thirteen I started to question my sexuality as I was starting to become attracted to the same sex. I remember saying to myself all those years ago “See he was right”. Growing up in a rural town and going to a rural school and being different the bulling used be quite nasty. The used to tease me for being gay even though I had not breathed a word of It to anyone, as my step father had already crushed what I had of my self esteem I only again believed that we these children were saying about me was true, that I wasn’t good enough. When I was fourteen I found a folder hidden in my step dads office about that I he was not my father and the court case my mum had to go through after she had found bruises on me and wanted to cut all access my father had to me. I can’t begin to tell you the amount of joy I felt knowing that that man was not my father unfortanly this didn’t not relive the feeling of worthlessness he had put on me. My mother woke up and found the strength in her one day to leave him, and we got out. A lot of time has past since then and the feelings and abuse that happened have never left me. That worthlessness that I felt then I still feel now. Since I was a teenager I have used alcohol as a crutch. Masking my anxiety with it. But the past years have been the worst for me. The only time I feel safe and stop the anxiety is with a drink in my hand. I am scared to answer the phone talk to anyone new (especially Straight males). I would rather walk a kilometer around a place then go past a group of men standing in a group and one I have to (Ie.when I am at work) my body goes into a state of shock, starting to sweat and my chest goes tight and I fumble all my words. I have tried to seek help before. Once I even forced myself to overcome it a little and made it to a doctor. I don’t think I have ever fumbled so much in my life and it all become so over whelming I just had to get out. I’m so scared within my self it has affected so many parts of my life and I’m scared that if I don’t try and reach out it can only get worse. I can’t sleep with out drinking I will stay up for most of the night tossing and turning worrying about things. Look I really don’t know if anything I have said has made any sense because I’m sitting here looking at it thinking god what will these people think. The words he is having a big whine and people have it worse out there. I am just at a loss of what to do and hoping I don’t seem as crazy as I feel. Anyway thanks for reading this probably makes no sense but I’m still glad I can finally tell someone even if it was behind a computer screen.

Jayamalah Hi :)
  • replies: 2

Hi I'm just wondering if anyone else has similar symptoms to me with anxiety. I don't have a certain trigger, most of the time I just wake up with it. Feeling nervous, hot flushes, diarrhoea and not been able to eat! Thanks

Hi I'm just wondering if anyone else has similar symptoms to me with anxiety. I don't have a certain trigger, most of the time I just wake up with it. Feeling nervous, hot flushes, diarrhoea and not been able to eat! Thanks

Oden new person seeking advice
  • replies: 1

Hi, I am in my early thirties and have had anxiety for as long as I can remember. I also have a speech impediment (which is linked to my anxiety). While my speech is now under control thanks to twenty years of speech therapy and plenty of support, I ... View more

Hi, I am in my early thirties and have had anxiety for as long as I can remember. I also have a speech impediment (which is linked to my anxiety). While my speech is now under control thanks to twenty years of speech therapy and plenty of support, I now find my anxiety - which I'd previously ignored - is cropping up. I really started to feel it back in September. I had a few personal incidents which made my anxiety worse and made me realise I needed to do something about it. I have talked to my local GP and started taking stress and omega multi-vitamins, started taking sleeping tablets (always been a restless sleeper) as well as eating more tuna. I find my anxiety increases when I'm tired or stressed, so if I don't get a good night's sleep, I feel anxious the next day. The problem I have is I worry about things beyond my control and worry about relatively minor things. If it was something I could control, then I could understand, but when I can't control it I get frustrated and run myself around in circles. The sleeping tablets have been helping (I'm no longer such a restless sleeper) but I still have nights where I can't get to sleep and struggle the next day. At times I feel like I'm just going from day-to-day and on weekends I try to keep myself busy. I also have a bit of OCD (mainly counting things, checking things are closed/locked multiple times and having irrational thoughts), which also flares up when tired or stressed. I've also been doing this great CBT course for stutterers which is helping. However, I've been feeling this way for about two months. I have my calm, happy days but I also have days when I get anxious about silly things which I can't control and I tend to immerse myself in the problems of friends and family and I can feel guility if I'm in a good mood and they're not. Silly I know but there you go. I was wondering what the next step could be: I haven't really looked at anti-depressants or anxiety drugs, but I'm open to this in future. What I'd love to do is find an anxiety support group where I could talk about my anxiety in a safe environment, not only to get it off my chest but also to support others. A big part of my recovery as a stutterer has been the support of my fellow stuttering friends, both in formalised speech therapy/support groups and in a social setting. I feel if I can find a similar thing for my anxiety, it would be a massive help.

Casey4 Needing Advice.
  • replies: 2

Hi, This is my first post on this site, but i am so glad i found it. Im 21 years old and have major anxiety when leaving my house or being alone sometimes even all the time! i have dizzy spells, chest pain, cant breathe and constantly feeling sick. I... View more

Hi, This is my first post on this site, but i am so glad i found it. Im 21 years old and have major anxiety when leaving my house or being alone sometimes even all the time! i have dizzy spells, chest pain, cant breathe and constantly feeling sick. I was wondering if anyone else around my age or anyone in that matter that would have some advice on dealing with the attacks? any advice is wanted, as it is getting so out of control and starting to control my life! Thanks in advance