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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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justcant Help me
  • replies: 7

Hello everyone. I’m Sarah and just joined the forum. I’ll get to it. I need help. I feel like I am losing my mind and myself. I have no joy and my soul is exhausted. I haven’t even smiled on the last three days. I am being completely ruined by my dri... View more

Hello everyone. I’m Sarah and just joined the forum. I’ll get to it. I need help. I feel like I am losing my mind and myself. I have no joy and my soul is exhausted. I haven’t even smiled on the last three days. I am being completely ruined by my driving anxiety. A bit of background, I’ve suffered with depression and anxiety and been under the care of a psychiatrist since I was fifteen up until three years ago when she retired. We ended on a good note. My medications were working well, I was feeling good and stable. I did go to see a new psychiatrist but that quickly ended after she repeatedly body shamed me (that’s for another time). There have been big changes in the past few years along with all the Covid going’s on. My mother’s health has worsened and I’m a carer for her to a degree, there’s been terrible financial pressures, I’ve recently lost a lot of weight (48kgs) which is great but has come with it’s a challenges. I’ve lost three pets. All I wanted this year was for me and everyone I love to have a nice Christmas. Four of my loved ones were in hospital this Christmas and my dad (who suffers from untreated depression himself) was unwell Christmas Day with this. I hold very little hope for the new year. My stress is causing me to have very bad panic attacks while driving. I might start out fine and then I feel like I can’t go above 50km because I’m going to lose control and want to break and stop. I have driven for years and this has never happened before. It got so bad today that I couldn’t pick up my husband (who doesn’t drive) from work and he had to Uber home and I had to drive at a snails pace home. The worst it’s ever been. I have an appointment to see my GP for help this coming Wednesday as the clinic is closed for new year. In the mean time, can anyone help me? I feel as low as I can go. I feel trapped. Thank you for reading this

burntlibraryofalexandria Should I Consider Getting A Therapist?
  • replies: 6

Every year around this time I get a huge existential crisis which makes me anxious and overly emotional. Currently I've lost my appetite and feel empty. At some point I get over my existential crisis and my anxiety about dying and my family dying but... View more

Every year around this time I get a huge existential crisis which makes me anxious and overly emotional. Currently I've lost my appetite and feel empty. At some point I get over my existential crisis and my anxiety about dying and my family dying but due to the fact it occurs every year around the same time leads me to think that I should communicate my issues to a professional. There have been other instances in my life where I also cut off people in my life and become a shut-in by not communicating my own issues to the people around me, and I think it'd be best for me to begin trying to get better at communication. A therapist would probably help with this but I've had a therapist before and I found that after the first session that I found it hard to actually vocalise my issues, but in these instances that are unrelated to my yearly existential crises, these were cycles of me bottling up my feelings and then upon irrationally acting on these feelings that I find myself not bothered by them anymore.

Fairmaiden64 Just a rant
  • replies: 2

I've been in bed mostly since Christmas day. I hate this time of year. It impacts my MH greatly. Making today worse, I have yet another rental inspection. These really take their toll on my OCD. Because I'm so anal, it can take me more than a full da... View more

I've been in bed mostly since Christmas day. I hate this time of year. It impacts my MH greatly. Making today worse, I have yet another rental inspection. These really take their toll on my OCD. Because I'm so anal, it can take me more than a full day to do just one room, I can't let go of one hair, a piece of lint, dust etc and don't get me started on when a beam of sunlight shines and I can the dust again. I have had nervous breakdowns in the past due to this. The rental inspections went to 6 monthly and now have randomly started at 3 monthly again. I am at breaking point when it can take me 2 weeks to get everything to what my brain accepts as reasonable, inside and outside of the house for these. It just seems like that's all I do. The agent's comments and the owner's comments are always wonderful on how my house is, but I wish it could go to a year or not at all anymore. 13 months ago, I fell off a ladder and broke my wrist and 3 ribs and damaged my skull, 2 hours before inspection. I stayed for inspection because I don't want strangers in my home when I'm not there going through my things. Then I went to the hospital. Unfortunately, I was about to start a job, after living off my savings and Centrelink while studying up, until I broke my wrist and ribs. The timing was bad and while the physical aspects have finally healed, my MH has deteriorated significantly i that time. I think it is getting much worse as I get older actually and the PTSD is debilitating now. Still, I was once again preparing to go out there because I can't live on Centrelink. The entire amount is almost my rent now. Yet, as soon as I think of attempting this, here comes another rental inspection to mess with my OCD again. Thanks for listening to my rant guys

chicken_1 Self doubt
  • replies: 3

I’m currently struggling mentally again, I did really well not caring what other people thought about me and all of a sudden something triggered me again and I know longer feel good enough in anything I do.

I’m currently struggling mentally again, I did really well not caring what other people thought about me and all of a sudden something triggered me again and I know longer feel good enough in anything I do.

sanmmi I have extreme astraphobia (fear of thunder & lightening)
  • replies: 8

I have extreme astraphobia (fear of thunder & lightening), theres a thunderstorm at the moment and im like deathly afraid of thunder and lightening so im listening to music which is turned all the way up and i have all my blinds closed and all my lig... View more

I have extreme astraphobia (fear of thunder & lightening), theres a thunderstorm at the moment and im like deathly afraid of thunder and lightening so im listening to music which is turned all the way up and i have all my blinds closed and all my lights turned on... i really want to get over this fear because its really ridiculous, i cancel plans if there is a storm coming and im always checking the weather. I dont want to be scared but i cant help it, ive had this fear since i was little (im turning 19 next month like its gone on for way too long) and im over it. Is there any way to get over this other than like therapy? and does anyone feel the same or am i not normal? Everyones always telling me how crazy i am because of this.

More than my mental health condition Burnout & GAD
  • replies: 2

I feel like I need some support from people in the know, my family is amazing but I'm not sure they understand just how hard 2023 was for me, kinda feeling like I need some kind words & reassurance that I've got this. In 2023 I experienced housing in... View more

I feel like I need some support from people in the know, my family is amazing but I'm not sure they understand just how hard 2023 was for me, kinda feeling like I need some kind words & reassurance that I've got this. In 2023 I experienced housing instability, bullied by a so called friend, bullied by an employee, burnout at work and 6 months ago I also took on the main carer role for my elderly parents moving into a large house together....oh, and I have GAD as well. Knowing I wasn't right I quit my management role, and though I didn't plan on finding a new job so quickly have found something perfect for me with great hours and no major pressures which I start soon. It'll mean being careful with expenses but I'm not worried about that, I can do it. I guess my question is what else do I need to do? How do I set aside the nastiness of 2023 that's playing on my mind? Is my complete career change going to be enough to heal? What other steps can I take to feel like I'm the person I want to be?

K-J-S Dreading the New Year
  • replies: 2

I'm wondering if anyone else feels like this? I had a really positive outlook for 2024 about a week ago, but now it's completely changed. 2023 for really hard for me and my fiance. There were so many things we had to overcome: I had to take my ex to ... View more

I'm wondering if anyone else feels like this? I had a really positive outlook for 2024 about a week ago, but now it's completely changed. 2023 for really hard for me and my fiance. There were so many things we had to overcome: I had to take my ex to court to get parental orders, my car kept breaking down and I was struggling to get a new one, my partner's visa, my ADHD assessment. It was just one thing after another. There were a lot of ways they all could have gone wrong, and every time we had the best possible outcome. So by the end of it, I was feeling really proud of what we had accomplished. I was feeling like now all of those things were out of the way, I had nothing to worry about anymore. New Years Day always feels like a clean slate to me. In some ways that's a good thing, but it just feels like nothing I did last year matters. I know time doesn't really work like that, it's just a feeling I struggle to shake. There are so many things that could go wrong this year. It also doesn't help that I'm missing my son's birthday again today. Last year it was because I was being denied access, this year it's because I have covid. I often feel like this about New Years, but it's not usually this bad. Anyway, does anyone else ever feel this way about this time of year?

Lostworrier82 Cardiac worry - Franks sign - ear lobe creasing
  • replies: 4

Hi all, I thought I was doing ok lately on the health anxiety side of things, I’ve been eating healthier, loosing some weight and feeling good about myself. However, I was scrolling through TikTok and a random post came up about ‘Franks sign’ curiosi... View more

Hi all, I thought I was doing ok lately on the health anxiety side of things, I’ve been eating healthier, loosing some weight and feeling good about myself. However, I was scrolling through TikTok and a random post came up about ‘Franks sign’ curiosity got me so I ended up watching the reel. It spoke about people having diagonal creases on their ear lobes meant they would have some form of CAD. Insert panic as of course I have deep creasing on my ear lobes. I ended up googling too and it’s a thing. I’ve never heard of it before but apparently it can be an indicator. I spoke to my husband who is very blah about things and he said you’ve already had checks done so I doubt it relates to you. I had a CT angiogram in 2020 and it showed 0 calcium markers and I also had a stress test last year which was fine. Obviously I am unfit but didn’t show anything. I looked at old photos from last year and I did have creasing but a few years ago not so much 🤷🏻‍ thought it was due to putting on weight over the years but yeh I’m just in a bad way now. I can’t get any cardio checks done as I don’t have symptoms and they won’t do another CT scan on me as it’s only been a few years. My cholesterol is slightly elevated but has been for a few years and dr thinks stress can cause it to be elevated at times. sorry to vent but I was just freaking out. I’m trying to calm my mind that I have in fact had checks done within the last few years. has anyone heard of this before? or am I the only one it reached just tostress me out unless it was a sign. sometimes I hate myself when I get like this.

Autumn_drift There is no one.
  • replies: 6

Does anyone have advice for what to do when you really need someone to talk to in person on short notice but you have no friends and practically no family. I'm struggling with anxiety attacks and depression on my own and I feel utterly hopless and cl... View more

Does anyone have advice for what to do when you really need someone to talk to in person on short notice but you have no friends and practically no family. I'm struggling with anxiety attacks and depression on my own and I feel utterly hopless and close to completely letting go of life. Being In a really bad state (and I mean really bad. particularly anxiety) and knowing you have no one to turn to and that you are completely alone is one of the most gut wrenching, demoralising feelings I have ever known. I know I can talk to someone on the phone for 20 minutes but then I am just plunged straight back into being alone with myself. I wish I just had a hand on my shoulder for once or a hug. Just one hug. I want to break down in someone's arms, should I feel bad about that? I'm at the end of my rope. Thank you to anyone who took the time to read this. Any comments are appreciated.

PeggySue92 Noise anxiety
  • replies: 44

Hi all, this is my first time posting and I suffer from noise anxiety. My noise anxiety only exists in my own home, I work in a noisy office environment and this is not a trigger at all. In the past we have had noisy neighbours, air-con units, loud m... View more

Hi all, this is my first time posting and I suffer from noise anxiety. My noise anxiety only exists in my own home, I work in a noisy office environment and this is not a trigger at all. In the past we have had noisy neighbours, air-con units, loud music etc all causing me to think about when the noise will happen again and this causes me to worry about constantly. Even to the point of missing out on enjoying things because I need to try and control situations. At the moment we are in our own house and the neighbours have a dog that barks ALL THE TIME. It’s sensitive to everything and anything and is causing me anxiety because we cant go out to our backyard without being aggressively barked at. The issue has been brought up with the neighbours and they are aware that the barking is disturbing me and my family but not a lot has been done. I'm tired of worrying and thinking the worst of what ‘might’ happen. I'd like to hear from anyone that suffers the same type of anxiety and if they have tips on how to deal with it. Thank you.

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