Constant anxiety :(

[tiredgirl10]

Hi Everyone

I suffer from a terrible anxiety that leads me to feel paranoid about everything. I have been raised by a family who doesnt believe in anxiety or depression they think people needs to get over it. I have felt this way about it too until recently when i started experiencing strong anxiety. I realised i have always lived with it since i was a child (i am 39 now) but never gave it any thoughts just continued my life. My husband has terrible depression at times but i never really paid attantion to it as he seem to call a bad day at work a depression as well so i kinda after a while lost sympathy for him.

I feel like now i am paying for it. Bad bad anxiety comes out of the blue. Constantly panicking what if something happens to me or my children. I feel useless because i have been a stay at home mum the past 10 years. I feel nobody will want to employ me after this big gap. I really just feel not happy and i cant tell anyone about it as i have always been the tough person when it comes to controlling emotions. As i said until i started realising what i am going through and experiencing is something completly out of my control i didnt belive its possible not to have any control over our feelings. I live my life daily masking it from my husband and friends how i really feel. They see the lovely smiley person as i always but inside i am falling a part. Nobody knows how i feel and i just wanna break free from this anxious feeling and thinking i am worthless.

Not sure if thats matter or not but just wanted to mention i never ever done drugs i dont drink or have any problems like this.

[Avo]

Hi there,

I’m sorry to hear u are feeling this way. I can totally relate and so can most of the people on this forum.

First thing I did was go to my GP. I read a lot of books to educate myself on what was happening to me. If u like reading I found understanding what was happening helped.

For me it was important to be able to discuss with my husband and family. But it’s different for everyone.

You are in a highly sensitised state now and your body needs time to calm down. This can take some time. I have been through it many times. It will get better.

start with your doctor and go from there

[Nurse_Jenn]

Hi tiredgril10,

Welcome to the Beyond Blue forum. I am sorry to hear you are experiencing so much stress related to your how your feeling. This is so hard. It is great that you have reached out here on the forum as you will find that you are not alone your struggles. Anxiety is a common issue and can be treated even if it has been going on for a long time.

I concur with Avo and recommend a visit with your GP as an important step in reducing your anxiety. Talking to a health professional can be a really great start. It is also helpful to read about anxiety and how it presents itself. Every persons experience is unique but there are common themes to anxiety. A good place to start would be to read about anxiety on the Beyond Blue webpage. You can visit the weblink by clicking here https://www.beyondblue.org.au/the-facts/anxiety

In the webpage there are a lot of different treatments for anxiety. Every person who suffers with anxiety responds differently to treatment and sometimes a combination of treatments are required. This could include therapy like Cognitive Behaviour Therapy, medication, Mindfulness, exercise or others. There are many ways that anxiety can be treated. By discussing your anxiety and your symptoms with your GP, you can both work out the best place to start.

If you need someone to talk with, the Beyond Blue Support Line is available anytime. By talking with the experienced phone counsellors you could get that extra bit of support you need to take the next step. You can call anytime on 1300 22 4636.

Be kind to yourself during this process as this step of getting help can take some time. You have already reached out here on the forum and despite how you're feeling, you are worth every moment you spend on getting the care you deserve.

Wishing you the best possible outcome,

Nurse Jenn

[_bethy94]

Hi TiredGirl10,

Sorry to hear of your experience with anxiety. As someone who has been through it, I empathise. It's extremely common and your feelings are validated. A positive thing is it is treatable - with treatable conditions comes opportunity. Opportunity to get better, opportunity to feel happiness again, opportunity to put anxiety in the past.

As a start I would suggest going to see your GP and getting a mental health plan which will refer you to the appropriate mental health professionals equipped to help you. You're entitled to 10 (I believe?) sessions with a Medicare rebate - your GP will verify the number of sessions for you.

Something that's helped me is educating myself on the mind, specifically how anxiety works and what the brain does to produce anxious feelings. Knowledge is power, and the more I learnt about how anxiety festers, the more I found I could counteract it. Fortunately the internet is full of this information and it's right at your fingertips. Eg - the ego part of the mind feels it has to keep itself relevant at all times, this is where anxious thoughts are produced. The ego will attach itself to any thought (and multiply it into a bunch of irrational thoughts, causing anxiety) just to keep itself relevant. It is a viscous cycle. Your mind/ego will continue to do so until you learn how to silence the ego and live in the moment. Mental health professionals will help and teach you how to switch the ego off and live in mindfulness.

Some other useful tools are:

1. Beyond Blue telephone support services (as mentioned on other posts)

2. Counselling Help Line Melbourne (100% Medicare rebates) - 03 9350 5618

3. LifeLine - 13 11 14

Hope you're feeling some relief soon.

Best wishes