Anxiety and lost

[Shamira_1]

Hi,everyone I am new here and I have lost someone not long ago and I am suffing with Anxiety I am here to get some help and to deal with it

From shamira

[Bob_22]

Hi Shamira_1,

Welcome to the forums and thank you for reaching out here. You've joined a very welcoming and loving community.

I'm sorry to hear that you've lost someone recently and are suffering with anxiety. I also recently lost someone close to me and I know it is not easy especially when you have any underlying mental health issues. Please know that if you ever want to talk to someone or are having negative thoughts that you are able to contact any of the following services 24/7 to speak to someone online or over the phone:

Beyond Blue 

Lifeline

Another great resource is griefline.org.au who provide online support groups and telephone counselling for anyone who is experiencing any sort of grief. Here is some information on coping with grief from there "losing a loved one section". It has some great info and advice. https://griefline.org.au/resources/coping-with-grief/ 

A great tip I would recommend is seeking professional help. Most counsellors are well trained in helping people cope with losing something or someone close to them. My psychologist has been very helpful for me. If you don't have one I would recommend seeing your GP to ask for a referral. It can be quite cheap these days under the MHTP. Sorry for the info blast. I hope some of this helps. Please keep us updated and welcome again to the forums. I hope you can find some other stories here you can draw on and connect with. 💙

Bob

[Shamira_1]

Hey Bob this hep me so much and I am doing a bit better

[jaz28]

Hi Shamira,

Welcome to the forums. Thank you so much for being here. I am sorry you have been going through some tough times recently, that must be really hard on you. 

Have you spoken to a mental health professional about the anxiety you have been having?

I hope things improve soon,

Jaz xx

[Bob_22]

Hi Shamira,

Sorry it's taken me a while to get back to you. I'm so glad to hear that the information and support here has helped you a bit. Please keep us updated on your journey and if you find anything that could help others please feel free to share that also. Take care 💙

Bob

[Melo-mareep]

Hi Shamira,

Thanks for reaching out. Like bob_22 has mentioned reaching out to support like beyondblue or lifeline is a really good way too keep moving forward especially when you feel frozen by anxiety. 

I recently and suddenly lost my Nanna who had lymphoma. And 2 other friends to cancer. During this time I had been using the Mental health care plan to see a psychologist and where I needed to speak to someone in between appointments (or where my psych was booked out) I would reach out to beyond blue. Often  I was in a state where I just needed to talk it out to get a clear picture of what action to take next. Like when my Nanna died I was overwhelmed by loss, lost on how to support my family and overwhelmed by the idea of doing or saying the wrong thing.

After talking to BB I got a much clearer head. I had more clarity on my thoughts and what I was to contribute to the memory of my Nanna.  

I decided to work together with my family to create a photo presentation of my Nannas life and I wrote a personal speech I gave at the funeral. I helped my grandfather to clean his house and spent time chatting and eating fish and chips with him. I call my mum just about every day. Reaching out to others, helping where I could helped me to keep moving forward or as my Nanna would put it "one foot after the other" was the best philosophy to follow for me personally.

I have times of silence where I look at the two rings on my finger from both my Nannas and I allow myself to cry. And give myself time to draw and make art to let it out. 

And sometimes I feel anxiety seep into areas of my work and have experienced failure. But I try not to let it latch onto me. I try to not let one static sticky thought that is hurting me stay for long. When I'm totally breathless in fear and anxiety I try to see it through and do breathing exercises.

I try not to look too far back in the past or too far forward. But being present is hard.

At work is usually where I feel the most anxious, I make sure to go outside to walk and have a break and try to at least go for a 20-30 minute walk each day, even if I have to force myself out the door.

Everyone's experience of grief is different. But everyones steps to move forward are the same. 🌻