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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. 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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EKS78 New job anxiety
  • replies: 1

I received a redundancy last year and I have been unable to stick with any job since more than a couple of days. The second day I seem to fall into a deep anxiety depression and just cannot continue with the job. I’m having full panic attacks with ti... View more

I received a redundancy last year and I have been unable to stick with any job since more than a couple of days. The second day I seem to fall into a deep anxiety depression and just cannot continue with the job. I’m having full panic attacks with tingly arms and hot and cold down my arms and I just can’t control it. I just don’t know what’s going on. I chuck it in and feel like an idiot for a while because the job was fine then I go again and the same thing happens no matter how I try. I start a new job Monday and I’m terrified I’ll stuff it up. The feeling that I get is a real roller coaster of trying to keep my emotions on track. One sec I’m excited and think I can do this the next I think maybe I should call them and cancel as there’s no way I can do it. I’ve talked to a counselor who doesn’t understand. She thinks I’m hung up over the redundancy but I’m not it was great. I was at my job a long time so I was comfortable with my anxiety there. I just don’t know please help

AT_1 Constantly aware of breathing and hot air.
  • replies: 1

For the last 2 years i have been going through near constant medical episodes related to my health. I feel like I've not had a break and I'm so tired. This year i was hoping that, with all of my health problems over and/or dealt with (chronic constip... View more

For the last 2 years i have been going through near constant medical episodes related to my health. I feel like I've not had a break and I'm so tired. This year i was hoping that, with all of my health problems over and/or dealt with (chronic constipation, prediabetes, ringing in ears, eye floaters, ADHD diagnosis, and more) i could finally move on and live my life again. I do everything the doctors tell me and have had noticed improvements in my health prior to last a few days ago. But last week i for some reason woke up and noticed some hot air in my room, and it took me turning the AC on and standing near it to get a breath of "fresh" air. Ever since then I've had nothing but a growing, and now a complete, awareness of my breathing and how hot the air is. Breathing is now entirely mechanical and i can't breathe without make an effort to. I feel light headed, my chest is tight, I have a pounding headache and nothing distracts me anymore. All i think about is that the air is hot and not fit to breathe but i also have to breathe. I can't work anymore and i have so many other appointments i've made that i have to keep but now can't keep. Anything i do physically causes me to overheat and become exhausted, if I'm not doing anything its like torture noticing how much im breathing. I can't sleep but im so tired. This is so painful, it feels like a never ending panic attack. Has anyone else experienced this? how do you fix it? please help.

stell_a178 I can’t talk to men
  • replies: 7

Since I (20F) can remember I have had a hard time talking to men. I’m also very pale, so whenever I try and talk to men my face goes bright red. I don’t really know why, I’m a queer woman. Even at work when I am serving men, my face goes red. It’s su... View more

Since I (20F) can remember I have had a hard time talking to men. I’m also very pale, so whenever I try and talk to men my face goes bright red. I don’t really know why, I’m a queer woman. Even at work when I am serving men, my face goes red. It’s super embarrassing. Everyone tends to think it’s because I am attracted to them and so I turn red. But that’s never the case. I just find it really difficult to come up with conversation starters with men, but with women I don’t have to even think about it.i don’t know what to do about this because it’s really bugging me. My coworkers boyfriend came into work and immediately my face went red and I got quiet. I didn’t know how to interact with him. He was also with two other men of similar age to me. I just froze. I just feel more comfortable around feminine energy. Any tips or advice?

sera Really want to start dating
  • replies: 16

Hello BB people, I'm a 40 yr old guy who has been diagnosed with social phobia, mood disorder and depression. I see a psychiatrist who is mostly helpful and take medication which also helps. I find that I'm lonely and want to start dating regularly s... View more

Hello BB people, I'm a 40 yr old guy who has been diagnosed with social phobia, mood disorder and depression. I see a psychiatrist who is mostly helpful and take medication which also helps. I find that I'm lonely and want to start dating regularly so I can build up confidence, experience and feel better about my value as a partner. I have had one relationship for 4 years, but it finished badly - my fault - and only came about through a friend setting us up. I've never asked a girl to go out and girls who I like usually already have boyfriends and are too young for me, i.e. more than 10 years. I feel inexperienced as many people my age are married or divorced, have a career and kids. I wish I could go back and be more adventurous in my 20s and ask girls out, but of course, I can't. I've done CBT, but need to take solid action outside therapy, that's my issue. If I had a group of friends - only 1 person I see apart from parents who consider a friend - there would be many opportunities to socialise, meet girls, socially lubricate. I do feel desperate at times because I don't do anything about it and it will not change if I don't. I tried internet dating, sent lot of messages, but didn't hear back or have dates. Thanks for listening. Sera (guy, even though may sound like girl)

ScooterCat Dealing with regrets
  • replies: 5

It sucks. I missed out on a lot of opportunities in high school. I never talked to anyone, made friends or hung out with anyone. I felt everyone hated me and didn’t want me around. I kept isolating myself and staying silent. Now that my teenage years... View more

It sucks. I missed out on a lot of opportunities in high school. I never talked to anyone, made friends or hung out with anyone. I felt everyone hated me and didn’t want me around. I kept isolating myself and staying silent. Now that my teenage years are over, I’ve slowly come to the realisation that no one actually hated me or didn’t want me around. It was all just anxiety in my head. I hurt a lot of people back in high school. So many people kept coming up to me and saying hi, but all I did was ignore them and said nothing. I just wish I could do something to turn this all around. I wish I could talk to all those people and say something back to them. I wish I knew people didn’t hate me at all.

justcant Bad anxiety day - disgusted with myself.
  • replies: 6

Hi everyone, I’ve had a really bad day with my driving anxiety. My uncle passed away last Friday and I was going to take the opportunity to go today and spend the day with my aunty. I had food and other things to bring her. She lives a bit far away, ... View more

Hi everyone, I’ve had a really bad day with my driving anxiety. My uncle passed away last Friday and I was going to take the opportunity to go today and spend the day with my aunty. I had food and other things to bring her. She lives a bit far away, way off my “comfort roads” and I was scared about it last night and this morning but I got up and got everything ready and set off regardless. I made it almost half way there and the anxiety kicked in big time and it was long before it was a full blown panic attack. I tried stopping places to calm down and continue on but I just couldn’t do it. I was terrified and exhausted and it just wasn’t safe. I felt physically sick. I managed to drive home on some back roads very slowly. My next therapist appointment isn’t until the 14th of February. And what’s worse is that my uncle’s funeral is Friday and my whole family are going together. And I know this sounds so contradictory but as much anxiety as I get, I hate it even more when someone else is driving and I’m not in control. And driving myself is really not an option as it’s so far away and I just can’t miss this. I know how selfish I sound. I feel so awful and I don’t know what to do. I feel shattered, stupid and completely disgusted with myself. Thank you for reading.Sarah.

Annas1 Anxiety as a response to emotional pain
  • replies: 2

Hello fellow travellers, I'm experiencing another anxiety spike at the moment - activated nervous system, significant sleep difficulty, fear of being seen in this state and consequent low mood - and while I understand the relevant trigger there is li... View more

Hello fellow travellers, I'm experiencing another anxiety spike at the moment - activated nervous system, significant sleep difficulty, fear of being seen in this state and consequent low mood - and while I understand the relevant trigger there is little I can do to change the situation. Or at least this is how it feels. After considerable experience unpacking the deeper cause for my anxiety response I now recognise that I have an overriding habit of 'running' from my feelings of pain, fear and sadness. I think this defensive psychological pattern is well understood by clinicians and it makes a lot of sense to me intellectually. My task now is to face and feel into the original sadness/pain/fear and let it run its course - but of course this doesn't feel safe and my body has practiced heading off in other directions - any direction! - but feel that sadness and pain. So, here I am, adrift on a cocktail of distress, exhaustion, shame and slow panic, knowing that the only way round it is actually through it, but unable to make any forward motion. Marooned. I have long used the evokation of films to get my tears and pain flowing, and I tried this yesterday without the release I sought. This can make me feel I've doubly failed ironically. I know this thought is not helpful (nor true) so I dismiss that silly critic and try to love myself along the way. I will meet with my psychotherapist next week and hope I have the courage to go deep with him and access/release/experience the griefs I keep bundled up for fear of disintegrating and alienating myself. In the meantime I'm expecting family to stay, good people with whom I will try to be open and gentle and not hide myself too much. It is probably my son's wellbeing I'm most concerned about. How hard it must be for him to see me struggle so much to be 'normal', to be happy, to live my life in forward motion. My self-development is now for his future as much as for my own. When I'm more free and available to myself I will be more free and available with him. Something all good relationships are made from. So I'm very weary, less desperate than in the past, but trepidatious about how I can get myself safely from here to there, the place where I can set down my bundle and let it all flow. Thoughts and reflections very welcome. Annas

Helena1980 Health
  • replies: 3

I was in a domestic violence relationship I got help to get away I'm scared to leave the house I get aniety

I was in a domestic violence relationship I got help to get away I'm scared to leave the house I get aniety

Whazp Protracted discontinuation syndrome
  • replies: 12

Hi, I usually post on another forum that specializes in this but am keen to know if anyone here is or has suffered from protracted discontinuation syndrome. I stopped a SNRI anti depressant 11 months ago that i had been on for 15 years and have since... View more

Hi, I usually post on another forum that specializes in this but am keen to know if anyone here is or has suffered from protracted discontinuation syndrome. I stopped a SNRI anti depressant 11 months ago that i had been on for 15 years and have since experienced an array of disturbing physical and physiological symptoms that did not exist pre medication. Didn't realize it at first but later discovered i was suffering from protracted withdrawal after discovering many other people describing very similar experiences after ceasing antidepressants. I'm thoroughly over talking to doctors and the psychiatrist about it as all they want to do is prescribe more drugs including benzos and don't believe discontinuation syndrome is serious or long lasting. They think its all just anxiety and its all in my head. Interestingly Public Health England has ordered a review into antidepressants at the request of parliament members to look at withdrawal and dependence due to significant anecdotal and professional reports of serious harm & long lasting severe withdrawal. I'm hoping that this will lead to better out comes for those of us suffering & prevent others from going through this.

Shaunoh Health Anxiety and Constant Pounding Pulse
  • replies: 5

For about 2.5 years now, I have experienced similar symptoms, hearing that I'm not the only one is reassuring. But I still worry. I have a constant pounding pulse, my heart rate always seems ok, but very strong. I can feel it all over my body, promin... View more

For about 2.5 years now, I have experienced similar symptoms, hearing that I'm not the only one is reassuring. But I still worry. I have a constant pounding pulse, my heart rate always seems ok, but very strong. I can feel it all over my body, prominently in my chest, stomach and neck. It rocks my body when sitting and standing and I can physically see my stomach and neck pulsing. This is also accompanied with regular back and chest pains/aches. I've always had back issues and often think this may be the cause, nerve pressure or something. I have had several tests, echocardiogram, stress test, ultrasound, holter monitor, EKG, blood tests, blood pressure etc, always coming back ok. I'm always told it's anxiety, but even when I'm not as anxious about it all, it's always there. I do definitely feel that I have developed bad health anxiety over the last 4-5 years though. I constantly fear Im going to have a heart attack or something and hate being a far distance from a hospital or home, even though I haven't yet panicked myself into going to ER nor needed to go to the hospital or anything that drastic. I do believe the doctors when I'm told the tests come back ok, but I can't help but think something is missed. I can't remember the last time I've felt relaxed. If I try mindfulness excersises, all it does is make me even more aware of my pulse which also effects breathing excersises. I find it particularly worse after eating or after standing up etc. I take medication daily and I've tried psychologists a few times, but when I mention these physical symptoms they look confused and I feel like I'm the only one who suffers from them by their reaction. It's effecting my every day life more and more as I avoid vigorous excersise and doing things I used to enjoy, particularly going away for holidays or camping, wakeboarding or just going to the gym. I worry that if I exacerbate the symptoms something will happen or I worry that if I'm away from home or work I won't have as easy access to medical services etc. I know deep down this all sounds silly, but no matter what I tell myself or try to do, it's always a problem. Thanks.