Support for worry, panic, and everyday anxiety — practical coping strategies and honest conversations with people who know what racing thoughts feel like.
Anxiety is exhausting in a way that’s hard to explain to people who haven’t had it. The endless rehearsing of conversations. The physical symptoms that feel like something is genuinely wrong. The way it attaches itself to whatever is nearest — work, health, money, other people’s opinions.
This category is for talking about that with people who don’t need it explained.
What people talk about here
Social anxiety and the dread before things that are supposed to be enjoyable. Panic attacks — what they feel like, what helps, what to do when one starts. Health anxiety and the reassurance loop. Anxiety at work, and whether to tell anyone. High-functioning anxiety, where everything looks fine from outside. Sleep, racing thoughts, and 3am. What CBT is actually like. Whether medication is worth considering.
Start here
- What is High Functioning Anxiety?
- 12 Tools For Managing Anxiety
- How To Cope With Anxiety At Work
- CBT For Anxiety – What I’ve Learned
- Do I have social anxiety?
Support beyond the forum
- Beyond Blue — free 24/7 phone and online support for anxiety and depression. Call 1300 22 4636.
- Lifeline — 24/7 crisis support and suicide prevention counselling. Call 13 11 14.
- MindSpot — free government-backed online treatment courses for anxiety. Call 1800 614 434.
- healthdirect — Australian Government health information and service finder.
How to use this category
Describe what’s happening in your own words — you don’t need the right terminology. If you’ve found something that genuinely helps, please share it, including the unglamorous things. And if you’re reading this at 3am because you can’t switch your head off, you’re very much not the only one.