Anxiety, panic attack, ocd

Hey @Eleven99 and welcome to the forums!

I'm Hanami, one of the peer workers here on the forums. I think it's so great that you've had the courage to reach out, it's a wonderful first step in moving towards feeling better ❤️

Have you had the opportunity to reach out to your GP or other health professional to talk about your anxiety. For me, my lovely GP was wonderful when I approached her about it. I was so afraid but after I had talked to her, I felt such relief and felt so much better in myself. You might also consider talking to a a Sane counsellor on 1800 187 263.

I'll also tag some of our community guides who are wonderful at welcoming new members @Anastasia @AussieRecharger @BPDSurvivor @Faith-and-Hope @HenryX @jem80 @Judi9877 @NatureLover @outlander @Shaz51 @ShiningStar @Snowie @Hams @wellwellwellnez @Zoe7 @Aniela @Boo13 @maddison @pinklollipop15 @Eve7

I really hope some of this helps

Sending hugs

Hanami

Hi @Eleven99 ,

Thankyou so much for sharing your experience. I have depression and anxiety, at times work is better for me as I stop worrying and overthinking. I do this a lot. At other times when I am stressing about some issues at work I feel worse. I tend to think most issues at work are my fault, I'm new to a clique at work. I've examined my feelings and realised that there is rarely any encouragement for anything positive I do at work. It's become the norm but when my depression and anxiety symptoms are worse I start fighting the urge to accept the almost constant emphasis on the negative. I do consciously stop and do slow deep breathing to bring down the anxiety to what's bearable for me. I find doing so also slows down the thoughts of what others think and helps my clear thinking. I'm not sure if this helps but I am thinking of you. Right now I am thinking a lot about what is happening around me at work and the best way for me to deal with this without making me feel worse. I woke up recently from deep restful sleep unconsciously doing my slow deep breaths. I felt proud of myself and gave myself a hug. Take care. In addition, do you have access to an Employee counseling program, which I find most workplaces provide free to staff. I reread your post so see if I could help further and I am proud you are working following the trauma you have been through. Be kind to yourself, gentle to yourself. I do believe you can start to feel more relaxed at work.

Hello @Eleven99 and welcome to the forum. I hope you meet lots of friendly, supportive people here.

I crowd my life to fill my mind just as you do so we have that in common.

Talk soon 💜

@hanami

Do you have any suggestions or advice on how to find a good GP who is good with complex mental health. I am having the hardest time with it.
I actually just wrote a fresh post ranting about it. It’s so hard right now.

Hi @Little_Leopard

I'm sorry to hear you're struggling to find a good GP. It's a good question you ask, but unfortunately don't really have a good answer. I was just lucky to have a GP who was good with mental health but understand that many people aren't. I did find this fact sheet from the Black Dog Institute that might be of some help. https://www.blackdoginstitute.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Finding-a-mental-health-friendly-doctor-fact-sheet.pdf

Let me know what you think.

Warm wishes

Hanami

Hey @hanami @thank you very much for showing me that brochure.

It confirmed and cleared up a few things when it comes to what I should be looking for in a good GP.

I have had some shocking experiences with GP’s and this brochure confirmed that those GP’s were not the right choice for mental health issues. It’s hard because when you are an abuse survivor its easy to fall into the self blame spiral and this just cleared some of the self blunt and shame that I am experiencing over this whole thing.

I will keep looking. I have been flat out searching and may have a few leads now.

Everyone is saying the same thing which is once you finally find the right GP or health professionals, the things get better and they can usually connect you with other helpful resources. It has given me the motivation to continue my search.

Hey @Little_Leopard

I'm so glad the brochure helped and also glad you have the motivation to continue your search. ❤️❤️❤️

Hanami