Anxiety?

I know it is so easy to come to that conclusion but that thought is just that, a thought. You are dealing with some super difficult things and it is affecting you phsically. I do not think you are a bad mum. You are doing what you can right now and that is enough. I really suggest trying to eat. Your body needs to be nourished to be able to begin to cope with these feelings. Your brain must be exhausted with all of these thoughts and feelings, so look after it. I know it's hard but i assure you it helps. Each little thing is a massive accomplishment so treat it as such. Think about what you would say to your best friend of even your child if they felt like this. Would you tell them they are bad, or not good enough or -fill in the blank automatic negative thought- ? No, you would encourage them, and remind them of their worth, even if they do something wrong or silly, you'd remind them that they are human, and humans make mistakes and that as A-OKAY! Trust me, i know how f-ing hard it is to treat yourself this way, but even just changing the "I am a bad mum" to "I feel like a bad mum" takes away so much of the power that belief about yourself holds. Be kind to yourself. Here is a really helpful video about self compassion : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IvtZBUSplr4 Even you just sharing your feelings here is an accomplishment because you are reaching out which can be so hard! Be proud of yourself, you are trying and i am proud of you for that. Feel free to reach out if you want to talk.

This is a bit of a "curve-ball" and not at all meant as an alternative to talking to your gp about how you're feeling/your symptoms but I have an absolutely fantastic gp who has been with me for "the ride" for a couple of years...and I've yet to talk to him about how I'm feeling or in-depth about my symptoms either (but I got referred to a mental health nurse who again is absolute gold)...I was wondering though if you might find knowing you have a venue for that outside of your gp (while sorting mental health plan and seeing them as well) might take a bit of the load of, if your generally not talking to someone about what you're going through outside of their office?

Not sponsored, I swear, but I would really recommend the Cares4Me program through ArcVic if you're like me and you keep things inside (from friends and family as well), just to have someone you can literally just unload on : )

Hey @Former-Member I don’t think I’ve heard of a mental health nurse (outside of a psych ward anyways). Do they offer support that way too?

some friends know of my struggles, but not all of it and I don’t wanna burden on them, life seems to be busy and with it’s own issues for lots of them.

Hi @Bow

I didn't find her myself, I got referred through my GP but the way I was referred was through a service called CareinMind and the plan is called PHN (free, different to a mental health plan), so you could ask your gp about that, I do think it's Vic specific but if you're in a different state there may be something similar.

I think the main reason we went that route is it turned out faster than a mental health plan/psychologist.

I've been absolutely blown away by how great she's been but I don't think it comes down to psychologist vs nurse, more who you gel w personally - unfortunately I ran out of free appointments and we tried to apply for exceptional circumstances and they actually turned me down because they thought my condition (arising from childhood trauma) was "too severe to be seen by a nurse" but please don't let that deter you from asking for options, that's what your health care provider should be there for : )

Hey @Bow that sounds really hard. I have had similar experiences. Some people who haven't dealt with anxiety say it's in your head. For me it takes over my whole body and stops me doing things I want to. Good on you for getting yourself to the gp. Hope the mental health plan leads you to a helpful mental health professional. They are out there but it can take time to find a good fit - stick with it. The good ones are worth their weight in gold. Take care.

hello @Bow , how old is your little one

Hello and hugs @dontrainonme , @Former-Member , @Maggie , @frog

@Shaz51 she is 5 in a couple of weeks!

Hello lovely @Shaz51

Hi bow,

I'm new to the forum and don't want to make it about me but thank you for posting this as i feel exactly the same, it toke me awhile to get help and a check up from the gp. I'm not taking medication yet hoping talking about it will help first. I suffer from social anxiety and high stress.

Thanks for sharing 🙂

Hi @Stacks

Welcome to the SANE forums! It's great to have you here and thanks for telling the community a bit about yourself. I'm sure the forum members will be able to offer you support, information and connection.

I'm the moderator on duty right now. Feel free to ask the SANE forum team or the members if you need help with how to use the forum. You might like to check out the Guidelines as they can be pretty useful in understanding how it all works https://saneforums.org/t5/help/faqpage#community-guidelines.

Take care.

Whitehawk