# Struggles and Support > Mental Health in the media >  >  Are anxiety forums helpful for you?

## Dark

I usually keep to myself and definitely do not do things like this. I figured why not try something new. At least here I can get advice from people who understand what I am going through and possibly give a bit. A site like this might be what I need? I don't socialize much.

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## Trendsetter

For me, personally, no. I don't think I fit in on anxiety forums.

It is a good resource to use and relate to others who are also dealing with the same issue, or went through the same issue and eventually resolved it.

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## FraidyCat

Only forum I have ever joined was Anxiety Space. This forum reminds me I'm not alone. Thank you!!

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## Sagan

Yes! Only contact I have with other human beings.

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## JesusChild

I'm very sensitive and the harsh personalities and the cold nature of some of the posters over on the other forum made me feel very nervous and uncomfortable, I understood there were deep emotional and psychological reasons why there were posters with cold or desensitized personalities but it still scared me, I'm not good at hardening myself, my feelings show. 

There's probably somebody here who's been there and known what I'm talking about, while I never clashed with anyone there, I was always shaken by some of the attitudes towards with posters, this forum is much calmer, the antagonistic nature isn't here, when I first started there, the forum was more friendly more open, the topics were calmer too.

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## Trendsetter

> I'm very sensitive and the harsh personalities and the cold nature of some of the posters over on the other forum made me feel very nervous and uncomfortable, I understood there were deep emotional and psychological reasons why there were posters with cold or desensitized personalities but it still scared me, I'm not good at hardening myself, my feelings show. 
> 
> There's probably somebody here who's been there and known what I'm talking about, while I never clashed with anyone there, I was always shaken by some of the attitudes towards with posters, this forum is much calmer, the antagonistic nature isn't here, when I first started there, the forum was more friendly more open, the topics were calmer too.



That is pretty true.  ::D:

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## haunted lyrics

> Only forum I have ever joined was Anxiety Space. This forum reminds me I'm not alone. Thank you!!



Hi FraidyCat 

This is my first time using an anxiety forum. I found it off twitter and thought "What the heck, why not?". It's nice to be able to communicate with people with the same problems with me.

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## Antidote

Just being in contact with other people with the same condition on forums like this has helped immensely and been much more valuable to me than therapy ever was. I used to feel like such a freak and now I've found people that I don't have to hide this condition from, or try to explain it, because they already get it.

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## Anteros

Not necessarily for my anxiety, but they've helped me meet and befriend like-minded people.  ::):

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## WintersTale

It's helpful in the sense that I can discuss my issues with other people, who are also facing them.

Not all of my issues are tied to anxiety, so it's not always helpful. But it's a good place to fit in with.

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## spottitchsam

i know that when I come on places like this i will always find someone who understand what I'm going through.x

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## Otherside

Finding SAS back in May, I was happy to find people like me. But that's about it. I like talking to other people like me and it somehow gives me some sense of sanity, knowing I'm not alone. However, this is about true:





> I'm very sensitive and the harsh personalities and the cold nature of some of the posters over on the other forum made me feel very nervous and uncomfortable, I understood there were deep emotional and psychological reasons why there were posters with cold or desensitized personalities but it still scared me, I'm not good at hardening myself, my feelings show. 
> 
> There's probably somebody here who's been there and known what I'm talking about, while I never clashed with anyone there, I was always shaken by some of the attitudes towards with posters, this forum is much calmer, the antagonistic nature isn't here, when I first started there, the forum was more friendly more open, the topics were calmer too.



This is me too. Although I was probably one of the ones who came across as aggresive towards my time over there. But look at it from my view. I'm having a shitty day, I'm on new meds that are quite possibly making me feel ill, and I don't really feel like doing much. I'm struggling coming to terms with a bipolar diagnosis and the fact that this isn't something that will just go away. Log into that place-

"Oh hey woman! Guess what, we have it worse than you because we haven't had sex and it's easier for you to get laid. So stop moaning, and hey, you wouldn't understand because you're not us. Having sex is the worse thing in the world, I'm going to go and kill myself. There's no other reason for anxiety and depression but that."

It makes me wanna scream. I've seen manic, psychotic and suicidal in my few months visiting doctors for treatment for this thing and I know I'd do anything to not be bipolar right now...and being told by some 16 year old spotty teenager whiner that at least it's easy for me to get laid and I should therefore, feel perfectly fine...well, I was gonna have a go. Particularly since people have a go at me over there if I tried to point out how they had absolutley no bad things could get, and not having sex was not the worst thing in the world. (If I was one of the posters on there who had a go at you, or anyone on here, then I'm sorry.)

I also need to stop complaining about that place. Check in occsaionally, there's not as many sex threads. Still, prefer this place. What with the old mods and everything (Ventura, Neptunus, and I think Ironman may be one of them from SAS...) Who were pretty damn awesome, even if I don't know them much.

There mods. You have my respect.  ::

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## WeAreStars

I have not seen bad things on this forum. People seem very nice

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## Penruddocke

The forums here make me feel less of a freak.

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## Otherside

> I have not seen bad things on this forum. People seem very nice



Hmm, not sure if you're referring to my post or not, but of are, yeah people on AnxS are pretty nice. I was talking about another place called Social Anxiety Support. You may have seen some of us talking about an SAS or "that place". It was a good forum, until all the mod changes and all the horrid, nasty people came onto it.

This place is so much better. Still surprising how the mods/admins listen to you on here and how friendly and supportive everyone is. And how no one will tell you to "Stop whining an get a life" if you're having a shitty day.

if you weren't referring to my post, heck, Im just talking crazy talk.

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## WintersTale

Please don't refer to the forum in question. It is looked down here. I try my best to avoid saying it here.

As far as the posts that I made on the other forum, I either was frustrated or misunderstood. I've made a March resolution to be kinder, more understanding, and more tolerant of others opinions. I know I'm one of the people that you're probably talking about, but I generally tried my best to stay out of the arguments...and created at least 2 threads, asking for gender wars to stop.

Anyway, I'm trying to become a better person. It's a shame that not everybody takes that road. I think there is a middle ground between the arguments, but of course neither side will see it. 

And this place is a lot calmer than the other forum, because nobody is creating those threads here. If they ever did, I probably would leave.

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## Coffee

I've met a couple of wonderful people. I've only recently started getting into the whole forum thing, it really wasn't something I did at all until early last year. It helped initially with SA but then it became a distraction. This forum is less distracting. I guess it depends on how you use it and how many people are willing to offer you support.

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## Koalafan

Sometimes yes sometimes no  :Tongue: . Sometimes anxiety forums can be a savior where I get to talk to like minded people who share the same problems and can offer support. Other times i use it as a crutch and almost as a form of escapism to the point of unhealthiness where I completely ignore the "real world" =/

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## Hummingbird

In the "real world" I'm competely surrounded by extroverts. There literally isn't a single person like me. Anxiety forums are the only place I don't feel like a freakosaurus rex, with the exception of the therapist's office.

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## Marleywhite

It's helpful because I don't feel alone in knowing that other people are going through the same things. I don't really comment on forums but I find it helpful reading other people's responses.

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## pam

> Just being in contact with other people with the same condition on forums like this has helped immensely and been much more valuable to me than therapy ever was. I used to feel like such a freak and now I've found people that I don't have to hide this condition from, or try to explain it, because they already get it.



This is how it's been for me too--very helpful. I had no contact with anyone except my boyfriend before joining these sites! It's been good for me in exposing myself/speaking my mind/being myself and risking getting rejected. Plus I actually made a few friends a couple years ago who I talk to off of the forums. But they live 1000s of miles away so I'll never actually meet them unfortunately. 

I am from SAS too. I never really had a problem with anyone there. Yes, I didn't like what some people said, but I would just ignore them. IDK, I was never attacked personally or anything that bad. I still spend time there. I actually had a lot of good experiences there in the first 2 yrs I was there. Recently there are a couple new people who I liked enough to friend. I like both sites!  :juggle:

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## mackemdezzy

Not really only thing is they make you feel less alone ...

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## tal

I don't find them very helpful tbh. In fact I think they can have negative effects - like making you develop an us/them attitude towards people who don't suffer anxiety and then not being willing or able to post on non-anxiety forums.

I use these forums in the hope I'll make some good friends...I'm not that interested in the 'support' side, but so far I've not made that many friends despite using anxiety related forums for many years now...not as many as I would have liked to anyway.

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## Purgatory

I have just come over from another Anxiety Forum and I must say the answer to the question is Big yes forums like this are a great help and resource..

I had been wondering around for so long trying to figure out what was happening to me and then to find a site that others who had the same things/feeling happening to them was a great feeling knowing that I was not the only person in the world suffering.

And foums like this help us all understand the impact that Anxiety/Stress/Mental Health Issues have upon us and often help us find our own peace.
Also if I try to explain to people how I feel and they don't understand I point them to a forum like this so them thenselves can look at how I may feel inside.

And I thank people for setting them up (as we all do)

Sorry I went on a bit

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## whiteman

Yes...that is...as long as I don't talk about controversial issues. I like to talk about controversial issues, I like the intellectual stimulation, but I've just come to the conclusion a mental health website isn't the place for that. 

My views are very, "unique." They tend to evoke an emotional response in some people. So I'm going to keep those views to myself on this site. On the other site, I was the target of several people who never said they had any kind of mental illness including SA, which leads me to believe they were never on that site for support.


I didn't mind if someone had a different opinion than my own. In fact, I welcomed other opinions. Usually my ideas were criticized, and I had no problems when that happened. However, I didn't really like being attacked personally when their personal attack did nothing to contribute to their argument. If their attack contributed to their argument that was another story. Often times I talked about science so people would criticize ideas they didn't even understand.


At first I liked the new moderators, but it soon became apparent there was a powerful double standard on that site. Which meant one group could say what they wanted to say but people who weren't part of that group couldn't respond with what they wanted to say. That was frustrating.


Ultimately, someone attacked my SA and attempted to discredit my argument by attacking my mental health on a mental health SA support site??? I asked this person if they had SA, since they never mentioned they had SA, and the person wouldn't admit they had SA on an SA site??? It seems many of the worst people on that site did not have SA, so often times that site doesn't have much to do with SA and it definitely does not have anything to do with support. On the other hand, it occupied my time for a couple years and it was intellectually stimulating, but those things weren't worth negotiating the double standard and attacks directed at my SA on an SA support site???

After a couple years on that site, and after being attacked for having SA, on an SA site, by someone who didn't have SA, I burned out and said some things I regret, but I'm glad to be done with that site. It did more harm to me than good.

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## Otherside

> Don't worry. You don't have to explain why you use another support site. Use whatever you find helpful that might be more then one site.



This is why I like this site so much, because the mods and admins say things like this and genuinly mean it.  ::): 

Still surprises me how much the mods/admins on this site listen to what we have to say about this site, how frendly this are with everyone...it's a nice little community here.

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## merc

Well, I found this site after a kind of crazy  experience which I'm not going to get into and I tried to find help on line. There was one of these weird quiz things in what protective behaviors do you or have you used to avoid social interaction. I ticked off most of the ones on the list and was able to list a few not listed and was actually happy to learn a few new things I hadn't thought of and realized that just maybe I was a little out of control and losing it. 

Has it helped me being here and posting yes and no. First it and the other site made me so self conscious of all the ways my life is horrible because of SA. But I haven't always been this bad. My life isn't that bad and it's been nice to find people who have similar struggles. I really want to get back to being happier with myself and that just doesn't seem to be happening.
Rambling on. It has been a positive experience for me here. Thanks

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## Coffee

> I've met a couple of wonderful people. I've only recently started getting into the whole forum thing, it really wasn't something I did at all until early last year. It helped initially with SA but then it became a distraction. This forum is less distracting. I guess it depends on how you use it and how many people are willing to offer you support.



Yea I take this earlier reply back. If it weren't for anxiety space, i don't know how I would've gotten through my latest crazy anxiety-provoking situation. So yes this forum is very helpful to me and my progress and the amount of people that supported me was overwhelmingly amazing.

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## WintersTale

This site is the best!  ::):

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## WineKitty

I think they are helpful to some degree.

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## Cyber

"Post Removed"

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## JaneDoe

They are helpful to me. They don't make my anxiety better, but knowing that others are going through the same sorts of things makes me feel less alone and better.

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## mightypillow

Anxiety forums are a hit or miss for me. Sometimes I'll feel less alone with my problems, and other times I'll feel like I don't relate to the other members at all. Unfortunately, the second case is more common.

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## Chantellabella

I've only been on two. One was good. The other meh. This is the good one. Why? Because there are some really great people who are willing to listen to my fears, hurts and hangups. Anywhere you go in life where people understand you and care has to be a good place, right?

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## Misssy

Not sure what I think...in someways I think at times the forum is helpful yet at the same time I end up spending time on here instead of dealing with life....but then again life is not that great so that is why I come here.

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