I really appreciate your sentiment. It is really hard and I feel so stubborn for just not wanting to go through psychology again, but it's obvious I need it. I might try Headspace-they mainly market towards high schoolers, or use kids in uniforms in their advert, hence I thought it was a younger gro...

Hi guys. I just need a bit of help. I'm struggling a lot with mental health right now. It's gotten worse since I last spoke to you. I haven't been able to get to a psychologist yet - the fear of doing it again has kept me off, plus I've had other appointments for other things. A bad hospital that I ...

Okay then I'll start journaling things like that. That might make it easier to discuss it for me too because it's hard to relate to my own emotions when I'm not in the midst of anxiety. Is there anything I can do or say to a therapist at a session when I don't feel as though I have much to say? With...

Hmm so ideally I should show it to a mental healthcare provider? I only ask because I did record it last time and my psychologist was more interested in the practice of me doing it, and then me giving the 'worst' of what had happened. Is showing the full picture (even good things where I'm not set o...

That's a good analogy that I'll take with me. I did used to take notes when it seemed to be happening every second day (worry in general) so I guess it'd be useful to continue that with this.

Oh wow is it! That actually surprises me quite a bit that they have it, but that's really good, thanks Karyn!

I didn't know they did the online chat service. That's definitely a good feature.

Haha, I don't mind the bias at all here. Well I'm really happy to hear it might help. It's been something I've been thinking about but because it's so popular I was a little worried it might be a fad. I'll try and have a look for that book around and I might attend a few classes to kick things off

That's perfectly fair then. I guess it's just my own comfort levels and anxiety that really is the issue here rather than what other people are doing. I will try to have a look for a different psychologist for anxiety. Just on that note, in your opinion does meditating or anything similar have a mar...

I think I have to see someone different then. And go to a doctor different than my regular doctor if I want to get through via Medicare. Even when I was very sad and physically uncomfortable from anxiety and unhappy with who I was several times a week, he didn't even offer me the tests to see if I q...

I guess that's something I didn't consider then. With my previous psychologist, I felt like I was wasting her time. I had a lot of Uni work to do and came to an appointment without a lot on my mind but that she she pushed and pushed me to find out exactly how many hours I had left in the week to do ...

I had bigger picture issues to address at the time that were more rooted in anger and anxiety. To be honest, I found some of the things touched on, such as mindfulness/letting the thoughts go helpful, but difficult to practice, and I found the process of psychology too uncomfortable to continue. Unf...

As I'm sure you guys have gathered from my post history, I'm not very comfortable with cold sores. It makes me very anxious because of how easily transmissible they are, and I fear unknowingly spreading them to either my partner's or my own genitals. I realise, at this point, it's an irrational fear...

Thanks Heather. Yeah, I'm happy that the new research is out there and there's one less thing to substantially interact with the pill, but I know I would have been anxious if we didn't back up so that's what we both decided on.

Unfortunately I had pneumonia, but I am on the mend now! That's very kind of you to say Heather. I hope you're well, of course! Okey dokey. Well that's good to know we're doing the right thing per contraception. That's interesting, because to me, the relationship between antibiotics and the pill (th...

Whoops I meant azithromycin not amoxicillin

Hi guys, I just wanted to check I'm doing the smartest thing with my birth control. From January 30th - February 1st I was in hospital with an antibiotic drip (penicillin). From February 2nd - 9th i was on amoxicillin. I read on one of the fact sheet that common antibiotics may interact with the pil...

Thank you very much, Heather!

I know it is. The history behind it all and socialisation patterns, are very interesting, but also sad and disappointing to study because of the pure misogyny behind it. I'll relax a little with blaming myself for it. :) It's just a little frustrating to sit back and see that it's what happened. I t...

Thank you Heather, I'll try and practice these sorts of things so I can try and shut down uncomfortable conversations should they arise again. They don't actually seem as rude as I would have thought, which is a bit annoying to learn in hindsight, but at least I know now. I think one of things that ...

Actually, that's probably very true. That's a really, really, good point and I hadn't actually considered that it might where my feelings come from. I think you're absolutely right. I never wanted it to be a flirty, innuendo-filled conversation and for the most part it wasn't, but when those moments...

I think I felt guilty because I didn't know if I had crossed a boundary or not. I had actually told my boyfriend that I was talking to this person - if he looks over my shoulder I always say 'oh I'm just messaging (whoever)' and I don't hide that. I didn't delete the messages to hide them so much as...

I think saying it aloud (or at least typing it) is making me realise that this is just part of being an anxious person (for which I do have help available to me). I just feel like if his sexual partner didn't know about the messages and didn't view them favourable, they could be sent to my boyfriend...

Just adding a little more - I think the main reason I'm grappling with guilt here is because I never aim to be that bad person who betrays their partner. Friends of mine have previously accused me of flirting with a male friend, who I asked if I was, in fact, flirting with him, and he said that I wa...

A few months ago, I started chatting to a guy that I work with. Many guys at work objectify my body, and this particular person told me about it, and also complimented me, while dismissing the other guys at work as gross. I enjoyed talking to him. Eventually, the topic turned sexual. We discussed wh...

Okay thank you. I have been a lot less anxious more recently. This was more of a specific issue that we were both concerned about because we were shocked by the heat of the room. I've found out more about how the pill works, and I've been communicating about risks and such with my boyfriend a bit be...