I think I might have anxiety but I'm scared to start. What now?

By Natalia Cajide, Registered Psychologist (AHPRA PSY0002474316). 4 min read. Published 13 May 2026. Last reviewed 13 May 2026. Next review 13 May 2027.

If you are reading this, you have already done something significant. Recognising that you might have anxiety, and looking up what to do about it, is a step that many people put off for years. The fear of starting is one of the most common reasons therapy gets delayed. It is also one of the things the actual experience of therapy is least likely to confirm. The version of therapy that exists in the imagination, before starting, is rarely the version that exists once it begins. The work this Answer is trying to do is to make the next step feel small enough to take.

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The hesitation is common, and it has many shapes

You are not alone in not having started. The distance between recognising that something is wrong and asking someone for help is a wide one, and most people who walk it walk it slowly. Around 47 per cent of Australians who experienced a mental disorder in the last twelve months accessed mental health services in that period, which is to say that roughly half did not (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2022). That isn't a number that reflects something wrong with the people who hesitated. It reflects how hard the gap is to cross.

The hesitation takes many shapes. Some people worry that what they have is not bad enough to take to a therapist, that they would be wasting someone's time. Some people worry the opposite, that what they have is too much to bring into a room, that starting would make it harder before it gets easier. Some have had a prior experience of therapy that didn't fit, and the thought of trying again feels like risking that disappointment a second time. Some are worried about cost, or time, or being judged. Some are worried about being met properly as autistic, as queer, as older, as someone whose first language isn't English, as a man, as someone who doesn't usually do this kind of thing. Some are caught in the particularly recursive trap of being anxious about doing something about their anxiety.

All of these are reasonable. None of them is a sign that you shouldn't start. They are the texture of being a thoughtful person making a decision that matters.

What the first step actually involves

The first step is not committing to a course of therapy. It is one conversation.

At this practice, the Meet and Greet is a 15-minute call or in-person meeting, free, with no obligation. You don't book a therapy session. You don't pay anything. You don't need to bring a history. You meet one of us, ask whatever you want to ask, and see how it feels. If it feels like the right fit, you can book a first session from there. If it doesn't, you don't. The point of the conversation is exactly that: to find out, before either of us is committed.

A first session, if you decide to book one, is also not a commitment to ongoing therapy. You can come once, see what it's like, and decide. The first session is described in more detail in the [linked Answer], but the short version is that it's a conversation, the clinician guides it, and you don't need to be prepared.

A few things worth knowing before you book

There are a few things people often want to know before they book that don't always get said clearly. So here they are.

It is normal to feel nervous before a first session, and the nervousness usually settles after a session or two. You don't need to have a tidy account of what's wrong. The clinician's job is to help you build the picture, not to wait for you to produce it neatly.

The therapy room is supposed to be a place where you can be uncertain, contradictory, scared, hopeful, all at once. Therapists are trained for it. Nothing you bring in is the wrong thing to bring in.

If something doesn't feel right with a particular clinician, that's information worth taking seriously. The fit between you and the person you're working with matters, and it's reasonable to change clinicians, or to take a break, or to wait. None of those decisions invalidates the work of having started.

Australian data continues to show that anxiety is one of the most commonly treated mental health presentations through Medicare, and that the workforce is set up for it (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, 2024; Mental Health Commission of Australia, 2024). You will not be bringing the clinician anything unusual.

What I would say in closing is that the people who do this work, the ones who get to therapy and try, are not a different kind of person from you. They are the same kind of person, just past the moment you are in.

The moment doesn't ask you to commit to a year of therapy. It asks you to make one phone call, or send one email, or fill in one short form. That is the only thing being asked of you today. It is enough.

If you would like to make that the call we have, the Meet and Greet is the easiest place to begin. Free · 15 minutes · online or in-person · no obligation.

General information only. This page is general psychoeducation, not a clinical assessment, diagnosis, or treatment. Reading it does not establish a treating relationship. If you would like personalised support, please book a Meet and Greet or speak with your GP. If you are in immediate danger, call 000, or call Lifeline on 13 11 14.

To talk this through with a psychologist, you can book a Meet and Greet: free · 15 minutes · online or in-person · no obligation. Book a Meet and Greet.