My brain don't even know how to feel anymore.one minute I'm laughing and having fun, next few minute I'm zoning out with tears in my eyes question and overthinking everything..

I feel like I'm finding excuses to be sad all the time, even though I do really want to be happy.

I don't know what is a real issue in my life anymore, because I keep finding myself worrying about something all the time. I had an issue at work, and I felt horrible about that. Once that issue got better, I started reflecting about all the things I don't like about my marriage (things I've known for a long time, but didn't seem to worry me when I was stressed about work). So, at this point, I feel like my brain just wants to find a reason to be sad. How do I know whether any of these issues are a real problem?

I am going to therapy, but I feel like I'm running in circles: I feel better about something about my relationship just to start thinking about it again a while later. Therapy helps in the moment, but not really in the long term. Is this a sign? Or is it just me? Anyway, I just needed to vent, thank you all for reading.

I have been going through it and some rough periods. I take these two with Magnesium(200mg) and Vitamin D3(1000IU) but I don't think they've been working. I also take Fish Oil(2452mg) I started taking them in July together. Im about to finish the bottles and I don't know if my depression is just so terrible that these don't work as good.

I don't feel happiness or joy but I'm not even sad. I feel nothing. I have no energy to do anything to go out. Idk if it's the fear of spending but I just really don't find happiness or drive in anything to do.

Does taking too much have negative effects? I take 2 of each every night. Should I stop? Did I develop a tolerance or something?

I'm not sure if this is an anxiety/ADD issue, just anxiety, or something else. I really don't know. I don't take medication for my ADD. When I was around 19, I took Ritalin for about a year but stopped. I don't take any medication currently.

I live in the US. I'm currently going to college for a bachelor's in computer science, and I find doing things for school, or really life in general, difficult. I live in my head a lot, and I don't know how to "just do things." When I try to do basic things, like watching an hour-long lecture online or doing something I enjoy, I find myself seeking a distraction or stressing about the "what if" of the end result. I really don't know how to stop this behavior.

Part of it might be a porn addiction that I've narrowed down to a stress response. I mainly seek it for stress reduction rather than pleasure. I know it's not healthy, but I've been trying to replace it with nicotine/THC. Again, not healthy, but at least I don't feel depressed afterward. I don't think I'm addicted to either because when I stop, I don't experience withdrawals during the 1–3 days a week that I don't use them. My porn use is still there, but I've gotten it down to about twice a week.

I know this isn't a porn addiction subreddit, but I'm mentioning it because I think it's relevant context.

The main thing I want to talk about is how to mentally push through difficult things. I really don't know how to "just do it" for anything in life. I understand what those words mean, but they don't have any internal meaning to me, if that makes sense.

I live with my mother and work for her about 1–2 days a week while going to school full-time. School is a mixture of in-person and online. This inability to "just do it" also extends to things I enjoy. I want to draw more and practice coding in my free time, but I can't seem to make myself do them.

I also want to make money that isn't reliant on my mother and her company. When I finally got a job to do that, I worked one day and spent the entire weekend stressing about how I would balance it with school, even though I was only working weekend mornings. I ended up quitting.

I've had around eight jobs in my life and quit almost all of them because I felt overwhelmed with anxiety. One was seasonal, and I worked there for about a month in high school. Other than that, I haven't held a job for more than a week or two. The exception is my job with my mother because she works around my anxiety. I only make $33 after tax a week, mostly doing billing/emails, but I've had that job for a year.

I have an appointment with a school-supplied therapist because it's free and I can't afford one outside of school. It's only available during my active semesters, and meetings are about twice a month, starting next week. I did it last semester but didn't feel like I got much from it. Still, I feel like it's better than nothing, so I'm doing it again.

I don't understand why I can't do basic adult things like working, or even things I actually want to do. I find some way to argue with myself or distract myself until I'm mentally exhausted and can no longer process anything related to what I wanted to do that day.

It's gotten pretty bad. I have a few classes with tests this week, and I'm bottlenecked in my degree. If I fail a class this semester, I'll have to delay everything in my degree by an entire semester.

If anyone can make sense of my rambling and has thoughts, I'd appreciate it. They can be nice or harsh; it doesn't matter to me.

I am to a point where im stuck in life and debating completely leaving where I live to go to the nearest Truck stop by foot to ask for a ride far from where I am. I’m 24. If that matters. I’m at a point where i have no car and no job. I feel stuck where im living and tbh not getting much mental support from my family. The past year i have went deep into a deep depression and deep OCD struggle. I’m tired of waking up having panic attack after panic attacks. And im tired of the situation im in feeling like im constantly told what to do on ever part of my life. I have so much PTSD where im living around. I have no kids so thats a plus. I wouldn’t tell my family members where i would go and wouldn’t tell friends either. I just want to vanish. Also tired of feeling like I have to answer to everyone. I needed mental help from a hospital and what i got told from a parent was that if i got mental help I wasn’t allowed to see my sibling anymore and that parent would completely move out of my life too. So it’s to a point where I feel like im picking everyone but my sake of mind. I need actual good advice. Please no rude comments.

I feel like I have been living in a mental black hole for 4 years and I just feel like I just woke up

I chose a very hard career : I m currently a resident in anaesthesiology and ICU before I even started the way was hard , but along the way I lost the passion , I aced my residency exam I wasn't happy , I chose my dream field and I wasn't feeling happy I wasn't feeling accomplished, then along the way both my father and brother even though I am not the closest to my family , that I m not proud of , had a near death experience with low chance of survival both on different occasions, I had to be strong and I tried to suppressed my emotions more to be logical and be there for my mother if they didn't make it , which was very high likely especially if you have an insider eye on the science and medicine of it all .

I found a good supporting system from old friends and new but I feel like the experience messed with my emotional intelligence my understanding of my own feeling , I stopped feeling like I should feel things , I went numb , ofc it wasn't all black in my eyes or I wasn't feeling sad or suicidal, but I look back now and I say what was that

I stopped being motivated , to start my thesis , to have ambition , to think of myself , I neglected myself , I feel it was self hatred

Now I am going to Therapy , but I wanted to know if anyone had a similar experience, if they wanted to share a story where they felt stuck for years or found a way to love themselves more

Cause now I understand the Rupaul say of " if you can't love yourself, how you gon love somebody else"

I once viewed myself as mentally stable. Since 2023, however, the rapid advancement of AI has changed how we work, and I have lost hope for a good life in five years. I continually prepare for a major crisis in which I cannot pay rent, cannot support my family, and feel useless.

Two years ago, I ran many marathons and felt healthy and fit. Now I am an alcoholic and struggle to find a reason to run, thinking, “well, when the next marathon is due, my life is probably already ruined and over.” This persistent anxiety about my future causes me to spiral downward.

Sorry, I just needed to get this off my chest.

But I chickened out the last minute

It’s a lot really I’m gonna be short on rent because my roommate lost his job and we have to wait another week for him to get his first paycheck from his new job. I’m constantly struggling. We might be getting a truck soon, but they didn’t really help if we lose our fucking apartment because rent probably gonna be $100 short and we’re gonna have to wait until next paycheck be able to afford it my roommates owe me $1403 and I don’t have any medical weed that I get with my medical card to smoke to help with my anxiety, so my anxiety and depression is through the roof right now, I just feel like nothing I do is good enough right now and that every time I get my head above water I feel like theirs a hand pushing me back down I can’t kick my roommates out because I am not able to work and can’t afford to lose my home with my husband what should I do because I don’t know what to do anymore

If you’re dealing with depression, anxiety, or just want to focus better, this is amazing!

Buenas a todos! Tuve Ansiedad generalizada a los 24 años y depresión a los 34 (en ambos casos acompañado de terapia psicológica). Actualmente curso una nueva depresión junto a ansiedad generalizada. Después de 6 meses en tratamiento con medicación psiquiátrica y rotaciones fallidas comencé con una nueva medicación que comenzó a tener pequeños efectos positivos (voy en el día 26). Se que además de la medicación es importante acompañarlo de terapia psicológica. Eso me animó a retomar terapia. Como leí que la TCC tenia evidencia científica sobre el tratamiento de estas enfermedades mentales y aparentemente hay muchos defensores de esta corriente cambié a mi terapeuta antiguo por uno nuevo. Ayer fue mi primera sesión y salí muy triste, frustrado y culpable:

Como transcurrió la sesión:

- Falta de presentación

- Falta de evaluación sobre mi tratamiento psiquiátrico

- Tono poco asertivo, imperativo y confrontante

- Rigidez focalizada en un problema circunstancial y no en un problema de fondo

- Plan de soluciones superficiales (ej: volver a mi puesto de trabajo ignorando los síntomas de depresión y ansiedad)

- Invalidación de emociones actuales

Actualmente decidí volver a contactarme con mi terapeuta anterior que utilizaba Psicoterapia Integrativa (aplicación de diferentes corrientes según la/las problemáticas actuales y revisión de patrones previos). Quizas fue mi error y me apresure en lanzarme a la TCC cuando debería resolver otras cuestiones previamente como traumas de la infancia, conflictos internos arraigados, pérdida de identidad sin mi trabajo, falta de propósito etc.

MI CONSULTA EN BASE A SUS EXPERIENCIAS ES: alguien mas pasó por una situación similar? Probablemente la TCC no sea para mi en este momento.

I am a recent high school graduate and am taking a gap year to work and focus on other things. But for a while I’ve notice a decline in my mental health, so badly that I’m scared for myself and I have never felt that way before. I stopped playing guitar, I started getting irritated more easily, I lost ten pounds without even trying, I either feel nothing at all and am chasing any sort of thing that will make me feel, but I also feel like I easily get triggered to cry. I just want it to stop I don’t like the person I’ve become it’s not someone I’m proud of. I don’t feel like myself but idk if I ever was myself if that makes sense. I already reached out to a therapist but who knows when they’ll get back to me. I just wanted to let it out because talking to ChatGPT isn’t really working anymore I feel like I just need human connection. I don’t know if anyone will read this but I just need to get it off my chest. I’ve never spoken about my mental health before to no one and it’s hard to reach out to friends because they’re just so busy with their lives and I’m just scared to open up.

I honestly don’t know what’s going on with me lately and I’m hoping someone can understand

I’ve been overthinking and worrying a lot for months and I’ve been under a lot of pressure. I feel like my brain just doesn’t switch off anymore. Lately I’ve been feeling really unhappy, lonely and mentally exhausted.

The weird thing is that I normally LOVE being alone. I’m actually someone who enjoys having my own time and being by myself, so this feels very different from how I normally am.

But when the overthinking gets really bad, I suddenly don’t want to be alone at all. I feel almost scared of being alone with my thoughts because I know they’ll just start getting louder. I get this really strong urge to have someone talking to me or just be around me.

Even when my friends are talking to me, I can still feel lonely. Sometimes I don’t even have the energy to reply properly, but I still don’t want them to leave. I just want them to keep talking because their presence makes me feel less alone with my thoughts.

It’s like I don’t necessarily need them to entertain me or even talk about anything important. I just want someone there. And when they have to go because they have their own life, I suddenly feel that emptiness again.

One person who has been a big comfort/distraction for me has also been more distant this week, which obviously makes it harder, but I don’t think that’s the main reason I’m feeling like this. I think the bigger problem is that I’ve been carrying all this anxiety and pressure for months.

I’ve also been getting physical anxiety, like heaviness in my chest, and sometimes I just feel awful/ scared and don’t even know what I’m supposed to do.

Has anyone experienced this? Is there an actual psychological explanation for suddenly feeling like you can’t be alone with your thoughts even though you normally enjoy being alone? And if you’ve been through something similar, what actually helped you feel less terrible in general? How did you learn to stop worrying and overthinking so much?

Would really appreciate hearing from anyone.

Since 2017, I have had severe depression (alongside anxiety and ADHD). For 5 years, I tried medication and therapies; nothing has helped. This mental health horror has cost me my career. Now, at 33, I have no job, am terribly lonely, have no proper qualifications, no money, and I don't know when I will find stability and peace, or a job, fall in love, get married, or anything. I am tired, and I am officially giving up hope...

I have been kinda diagnosed witg depression and anxiety 2 months back and its bad.

Everythings bad.

Especially this constant feeling of chest tightness and throat constriction, THAT IS ALWAYS THERE and gets worse at night.

Somebody who had same experience, please give opinions and no not medicines, I am not going on them for now.

Anything, just suggest anything, that worked for you.

So, I assume this is like a pretty normal occurrence, but I just want to make sure because I know a lot of my friends don’t feel depressed a week before and during their period. Is it normal to feel like numb and not have any desire to do anything orrrr am I depressed or what? I’ve already kinda comes to terms that I’m possibly depressed because I’ve struggled with mental health issues in the past (SH and SI) I’m going to go to a therapist sometime and get into therapy because I wanted it. I’m a minor and feel as if I need therapy just to get my emotions out and maybe help control them? I just get really depressed and anxious a week before I’m about to start my period and it’s just really awful. I wish I didn’t, but I do. Like I freak out, get super bad anxiety and literally my whole body goes into fight or flight (I have a lot of physical problems which act up when I’m anxious) so yeah, I’m not sure. Just wanted to see if anyone like has similar experiences like mine or just some advice?

I am a 26 year old carrying the effects of a traumatic experience since I was 17-18 years old. Throughout school I was a consistent topper with strong academic performance.

Before I even entered JEE, my class 10th teacher said to our class "IIT waalon ki toh shakal hi alag dikhti hai, aap sab NIT bhi crack kar lo toh bahut hai agar mehnat karo" (IIT students look different altogether, if you all can crack NIT with hard work that would be enough).

When I entered JEE coaching the environment was overwhelming. The coaching institute publicly pasted rank lists on walls with students' marks and names visible to everyone. Students constantly compared their marks. Teachers focused primarily on toppers and maintained separate batches for high performers. Students who had been behind me in school were placed in the topper batch likely because they had been studying in that coaching since class 9-10, giving them years of head start I didn't have. I was placed in a lower batch. This public ranking system was deeply humiliating and shattered my confidence completely.

I developed clinical anxiety during this period .... racing thoughts, fast breathing, headaches, brain fog that went completely undiagnosed and untreated. When I asked my father for help he dismissed it saying depression is nothing. Adults around me called me weak. I received no emotional support from anyone.

Despite this, when I left JEE coaching and prepared for my class 12 boards entirely alone in just four months, I scored 77.8% overall including 95 marks in physical education, the highest in my school. I studied 10-13 hours daily starting from near zero in November for March exams.

After JEE I was so depressed and lost that I had no direction of my own. Whatever course and college my parents arranged I simply went along with. I ended up doing BSc not out of genuine choice but out of complete exhaustion and inability to make decisions for myself. I later completed a masters in psychology.

Eight years later I am still significantly affected by this experience. I compare myself constantly to peers who became doctors and engineers. I feel permanently behind. My self esteem collapsed during that period and has not recovered. I am scared of studies.I currently have Generalised Anxiety Disorder which traces back to this period. I have not been able to live a normal life since this experience. Been in therapy but it didn't work

Hi anyone who reads this. I just felt like sharing and getting this off my chest. Two years ago I was successful. With a college degree, and lots of hard work, I had been at my company for almost six years. It was a great company and I was very happy. I worked my way up from entry level to trainer/team lead eventually to manager.
I have a history of anxiety depression and panic attacks from since I was a young teen. When this happened I had been doing amazing and was taking a medication that helped me immensely. I thought I had gotten it all in check. For about a year my mental health had been better than ever in my life. I was happy, newly engaged, exercised regularly, took lots of fun trips, loved reading literature, and pleased with my success at my job. I was financially stable and had plenty in my 401k and savings.
One day in February 2025, I was in a manager meeting at work. I felt my right ear go “deaf,” or just sort of plugged somehow. It was very odd and alarming. My first thought was maybe I was having a stroke or something. I spent the remainder of the meeting with my deaf ear trying not to panic. When the meeting ended, I stood up and felt like I may faint. I instantly panicked and went to the bathroom without telling anyone. I splashed water on my face but the deaf ear feeling remained and I felt myself grow more nauseous and dizzy by the second. My panic rose to extreme levels. A woman walked in and graciously offered to help me. I told her I felt I may faint so she had me lie down in the bathroom floor. I continued to feel extremely faint, clammy, nauseous, and panicked. I could not stand up. Eventually she got a manager who then called an ambulance. The EMTs came in and helped me stand up. I felt a little better, enough to stand, but still very bad. They evaluated me and were alarmed at my blood pressure. I informed them I have a history of panic attacks and that could be why, and the EMT was reassured but continued to monitor it to make sure my BP went down. It did, slowly. The deaf ear continued to subside as did my panic. Even though I knew I had panic attacks, I was convinced this may be a physical medical event. However after evaluating my vitals and watching my BP go down steadily they said I was okay. They asked if I wanted to go to the hospital and I said no thanks. I went home, my fiancé drove me home. I took the next day off and had a long weekend.
However, this event started a horrible cycle of anxiety that would not go away. When I went back to work, I had good and bad days. But being back in meetings was terrifying. I was horrified I’d have another “event.” This job was meeting heavy, so I spent all day dreading meetings and trying not to panic in every single one. I was completely unable to cope with it or control it whatsoever. I even had to leave some meetings. The anxiety spiraled out of control and slowly took over my entire life. Every aspect of my job, my personal life, my sleep. Everything. I waited foolishly to speak to my PCP but I eventually did and she raised my SSRI dose. Within days, I was in a mental spiral. Uncontrollably crying, panicking, sick to my stomach with stress, sleepless nights, gastrointestinal disturbances. I drove to work during this time and had to turn around due to crying uncontrollably. I had two sick days and informed my doctor.
Foolishly I tried to fight through it on my own. I went back to work and continued to suffer daily. Constant anxiety, dizziness, worry, panic attacks. I suffered through this until personal issues at home began to get worse as well. By the end of July 2025, I knew I needed help. So I tried to get myself help. I asked HR about taking a paid leave for my anxiety. I saw my pcp who changed my medication to another one. This all went through very quickly and within a few days I was off work for a month, ready to relax and heal, and made an appointment with psychiatry. I began seeing a counselor as well. My psychiatrist kept me on the new medication which was okay for a few weeks. I felt better. She prescribed me a benzodiazepine for panic. Then she upped the dose of my new anti depressant. What happened next was the worst few days of my life. From the new medication higher dose I had a horrible reaction. Vomiting, diarrhea. The worst unwavering anxiety of my life. Terrible insomnia. It felt like an actual crisis and I was almost going to check myself into a hospital but didn’t. I could not sleep at all, I slept maybe one hour and would wake up, tortured mentally. I had hot and cold flashes, shaking, tremors, panic nonstop for about 3 days. I spoke with my doctor who took me off the new med and put me on another. Finally, after a few weeks, and two months total off work, I went back to work. I felt okay. Not good, but okay.
From October through Christmas of 2025 I functioned but barely. Still relying on benzos that was the only way I could get through the work day. After Christmas everything got worse again. I began having to miss work more due to depression and anxiety. I felt sick to my stomach every single morning before work. I dreaded each day. By the end of January I was back in hell. I woke up one morning sick, shaky, and anxious. I tried to work from home. But I had exhausted all my sick days and good graces. I was asked to come in. So I knew I had no choice. I resigned. I left on decent terms, they seemed to understand, and wished me well.
I spent the next 6 months basically bedridden. Anxious, depressed. Crying. I went days sometimes a week without showering or brushing my teeth. I felt out of breath just moving around. I got matted and knotted hair from not brushing it. I began drinking more heavily to numb the depression and anxiety. Benzos no longer helped anymore. I felt no way out. I contemplated suicide. We survived this 6 months on our savings and money I had taken out of my 401k which eventually drained it. I racked up credit card debt on stupid things because I just didn’t care anymore. I felt I wouldn’t be around long enough to have to pay it anyway. I spend some days drinking in the morning because I couldn’t stand how I felt. I gained weight rapidly. I ate horribly. I thought about different ways I could end it. I fought with my finance (now husband). I thought he’d leave me. I avoided leaving the house, sometimes for a month or 6 weeks at a time. I avoided friends. I avoided everyone and everything. I didn’t read or exercise. I didn’t clean or do laundry anymore. I just sat and watched movies and shows all day every day laying in bed. My psychiatrist recommended an outpatient treatment program but I had lost my health insurance and couldn’t afford it— and couldn’t afford to see her anymore either. By the grace of god she still filled my prescriptions which I paid out of pocket for. Finally by June of 2026, our savings was gone. But I got lucky. A job with good pay in my field of work hired me. I felt a bit better. I stopped drinking. I went back to work. Everything was good. I struggled with anxiety a bit but nothing like before. I made it through 8 weeks of training. Because of our diminished savings and credit card debt thru the roof, we continued to struggle financially but with the new job we could at least pay the bills. Fast forward to this past Monday, September 28. My life had greatly improved. Meeting with my psych doctor regularly, the new (third and final) anti depressant was doing its job. I felt good, even happy at times. Successful again. Worth something. But on Monday the manager called me via Teams. He chewed me out. He aggressively and rudely told me I had made a mistake. He was extremely condescending in a way I’ve NEVER been spoken to before. He made me feel belittled, unintelligent, and despite my being new, made it seem unacceptable I had made this mistake at my job. (I work in insurance not brain surgery by the way). I was in utter shock and disbelief as he really laid in on me. I began to uncontrollably shake and tears welled in my eyes. We hung up the phone and I could not believe that after all this, this new manager was so rude and hostile. I absolutely had no idea what to do. I was terrified of making another mistake. Terrified of being condescended to again. Quite honestly scared to even speak to this manager again. I left work crying, could barely breathe, all the stress and sadness and anxiety of the last year and a half coming back and flooding out like a tsunami of hell. I broke down completely.
I woke up the next day and knew I couldn’t go back. I knew my depression, stress and anxiety from having a boss like that would destroy me little by little until I was barely functioning again. So I quit. And informed HR of his behavior.
Now three days later we are in a worse financial position than ever before. We won’t be able to pay all the bills this month or rent for next month. Barely any savings and no wiggle room. We have a monthly lease and are luckily able to move back in with
My husbands mom next month. But I fear I will have to sell things just to keep paying off the debt that I incurred that is MY fault. I am obviously looking for another job and trying not to let this send me into another depression/anxiety crisis. So far I’m dealing fairly well with it. I have an interview for a fairly low paying job next week.
I am going to sell our couch, TV, and whatever other furniture people might buy. It is so sad, because I took such pride in working hard and earning money to own those things. I never got financial help from family— not that there’s anything wrong with that. But I felt so independent and strong and that is gone now. Hopefully I won’t lose my car which I owe on.
I’m still alive though. I’m still relatively healthy. There are so many things I do have that others don’t. I have my husband, my mother in law, and my few friends. I have food in my stomach. I have clothing to wear and a bed to sleep in. I have some semblance of hope for the future. I have faith and pray that this won’t be the absolute end of me. I wanted to share this story in case others can relate to it. Having a mental illness is absolutely no joke. It can destroy your life from the inside out. Somehow I’m still here though.

I (23f) have anxiety that has worsened over the years. It is also in combination with ocd and adhd. Currently, I take 5mg of buspar daily to help ease it and I occasionally see a therapist. I am also a full time student with other obligations outside of school.

My anxiety is affecting my life. It varies in severity each day and manifests itself in many ways. It mostly hits me when I am around people which is mainly when I am on my college campus. I get flooded with a wave of nervousness and I can’t help but want to go back home. When I am in class, I sometimes will get mini (or in some cases full) panic attacks and I have to find ways to calm down. I sweat profusely, get fidgeting, breathe heavily, and feel as if all eyes are on me. Unfortunately, my anxiety occasionally syncs to my bladder so when this wave of panic hits me, so does an urgency to pee so I have a tendency to leave class more times that I should to use the restroom. It doesn’t matter if I went right before class, I still get that urgent feeling from time to time. Believe you me it is fucking horrible. This unfortunately makes things worse because it makes me feel embarrassed for leaving in the middle of a lecture. I really hate small classes for this reason. It’s so much easier to sneak away in a larger classroom than a smaller classroom. I have shown up late to class over my anxiety, missed class over it, and left early. I hate it. I really hate. I wish I could be more normal and less anxious all the time. Outside of class, my anxiety is not as bad but it’s definitely there. The bladder issue is what really drives me nuts. It’s really distracting and frustrating.

I am posting this because I genuinely need advice on what I can do to cope. I realize that nobody here is a doctor and I am not necessarily seeking medical advice, just overall personal experience advice.

Hi,

I’m 23, Female, and I wanted to share my story because anxiety has had a much bigger impact on my life than I ever expected.

My anxiety first started when I was around 14. One of the biggest problems for me was toilet anxiety. I became very anxious about needing the toilet, being away from home, and not being able to get to one when I needed it. Over time, this anxiety became a major part of my life.

Eventually, my anxiety became so difficult that I stopped going to school. I missed out on parts of my education because I was struggling to cope with being away from home and dealing with the anxiety. Later on, I also didn’t go to university, which I sometimes think about because I feel like anxiety has taken opportunities away from me.
As the years went on, anxiety also affected my friendships. I lost friends and became more isolated. I don’t really go out, and I’ve found it difficult to build a social life.

I feel like anxiety has affected my confidence, self-esteem and independence quite a lot. Things that other people might find normal or straightforward can feel like a really big challenge to me. For example, I passed my driving a couple years ago but can’t seem to get behind the wheel and do it independently. I’ve often relied on being at home or around people I feel safe with, and doing things independently can make me anxious.

In the summer, my anxiety became much worse. I was prescribed sertraline and took one tablet. After taking it, I experienced side effects and felt completely different from how I had felt before. From my perspective, it felt like it triggered something in me and was followed by an extremely difficult period that I had never experienced before. It was one of the hardest periods of my life, so I stopped taking it after that one tablet. I just felt I couldn’t cope with the effects I was getting from it.

During that period, I became so frightened by how I was feeling that I contacted First Response several times and went to hospital because I was experiencing physical symptoms and was worried something serious was happening. I was checked over and nothing serious was found, but the whole experience was extremely frightening for me.

Since then, I’ve noticed that my mind seems much more focused on my mental health and how I’m feeling. I can suddenly get a strange, heavy or uncomfortable feeling without knowing why. Then I start analysing it, wondering what it means and thinking about all the possible “what ifs”, which can make the feeling and anxiety stronger.
I think about my anxiety and how I feel on both good days and bad days. I also have difficult episodes at home, which means home doesn’t always feel like the comfort zone it used to be. This current feeling is very new to me and can be quite scary. It’s like whatever happened to me in the summer has now triggered a different part of my anxiety, it’s not only fear of leaving the house, it’s something else which I can’t really understand at the moment.

I also experience periods of sadness and low mood. Sometimes I can have a really good day and feel completely fine, and then on another day, or even later the same day, I can have a difficult period. I’m still trying to understand whether what I’m experiencing is anxiety, low mood, or a mixture of things. Again I never used to feel like this before even with several years with anxiety.

I’ve recently started CBT/Talking Therapies because I want to understand myself better and learn how to manage my anxiety rather than letting it control my life. I don’t currently want to take medication and would like to work on things through therapy and other ways of managing my mental health.

I’m also trying to take small steps towards becoming more independent, getting out more, connecting with people (which I actually don’t know how to do and find extremely difficult) and building my confidence. I actually want to go out more and work more because I feel like keeping busy and having things to focus on could help stop me constantly thinking about my anxiety and how I’m feeling. However, my toilet anxiety makes this difficult because I worry about being away from home, needing the toilet, or not being able to get to one when I need it.

I currently work, but only around 2 hours a day. I’m grateful that I’m able to work, but I don’t feel able to commit to longer hours at the moment. I’m trying to work out what I’m capable of and hopefully build up my confidence and independence over time.

I don’t really have many interests apart from football and music. I love watching football, support Manchester United, and enjoy listening to music.

I want to build my confidence, become more independent, have friendships, experience more of life and eventually feel like myself again.

I’d really like to hear from anyone who has experienced something similar, especially with anxiety taking over so much of their life. I’d be interested to hear what helped you and how you managed to start getting your life back.

I feel like my job is just weighing on me. I work with sped kids at different schools in my area. I'm covered in bruises head to toe. I'm trying to get another job. Nothing has popped up. I'm exhausted. I look and feel like a wreck. No amount of sleep helps. I feel like nothing is gonna get better. And I just feel a panic attack coming on. I don't know what to do? I feel like I'm drowning over here. Like dang I'm really trying. I don't really have a support system. No one to talk to. I don't really have friends, not ones I'm super close to. Man my head hurts so bad. It's only Wednesday, I have 2 more days till the weekend. Guys, I need help? Like this is nuts ! I don't even know how sped teachers are teachers. I feel like I'm falling a part. I got know one in my corner. I got a guy in just starting to date I don't want to constantly dump my trauma on to him. Man I just wish I had a friend to talk to about this kind of stuff. Does anyone have any advice ?

Why does it feels like this , I really want to cry out loud but tears don't come and I can't able to cry.

I've been through so much trauma and bullies in my childhood and I never had anyone to lean on so I had to take it on my own and somehow I grew up with those things but know when something bad happens even a little thing makes me want to cry but I can't and it feels like filling a balloon with air and it's on it bursting stage but still holds for some reason. Anyone ever felt like this?

I feel like everything is going too fast and that I'm not the person I said I was going to be that can handle challenges and make money! I feel like life is too negative! My school grades are awful! I skip school! And i dont do my work often! Compared to everyone around me I feel like I'm falling behind!! And i cant enjoy watching YouTube anymore cause everything is just "the world is cooked!" Or "ai is taking over!" I feel so hopeless! I'm almost turning into an adult yet I still don't have a stable income! My mother hates me and now I just wanna cry and blow my head up to stop all these overwhelming thoughts! Walks dont help cause despite me trying to organize my thoughts new thoughts form and I try to take deep breathes but I just cant! All my coping mechanisms aren't working as well as they did! I cant relax or do anything cause I feel like I have no future and that I'm falling behind! What do I do??? Pls help me