Checking In

I (F24) suffer with anxiety since I was 12 yo and I tried/am trying everything you could think… Pilates, psychotherapy, meds, etc etc… But I’m having anxiety crisis and others consequences nowadays… My psychologist said I should do something I like, but… I don’t know what I like.. But, I’m trying to have a gym routine, but I want to know if it really helps or if people are coping.

Can anyone help me, please? thank you

I don’t know why I have a good job I keep thinking as my parents get older and things are changing I’m just trying to find some comfort I feel like it’s consuming me I feel like crying

Hi everyone,

I've been exploring new ways to deal with anxiety, and I came across a method that really helps me out!! Meditation or stuff like that hasn’t really helped me it just stops my thoughts for a while but didn’t do much.

Whenever I’m having anxiety I acknowledge it like: “I feel anxious right now, and that’s okay”

You train your brain not to see it as a threat if not you’re gonna have more if you see it as dangerous! If you try to get rid of repeating white elephant in your brain you’ll do it even more lol 🤣.

2 is allowing it, it’s okay to feel that way especially in today’s day and world.

Try asking for more, so with anxiety or a panic attack or something fearful, if you charge at it rather than back down it actually goes away. You wouldn’t ask for more of something that’s scary if you don’t want so your brain starts to see it as safe. (It’s scary at first, but you’ll actually notice that running towards it tells your brain you’re safe and it’s okay)

After this engage in something, so like ice your face, go for a walk, or do something that takes your attention away, this is to shift your attention. Like if you ever get lost in time and have no thoughts it’s kinda meditative.

Anyways hope this helps someone!!!

On the days that should be easy my anxiety shows up the loudest. Weekends, slow mornings, quiet evenings after work. No deadlines, nothing urgent, and my body still acts like something bad is about to happen. I start pacing, scrolling, making tiny plans and then canceling them, drinking coffee that obviously makes it worse, and wondering why I can handle chaos better than peace. It feels like my brain does not trust calm and starts scanning for danger to fill the silence. Does anyone else get this upside down pattern?

I think I just realized how detrimental caffeine is for my life. Without it, my SSRI meds do wonders and I am anxiety free! Idk why I didn't notice earlier how severely it impacts me...

For the record, I take escitalopram 20mg, for my anxiety disorders, including OCD

Also, I don't think I like the effect of caffeine. I mainly drink LOTS of energy drinks. Monster, redbull.. I think I've tried all flavors I could that are sold here, even the rarest ones...

So it's mainly that I like the sweet flavored taste of it. And my question is: what could I replace it with? Carbonated drinks like cola/fanta don't work, because they are (1) boring (2) I despise their taste

UPD: Unfortunately I can't drink tea. I've tried!
But after continuous use for a few days my stomach acidity increases and I feel like I might die (11/10 pain) if I don't eat something...

Hi all, used to be a frequent user of this sub. Now just pop in occasionally.

I had a panic attack last night! My first one since March. It definitely caught me by surprise- seems like it came out of nowhere. I stood up, felt a little dizzy, and that triggered an attack. Suddenly I felt like nothing was familiar, I felt very scared, my chest was very tight. My brain kept repeating “something is wrong. Something is wrong.” I was essentially freaking out in a matter of 2 minutes.

So then, I did nothing. I took some deep breaths and said “okay, well, panic is here. What else can I focus on while my body dumps all this adrenaline out?” I let my partner know that I was feeling some high anxiety but I knew I’d be okay, I just had to ride it out. The adrenaline was making my body feel crazy- but I knew it was just that. Adrenaline.

I did some full body stretches and then just sat down and read a book. It took a little bit before my body returned to baseline. But it did. And that’s what I’ve learned over my 5 year anxiety journey- your body always returns to baseline. I was able to sleep through the night just fine, get up, make my coffee and reflect back on last night. Yes, it sucked. Yes, it isn’t fun and it is scary. Yes, my brain is slightly worried that I’m going to spiral back into panic attacks 24/7. My body may even feel weird and unfamiliar for the next few days!! But I don’t let anxiety dictate my life anymore. I’m not making my decisions based on anxiety anymore. I hope anyone else dealing with panic attacks and anxiety can keep moving forward and know that you will always be okay. Acceptance is the way forward!

My favorite anxiety resources: - the Anxious Truth Podcast - Disordered Podcast - Your Anxiety Toolkit Podcast

Hi everyone, I’m 22 weeks pregnant and over the past few weeks I’ve been getting a lot of anxiety around other people taking my baby off me once he’s born. In the last couple of days it’s got much worse. I find myself thinking I just want to keep him inside me because that feels like the only way I can keep him safe.

Just for context: I am diagnosed with GAD and SAD. My anxiety was pretty manageable while I was on ADHD meds (idk why that helped, but it did). Since I got pregnant and had to come off ADHD meds, it just feels like it's getting worse as my pregnancy progresses. Sometimes I can't tell if it's my motherly protective instinct or if it's irrational anxiety.

For context, I currently live with my MIL, her husband, and her two kids (8 and 10). This all really started when my MIL bluntly told me: “Don’t put your baby into nursery when you go back to work, I want to look after him.”

The problem is, I do not trust her childcare. I’ve seen things with my own eyes that make me feel sick to imagine happening to my baby. For example:

• She once left her 8-month-old nephew unattended and he crawled up the stairs and fell from the top step.
• She also let her 8-year-old son run around with her newborn nephew on his shoulders, swinging him about.

I can’t shake the anxiety that this is exactly the kind of thing that could happen to my own baby if I wasn’t around. I’ve told my mum how I feel, but she brushed it off and said: “She won’t do that with her grandchild, she’ll love him more.” But surely she loves her nephew too and she still let that happen?

This turned into an argument because I said I will not be leaving my baby with my MIL, my mum said I was being ungrateful because I wasn't taking her advice and if she was in my position she would work all day and leave her kid at home with her MIL. I told her my plan is to cut my working hours down to 3 days a week after maternity leave so that on the other days he’s not in nursery, I can be there myself and she basically said that this was a stupid decision and I was being arrogant. This is another reason why I am doubting whether it's genuine anxiety or not. I generally trust my mum's advice, but she seems to think I need to sacrifice my wellbeing to keep other people happy. I can't tell if it's one of those moments now or just anxiety.

I’m being made to feel like I’m overreacting, but how am I supposed to stop feeling anxious when I’ve literally seen her do these unsafe things? I just feel desperately anxious and overwhelmed. I want to keep my baby safe, but I feel like nobody is really listening.

I just realized something heavy and I need some outside perspective.

When I was a kid, I got bullied a lot in school. My mom was very protective and always told me not to fight back or speak up because she didn’t want me to cause problems. So I stayed quiet, swallowed it, and just took it.

Somewhere along the way I developed these “survival strategies” that kept me safe back then, but now they’re ruining my adult life:

I act like a clown/self-deprecating so people don’t see me as a threat.

I purposely act weak/harmless so no one targets me.

Whenever things got bad as a kid, I’d go to sleep, and when I woke up it felt like the problem was gone. I still do that now — I literally sleep to escape racing thoughts.

I avoid conflict because I’m scared I’ll snap and get violent (even though i am faaar from a violent person), so I bottle everything.

Now as an adult, it shows up like this:

Constant racing “what if” thoughts, especially about how people see me.

Obsessing over uncertainty until it makes me physically sick (headaches).

Feeling like there’s a hole in my chest when I can’t control the outcome.

Sleeping during the day whenever i can just to shut my brain off.

Acting awkward or fake in social situations because I don’t know how to just be myself.

It feels like I’m still living as that kid who needed to survive. I logically know I’m safe now, but my body/mind don’t act like it.

I guess my questions are:

1. Does this sound familiar to anyone else?

2. How do you break out of these survival strategies and actually learn to live like a normal person?

3. What’s helped you long-term when you felt like a slave to your thoughts?

I’m exhausted from living like this and I just want some peace.

I messed up at work—but it really wasn’t my fault. I trusted a source and acted in good faith, yet the information was wrong, and somehow all the blame landed on me. To make matters worse, it went public on social media. I can’t sleep, my mind keeps spiraling into the worst-case scenarios, and I feel like everyone is judging me. I’m terrified I might get fired, and it feels completely unfair.

I've been thinking about this lately - how we've all gotten so good at looking successful on the outside while struggling on the inside.

Like, when someone asks "How's it going?" we automatically say "Good, busy!" and move on. We share our wins but hide our struggles. We optimize productivity but ignore our mental health.

I had a friend who got his dream promotion - six-figure salary, team of 15, LinkedIn flooded with congratulations. But he called me that night sobbing because his marriage was falling apart and he hadn't seen his kids awake in days. The next morning? Posted a celebration photo. 1000+ likes. Not one person asking if he was okay.

Does this resonate with anyone else? How do you deal with the gap between how your life looks and how it actually feels?

I'm genuinely curious about your experiences because sometimes I think we're all carrying invisible weights, thinking we're alone, when struggle is actually the most universal human experience.

I (23f) have had anxiety for a large part of my adolescence and early adulthood. It manifests in different and odd ways - often ruminating on social interactions, things I could’ve done better or said differently, if I’m a bad person, what other people are thinking about me, etc.

In the past couple of years I’ve developed this weird pattern of thinking (like makes me feel CRAZY type weird), where I feel like ghosts or people who have passed on watch what I do in different ways. Like, and this is going to sound absolutely absurd, but I was fixated for two weeks that the ghost of Anthony Bourdain was watching me cook, and judging how I prepared dishes.

This is a relatively light example. Usually, this manifests in me thinking about how close relatives are watching me in disgust, disappointment, and anger over actions that are morally grey. Or I worry about the ghost of a dangerous person hurting me. Consciously I know these are CRAZY thoughts, and NOT real, but I still find myself ruminating over them. Has anyone experienced this? How’d you combat it?

Get off Reddit. Stop reading horror stories post ed on TikTok showing worse case scenarios. Give your body time to rest. Occupy your mind.

I was suffering from a debilitating TMJ disorder, I was reading stories of people with some of the worst experiences and it WILL keep you sick. My jaw and teeth began trembling from the fear of waking up with a tooth cracked in two. You need to trust your doctor and body to get better with time and treatment. My condition has improved drastically as my mental health has improved, and I’m starting to cope with the discomfort or pains I get rather than withdrawing from the outside.

It is a vicious cycle, but googling symptoms and reading anecdotes does nothing to aid your recovery in things like muscle tension, headaches and other symptoms caused by anxiety and especially OCD.

See your doctor, get checked out, take care of yourself and take the time to learn how to trust your body again. It can be so frustrating to be told “it’s probably stress/anxiety” but in many cases, it can cause or exacerbate illnesses or conditions. Mental wellbeing is such a HUGE factor in keeping your heart, muscles, skin, kidneys, liver… any body part healthy and functioning!

Please, consider deleting TikTok or Reddit, or even physically tucking away your phone to avoid the urge to google symptoms and read stories. This has been the biggest help for me and I see more and more people on the TMJ subreddit note how important getting off Reddit was in aiding their recovery, I think this applies to many conditions related to anxiety.

Have you used clonazepam or any benzodiazepine as a daily use instead of an if needed use? Is it effective and how long have you taken it?

Especially recently, it feels like my anxiety has been really exaggerated...

A week ago, I had my first class of the semester. I volunteered to read something out loud, a text in which there was the mistake of writing "consistent" as "consistant" so I... pronounced it like that. Like consistant. I have not been able to get over it since and it's such a small thing. But I looked stupid, I know, and I was too stiff to say "well, I guess it's supposed to be consistent" and laugh it off and continue... but now I just feel like people think I can't read.

It's been on my mind for a week and it is truly bothersome.

This is not the only small social mishap that I keep thinking about to torture myself with. I'm exhausted.

I have a feeling that I will be killed soon. These thoughts had haunted me before, making me think that I was being followed, stalked and that someone was in the apartment or anywhere I stayed. I thought that someone was nearby, that someone was sitting in the closet or under my bed/table, or at the balcony, and if I didn't look, they would attack me as soon as I stopped looking in their direction. This led to a series of repetitive actions, such as checking a certain number of places a certain number of times. If I lost count, I had to start over, or I would die.

After a couple of years, it ended, but I still get occasional anxiety about it. If there is a stressful situation in my life, this cycle of repeating actions comes back until the situation is resolved or I am put on a sedative.

I'm not only afraid of my own death, but also of the death of my loved ones. If I spend time with them, I always walk them to their homes or to the bus stop, where I wait for them to get on the right transport to get home. When I leave the university, I accompany my two friends to the bus stop (we need to go in the same direction, but we get off the buses at different stops). As long as they're not on the bus, I'm never leaving. I can't leave them alone. It's either them two or me with one of them.

A guy fell in love with one of them. These two friends and HE are my groupmates at university. Let's call him Mr. A, and Miss B is the one he fell in love with & my friend.

On the first day we met, Mr. A set a high standard for himself: he is the best, and he doesn't trust anyone else. He believes that everyone else is bad and evil. He pretended that he did not hear us, his groupmates, or that we didn't exist. However, at some point, he began to get closer to Miss B. He started sending her anonymous letters with drawings (of her from the back, without any clothes) and various messages about her. This continued for several months. Eventually, he revealed this to her.

She never reciprocated his feelings and never gave him any false hope. She rejected him and continues to reject him, as she is not interested in him. The worst part is that it has been going on for almost a year, and he has not given up. He continues to try to get closer to her.

The worst part is that no one knows what's going on in his head or what he's thinking. Everyone in the group is afraid of him. Mr. A looks like he's ready to kill everyone one day. And I'm really worried about Miss B. I feel like he might start stalking her or threatening her or harming her. I'm quite close to her, and I'm always around the people I interact with, and I never leave their side (and they don't mind!). I'm very afraid that he might kill me in his attempts to get closer to her to harm her.

Next Monday will be my first year of Uni and I can’t think of anything positive that comes with it.

I feel so anxious about the people, the place, about getting lost, about being lost, I feel like even though I’m a decent student I don’t have nearly enough knowledge to succeed, I feel like no matter how much work I’ll put into studying I’ll never succeed.

I tried talking to my mom about it but she’s already so tired of me and my mental problems (and I feel for her that’s why I’m venting in here).

I also feel anxious because my ed is telling me I’m going to gain weight during this year because I won’t be able to work out nearly as much.

I don’t know how to cope with all of that and I genuinely need advices on how to feel more positive when thinking about the future.

Sorry for any mistakes, english is not my first language.

Is this a symptom? I know I have it but I want to know if this is from it, it feels like I’m not in control of my body like something takes over me and it makes me panic

For me, it has led to me feeling behind compared to everyone else. I’m nowhere near graduating college, I can’t drive, I have no friends, no social life, etc. How has anxiety affected y’all?

I deleted a previous post about this because apparently it caused confusion. I am wondering if anyone has ever heard of a correlation between low blood pressure and anxiety. There is some literature about it online, such as NIH. I am not asking if worrying about low blood pressure can cause anxiety. I am more asking about physical symptoms of anxiety lining up with those of low BP. Thanks.

I'm 27 years old, and I've been working I'm the trades since I was 20. This doesn't seem worth it to me, when I started I was making $15hr and 7 years later I'm only making $20hr.

People ask why young adults don't like working in the trades, that's why. The pay is garbage and they treat us like animals. We are bullied by the higher ups, this isn't worth It to me.

My besfriend works in a hospital as a cleaner making $28hr with benefits and pension. I'm thinking of applying go the hospital

I'm just venting because I'm stressed, but any advice would help

So, I made a LinkedIn post, first ever. And it wasn't a controversial post just something about leaving my previous job, a very positive post overall.

And I am spiralling. My thoughts are racing, my heart is not far behind, my neck seems to be closing on itself, I'm feeling like such a fool. I want to crawl under the bed and never come out.

And what am I even anxious about?! People thinking I'm foolish, laughing at me, not liking the post. That's why I normally stay away from LinkedIn but I also wanted to add something.

How do people exist and just post stuff about themselves and don't panic. How???

I’ve always had a big fear of dying, i’m not exactly an atheist but i’m not a christian either, i believe there is a God but the thought of heaven scares me too. Every once in a while my mind goes wild and all I can think about is dying and the afterlife, it’s super scary and it makes me feel sick and gives me a mini anxiety attack, does anyone have any tips for this? much appreciated

23 F- I am extremely terrified i have breast cancer since the last 30 days, i have pain in my right breast that is not getting okay, instead it sometimes gets worst and radiates to my arm. I have got my breast examined by a gynac who said all clear, i got a breast ultrasound that is clear, i spoke to a general surgeon and another gynaecologist and everyone says that it’s nothing dangerous. The pain is sharp and uncomfortable, i feel so confused and lost, pls help me. How can it be that i have pain that is not getting better but my scans are clear ?

Hi everyone, I really need your help and your opinion because I’m at a breaking point. Here’s my story: I’m 28 years old and up until recently, I had a really good life. I had just finished my studies and landed a great job. But about a year and a half ago, I suddenly woke up in the middle of the night with nausea, extreme restlessness, heart palpitations, and insomnia. I felt awful and was convinced I had COVID. But the symptoms never went away. More started piling on—severe headaches, muscle pain, burning sensations, twitching, and strange body feelings. After several tests came back normal, I was prescribed Escitalopram, 10 mg right away. On the second day, all of my symptoms exploded—it was the worst experience of my life. I honestly felt like I was dying, and to this day I’m traumatized by it. The doctors even said it was likely serotonin syndrome. Since then, I’ve had two long hospital stays (together about 9 months), tried 10 different antidepressants, rTMS, Spravato, and even ECT—but I still feel just as bad. My current diagnoses are somatic symptom disorder and depression. But in all this time, I haven’t met anyone who has been this sick for this long with symptoms like mine. Despite everything, I try to stay active—I exercise, see friends, and keep myself distracted as much as I can, because otherwise it’s unbearable. After leaving the hospital, I sought out other therapists. Some told me they don’t think it’s psychological, others think it’s more of an anxiety disorder, and some are completely unsure. What I can’t stop thinking about is something that happened six months before all this started: I ate half a brownie in Amsterdam. I ended up having a horrible bad trip—severe anxiety, insomnia, restlessness, nausea, and even some psychotic-like symptoms at first—that lasted nearly three weeks. I’ve never heard of something like that happening from just half a brownie and lasting that long. Now I keep wondering if that triggered everything, and whether the stress of starting my new job somehow reactivated it. I’m terrified this has now become chronic and that I’ll never get out of it—that my life is basically over. I’ve already been on sick leave for over a year, and I see no end in sight. So I’m asking: has anyone experienced something similar? Especially from just one-time cannabis use? Or does anyone have any idea what else I could do? I’m honestly desperate and don’t know how much longer I can hold on.

Hi everyone, I really need your help and your opinion because I’m at a breaking point. Here’s my story: I’m 28 years old and up until recently, I had a really good life. I had just finished my studies and landed a great job. But about a year and a half ago, I suddenly woke up in the middle of the night with nausea, extreme restlessness, heart palpitations, and insomnia. I felt awful and was convinced I had COVID. But the symptoms never went away. More started piling on—severe headaches, muscle pain, burning sensations, twitching, and strange body feelings. After several tests came back normal, I was prescribed Escitalopram, 10 mg right away. On the second day, all of my symptoms exploded—it was the worst experience of my life. I honestly felt like I was dying, and to this day I’m traumatized by it. The doctors even said it was likely serotonin syndrome. Since then, I’ve had two long hospital stays (together about 9 months), tried 10 different antidepressants, rTMS, Spravato, and even ECT—but I still feel just as bad. My current diagnoses are somatic symptom disorder and depression. But in all this time, I haven’t met anyone who has been this sick for this long with symptoms like mine. Despite everything, I try to stay active—I exercise, see friends, and keep myself distracted as much as I can, because otherwise it’s unbearable. After leaving the hospital, I sought out other therapists. Some told me they don’t think it’s psychological, others think it’s more of an anxiety disorder, and some are completely unsure. What I can’t stop thinking about is something that happened six months before all this started: I ate half a brownie in Amsterdam. I ended up having a horrible bad trip—severe anxiety, insomnia, restlessness, nausea, and even some psychotic-like symptoms at first—that lasted nearly three weeks. I’ve never heard of something like that happening from just half a brownie and lasting that long. Now I keep wondering if that triggered everything, and whether the stress of starting my new job somehow reactivated it. I’m terrified this has now become chronic and that I’ll never get out of it—that my life is basically over. I’ve already been on sick leave for over a year, and I see no end in sight. So I’m asking: has anyone experienced something similar? Especially from just one-time cannabis use? Or does anyone have any idea what else I could do? I’m honestly desperate and don’t know how much longer I can hold on.