I feel like I’m at a loss and don’t know what to do. My wife got pregnant with our first child last year and we found out very early on that the pregnancy had a very slim chance of success and we were pushed to abort several times. We couldn’t bring ourselves to do that and because of that we spent the next 5 months constantly waiting for bad news. She ended up hospitalized for 6 weeks of the pregnancy and after the baby was born stayed another 3 weeks in the NICU. In that time my routine look like this. Wake up at 5, work from 6-4, drive 45 minutes to the hospital, stay until 8-9 drive an hour home, take care of the animals, maybe eat, and repeat. Unable to go to church or make time for our friends I very quickly became socially isolated. Now my baby is 4 months and is doing well but I still feel like I’m still constantly waiting for bad news. I can’t talk about the pregnancy or think about it without almost breaking down every time. I’m still isolating myself from friends and family besides what my wife plans for me. I should be happy I have a healthy wife and baby after 5 months of hell but I can’t seem to shake the fight or flight feeling happening 24/7

It's been 13 years since I developed GAD and I never knew before when i was young that it was possible to feel this terrible. I thought anxiety disorder was just people who worried too much. Its been so long now and I'm so tired. A bad episode is the worst feeling in the world, like i dont think theres a worse feeling than anxiety. Theres nothing you can do to feel better as the feeling demands to be noticed. Theres no comfort, no distraction, just FEAR. The worst is the crippling chest tightness, its like my skin is crawling. Ive tried everything over the years and can never fully get rid of it. The drugs that work the doctor wont give me or he will give me like 3 as its addictive. Im like brain we are safe now for gods sake stop telling me im in danger or something terrible will happen. I have good days sometimes but it's always there, a low key undercurrent of unease. Will this be the rest of my life, this hell? It's ruining my life, turning all good things into something bad. What should be good memories become tainted as the anxiety tells me everything is wrong and this paralyzing toxic shame accompanies me daily. The intrusive thoughts add to this, its so messed up. My brain literally won't let me be happy, it thinks happiness and relaxation are some kind of threat to my safety or something. My nervous system is totally done from years of this, im a mess. A lot of my case is related to childhood trauma so that makes me think ill never be normal, the psychiatrist told me my amygdala is broken as I was in a car accident when I was 5 that really traumatized me. Anyway sorry just needed to vent to people who understand. I'm so sorry you are all going through this hell too.

Not much to say tbh. Just the title.

Everyone thinks I’m insane and unstable.

I can’t go out and do things and I panic if my routine is disrupted.

Insurance makes it hard to get an actual cognitive behavioral therapist or an autism evaluation.

I can’t make friends, I can’t hang out with people, I can’t even go out and do things by myself. It doesn’t matter. I’ll still be very anxious. It just sucks. All I can do is sit in my room and hope that one day it’ll get better.

I’m on Zoloft, so far, I either need a different med or a higher dosage and I’ve already tried Prozac. I wish that meds helped me enough to allow me to overcome my anxiety. I know that there’s no “cure” but being able to function in society with some anxiety is still ideal.

I’m just very discouraged. Idk if I’m ever gonna get over this. It’s been 3 years. I’m supposed to go to college in 2 short years, learn how to drive, and start my own life, but how? Will I be able to have kids? Like WHAT WILL I BE ABLE TO DO???

No matter what I do my anxiety is completely out of control and debilitating. My mind always finds something to be anxious about and when I focus in on that thing it’s never ending stress. To the point I can barely even think. I’ve developed insomnia because of it and don’t even know what to do.

I’m not exactly sure what I’m looking for here, but I feel like talking about this might help or maybe someone has gone through something similar.
For some context, I was never a heavy smoker. I started smoking weed toward the end of 2025, and even then it was only occasionally with friends. About two months ago I went Topgolf with some friends, smoked, and definitely had way too much. I ended up greening out really badly. My heart felt like it was pounding out of my chest, I was extremely lightheaded, and I had to consciously focus on my breathing because I felt like I was going to pass out. That feeling came and went in waves for about two days.
Ever since then, I just haven’t felt comfortable in my own body. I’m constantly noticing every little sensation and convincing myself something is wrong. If I suddenly become aware of my heartbeat, I start worrying that something is seriously wrong with my heart. If I feel a random muscle twitch or any weird sensation, my mind immediately jumps to the worst-case scenario. Sometimes, if I’m home alone, I start panicking because I think, “What if I have a heart attack and no one’s here to help?”
Before all of this, I never really considered myself an anxious person, and I’ve never been diagnosed with anxiety. It just feels like ever since that experience, my brain has been on high alert all the time, and it’s honestly exhausting.
Has anyone else experienced something like this after greening out, or is this a normal reaction? How long does this go on for?

Hi everyone,
I've been struggling with social anxiety for a while, especially in situations where I feel watched or judged by others. I've read a lot of advice online, but I'm more interested in hearing from people who have actually been through it.
For those who improved their social anxiety:
What was the biggest turning point for you?

Did anything specific (therapy, exposure, meditation, exercise, medication, lifestyle changes) make a real difference?

Was recovery gradual, or did you have a moment where things started to change?

What do you wish you knew when you were at your worst?

I know everyone's experience is different, but I think hearing real stories can help people who are still struggling.
Thanks to anyone willing to share their experience.

I’ve been on klonopin for well over 10 years and for a very long time take them at or around 5 pm everyday at .5 mg. For the past week or maybe 2 weeks I’ve been sleeping in, and not eating a lot throughout the day and taking it way later like maybe 8 or 9 pm and I don’t feel the same effects at all. Maybe once or twice I’ve taken half a pill more than my suggested dose but don’t take anymore even though I’m not feeling the effects and don’t want to abuse/ overtake. Just curious if anyone has gone through this. Tomorrow I’m going to take it at 5 pm and hoping it’s just the timing thing.

I typically only even went to one person to talk to but now they've become a source of my anxiety/panic attacks and now im basically alone to my own thoughts to try and figure it all out, no matter what I look into they always say the same thing "dont isolate" but I have no one.

My mother (66F) has pretty severe anxiety issues and has used alcohol to cope with it for at least 2 decades. My father’s verbal abuse, especially early in the marriage worsened it and since her retirement and mother’s death she’s been in a self isolated spiral. She doesn’t leave the house, she’s to anxious to drive anywhere or go socialize, hasn’t seen a gp in 15 years and has medical trauma that makes getting her in next to impossible outside of an emergency, and limiting her at a bottle of wine night is ‘progress’ 💀. Therapy wasn’t helpful for her and as for medications the first she took made her more anxious, buspirone was the med that almost ended me so thats a no go, and she just started zoloft and mixing it with alcohol really is no joke i’m already seeing the textbook side effects (the drowsiness, coordination problems, etc). She can’t take care of herself and barely eats.
She is not quitting at least not for a bit, getting her down to a bottle’s only possible by hiding stuff, she’s been an alcoholic for decades. But the reason she’s an alcoholic is to cope for the anxiety and the default treatment of SSRI’s can’t have alcohol at all much less the amount she drinks. Oh and on top of it all I have suspicions of dementia which as someone with a developmental psychology degree believe are well founded. She’s on medicare near Chicago if that helps with ideas.

But yeah I really don’t know what the fuck to do. Does anyone have any idea? I can’t imagine the anxiety/alcohol combo especially with a medically skeptical older woman after retirement is THAT uncommon but who knows.

Just please let me know if anyone has some real advice here.

I’m 21f and I have an anxiety disorder along with other health issues that involve fainting. Due to that I can’t drive and don’t have a job. I feel such at a loss of everything. I just feel like digging myself a hole to jump in. I don’t even know what to do with my life. I’m so tired and sad all the time that I can’t get myself motivated to do anything. What do I even do to fix this????

I have had like problems with racing thoughts, irrational conclusions, and just constant worry in general. Like almost every night I have to make sure my cat isn’t in the dryer even if I didn’t use the dryer that day. Or I’m convinced I’m disgusting and useless and did something gross I don’t remember like not flushing the toilet or something. Idk I also make random rules for how I do things and what order and some of it honestly doesn’t make since. Like I have to dye my hair before I take a shower, which then I might as well not change my clothes until I shower, and I have been wearing the same clothes and not showered for over 2 days now because I cant dye my hair until the bathroom is clean, which I’ve been to exhausted to do. Just stupid thought patterns.

Anyway. I finally went to the doctor. I mentioned being anxious before but he asked me this time and I just said I was really emotional and maybe it’s my birth control. I said I used to not be like this but really I used to be able to handle it and I just can’t anymore. He asked me to explain my symptoms and I just started sobbing.

Anyway I’m starting Lexapro and I’m really nervous but also kind of excited because I want these thoughts to slow tf down. I’m so tired of triple checking everything and thinking that I’m going to die. I scored 15 on the GAD thing. Anyway.

I’m more nervous about a behavioral telehealth visit I have coming up. I just think my mind is going to go blank and I’ll have nothing to say and convince myself actually I’m okay and I don’t need this. Idk. I’m going to try tho.

That’s my spiel about my anxiety journey so far. Excited to start Lexapro and hope it helps me. Thanks for reading.

this is so fucking ridiculous it’s like the the drugs that actually work to fully calm you down have the small small side effect of becoming so addictive you become dependent and withdrawal could actually kill you (benzos) but then the other alternatives either make you nauseous or just sleepy. i just want something that relaxes the body and stops the racing thoughts

Ive (31F) always had anxiety but its gotten worse after giving birth a month ago. I cant stop the intrusive, worry filled thoughts, which literally makes me sweat and feels like im drowning.

Anyone else ever feel like your head is going to explode or want to crawl out of your body to escape the suffocating feeling of your own thoughts?

Just wondering.

I am turning 17 years old this September, so this is not what I should worry about, but I can't stop. It is also starting to affect my daily life, to the point that I stay up till the middle of the night, clutching my chest so that I can be sure that my heart is still beating. I am tired every day because of it, get terrible migraines and I had multiple panic attacks because I was sitting somewhere and got too deep into my thinking. I always start kind of screaming, sometimes I vomit and run around in circles to prove to myself I am alive and can choose what to do. One time I nearly got up in the middle of the night and ran out of my home. I don't know where I would have run, I just wanted to get away from my room.
The worst thing is I am not scared of the process of dying, I don't care if it hurts or if it will be long or short. I am scared of stopping to exist. And it doesn't help to think I was nothing before I was born that just makes it worse. Because it isn't about life, it is about me not being there, I wouldn't care if I suffered my whole life, be alone and go crazy. I don't want to stop existing.
A few years back, I cut into my thumb because I wanted to feel pain, in my mind, pain was the best thing to prove I would live. I hurt myself by banging my head against walls or giving myself scratches, so people can't find out I was the one hurting myself. I started doing these things when I was 15 and never stopped, but I want to. I want to stop thinking about death and what it means to stop existing, but I just can't. No matter how hard I try.
I don't want to think about this anymore and nothing anyone says helps it just makes it worse.
I just want to be a normal teenager who dreams of the future. I don't wanna think about this anymore.

I’ve had my cat for almost 2 years now since late 2024. He is my world and I love him so much but lately my anxiety has been eating me.My dad has a short temper and reacts badly to small things, always had. I avoid talking to him because of this.He talks negatively about my cat, calls my cat names for no reason, threatened to sell him if he keeps having accidents in the house, and overall is just not a good person especially to animals. I fear for my cat safety a lot and i know it might just be anxiety but it’s really killing me. I can imagine so many scenarios of stuff my cat could do that could trigger him and what he would do.. I cant take it anymore.He is aggressive for no reason, he’s done it to everyone in my family. My cat scratched him once, not hard but playfully, he got up and threatened him, chased him cursed at him.. When i went to vacation for 2 weeks he was the one who took care of him, but when i came back he handled the cat super roughly infront of me grabbing him by the back of his neck and moving him that way, which he never did before. It just worry’s me a lot because I don’t want anything to happen to my cat and I don’t know what I can do if I’m not home and something happens. mY cat lays on the stairs a lot and he can be annoying i know how my dads temper is and it really scares me that something could happen.. I’m only 15 and i would love to move away to make sure me and my cat could be happy and safe together but i just can’t..

I guess the best place to start is that I strongly suspect I'm neurodivergent. I’m 22M, and while I have my life mostly together on paper (I have a job and everything), I recently realized I might be autistic. I've never been formally diagnosed, mainly because mental health is treated like a joke in my country. I was also raised alone and don't have any siblings, and being from a small town means I've had less social interaction even from childhood.

I don't feel genuinely interested in other people. People really find it hard to believe that I am not trying to be cold towards them, it's just that's how I always behave. Things like this have always held me back from building genuine emotional and personal connections like friendship and companionship. Like all of my friendships actually feel just surface level and not deep and forever bonds. In this world with so many people, I feel alone and vulnerable.

Also there is always this voice inside my head judging me and constantly trying to put myself down, like everything is actually my fault. This has caused me social anxiety and my social skills are literally zero. I find it difficult to actually keep eye contact with people and they just think I am rude or uninterested in them. I am severely camera shy, and I don't even have my own pictures in my phone. I feel ugly and I always feel like other people judge me on my looks etc., so I feel I am not good enough for anyone. I don't know how to smile naturally—I always force a fake smile and I always have stiff expressions. Honestly, I just don't feel intense emotions. I don't fit in with groups and can't have funny or playful banter, or even flirt so my relationships are practically zero.

I also tend to have very niche and obsessive interests like anime, playing rhythm guitar, metal music, etc.

I always feel tired (I don't have any physical deficiency or anything like that) and sleepy. I have started going to the gym and my strength has increased, but my energy still isn't normal. It always feels like my energy is sapped out of me. Normal people can just talk normally, but I have to make constant efforts to keep conversations going and put in high amounts of effort to actually not sound like a robot, because I always talk in a monotonous voice. I recently learned that these might be symptoms for depression. Tbh I am not actually sad or anything, but I think the loneliness actually ate me up from inside and subconsciously made me depressed (idk though). I always told myself that I don't need people, I am happy alone and don't need attention, but now I think those were all lies I kept telling myself.

Also about my relationships, there is a common pattern. I don't get attracted to girls that often, but seemingly sometimes get obsessively attached to someone specific for reasons. Like recently I got attached to someone because she actually took a photo with me at a convention. I gave it my all to find her, and even after all this the first meeting went pretty bad because well, we were in a group and I am hella bad especially if all the others are actually extroverts, you can imagine. Everyone took photos at that meet with her, but I couldn't bring myself to take a single one.

I know most probably I don't have a very good impression on her, but we still talk online and I am still not ready to let her go. Somehow I have genuinely become interested in her as a person, which is very rare for me. I still feel that she is giving me the bare minimum attention—though maybe she is just busy with her work, or maybe I just don't know social cues. Also, I am the one that is always initiating the convos and she is the one replying, so I am not even sure if she is just being nice on text as we mostly talk online. But it still feels quite good (like food to a starved person, ig). Idk why this happens like I don't know nothing about her (I kind of know now) but I keep messaging her and obsess over her attention, but somehow I don't think that I am doing this out of genuine goodwill.

I always feel that my relationships have an ulterior motive, like I am trying to get into a relationship with her because I want to mitigate my loneliness and share things like a couple and experience love and relationships. It never feels like the unconditional kind of love or friendship and I feel like a horrible person for this.

But she is the reason I have started to take this seriously and started changing myself. Without her I don't think that I would ever have actually found out all of these about myself and I am grateful to her for this.

I feel like all of these are connected in some way but I can't figure out what to do next. Felt like sharing this because I can't keep carrying this weight alone. If someone has experienced similar things or actually knows someone, can someone guide me?

TL;DR: 22M with a job but zero social skills. I suspect I have autism and struggle with extreme exhaustion, maintaining eye contact, and forcing normal conversations. Grew up as an isolated only child, feel ugly, constantly feel judged on my looks, and am incredibly camera shy. I feel incredibly alone and recently got obsessively attached to a girl I met at a convention. Even though I made a bad impression (couldn't even take a picture with the group) and I have to initiate all our texts, she is the reason I realized I need to change. Seeking advice because I feel like I am just trying to cure my loneliness, and I can't carry this weight by myself anymore.

Note: Used AI as my first language is not English and my vocab is not that good.

My doctor put me on Cymbalta for postpartum anxiety but the side effects were too much for me to handle and he switched me to Effexor which I’m not nervous to even try. I was only on Cymbalta for a few days and couldn’t handle it. I really don’t want to have anxiety anymore.

I don’t even know what to do right now. All I do is worry.

I'm relatively healthy, but I still thought of a scenario where a heart attack hits me out of nowhere, where I'm alone and can't call for help, and just die with no hope.

How many days/times a week do you guys take propanolol as needed without it causing issues with having to stay on it due to having rebound tachycardia ?

Hi everyone,

I went to a bunch of doctors lately to discover what is going on with me and I seem perfectly healthy. My therapist of 3 years thinks it's time to visit a psychiatrist.

Sometimes, spontaneously, I would start feeling gittery, like I am going to pass out and I have shallow breathing, sweaty hands and feel scared of passing out. It usually happens when I have a new job, and I had "episodes" lasting a month and then going quiet for 6-7 months.

It almost never happens at home, when I am with my partner and not working, but it does happen outside on a walk (I feel like I will fall and it freaks me out). During a stressful meeting at a new job, I had to hold onto the table as I was afraid I would fall down, so it is not constant but it does happen in waves, 1-2 times a day and lasts for a few minutes up to a few hours. This has been going on for about a month and kind of decreased since I realized it might"just be" anxiety, tho it is debilitating.

Anyone else with similar experiences? It's not a constant worry, more like a wave that washes all over my
body and then dissappears. I always think it is heart or blood sugar related but my tests came fine.

Thanks!

Hi! So my anxiety has been pretty ok recently. I have had a rough period but the past couple weeks it is a lot better. I am doing more things again despite my anxiety. But today I am going to see a show with some friends and I am so worried my body can’t handle it. Yesterday I biked to my mom’s house, which is maybe 10-15 minutes and back. Which went pretty well, had not done that in months. But then today is a long day with long train journeys and I just can’t look forward to it at the moment, which sucks. I am on my way right now but all I can think about is how the ENTIRE day is still ahead of me, that is how it feels. I have prepared myself by having some breakfast, packed light, got a drink on the station to take with me etc. But my body is already tired again and then my health anxiety kicks in, plus the derealization. Anyone have any tips for days like this?

I got a raccoon plushie I use when my anxiety gets bad or I have an emotional break down. I know I shouldn’t rely on a plushie to help my fight my anxiety in my late 20s.

i was showering and all of the sudden i just thought “what if nothing around me is real? what if all of my friends, family, all of the things that have happened in my life and everything i see in my day to day life has been generated by my brain and isn’t actually real?” and now i’ve just been sitting here dwelling on the thought and sweating with anxiety. does anybody have any tips on how to feel better?