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52,200 | I hate my anxiety I'm saying it with all the bottom of my soul.
I hate the person my anxiety has turned me into, I can't run (I loved to run), I can't leave my house without having a freaking panic attack, I can't go to the store without carrying my freaking backpack full of things that I have to have it in case I have a fucking panic attack, I can't watch the damn TV without some damn intrusive thought coming through, I can't go to the damn store because I think I'm going to have a heart attack,i won't let me help my mom get her medicine or help my sister run the supermarket because I keep thinking that something bad is going to happen when I leave the house.
Yesterday I was feeling depressed, in fact I even thought about taking my life, but that's when a deep hatred came to me, it started as a little anger and now it has turned into an uncontrollable anger to kick something, I thought "damn anxiety is getting me making me want to kill myself"
Good grief, I don't hate life, I love living, I want to live, I want to write a fucking book, I want to buy a decent computer, I'm having a panic attack that's pretty much subsided because right now I hate my anxiety. | Anxiety |
52,201 | How is buspar working for you? I’ve been on buspar for about two weeks, I’m on 7.5 mg twice a day and I’ve noticed my crippling anxiety slow down a little bit. My worrying thoughts are way less often and I shake my legs less. But I think I need to go up a dose because it’s working but not as much as I would like. What’s your experience with this med and how is it working for you? | Anxiety |
52,202 | Why do I want to hide all the time? I just want to curl up and hide from everything. There’s too many worries going on I just want to hide I hate going anywhere. | Anxiety |
52,203 | Disability for anxiety Does anyone actually have disability for anxiety and panic disorder ??
I’m seriously worried about my working future at this point and am wondering if anyone actually gets disability | Anxiety |
52,204 | TW// SELF HARM So I don’t cut as often as I use too but I bought these sharp cute box cutters off of Amazon and I started overthinking that “what if I just gave myself tetanus by using it” even though they are new and I’m most likely fine
But I can’t stop overthinking | Anxiety |
52,205 | Tongue burning/tingling/anxiety symptom Does anyone experience odd oral sensations when highly anxious, tongue tingling, burning etc | Anxiety |
52,206 | Lyft/Uber help please 🥲 I’m terrified of driving and thus, don’t have a car nor the knowledge of driving in general. I recently stepped way out of my comfort zone and moved to another state with the help of my parents and family, however I need a job. I’m a petite person and literally defenseless lol.
How can I get a Lyft/Uber ride in the safest way possible? My anxiety is seemingly peaking with everything going on in my life at the moment and this has been the main concern since moving. | Anxiety |
52,207 | null | Anxiety |
52,208 | Breath holding Anyone find themselves holding their breath throughout the day? I’ve been having this swaying feeling (again) and I’m wondering if it’s related to that. Always catch myself holding my breath! | Anxiety |
52,209 | Does anyone else get sad or nervous when they get prescribed a new medication? I’ve been struggling with anxiety since childhood and have had multiple psychiatrists, therapists and general practitioners help me try to find the right combo of meds to help me. Recently, I’ve been in a 6 month long extended period of anxiety for many reasons, but we have also been trying to find the right meds.
Talked to my psych. today and we decided to add a new medication in to try, one I used in high school that was helpful at the time, however I still felt a little sad after the appointment. I’m happy to be working toward a helpful solution, but mourning the fact that I can’t be “normal” and will likely be on medications for a very long time. It makes me feel a little broken, and I fear my friends and family may even see me that way.
I’m just wondering if anyone else has felt this way? I’m happy to be trying new solutions, but also a little blue. Does that make any sense? | Anxiety |
52,210 | Health anxiety sucks. I've been struggling with headaches & a lot of brain fog for the past month or so. It hasn't really caused any issues besides me feeling super out of it & pain until recently after a really sharp pain in the left side of my head which has lead to the ''buzzing'' in my head getting a lot worse and the same side throbbing randomly. I'm so anxious it could be something serious but my brain is also telling me i'm overreacting. it's causing my health anxiety to flare up a lot, It's gotten so bad i'm wide awake googling symptoms of what it could possibly be & struggling to even relax at home because the symptoms are constant which leads my anxiety going through the roof and the cycle continues. I wanna go to the doctor but I also don't wanna waste their time in case they can't help me or it isn't anything at all & it's all in my head. I was struggling before this but now this is really debilitating for me. I don't wanna get out of bed because i'm just gonna have to deal with the random pain/throbbing and the anxiety about it. I just wanna feel normal again. | Anxiety |
52,211 | Unable to overcome extreme stress severely impacting my productivity I am seriously regretting my decision to go to grad school- I thought I was prepared for it, but I'm wasn't. I was an academically strong student in my undergraduate program and went straight to grad school after because I really enjoy academia. I found my education to be so fulfilling- but now the spark is completely lost.
Ever since starting grad school my anxiety has NEVER been worse. I have always struggled, but not like this. I have panic attacks just from opening up my computer to do work. The thought of opening my email makes my chest hurt. Anxiety is showing up in other areas- I've had panic attacks because I was just convinced I was going to die within the next few days- because I just felt it. I have panic attacks when someone calls me, thinking they are going to tell me there's been some horrible tragedy. I'm convinced I see people with guns pointed toward me and I am going to be a victim of a mass shooting. I know there's something really wrong going on right now,
And I'm so depressed. I have no drive to do things. The fear of consequences is building up my anxiety, but the thought of doing the thing just seems like the most impossible feat.
I've barely submit any assignments- I keep trying to get them done. I tell myself that today is going to be the day I tackle even just one small thing, but this horrible feeling inside my chest and stomach just paralyzes me from being able to get anything done. I tell myself in 5 minutes I'll get up, it turns into 30 minutes, to 5 hours- then the next thing I know I've exhausted myself from just thinking about what I have to do & I decide that I will try again tomorrow. Each time I try again, I fail.
I wish there was a way others could see how much effort I am putting in- even brushing my teeth and taking a shower are demanding tasks. Eating isn't even enjoyable & food doesn't taste appealing to me- I nearly gag with every bite trying to feed myself.
I wish I didn't have to feel like this. I want to enjoy school and pursue my passions. I was so proud of how far I've come, only to let is all crash and burn now. | Anxiety |
52,212 | Got prescribed inderal (propranolol) So I went to my GP (general practitioner aka your family doctor) and told her I had been feeling anxious lately, especially before big exams or oral presentations (I start shaking and feeling physically sick, unfocused, can't think straight, etc). She gave me a prescription for inderal and told me to take it on days when I have exams or big events.
However, I googled and it just looks like something to lower your blood pressure. So not that I'm complaining because, honestly, anything helps, but isn't this just going to treat the physical symptoms instead of the overlying issue aka the anxiety? It just sounds like I'll still have the mental anxiety, just with a lower heartbeat lmao
Has anyone tried this medication and has it worked for you? I'm not doubting my doctor but I'd like to know how it felt for other people | Anxiety |
52,213 | feeling of body falling anyone else gets this feeling of your body falling down not only when you’re falling asleep? even when standing, walking, sitting or just relaxing | Anxiety |
52,214 | Diarrhea, nausea, gag reflex - stressful situations Hey, is there anyone who had these symptoms as a result of stress? I get diarrhea before leaving home if I have to get somewhere by public transport. Before dentist visit I get nausea and gag reflex without vomiting, it lasts all the time and it's destroying my life completely. I can't go to the dentist, I can't go somewhere by public transport, I only feel fine when I know there is a restroom nearby and I will be able to use it whenever I want. My life is a hell. I react bad to all SSRI like my sister she has tried many ssri's for her anxiety disorder and none of them worked correctly - I don't know it's genetic or what but me and she react very similar to them. My GI wants me to start trimebutine, is there anyone who has tried it? | Anxiety |
52,215 | Anxiety about being a share house So I'm a pretty anxious person but when I'm out and about I can sort of just deal with it. But when I'm at home and living with strangers I find it really hard to come out of my room to just do normal things like cook if they are in the kitchen or going to the bathroom while someone is around. It's really frustrating because I feel like I just sit and fester with it in my room but I just get too anxious to leave. My home is somewhere I need to be most comfortable so I'm finding it a bit debilitating not feeling comfortable. So does anyone have some tips for me to build up the courage to just become a normal roommate. I've tried making conversation with the person I'm living with but they didn't really seem interested so I think that has made more anxious. But yeah if anyone has any help that would be greatly appreciated 😊 | Anxiety |
52,216 | I need help to fight. Hi, I'm from Turkey. I'm 21 y.o. and studying in University. I hate my familiy, cause they bring me full of problems. And last month, me and my girlfriend rent our house. But 4 days ago, she broke up with me. Just a month... And now, I have comeback to my family's house and I'm full of anxiety. I'm so upset because I love my girlfriend. She broke up with me because I'm so angry. But the fact is that; I'm trying to not be. But of course sometimes I failed. Her and I, we were really good. We were understand each other perfectly. I really don't understand why is have to happen. She fired me. Now I'm staying with my brother. And I don't want to comeback to my familiy's house. And I'm missing her. What sould I do? | Anxiety |
52,217 | Health anxiety is steering me towards a nervous breakdown My health anxiety is getting the best of me lately. Been having eye floaters the last few years and tinnitus so I was obsessing over a brain tumor. Then lately it turned into colon cancer and pancreatic cancer due to stomach issues. Now I woke up this morning and smelled burnt rubber or something similar to it and now I'm back to freaking out over a brain tumor because I couldn't figure out if it was real or not. I did have my bedroom window open which faces the parking lot of my apartment complex and I didn't smell the smell when I went into the other room but still it freaked me out and now I'm obsessing over that. No I'm not sick and don't have nor have had covid. I've seen two old neighbors of mine die from it within months and that's the root of my anxiety with it and now with this what I think was a phantom smell, I'm terrified. And now I can't tell if what I'm smelling is real or not. I came in from walking my dog and thought I smelled the burnt rubber again but it was just my coffee brewing.
I literally feel like I'm at my wits end. I can't find a therapist due to time scheduling conflicts with my job. I was prescribed a medication by my PCP but I don't like how anti depressants affect my sex drive (the one thing that helps me cope with all of this). The health anxiety is just getting worse the older I get too (35 now). It sends me into deep depressions and I feel like it's ruining my life at this point. It's like I have a choice to either be medicated and impotent or keep spiraling mentally. I hate this. I hate my brain and that it thinks this way. And I hate that you can get a fatal disease no matter how healthy you try to live your life. I'm so full of anger right now over all of this. I'm at work now and have such bad brain fog over all of this to the point where it feels dreamlike. | Anxiety |
52,218 | Ear clogging/fullness/dizziness Has anyone ever had these symptoms from anxiety? I feel like the last week or two I've had this intense feeling of clogging that I can release if I hold my nose or yawn, but it just keeps happening for no reason.
Has anyone ever dealt with this with anxiety? | Anxiety |
52,219 | What are you ashamed of? Not being able to work.
Of my crippling anxiety.
Of not being able to function like a normal person.
Not being able to be social anymore. Normal things like smiling or looking in someones eyes have become very difficult.
Just ashamed of feeling bad all the time. | Anxiety |
52,220 | Morning After I had an anxiety attack last night and woke this morning still feeling it a little. Does anyone else have anxiety attacks that last longer than a day. I have taken one ativan so far. Which helped me get to sleep. | Anxiety |
52,221 | Anyone else get throbbing pulse with dizziness? Keep getting these waves of feeling warm sick and lightheaded even when I'm laying down.
Usually when it happens I can feel my pulse in my fingers and my head gets heavy.
Anyone else get this? Any idea what made it stop? | Anxiety |
52,222 | Anxiety about my appearance separates my life in two sides Hello! Today, I (18M) fully realized that I cannot function properly as a human being, unless I'm directly seeking acceptance in others. This translates to me not showering, not brushing my teeth, not shaving, not even washing my hands when no one is going to see that I am clean and "normal".
I recently started college, I've been making friends and generally having a great time, this, if u look at it from the outside.
Inside my head, I just cannot get the sense out of my mind that someone is going to think less of me and criticize me physically, because of my clothes, my face, my hair, because I have a gray shadow even after just 30 minutes of shaving, because somehow I smell bad, etc. I have crippling anxiety just thinking about someone criticizing my looks in their heads (And don't let me start with my personality), basically all this converts into me having a sort of "Double life".
When I need to go outside, I do all the work I can possibly do to try and look nice, smell good and be a nice person. But the moment I'm in my home, my mind unconsciously switches to a gross side, I don't take care of myself in any way type or form, suddenly I am mean, lazy, antisocial and want to die once again. The cycle repeats day after day, I've been trying to make myself go to the gym and eat better for months now, but my body just doesn't respond, every fiber of my mind tells me that I can't do anything right, I will always be kinda ugly, kinda fat, and kinda gross, so why bother trying?
Maybe nothing of this makes any sense, sorry, english is not my first language and i'm just trying to cope somehow | Anxiety |
52,223 | can thinking negative thoughts influence sleep? these past few nights i’ve been feeling sooo lonely and sad. when i go to sleep i try to distract myself by reading or watching a show, but i still have this lingering sadness and sometimes really negative thoughts. now the past few nights i’ve also been waking up multiple times during the night feeling off, and then falling asleep again. is this all related or is something else wrong with me? | Anxiety |
52,224 | Therapy Vent I'm 32 and for the first time ever I reached out for help and scheduled a therapy appointment. Unfortunately after the first session, I discovered my insurance will not cover any therapy anywhere. Out-of-pocket at the place I went is $180/hr. I was so disappointed that I became even more depressed and stayed in bed all day crying. It's so frustrating that I finally did the right thing and now I can't do it. Makes me wish I didn't even try.
My PCP prescribed sertraline. I've never taken anxiety meds before. I have bad health anxiety too so it's hard for me to not worry about the side effects so I haven't started them. I really wanted to try the therapy route instead. So disappointed and feeling hopeless. | Anxiety |
52,225 | choking feeling Does anyone know why I feel like I'm suffocating? If anyone knows can they please help me? | Anxiety |
52,226 | Best meds for physical symptoms? My main issues with my anxiety are the physical symptoms I experience… brain fog, chest pains, rapid heart rate, and just an overall feeling of dread. They seem to come on randomly with no obvious mental trigger. I wish there were some mental triggers so that I could address them, but that just doesn’t seem to be the case.
Anyway, anyone in a similar boat who has found some medication that works for them? I know everyone reacts differently, but would love to hear your thoughts. | Anxiety |
52,227 | Backsliding Anxiety Avalanche 35 F and I need help. Apologies for typos (on mobile) and length, but so, so grateful for those who read this.
My shoulders, chest, back and jaw are always cleanched like I'm subconsciously trying to curl up into myself. I cant sleep, small sounds cause my heart to race and I wake up with adrenaline. I'm always exhausted, and because of this, I'm feeling so hopeless. I cry out of fear or frustration at least once a day now making me feel pathetic and empty. I shake, have numb limbs, depersonalization and chronically check my pulse. I feel like I'm dying all the time and like someone vacuumed all the joy and confidence I once built up out of my soul.
I stopped taking sertraline after 8ish years and it's going terribly. I slowly weaned myself off because of an imminent lack of insurance back in September, and I'm not doing well. Before I went off medication, I went part time from working a full time management position for over 12 years. At first, I was elated to be home so much. I had dreamed of being part time, accomplishing so many things at home, ( we bought a foreclosed home 9 years ago with TONS of issues) just being less stressed in general, but because of the part time status, I lost insurance. My partner who works 12 hour days and I were not married yet, and knowing I would lose coverage and wanting to get pregnant soon, I slowly weaned myself off Sertraline as responsibly as possible. This actually went okay, surprisingly, but I'm thinking it was because I still had medication in my system.
Before I was off meds I was binge drinking about 2-3 times per week, which has been an issue since I was 18, as well as insane amounts of weed smoking- so, additional self medication that was frankly really bad to do on meds. Drinking was ingrained in me as a coping mechanism that caused so, so many problems over the years. Being medicated helped numb the terrible anxiety and withdrawing I would go through with drinking, so it made it possible to continue this cycle for years. I am a very naturally anxious person, from childhood until now. I am an only child who had an extremely verbally abusive father which I know caused a lot of problems.
By December of this year I had noticed the familiar feelings of not just hints-of-anxiousness, but the crippling anxiety coming back. I drink a bit in Decemeber, and for at least five days after, would notice terrible, horrible anxiety, withdrawals and sleeplessness. This was so much more severe unmedicated I literally had to stop which had not happened consistently since my teens. Because of it being a coping mechanism, and major ingrained habit, I had some huge issues mourning a "friend" and psuedo-tool I had used for years to overcome social anxiety and insecurity. This was obviously never helping, but in the throes of addiction and habit, I couldn't recognize it.
Then caffeine started affecting me in a negative way. Even small amounts would cause heart palpitations and severe unease. It became a gateway for a panic attack. I would usually consume a decent amount of caffeine before work, which made me feel more efficient, confident and social. Just like drinking. Now, I had lost two major things I used to cope with life. I had some peace with knowing I should have quit drinking years ago and letting it go, but now I couldn't even handle caffeine? But wait! There's more! Enter weed smoking, which I had already largely cut back. I went from smoking as soon as I got home from work to just before bed to sleep. I have always had major sleeping issues and maijuana helped turn my obsessive thoughts off so I could sleep. Now it was causing the same panic caffeine did. I had a violent panic attack in January after smoking and almost thought I needed to call an ambulance.
I'm sure by now, you can see I have some substance reliance issues. I know this, and I'm not proud. I should in theory be proud I stopped three bad habits/addictions AND antidepressants. Instead, I feel lost. I feel empty. I feel devastatingly hopeless. I feel truly alien, like I cant be a normal functioning human. I'm chronically jittery, exhausted and scared. I feel like although overcoming addiction I have backslid into my lowest low. I have had to leave work because of panic attacks. I dont go out to social events unless absolutely necessary, and spend the whole time in partial terror. I have no joy in anything I used to care about. I feel like I'm driving my mother and husband insane with my repetitive, obsessive anxieties, insecurities and attacks. They are so supportive, but I cant help but feel like they are a little over it.
The last two months have been awful. By now, I expected some relief from my brain getting used to being off meds, but instead I'm now worried this is just who I am unmedicated. I obsess about the house not being fixed, people judging it, things imminently breaking, about not being pregnant yet, ( biological clock shit) disapointing family and friends and its leaving me feeling utterly hopeless. I have been in therepy off and on for years, read countless books, every supplement out there, meditation, watched tons of videos and documentaries on anxiety, improved my diet, reached out to others, breathing exercises... you name it. I know most of the tools to help with anxiety. I've tried almost all of them. I have held off on going back on medication in hopes of becoming pregnant, but that hasn't happened yet and frankly I dont want to start and stop medication again right now.
I'm afraid of everything. I feel like I'm disconnected and disassociated from myself. Its unrelenting. I dont have "good" days, lately. Shit, I'd take mediocre ones! I have tried to push through, get tasks done around the house to feel like I'm accomplishing something, positive affirmations...nothing is working. I'm so tired. I'm so sick of being afraid of basic life tasks, like making appointments, working, social obligations, etc. I'm tired of feeling adrenaline over every sound, waking up anxious, taking hours to fall asleep because I'm anxious and dont sleep. Im so sore because I'm always clenched and tense. I'm always checking my pulse. Im always worried about horrible things happening to myself and family, health related or otherwise. This cyclical unrelenting chronic crippling anxiety is making me insane. I am considering therepy again, but past experiences have not been the best.
I guess I'm just trying to find someone who gets it. This isn't something I feel like the average person who I've talked to about anxiety understands. Who else has panic attacks in the freezer aisle of the grocery store, work or at baby showers? My senses feel so heightened to any stimuli. I cant keep putting on a brave face and hearing people's surprise when I tell them how anxious I am all the time. "But you're so calm! You seem so chill!" Ugh. I must mask it well because I'm internally combusting. This doesnt feel like it will ever relent, and I'm starting to just feel anxious and depressed, chronically. I cant live like this anymore, and I'm losing all hope of improving.
Thank you so much for reading! | Anxiety |
52,228 | Random thoughts ⚠️ im not asking for medical diagnosis i just dont know where to ask, help!⚠️
Hello everyone, I want to ask about something, sometimes I will be just living life doing normal things and all of the sudden I get a "bad" thought, for example getting hit by a car or something, and I imagine myself the way I am at the moment, bit then I quickly I try to modify the thought like switching the colour of my jacket, by doing that the thought that I had wasn't real because I don't have that coloured jacket and thus no bad thing will happen. WHAT IS THAT? | Anxiety |
52,229 | How do you guys accept it's anxiety and not a serious health issue? So I've had following symptoms....
Headaches
Palpitations
Rapid heart at rest
Dizziness
Feeling faint never actually fainted
Feeling weak and sick
Constant adrenaline surges or like dropping sensations
Does anyone else have or had all of that? Been on and off for me for 2 years now.
Had a million heart and blood tests all normal.
Been doing therapy but I think my biggest problem is I just cannot convince myself this is all anxiety and constantly wondering if it's a serious heart issue or something. | Anxiety |
52,230 | null | Anxiety |
52,231 | I hate this I had a random panic attack last night and I feel so bad today. I've decided to come to work rather than stay home and recover because it makes my wife worry so much. This is hell. | Anxiety |
52,232 | Vistaril success? Has another had success for this as needed for anxiety? Starting it tonight as I’m in the middle of a big anxiety attack. | Anxiety |
52,233 | Question I have had about a week of full blown anxiety. When you have an episode do you feel completely exhausted and weak? | Anxiety |
52,234 | How do you deal with depression as an entrepreneur? I run a venture-backed business and have lately realized that I might have mild to moderate depression. For the many, many months, I've been constantly overwhelmed, tired and frustrated, but for the past week, I've reached my breaking point, and now it seems that I've lost my drive, motivation, and it just feels numbing. I'm not excited by anything anymore. Fatigue all the time, and full of self-doubt.
What will the best way to deal with this situation (not sure if it's diagnosed as depression)? Should I take some time off? | Anxiety |
52,235 | intense physical anxiety at the exact same time every day? has anyone else had this?? at about 12:00 every single day, school or no school, i get incredibly anxious. usually i can’t identify any kind of thought that may set it off, there’s no logical explanation for it. i just suddenly get really cold, really shaky, my heart races and i get SUPER restless. its starting earlier now than it used to which stresses me out a little since it still pretty much lasts until i go home. has anyone else had this??? i take all my meds in the morning and they’re all extended release:/ | Anxiety |
52,236 | crazy feeling anxiety attack i’ve had a couple anxiety attacks recently that really freaked me out they start in the middle of the night and most the time from me becoming super aware of my teeth then i spiral and have incoherent thoughts or like the same sentence just playing over and over in my head words stop making sense and my body feels like a machine i become hyper aware of my breathing and it doesn’t feel right when it first happened i swear a past out and got transported to a astral plane or something like some tool album cover shit recently have been feeling like nothing is really real and just a result of chemical reactions in my brain yfm has anyone else felt this way too | Anxiety |
52,237 | Can intense chronic anxiety over the years cause chronic fatigue? I’ve been dealing with tough anxiety for +10 years and for the last year or so I have chronic fatigue. Can chronic fatigue come from long term anxiety?
I just feel drained, my batteries are totally empty. | Anxiety |
52,238 | I don't know whether it's anxiety or an underlying health condition, at my wits end 😔 31F....
I don't really know where to start I've been struggling for such a long time and I just don't know what's an anxiety symptom, or symptom of an underlying medical condition anymore. I've had anxiety and OCD for the longest time, had CBT a couple of times in my life but I still suffer immensely with anxiety, it has taken the form of different themes over the years but at the moment I'm struggling awful with health anxiety.
I have lots of physical symptoms, and I do have some medical issues too, and I'm finding it really hard to differentiate between the two.
My main physical symptoms are:
-tight chest and breathlessness (to the point it feels like my airways are closing up)
-strange sensation in throat and tongue
-scratchy throat
-diarrhea (sometimes severe) & constipation
-abdominal pain & nausea
-brain fog and intense headaches
-light headedness
-dry throat
-nasal drip
- feeling of tight muscles and tension in my abdomen, neck and shoulders
-some tingling and numbness in various areas of body
Aside from this I have been diagnosed with polyps on the gallbladder, a liver cyst and mild fatty liver recently. I have also found some small hard lumps in centre of chest/ left of abdomen just along the bottom rib. I am getting these checked but not until 17th April!
I have really been struggling to eat recently, every time I do eat I get a lot of the physical symptoms I've described above, then I get frightened I'm having an allergic reaction and am going to develop anaphylaxis (I've never been allergic to food before, but I do have asthma) so I just avoid eating. I've lost over 2 stone in weight in the past 6 weeks.
When I got the diagnosis of gallbladder polyps and liver cyst/ fatty liver it really set me back and panicked me. I've had two family members die of liver cirrhosis (they were alcoholics though, and I don't drink anymore, and have never to that extent) and I think I just got it into my head that I was going to die or these growths were going to develop in to cancer.
I can't stop googling and searching my symptoms and I've come across something called MCAS, and with the physical symptoms of allergy and various growths I have in mind, I've convinced myself that I have MCAS.
I really don't know what to do to be honest, I've got a young family that I need to care for but instead I'm bed ridden and feeling like rubbish all the time and it's really getting me down. | Anxiety |
52,239 | Head Sweats? Hot Flushes? Excuse my post, and hoping it doesnt come across in a stereotypical way - apologies in advance if it does.
I understand that hot flushes can be a thing for females, but I was wondering if any gents get what appears to be hot flushes with their anxiety?
It feels me head is in full sweat, but when I run my hand across my forehead and back of my head my temp feels normal.
TIA | Anxiety |
52,240 | AI, and the devaluation of humanity I’ve been thinking a lot about AI recently. The explosion of Chat-GPT, Midjourney, DALLE-2….someone with zero writing or art skills can spend 3 seconds coming up with a prompt and generate something incredible. Something a human would spend hours or even days coming up with. And it’s accelerating faster than we could have imagined. AI voice spoofing, AI generated images of celebrities and politicians, plagiarized college essays…these things were unimaginable 6 months ago.
All this gives me anxiety and not just because I’m a writer as my profession. It’s devaluing human talent and creativity - everyone can now do it, therefore it means nothing. Over-saturation renders everything meaningless. And the irony is that humans made this tech that is now outshining all of us…and will ultimately do everything better than we can.
This is a pivotal time in humanity and I am not ready for it and I don’t think anyone is really ready for it. Everything from the way we work to the way we consume media will be completely upended by AI.
I just want to rewind 20 years and live peacefully. I don’t want all this change. And it’s filling me with anxiety, hopelessness and dread. | Anxiety |
52,241 | Today i was calm and collected Hi fellas, so I was using public transport for 4 hours today only when i arrived i was told that they made a mistake and i need to get there tomorrow. I went back another 4 hours home. I wasnt upset nor anxious and i just felt oddly calm, i dont even think they expected that, i feel like it could be the mediciation bringing me peace of mind :).
Either way it made me really happy | Anxiety |
52,242 | Took Ashwagandha now I'm experiencing horrible pains. Anyone else going through this? 22FTM. I started these ashwagandha 300mg gummies roughly 1 every 12 hours a week and half ago and now my chest is constantly in pain it also induced an entire panic attack out of me, do not take ashwagandha without consulting your doctor or someone with your medical history. I'm so scared that these side effects will never stop and that I have poisoned myself. My chest, arms, and back have been aching and fatigue. I am so sad that I started these because I'm scared this is going to end up killing me. Sites or other reddit users keep using the words poison or "ruined my life" etc. I'm jus scared it won't stop. No one will confirm that the side effects stopped after they took them. | Anxiety |
52,243 | Anxiety med. that's not an antidepressant? Hello!
I have always been anxious, and as of 2-3 years ago, I was diagnosed with Generalized Anxiety Disorder. I've been in therapy for years and tried all sorts of medications (Lexapro, Zoloft, medical marijuana, CBD, Valium, Klonopin, Xanax, Amitriptyline), and the only thing that worked were the benzos. I'm extremely lucky to have an NP who fills my Xanax refills. The problem is... I don't want to be addicted to this medication. I take it very sparingly, which is why it works so well, but I only take these when I feel nauseous/jittery/panicky, which, fortunately, is not 24/7. However, I do have GAD pretty bad. In the shower, thoughts just race and I can't find the "off" switch. It's ruined my sleep. It's taken a dump on my memory. I just cannot live like this anymore.
Meditations help in the moment I do them, but I feel like I need to be medicated. I was on Zoloft for about 6 months, and it helped tremendously, but when I tried getting back on it (I properly titrated my dose when I get off them), for some reason the side effects were extremely unbearable. Granted, I started back at 50mg, when before I was on it for 25mg for a week and then 50mg the second week and continued for 4-6 weeks. It could also be that at the time I could tolerate medical marijuana, but now, that makes me either anxious/jittery or straight-up nauseous.
Lexapro? Forget it. I started at 10mg, and that was a nightmare. I was so nauseous by day 2, if it wasn't for my anti-nausea med, I would've projectile vomitted all over my kitchen floor. The other time I was at 5mg, and I felt so cracked out.
I also don't like that SSRIs are rough on my body for 4-6 weeks. Maybe that's just the gamble you take, but I hate having increased anxiety, inability to ejaculate, and horrendous stomach pains for a month. Does that sound like fun to anyone?
I took amitriptyline, and that was more for chronic pain, and it barely did anything, and as for anxiety, I didn't notice much of a difference either, and I tried this medication at 10 and 25mg.
I have an appointment with my NP tomorrow, and she is well aware I struggle with anxiety. Is there a medication that's not an antidepressant that works for GAD and is not a benzo, meaning I can take as often as needed?
I've also tried supplements like L-Theanine, Melatonin, and Ashwagandha, and they don't do crap.
Any experiences with non-antidepressants that worked for you? | Anxiety |
52,244 | Crippling dry heaving panic attacks Whenever i have any “event” i get insane rising anxiety leading to it. Anything like public presentation, job interview, doctor appt, or even going to a friends house party or “going out” (haha i rarely)
Days before ill start preparing , night before i can barely sleep. I can feel adrenaline increasing 24-48 hours. I get EXTREMELY alert.
The day of i wake up i cant eat anything. Cant even drink more than a few sips of water.
The hours leading up i begin HARD coughing and dry heaving. To the point ill damage my throat and it gets sore. I never actually throw up but this has been happening so long i just dont eat to be safe. Still i get uncontrollable gagging. Like i actually think i gave myself a hernia. Im talking violent gagging until i see stars, floaters and lights in my eyes, heart racing, chest muscles / stomach strained and hurting from the none stop gagging and heaving and coughing.
Then right when i walk into the “event” its all gone.
Im still nervous but my mind tends to blank out and i disassociate a lot. This really fucks up technical job interviews because i totally blank out. A pure calm bliss blank state.
AFTER, i go home a complete weight is lifted off me. Im STARVING now. Extremely low anxiety, relaxed, rest state. Eating a ton because i probably have been eating 500-1000cals the last few days.
I really wasnt built for this life. I need to go live in some mountains or something
Anyone else have anything similar to share?
Thanks for reading lol | Anxiety |
52,245 | Suddenly felt like I cant breath? I was having a panic attack, then i calmed down a little and then suddenly i feel like something is taking away my breath from the inside for a second, its like a sleep apnea, but i am awake. Is this normal??? I've had this in sleep before when fell asleep after being stressed, but I've never had this awake. Now i have a strange feeling in my throat and stomach. Might this be related to stomach? | Anxiety |
52,246 | Going through a rough patch and also having to start working soon. Possibly going to use benzos temporarily Difficult combination of things that make me very overwhelmed. Been hyper stimulated the past month where I just feel pretty terrible but it’s starting to get better as of the past couple days. I’m debating on taking partial amounts of clonozopam (idk how to spell it) it’s a benzo and typically I wouldn’t do it but having to start work and feeling overwhelmed I don’t see another option. Any suggestions on how I should go about. I just wanted it to be a temporary thing to get me going. Or use in moments of very high discomfort while working. | Anxiety |
52,247 | Health Anxiety This past few months I’ve had a set of symptoms that have had me worried that I have a neurological disorder. I am wondering if these symptoms could be caused by stress, and if anyone here has had similar symptoms they know to be caused by stress.
A little context, I recently got accepted into my dream job. The only hitch is that it has intense training for six months, where if you fail a test at any point you are dismissed. The material we are required to study is immense in volume and the tests are close to twice a week.
In the month leading up to the course I found myself experiencing a small head fog. It developed more and more over the weeks into the worst head fog of my life. I could barely think and always felt a sort of pressure in my head. Math I would normally fly through was difficult and even just simple thoughts were hard to get out sometimes. As the course started my vision started to feel off, not quite sure if it was/is double or blurry as it’s not that bad, but I can tell it’s off. My eyes also got super sore for a week or so. About a week ago I also started to feel my left jaw and arm go a bit numb/tingly. It’s mostly there but comes and goes in intensity.
Since the head fog I have been chronically online in search of answers which has lead me down every rabbit hole. I am frightened i have something like MS, and though I know my research into it along with my stress with my course is more likely to blame, I can’t help but doubt that stress alone could give me blurry vision, numb arm/face, and immense brain fog
I would really appreciate anyone’s experience with stress, ms, or related symptoms.
Thanks all | Anxiety |
52,248 | Burning sensation in right side of the face only Hi everyone.
I have been experiencing on and off burning sensation only in my right side of the face. I think that if it would be anxiety, it’s usually on both sides. Has anyone experienced something similar? | Anxiety |
52,249 | null | Anxiety |
52,250 | It’s hard to be anxious and also want people to think you’re happy Like when I’m anxious there isn’t much I can do about it, I can try to self soothe and whatnot but it’s still hard to put on a smiley face and be upbeat and cheerful. Especially when you can feel this way for days at a time or longer. But people look at you differently if you’re not upbeat and bubbly and cheerful especially as a woman. If I don’t enjoy everything or laugh at everything or keep conversation I’m grumpy or in a bad mood or just weird. And what am I supposed to say? That I’m anxious? So they can respond “why” and that’s just a rabbit hole I can’t go into. | Anxiety |
52,251 | How do I know I really have GAD? Because of my bad academic performance I was advised to go to see a doctor
and I did, after 1h of taking he said I have a slight depression and GAD and gave me a description to take Brintellix I didn’t feel I had GAD so I went to see another one this time I didn’t talk much it was quick 20m and still the second doctor said the same slight depression and GAD this time the description is 75g of venlafaxine
Should I take the med or see a third one? | Anxiety |
52,252 | Leaxapro, Abilify and buspirone together? Has anyone taken all 3 of these? I have a panic and GAD and my doctor wants me to take all of these. Buspirone only as needed but I read it’s better to take it daily | Anxiety |
52,253 | l-theanine Just looking for people's experiences. I've ordered some but am a bit nervous as read that some people feel worse when they don't take one every day. Thanks. | Anxiety |
52,254 | not sure if this is anxiety or something else i’m (22F) i smoke weed and i’m not on any regular medication, i don’t vape or consume nicotine only THC. for the past couple months i wake up every morning between 3-6, have this gross sick feeling in my stomach and a rise in my stomach and i poop every single morning, sometimes normal sometimes diarrhea sometimes little pebble but it really affects my stomach and happens every morning i can’t just wake up normally anymore.
it’s like physical symptoms of anxiety the rise in my stomach and chest the anxious feeling in stomach the anxious poops but nothing mentally. i also had mild acid reflux but it hasn’t been bad lately idk if there’s any correlation but even throught the day i feel really tight and anxious right now for no reason physically and it won’t go away. | Anxiety |
52,255 | Woke up after an hour sleeping anxious. Need chat Hey it’s 4:40am and I really need a convo since I’m super anxious 😪 idk what to tbh. I’m so afraid currently that I’m starting to tremble | Anxiety |
52,256 | null | Anxiety |
52,257 | null | Anxiety |
52,258 | Panic attacks I have a bit of a choking phobia well when I say but I means a lot.
It causes me to panic but not very often.
I know it’s irrational I have never choked on anything … ever.
I get mucus as I have a deviated nasal septum and sometimes that even makes me panic.
I left my husband a few weeks ago and I am on my own now.
My god the choking anxiety has got so much worse to the point where I am panicking about the slightest change.
I’m putting in the work and seeing a therapist and getting some medication from the doctors which I haven’t started yet.
I kind of just want someone to tell me this will get easier that it will pass and go back to more manageable levels.
I feel like at times it’s driving me to want to go back to my husband cos obvs I must have felt so safe there is my anxiety was much more manageable however I know that’s not a reason to stay with someone.
Everything feels really hard right now. | Anxiety |
52,259 | So does anyone else have, like, anxiety nightmares? I’m not sure what to call them but they’re like nightmares but it’s not spooky scary or someone dying nightmare it’s just you in an uncomfortable situation and you have a complete anxiety attack and everyone judges you for it and insults you for being weak and all your insecurities are multiplied
I get these kinda often and I’m genuinely curious if it’s normal or an anxiety thing or if it’s abnormal | Anxiety |
52,260 | Does anyone else get presentation anxiety?? Someone mentiones the word presentation and my heart rate shoots up, people at my college just say "don't think about it" like yeah..that will work won't it? | Anxiety |
52,261 | I need advice. I’ve had Crohns since I was 6 years old, currently 21, and it has affected me more than I realized. My mental health is very bad and has been since 2020. My mother passed away the moment I graduated high school in 2019 and I haven’t been the same since. I don’t have any other family near me to help me out, and I’m alone in my head all the time even though I have a girlfriend. She helps me as best as she can but it doesn’t change anything once nighttime comes around. Once she’s asleep I’m back to overthinking and start crying and want to just end it all. I miss my old life, I miss what I used to have, and I’ll never be the same again. And just thinking about that kills me. I’ve been told many of times to just think about the present instead of the future or past, or don’t think badly, try to think of all the good times and BS like that but it doesn’t work for me. I’m mentally fucked up and physically with my stomach. I physically can’t work due to my Crohns, I’m on the toilet at least 5-6 times a day sometimes even up to 10 times. And it’s never pretty. I don’t know what to do anymore, I’m on a small budget, and I’m just tired of feeling like this. I used to smoke weed but I’ve stopped thinking it would help out in the long run but it hasn’t been any different since I’ve quit. I will not take pills, I do not want to get addicted to anything or be stuck on psych meds. Please God can someone help me find a way to make it out. I’m so smart and I have such a good head on my shoulders but I just physically and mentally can’t work or do anything 70% of the day. Please, if anybody has any advice on what I can do to get the voices out of my head without admitting myself I would be forever grateful. | Anxiety |
52,262 | Marijuana Use Hello All,
Just wanted to drop in to see for those who use marijuana as a means of battling anxiety such as myself. Which strains have provided you the most relief?? I am a medical patient in the state of PA so this is fully legal. Thanks in advance. | Anxiety |
52,263 | How often do you take benzos? I am not able to function without it I am only able to focus when I take 5mg Valium. I am then able to drive and work again.
I only take it once or twice a week but I am thinking about upping it a little cause it’s the only time i can be productive and get out of my mess. | Anxiety |
52,264 | Driving Panic Attacks Has anyone ever dealt with Panic/anxiety Attacks when they are driving. Started with me about 5 years ago when I swirved off the road and ever since then I get panic attacks. I am able to drive on regular roads but the highways I have the most difficult time with. It’s unbearable to deal with, especially when you have to drive often. Any one find a way to overcome and deal with it? Willing to try anything to erase this feeling and going back to driving normal. I used to love to drive all the time. | Anxiety |
52,265 | unsettling feelings Im feeling something hard to describe and a bit numb. I assume it has to do with anxiety, because of my breathing patterns and overthinking.
It's triggered very easily by the confrontational tone my mom takes sometimes, it's lately about a sensitive topic. She assumes my feelings and it feels like she's arguing with me about things where there's no need to argue, because im literally just telling her how im feeling bad about the things i did wrong in my relationship and such, and she's arguing about why i keep feeling this way about it and keep blaming myself for a lot of it. She says things about my ex that i don't know how to feel about. Things like "her life is negative and all over the place anyway and she dragged you into it" and all that.
I feel like when she argues with me about my feelings it's a form of gaslighting.
I had been doing progress recovering from hating myself and seeing things more objectively concerning the relationship.
I always feel like im pretending whenever im not doing well or when i intentionally try to get better. I never perceived i had real struggles in life. In therapy, i saw that i did have things to deal with invisibly with my family. I had set, for the last few days, on the road for feeling more authentic with myself and people around me. I felt the breakup was an obvious hurdle that i can make use of for growth without feeling pretentious about overcoming things, because of how it forced me to rethink things about myself while validating why they're there to begin with.
Mom's argument for the relationship is just that my ex was a very negative person who's carelessly trying to gatekeep me. I spiralled so hard after a tough breakup conversation where i saw it wasnt true. I hated how i couldve been convinced of that too. I hate the person it made me. I hate how in my head i was throughoit the whole relationship, and mom contributed to that. Im too impressionable with mom.
Somehow, these things are linked now that i write without inhibitions. I guess i'll just keep writing until this feeling of emptiness passes.
But i was starting to like myself more as of yesterday. She doesnt know how much this approach of hers affects me! I was starting to feel like a more genuine and stoic person.
Now im back to thinking in ways about my ex that im not proud of. I | Anxiety |
52,266 | Do I have a personality? I don’t feel like I have a personality, I feel boring. I know I’m probably not and I’m overthinking it but everything about me feels fake for some reason. I think I grew up my entire life fighting so hard for validation and only doing things for other people that now my personality traits feel like bits and pieces of other people and not my own.
I’ve also noticed that even though I’m 26 I am hardcore reverting into being a child. I LOVE cartoons. I LOVE squishmallows. I want pink and blue all over my living space I want to be a little kid but there’s also a constant fight against that with my adult side. Maybe im trying to heal my inner child (probably). But I just want so badly to feel like a genuine person and know who I am. ME. it’s just been bothering me a lot lately. | Anxiety |
52,267 | Feel terminally ill but tests are coming back showing nothing Hi I have a feeling that every breath that I take is gonna be my last or that I'm goin to collapse and its crippling me , I cannot walk more than a couple of meters now and have no quality of life I feel so desperate now and hopeless , has anyone else experienced this or have any advice on treatment , ive done brain scan , heart scans etc and they are coming back clear , any help at this stage would really appreciated as I don't how much more of this I can take and I have a young family | Anxiety |
52,268 | So incredibly mad at myself for stopping my medication I just came back from a semester abroad during which I basically completely dropped using sertraline which I’d been using for years, simply because I had no daily routine and forgot basically every day.
Now I’m back and my anxiety is worse than it’s ever been and I stopped seeing my old psychiatrist before I left since she was horrible, so I’m still searching for a new one. I still have the meds and they’re not expired, but surprise surprise, I’m too anxious about what could go wrong to take them without medical input.
I feel horrible and my mom basically blew up at me the other day saying how we went through so much effort to make sure I had enough medication to last me during my time abroad and now I’m suffering for basically no reason. And she’s absolutely right and I’m so mad at myself. | Anxiety |
52,269 | Tell me about propranolol fatigue I'm on 30mg propranolol a day (plus Effexor) for anxiety, panic attacks and depression. It seems to work pretty well except some days I am tired. My GP did comprehensive blood tests a few months ago and everything was normal. I'm also on Acetazolamide for idiopathic intracranial hypertension. I can't stop worrying about my health and lately, my anxiety has been centred around fatigue. I can sleep up to 10 hours a day sometimes and take naps at least twice a week. I'm really worried that I have cancer or a heart problem. I'm young (24) so I know it's unlikely but I cannot stop worrying. | Anxiety |
52,270 | I feel like a car idling and the gas is in full throttle. I haven't slept in two nights and I've been drinking too, I was hoping the alcohol would knock me out but it hasn't. My girlfriend is asleep beside me and I really don't wanna wake her but I'm concerned because I've been convulsing and my heart kinda of aches too. I also haven't eaten so I'm completely drained of energy but I'm trying to stay hydrated...I just don't know what to do anymore. | Anxiety |
52,271 | I need advice. I’m really tired and scared (TW: suicidal thoughts) I’ve had anxiety and panic attacks since I was a little kid. Always thought I was having a heart attack. I was always told it would get better. After a decade of therapy and 6 years of medications it’s gotten so bad. I can’t do anything anymore. I can hardly leave the house. I don’t have any friends to call. My symptoms have evolved to much worse, and much scarier things. I’m coming down from a panic attack right now and my face, arms, chest, and feet felt like they were burning up. That hasn’t happened before. And I’ve been having some other scary new symptoms the past week, but of course I don’t know if it’s anxiety or a legitimate problem. And I can’t afford to see a doctor even if I wanted to do so. A few months ago I had one where my face started going numb. I sobbed in the car with my hand hovering over “911” on my phone waiting for the stroke. I live with my parents still, but they are going out of town for 2 weeks, and I will be completely alone. My panic attacks get horrendous at night. Recently they have given me some really dark thoughts. Sometimes I wish I was dead so at least I wouldn’t have to deal with this ever again (ironic because I’m terrified of dying). I think “what if”? Knowing my parents are here at least gives me some sense of safety (not much, but some). But now I’m going to be completely alone. I’m so scared and so embarrassed cause I’m a grown adult who is sobbing because she’s scared of mom and dad going away. I genuinely do not have a single person to help me. | Anxiety |
52,272 | Xanax after drinking hald a glass of wine (~3oz) I'm pretty sure this is okay, but I wanted to reach out and make sure. I'm prescribed xanax and my Dr told me to take it 3-6 hours after drinking if I've drank. I had some red wine (about 3oz) It's been under three hours but i'm very anxious and can't handle it haha- so I took .25mg (half of my usual dose) will I be ok? | Anxiety |
52,273 | Fear of Hitting People To preface, I am not clinically diagnosed with anxiety. However, I'd like to think that there's something going on in my brain that's resemblant of anxiety. I'm not sure where else to post this, so my apologies if this is an inappropriate subreddit to do so.
I've come to realize that I have a deep fear of hitting people. I don't believe this was induced by anything during my childhood - I led quite a happy, normal one. However, I've recently realized that I would never hit someone even if it came down to self-defense, and it's quite deterring. I simply can't bring myself to cause direct physical damage to someone - it feels like my muscles just disintegrate on me and my brain is doing everything possible to convince myself not to hit them. I don't know if I'm overthinking this or if this is something of genuine concern? | Anxiety |
52,274 | Severe anxiety I’ll be honest I don’t exactly know the point of this post other than I’m really really tired of living and feeling the way I am. From ages 8-15 my life was terrible. My family was broken apart and pitted against each other, there was verbal and mental abuse every day, seeking help wasnt an option and it was all made to seem like normal life. 6 years later I’m still dealing with it. I know my anxiety and depression originated from my childhood and I know I have realistically nothing to worry about but no matter what I tell myself, what I prove to myself, how hard I work or how happy I try to be it’s never enough for me. I have a good job that I am interested in but it has turned into a nightmare. Even though I’m good at it literally as soon as I get off on my way home I will start having anxiety about potential fuck ups I can make and the work I have to do tomorrow. I’ll stress about work at least 50 more times before I clock back in the next day. I mean even when I sit in my car for lunch I start getting anxious. I see my friends maybe once a month due to a lack of motivation or interest in seeing anybody. It takes a long youtube video and about 30 minutes just to tell my brain to STFU and sleep. I dwell on my fuck ups and I’m scared shitless of letting people down. I say yes to basically anything anyone asks me to do (I actually think I’m scared of what people will say or do if I say no). The anxious feeling of what if stops me from meeting new people, going to fun places with my friends and enjoying life. Nothing gives me pleasure anymore and I rarely get excited about things. I feel very emotionally numb to everything EXCEPT stress, fear, worry, and anger. My anxiety and depression was a main factor in my first and last failed relationship due to me being so numb to myself and my SO. I feel like I care about nothing. I don’t find pleasure or happiness in being around my friends, doing the things I love or anything fun. My biggest problem and the main reason I’m making this post is that I don’t talk to ANYONE about it. I absolutely hate having to talk about how I feel and what I’m thinking, even if it’s not about anxiety. All of my fear and worry starts and lives in my head and my head only. I actually get embarrassed having to talk about that shit. I’m just tired of feeling numb, I’m tired of not having fun, I’m tired of this emptiness and I’m tired of feeling and thinking so many things I don’t understand. But this has been my entire life. It’s not an on and off thing. It’s how I think and how I feel constantly and at this point it feels like normal life. Im scared that no amount of work, or therapy will fix it because I feel like I basically have to rewire my entire brain and lifestyle. | Anxiety |
52,275 | How do you make eye contact with people? I really struggle with this in person and also at work on webcam. Whenever I look at peoples eyes it feels like a kind of burning then it just induces a horrible panic feeling too. I was once told in therapy to look over a person’s shoulder instead but people end up saying what are you looking at. I just feel so abnormal not being able to do this | Anxiety |
52,276 | nicotine making anxiety worse? just wondering if anyone else made this connection, and curious of others experiences. | Anxiety |
52,277 | My Workplace Makes Me Anxious So I’m not too sure if this is the correct place to post this or get advice, but I’d just like to hear what people have to say about it.
I’ve been working at my engineering job for 4 years now. It’s a decent job with VERY good pay and decent hours that work for me. But for the same amount of time it has been the main source of my anxiety. It’s quite a tricky job with a lot of learning involved, and it’s taken me a long time to get to grips with. I’ve made a lot of mistakes in the process and with some parts of the job I still feel anxious about what I’ll have to do or about making mistakes while doing those things.
The main thing however is the environment, and one particular person in it. We’ll call him Bob (say hello Bob). He used to be my team leader, but stepped back from that role to become team engineer (still a somewhat ranked role in itself but more technical) and is one of the most experienced and gifted guys at the place, having been there for decades at this point. Let me preface by saying a good chunk of the time this guy is ok.
However, Bob is VERY hotheaded and temperamental, and can be passive aggressive, will openly berate people for innocent mistakes and will make “jokes” about co-workers and their abilities/performance that often seem to have a hint too much opinion behind them (often to the point where you’re not sure when he’s joking and when he isn’t). He takes his job very very seriously, often to the point of some sort of corporate Stockholm syndrome devotion (that may be an exaggeration but you get what I mean). As an example, he’s gone off on one at me before for not working much overtime and he has commitment and that’s why he does loads (implying I don’t pull my weight by not working weekends etc).
His whole demeanour makes me extremely uncomfortable and feel intimidated, because I don’t know when he’s gonna be in one of his bad moods or take issue with something. It’s been joked about before whether we’re gonna get Jekyll or Hyde today.
About 2 months ago he openly berated (near shouting) in front of the whole team and my manager for misplacing a tool during an audit (which I understand is a bit negligent, but I did find it quickly afterwards), it was embarrassing and made me feel small, especially since that could’ve been handled in a far more professional manner. The other day, he made a comment about my rate of work, rhetorically asking “jokingly” why I can only do 1 of something while he can do a lot more in the same amount of time. Funnily enough he’s done that multiple times in the past and it never fails to make me feel heightened and worthless. I get that I’m a slow worker and not the most skilled, but he makes it out as if I’m lazy and not bothered about my job… I am very much the opposite. I just have less experience and work at a slower pace than most because I worry so much about getting things wrong.
I just don’t find Bob very approachable and that makes it even more difficult because he’s our team engineer, which means sometimes I have to ask him questions. But it’s been very often that he’s responded to questions as if they’re stupid or something I should’ve known already.
What doesn’t help is that for the longest time the team has enabled his behaviour, saying to me “don’t take it personally, it’s just the way he is”. Even recently when another team member was talking to me like crap and I spoke to my manager about it after finally having enough, I mentioned Bob and while he spoke to the other person and she hasn’t bothered me since, he said he wasn’t gonna talk to Bob at this time because it “requires a far more delicate approach”. From what I understand Bob has his own issues, one of them being bad anxiety but it seems like he’s dealing with it in very unhealthy ways.
At this point, I’m just not sure what to do. I don’t feel like I can ask my manager to do something about it because of his Bob might react or what he might do. It’s not like the company would do anything anyway because he’s so good at his job and does a hell of a lot. I could move teams, where the work would be more challenging so I could be Maliki life harder for myself. But if I stay I have to stay in an environment that makes me constantly anxious and seriously affects my mental health, to the point where just leaving my job has crossed my mind in moments of madness.
Any advice or ways to maybe cope with this would be really welcomed.
TL;DR my job and a person there make me incredibly anxious, and I don’t know what to anymore. | Anxiety |
52,278 | Omg I hate it I have a job interview in 10 minutes and went to the hairdesser beforehand. She asked me if we should wash my hair and I declined bc I don‘t have enough money. So she asked me if I was sure. And instantly I felt bad about my hair, as I thought it was greasy. Now I‘m freaking the f out and I don‘t know how to calm myself. I hope the interviewer doesn‘t look at my hair obviously. | Anxiety |
52,279 | Driving Anxiety Hi everyone, I wanted to just put a note here to see if this is a common symptom people experience (even with medication).
Ever since 2020, I developed severe anxiety that seemed to arise behind the wheel. It started with little things; I would hit a bump and would spend a little longer looking in the rear view mirror than I ordinarily would.
Eventually, it escalated to the point where I would compulsively circle blocks or pull over just to make sure that these bumps and potholes were not pedestrians. And if I did circle a block, usually there would be OTHER potholes or bumps, which would lead to a mental downward spiral that drove me, quite literally, to insanity. It was one of these spirals that led to my first trip for psychiatric evaluation.
After beginning medication, this generally subsided to a manageable level, and with CBT I was doing pretty good. Then, in December of 2022, my wife and I were stopped at a red light when us and two other vehicles were completely totalled by an F350 who rear ended us, travelling at roughly 80 KMh. He ran from the incident. Everyone was miraculously not seriously injured, but I’ve been set back to pre medication levels of anxiety while driving.
This hyper-vigilance (I drive quite a bit) has now lead to significant physical illness for me. From stress, I’ve ground my molars to completely flat, and the tension within my body from being so, braced? I guess? And overly vigilant while driving, is really locking me up. I’ve gained a lot of weight, too. It’s lead to serious depression as I’ve built a life that requires me to have a limber body.
Does anyone have any similar stories to share? Or even just some relevant encouragement… I’m really getting to the end of my rope lately because of this.
Thank you beautiful humans, please drive safe and treat yourself gently. | Anxiety |
52,280 | Chest pain feels like I’m dying It feels like I’m dying. My back hurts and my chest feels sore and heavy. I’m scared something bad is going to happen to my heart. I vaped a lot these past couple of years and I feel like it’s taking it’s toll. Everyone tells me it’s anxiety but I feel like my heart is damaged. It feels like I might die tonight. | Anxiety |
52,281 | For anyone struggling with fairly severe anxiety episodes - I highly recommend DBT distress tolerance skills. I recently started DBT after anxiety and depression became nearly unbearable for me, and the specific distress tolerance skills and suggestions (like hundreds of ideas about specific activities to do when feeling any kind of way) has been the most life changing thing I've learned. I know DBT is expensive and inaccessible to a lot of people, but [here is a link](https://static1.squarespace.com/static/577d2ce937c58194f7d39816/t/60c7e92fa3583448b8c6fa19/1623714139969/dbt_skills_training_handouts_and_worksheets_-_linehan_marsha_srg_.pdf) to the PDF my group uses. The distress tolerance section has a plethora of information and strategies to combat anxiety and low moods, and I highly suggest just taking a look in case anything jumps out at you. My personal favorite is the TIP acronym - cold temperatures like a cold shower or ice pack on your face, intense exercise for a brief period of time like jumping jacks for one minute, paced breathing or breath work (sometimes even fast paced breaths for thirty counts then holding as long as you can), all of which help trigger a system response that physically changes your state. Or very sour candy that distracts your brain for a second to snap out of it. Basically a bunch of tangible ideas to try out during a moment of panic. Just thought I'd share if anyone is looking for ideas. Love you all <3 | Anxiety |
52,282 | Crippling medical anxiety So I haven’t been to see a doctor in about two years because I was insanely nervous about what they might find. I was hit by a car Sunday so I finally went to see a doctor today. While talking to the doctor I mentioned I get sharp pain right under my ribs often. She said it might be my gallbladder and ordered an ultrasound. Initially I didn’t think anything of it but now I’m up at midnight googling everything I can about gallbladder cancer and convincing myself I have it. I’m 24 and all of my blood tests came back in the normal range, both my age and the blood tests are good when it comes to gallbladder cancer. The only symptoms I have are the pain and slight persisting nausea. I don’t know why I can’t let this go. I would love advice from anyone else that has medical anxiety! | Anxiety |
52,283 | My anxiety has skyrocketed due to my parents I’m a trans guy and my parents found out recently. Ever since they will randomly bring it up to me, usually crying to me about how they feel like they’ve raised me wrong and how horrible they must be treating me for me to ‘decide to’ be a boy (obviously they’re transphobic). As you might expect, these conversations are very anxiety-inducing for me and have also negatively effected my mental health otherwise. However, one of the worst parts is that I no longer feel safe in the house or even in the car if my parents are driving, because they literally bring it up whenever they want as long as we’re alone. I’m just always so much more anxious than I already was with diagnosed anxiety and I have no idea what to do. | Anxiety |
52,284 | This works for a first post I guess Hi. You can call me ClarityHound. I've never posted on reddit before, and i've rarely posted anywhere else. I'm terrified of people, and the idea that someone, probably multiple strangers, are going to read the words I say is absolutely terrifying to me.
But I'm lonely.
It's not that I don't like people. I've had very close friendships with people throughout life, I've just never made the first move. I guess I'm posting this to change that and I thought this would be a good place to start. (also if i start playing factorio before doing this, im never gonna do it)
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Tl;Dr : Hi reddit, you terrify me, lets be friends
edit: I forgot this isn't my first post, but it is the first one where im brutally honest about myself so eh | Anxiety |
52,285 | does anyone know how to stop anxiety nausea? anxiety nausea is driving me crazy i cant even go to school without being sick i have to many absent days. does anyone know anything that helps? | Anxiety |
52,286 | My attendance in school is so bad It is around 68% and I'm trying to get better but today I have a speaking practice and German test and I'm just so anxious about it. The reason I don't go isn't because of the work itself, it's just the going out into college and being around people and the huge gaps between lessons | Anxiety |
52,287 | Does anyone else have an extremely sensitive gut due to anxiety? When my anxiety gets bad I get bowel discomfort. My digestion is poor, and I basically get what amounts to an IBS flare up. I had some anxiety for a couple of days this week and I have been in agony for about 4 days now, long after the anxiety subsided. Last night my gut hurt so bad I couldn't even sleep.
I may actually have IBS and it may actually be tied to my anxiety, I don't know. Can anyone else relate to this? | Anxiety |
52,288 | How do you deal with the anxiety of having a crush on someone or starting a new relationship I over think and catastrophisize everything so much. I end up ruining everything. Any tips? Or any experiences you guys want to share? | Anxiety |
52,289 | Do I deserve punishment for this mistake? Im 23f. When I was 17 I was one of the reasons a girl with anorexia was excluded from her friendship group. I feel immensely guilty and have since apologised to her, at the time it happened and a few years after.
I am in therapy and my therapist tells me not to worry about it anymore, but I can’t help but feel I deserve punishment for what I did. Like, to lose a partner, not have a family, etc. I feel like it’s just for me to lose out on something because she got something taken away too. I definitely faced consequences - the teachers didn’t like me as much afterwards and I got excluded from a party as well.
I keep punishing myself and wonder if there’s a karmic force out there that will punish me. Do I deserve punishment? Should I just let myself be happy? I feel like I don’t deserve to be happy. I’m not sure if this is my anxiety talking though.
If there’s anyone with some advice or been through similar feelings I would appreciate any input :) | Anxiety |
52,290 | Panic Attack after yoga pose (almost slept) So I was doing the child pose and felt like I'm gonna instantly sleep. Right at that moment my heart kicked in, pounding, I felt so heavy, whole body was so heavy, then I did 3-4 cycles of box breathing and my heart was back to normal within 30 seconds. Still feel jittery and weak after.
Can someone help explaining this please ? | Anxiety |
52,291 | intrusive thoughts about past mistakes I'm 23 and my anxiety started with health anxiety, and once I learnt how to deal with that it seems to have transformed into intrusive thoughts about past mistakes and how they could affect me now.
As a child or teenager (ages 10-18) I was just a really attention seeking person. I said lots of provocative jokes because I wanted to be different from everyone, and sometimes I lied about myself or my family or other things. I still have close contact with some of the people who I was friends with when I was a person like that. They don't ever bring up anything I said in the past and I don't feel judged by them because of those things.
But it doesn't change the fact that I really hate myself for acting like that. My brain keeps reminding me of all of those things that I spent years not remembering. I know that regretting it means I have grown and am not that person anymore, but I still feel so guilty and feel like I don't deserve to forgive myself or move on. I feel like I should punish myself by remembering those things and never be able to live like they didn't happen. I really hate to think that I'm going to have to live my life having those memories and knowing it was me and noone else who used to act like that. I want to just focus on the present but I feel like I don't deserve it. I can't even force myself to study because it feels like I don't deserve to be successful in the future.
Does anyone have any advice regarding this? I spent the last 3 days beating myself up over something I said when I was 15... I just want to live without thinking about the past like I did before those intrusive thoughts were so intense | Anxiety |
52,292 | Does anyone else unconsciously tense up/clench your jaw/ mouth when stressed? Or have other symptoms along with your anxiety? For instance, I'll always catch myself doing it if I'm stressed over like, talking to or being around people, or waiting for a doctor's appointment or things like that. Does anyone else get that with their anxiety/stress?
I've also noticed that when I'm stressed I'm noticeably more anxious and my body shaking and thoughts and feelings overall get worse.
Anyone else experience these things? Haha this sounds stupid but I'm posting it anyways because I'm just curious hahaha, 🥲
Edit: I also get some brain fog ( not remembering things somwtimes, doesn't happen all the time, maybe a few times a a week if im particularly stressed and or anxious about something important) as well, but I'm not sure if it's apart of my anxiety or if it could be something entirely different. | Anxiety |
52,293 | null | Anxiety |
52,294 | I've had three completely separate illnesses in quick succession. Could this be stress? First, I had a particularly bad flair-up of IBS (maybe a couple of weeks ago) - I haven't had pain from it quite that bad in a good while. Then I had a cold, which I thought was on its way out. The small of my back gets a pinched nerve every so often, and that flaired up pretty badly. And now I might be developing a chest infection from the cold that doesn't seem to want to shift.
What's going on? Could it be stress that's causing all of this? | Anxiety |
52,295 | I need help to stop my health anxiety I struggle from extreme health anxiety and it has exponentially gotten worse. A few days ago I discovered two big red dots on my neck and fully convinced myself that I was bitten by a rabid bat either during the daylight or while I was asleep. I had a full mental breakdown, searched my room for bats, and had an anxiety attack. I went to see a NP and a PA and both told me that it is not a bat bite. I have not seen any bats near me and while the doctors told me to calm down, I simply cannot. Today my throat started hurting but I genuinely cannot tell if I am only imagining that. It is impacting my life so much and I don't know how to stop being so anxious. It has been so hard on me, and my friends who I am driving crazy. Please be kind and maybe you can help talk me out of my frantic rabid state haha. | Anxiety |
52,296 | Looking for an alternative to SSRIs. I’ve not had a brilliant experience with SSRIs and I’m looking into SNRIs or alternatives for GAD. I’m not sure whether I wanna go back to meds or not, but I feel untethered without anything. Thoughts? | Anxiety |
52,297 | Dentist Anxiety Hi I managed to get through my appointment today, but they told me I have to come back for 4 fillings and a root canal and now I'm petrified.
Does anyone have any idea what I can do to relax before and during my appointment and also if anyone can explain what happens during these procedures I'd be really grateful.
Also, I'm 17 so anyone have any guidance on how to tell my parents I have bad teeth?? As they expect to be perfect but due to other mental health issues I haven't been taking care of them hence my cavities
Also, how do you know to trust a dentist? Is it normal for them to look in your mouth for like a minute and tell you what needs to happen?
They didn't take xrays btw.
TIA | Anxiety |
52,298 | Anger/irritability I have chronic anxiety. I don't want to take my pills everyday, as my family has addiction issues at every twist and turn. But I'm a mom, I have an almost 5 year old and my husband is military so he's gone sometimes. When he's gone my son likes to act up, doesn't want to listen at all. I'm working on it with him, I'm trying to be productive. My anxiety poses a pretty big difficulty as it turns into pretty bad irritability and aggression when I'm dealing with frustrating situations. The only way I've found to help (which it actually doesnt) is to take on a bland monotonous tone. I'm struggling to find other ways to communicate with him so that we're both calm and hopefully things can get resolved peacefully. I just feel so bad when it ends up being too much and I snap at him. | Anxiety |
52,299 | Anyone’s anxiety/depression get worse when you are sick??? I got this weird virus it’s not the flu or covid but right before I got sick I got so panicky for a few days and then once I got sick my panic got 10x worse. I’ve been sick for a week now and since I’ve been so sick I’ve been sad because I wanna get better so I’m having some negative/sad thoughts it sucks because this didn’t happen till I got sick
I also read that having a virus lowers dopamine and seratonin so that could be what I’m experiencing | Anxiety |