Hi, so I’m 29F and I never had stuffed toys growing up. I only had lots of Barbies and I always wanted more. Idk what is this, someone gave me a teddy at a trade show I was attending and I thought that I was such stilly gift for a business to give out. (It was a textile company so maybe they wanted to flaunt the soft fabric or whatever) I took it home with all the other stuff and now I’ve seemed to really like it. Everyone I wake up in the middle of the night, I look for it, I snuggle with it. I was feeling a little overwhelmed a few days ago and hugging it made me cry. I’m soooo confused! Like are we that dumb on a biological level that a stuffed animal is comforting us. I know usually people who sleep with their stuffed animals are the ones who are in a habit of it since they were children. I’m freaking turning 30 and developing this. What is wrong with me?

This is just a quick rant. Why is severe anxiety the only crippling mental illness where we are expected to find the "root cause", to "do the work", etc.? We never tell that to people with severe depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia. We understand they have a serious chemical imbalance and medication is going to be doing most of the heavy lifting, and other things will simply be adjunct treatments. Maybe I'm being overly cynical. I hope I am not. What are your thoughts?

Ways to calm down? I feel like time is going by so fast. One time i look at the time it’s 12am, the next is 3am. i’ve been pacing around my house and rolling around in my bed while I use my fidgets.(corny ik but they feel rlly good!!!) But on some nights, I get a sudden strike of anxiety. My head starts is so foggy and my whole body shakes, and it dosent help that my arm hurts so much after squishing a toy for the past 2 hours or so. i can’t even close my eyes for more than five seconds without getting paranoid and feeling numb in my legs. My heart feels like it’s beating so fast and I can’t breathe. But I don’t think i’m having a panic attack. At this point, I don’t know if it’s my anxiety disorder or something else. I just want to sleep

Been smoking weed for almost a year to combat my daily anxiety but sick of having to get high everyday just to feel ok and calm. I’m curious about others experiences on prescription meds and what worked for you best.

Hey, I am very scared for unnecessary reasons. I have soo many things to do but I end up doing nothing. I can't do anything anymore I'm too tired to do anything.

I am 20 years old and I’m looking for a job. I’ve worked jobs before, and my last job ended in January (I quit to focus on my school workload). I’ve been looking for a job in the past few weeks. However, every time I look at a job, a thousand different scenarios fly through my head of me messing up, getting yelled at, getting fired, etc. Because of that, I rule out so many jobs, and come to the point of feeling like I’m not capable of doing anything.

I absolutely obsess over it to the point of exhaustion. I scroll through indeed for over 5 hours at a time searching and searching for something, overthinking jobs, applying, regretting applying, feeling like I can’t do it or I’ll fail.

I got a job this week and my first day was Thursday. I had applied as a server, and they said they would start me at back house making food, then move me up as a server. I quit 2 hours into training because all of the food rules (temperatures, allergies, etc.) it was too much and overwhelming, and overall I did not want anything to do with something that high stress.

But now I’m even more lost. My confidence is shot.

And I’m so self aware of my problems, that I’ve come to a point where most coping stuff doesn’t work. I don’t even know what to do. If anyone has anything that could help I’d appreciate any thought.

TL/DR I’m 20 and struggling to find a job due to overthinking and fear of failure.

I need help. My anxiety has gotten so bad. I don't even want to leave my house. I work full time so I have to go to work everyday for 9 to 10 hours. It's unbearable sometimes. My anxiety lasts all day. I wake up with it. I have a hard time just going to the store to grocery shop. My main issue is driving and feeling like I am stuck somewhere. Traffic. Red light taking too long. Etc. I go into a panic and I feel like I might be dying. I can't breath. Chest pains. Hands. Face. Go numb. Stomach starts turning. I get dizzy. I can't swallow. My body can't tell the difference between being chased by a bear and walking to the mailbox.

Am I dying??

I went to my doctor. The emergency room bc I thought this is a heart attack but all tests said no.

Does anyone have any advice on how to get better??

Does anyone have any advice on coping skills??

Thank you 🙏

I need tips as I am dealing with a very hard time in my life at the moment involving my family. Besides medication what can I do immediately?

This has happened only one other time for me. The first time was many years ago, when I was very hungover and just made it back home after a grueling two hour drive. I was sitting at home on my couch recovering, watching TV when all of a sudden I felt that feeling of impending doom creeping up, feeling like everything around me was fake. It was terrifying. I think it was because I made my body such an uncomfortable place to be that I was trying to get away…if that makes any sense at all.

But today was different…the setting was similar as I was sitting on the couch watching TV again, relaxing after a full day. But the thing is I had been eating healthy, drinking my water, no alcohol whatsoever, and had an all around good day today with family and my dog…

When all of a sudden as I’m sitting there on the couch my hands start tingling a bit, I feel a little light headed, so I get up to go to the bathroom to look in the mirror and my pupils looked really small. Not sure if this was real or if my mind was playing tricks on me. I had to talk myself down and tell myself I’m perfectly healthy, nothing happened out of the ordinary, I’m home and everything is normal…these were the things I was telling myself. That de-personalization feeling comes on so quick, and I feel like only I can understand it. I didn’t even share this with my partner in that moment, because it was only for a few minutes. After I had gotten some food in me I felt better.

I had a bit of a traumatic experience earlier this week when I had to take my dog to the emergency vet because we thought he may have ingested a harmful medication. Could it be that the panic has been delayed somehow? Like the aftershock of that experience…

Idk guys. I feel like I’m on an island with this de-personalization thing. I don’t even want to explain it to family or friends because it sounds crazy.

Can anyone out there relate? Thank you.

To begin, i am well aware that i am not a victim of the incident that i saw tonight. I do not wish to be seen as the person who was painfully impacted by this. I am aware that two kids, someone’s family member, and a family has been impacted way beyond my comprehension.

I wish only to share and speak because this has been in head and I’m really getting a kick off what i saw.

The day started out with hanging out with some friends. It was a 40 minute drive from where i live to them. Then another 40 minutes to drive back to downtown of my city. Then another hour of shenanigans going to a tcg shop and finally 40 to going back to there place.

While those details seem irrelevant, it impacts my head.

My friend and his wife live in an area where there’s more farm and land, so the streets are dark-ish and very few light post to depend on. Just your usual street signs that reflect light from your vehicle and the lights from other incoming cars.

The traffic to get to there house has one lane of ongoing and incoming traffic, being separated by two painted yellow lines in the middle.

We arrive late to there house at around 1am. It was dark but it was what would’ve been a good ending to the night. After about 30 minutes, i decided to finally call it a day and head home.

As i start to return to the street that i mention, i see parked cars, bright lights, and tons of noise.

I parked my car as the curiosity got the best of me and what i saw was…a lot.

Blood scattered on the road, a black truck struck the fence, pieces of vehicles scattered everywhere, a tire on the road standing uptight, a family, neighbors, and sirens and lights and everything you can imagine being in a crash.

To try my best and give the perspective, two vehicles had a head on collision. The head on collision absolutely demolished the drivers side of a car and the same could be said for the van.

The truck, who happened to be behind one of the vehicles, had reacted fast enough to slam the breaks and steer a sharp right managing to miss the collision but lose a tire. Luckily, those inside the truck had minor injuries.

Then theres the rest.

A dead woman, who was alone in the car and most likely dead on impact.

And the mother over two children.

I was at the scene when these children were told that it has been confirmed that their mother had been deceased. The screams. The noise that came out almost fell like non human. These kids looked to be in 1st or 2nd grade. Neighbors who lived there hugged these kids, as i hear there muffled screams through the jackets of the neighbors. A horrorful sight, it was too much to take in. Those kids at that age lost there parent at that moment.

I started to lose my breath and walked back to my vehicle.

The walk back was like a panic attack as i saw more vehicles park with teenage girls and their parents approaching the scene asking what happened. You can tell that in about 10 seconds, her world was about to change knowing that her aunt or mother or whoever she was to her had just passed.

I was stopped once more as I’m about to enter my car. They asked me what happened and i could not come to my senses to explain what had just unfolded. As i tried to put my words in a sentence, a grown man enters the vehicle, who i presume is the father, and stated “Those kids man….everything…those damn kids” And proceeded to started crying while he raised the windows of his car.

I break down in my car, call my mom, tell her how much i love her and dad, and proceed to drive as safe as i can.

40 minutes home.

Now its been 2:30 hours since the incident and i cant sleep and my stomach is sick. I know the night isnt over for those kids.

I know theres a lot happening.

But as for me, i have this pain in me. The visuals i shouldn’t have seen. The idea of me taking just a little longer at the store or maybe taking more time to get home could have led us to be part of that collision

30 minutes was all i stayed for. Once i left there house, it had all unfolded.

I apologize if this seems like bad vocabulary, i al still having trouble getting my thoughts straight. I needed to let this out somewhere but i didn’t know who to turn to.

I felt it coming on because my toddler started to get grumpy , he was half asleep and In the stroller had him crying trying to get out and me checking out scanning stuff fast and people behind me , felt like i was getting stared down , my vision started to get dark and I started to get really really sweaty and the breathing started to get fast to where I just wanted to bust out crying and stop what I was doing to help my baby and also just leave the store , I need air asap . The worker behind me knew I was struggling and helped me scan and made me feel a little better but now I’m in the car feeling sick and nausea from all the adrenaline I felt 😭😭 ugh I hate this . This is why I’m also scared to even go out in public especially alone 😭

I've been struggling with a pretty bad wave of anxiety, and I've been genuinely convinced I was about to die several times. The fact that I survived these experiences almost feels like I survived the impossible?? Even though I was in no real danger?? I'm curious if anyone else has similar thoughts to this. I just can't seem to get myself convinced that I'm not about to die. My body is constantly so hot and alert now and that makes me feel like I'm gonna drop dead. I don't know how to calm these thoughts down so any similar experiences and/or advice would help.

Another day another chapter of letting myself get in the way of just being a normal function person.

Friends and I were planning to go to the river today. I woke up to them calling me telling me they were here because I overslept.

Idk if it was me being so unprepared, or not making them want to wait, but I told them to just leave and go have fun without me. Even in the moment idk why I was saying it.

Now I’m alone, upset, angry, and crying all because I wasn’t strong enough to go have fun with friends like a normal human being.

I really fucking hate myself sometimes.

The last week I've been having steady and persistent but still low level depersonalization. Yet it's enough to make me feel uncentered, worried, apprehensive, etc. I have had unresolved sleep apnea for many years, and this past week I've been making a renewed effort to use my Cpap machine. Basically an apparatus that pumps air through to face mask. I get terrible subconscious anxiety responses to mask when I drift into sleep. But I've got to get used to using it or risk declining health and greater health risks. I think my struggle with this the past week is an underlying factor to my recent depersonalization which I've struggled with for many years off and on. I just hate the feeling. Like consciousness is lagging behind my physical self. Like I'm out of phase with the physical world just enough to make me anxious something worse is going to happen. I then worry maybe I have a brain tumor, etc, etc. Doing 4-7-8 breathing helps some. I try to practice mindfulness. But naming how I feel, for example: "I feel out of sync with myself", sometimes just freaks me out more.

I do have a therapist I see every 2 weeks. I'll definitely be talking about this.

But what do you guys do? Does exercise help? I want to start using the gym. Im just so tired...

My next door neighbor killed my cat, my female cat is mostly an indoor cat, she only goes out to the garden to pee and poop and to sunbathe on the ground during the summer, yesterday at 7 p.m. my uncle let her out to the garden for a while, 30 minutes passed and it was strange that she didn't ask to come in because in my country we are now in winter so she only goes out for 5 minutes and ask to come inside the house, I went out to look for her, I called her name very loudly, I made sounds with my mouth that she always responds with, but this time nothing, my father went out to look for her on the street to see if she was in a tree (she never goes to other houses far away or goes down the street) I started to have a bad feeling that maybe she was next door, I called her again and put my ear to the wall of this neighbor to see if I could hear her meowing but no sound came out, it was time to sleep and I spent the whole night crying for her because my heart told me that they had done something bad to her, I cried so much my eyes could barely open, at 7 a.m. my uncle called me through my window to tell me that my cat had appeared but that I should calm down, I ran out in my pajamas to the sidewalk of my house and there was my princess, my baby, lying in the ditch with her entire body wet, I put her in my arms and hugged her, she was cold and with rigor mortis, one of her eyes was bulging out and her ear was covered in blood as well as her nose, someone hit her on the head and I'm sure it was the psychopathic son of a bitch from next door. Why? Why do that to a defenseless animal that doesn't bother you Right now I just want to slash her neck and break both of her legs so he suffers what I'm suffering right now, I can't eat, I can't sleep, all I do is cry and think that she didn't deserve this ending, her little face when I took her out of the water keeps appearing in my head, while I was looking for her she was next to me and i don't have idea, and what if she called for me to help her, what if she was alive after the hit in the head and was left agonizing, what if he torture her before she died, all these thoughts keep appearing and are driving me insane, I just want justice for my baby, I just hope her death was quick. I had to take a benzo because my anxiety was out of control and I keep wanting to do something to this piece of shit. I had pets dying before for illnes, the pain kills you but getting you pet murdered is another level of pain, and it makes the process of grieving most harder and impossible. Before lunch I saw her plate of food and burst into tears so hard I felt like I was going to faint, my father had to calm me down, I feel like I'll never be able to get over this grief, I refuse to accept that a son of a bitch took my baby's precious life, whenever I remember her I'll think that it wasn't the work of life but of a human, I'll never forget how her face looked or how they left her lying in the ditch all wet as if she were garbage

Hello. I (21f) am in a long distance relationship with someone (21f) and I have a crippling fear of abandonment that has caused me to be controlling of my partner.

It's been a little over a year and I haven't gotten better. No matter what my partner says I can't feel secure. I have a history of self hatred my entire life and I can't believe she loves me. She has a friend that she's really close to and im afraid that she will leave me for said friend. I'm afraid they're better and I'm afraid she will leave me.

I don't want to be controlling and abusive anymore so today I thanked her for everything, told her I loved her and I tried to leave while I thought she was asleep. She wasnt. It's not the first time and one time I was successful.. she got in touch with one of my friends and we got back in touch. But this time she kept calling me and cried and it made it so hard for me to leave but I'm in this mindset that I will be left no matter what and I'm afraid.

She doesn't want me to leave her even after everything I've done. She said that I'm putting her through my fears because of my fears and she's afraid of losing me too. She told me to accept reality and accept she does love me and she will never leave me. But I'm afraid. I'm being so selfish, I'm putting her through pain because I'm too afraid.

I've looked so many places online. "Accept that you could be left", "people come and go". I cannot accept that I might not be good enough and that I might be left for someone better. I cannot accept it, because I love her more than anything. She's reassured me so much. She's told me I am good enough, if she didn't want me she wouldn't be here, she wouldn't try so hard.

I've gotten worse recently, I've tried to become a distant person again like how I was before and when we first met. It doesn't work, im still too afraid. I can't not care that someone I love might leave because it feels like I cannot live without her. I want to trust her. I want to believe her. But there's something inside of me that tells me I am not good enough. It's always eating at me.

I've had crying and screaming meltdowns recently because my fear have been getting worse. The smallest things feel like betrayal and they're not. And she's been hanging out more with the friend that makes me insecure, the friend that I have expected her to leave me for, for a year. She says they're only a friend, there's nothing ever going on. It's not right to cut a friend off. And she's right. But since I don't know what else to do, I feel like the only choice left is for me to leave. Would that be the right thing to do? Throw away a relationship because of my fears? My future with someone? She told me if I leave that's what I'm doing.

I've genuinely gotten to the point where I can't feel secure.. she limited contact with them but now she's back to being with them a little more. Why can't I accept that they're just a friend? I'm afraid there's more going on, they love her or something. Its like i have obsessive thoughts about it and it eats at me..? My partner is allowed to have friends, everyone is.. but what if she chooses them over me one day? They are better than me.. i feel sick just typing this out.

I've never been like this before a relationship. I've always had self hatred issues, I've distanced myself from everyone, I've barely had friends my entire life. I cannot grasp the concept of having close friends and having a partner. I don't know what to do anymore.

Can anyone normal please give advice, insight to relationships, anything. Please explain to me why I shouldn't be afraid, if my partner has chosen me time and time again, cried to me about leaving, got in contact with me after I left for 3 months. Has tried so hard to reassure me and console me almost every single day. Has told me she will never leave me, will always love me and always have. That im good enough. Why isnt it enough for me? What do i have to do to feel safe? Do i blindly believe her? I have tried. Thats all i have to do but something still eats at me. I've never had anyone so close to me before. I've gotten so bad that I have to sleep on call with her...

Please tell me how to trust someone. I love her more than anything. How do I trust her word? I've always been the person that wasn't good enough so how can i... my situation feels so complex, I don't know if it's because of my childhood or what. I just want to love her and trust her like a normal person. I have never been in therapy. I've always had anxiety my entire life and I know I need therapy but it's currently inaccessible. I've been trying to work towards therapy but I'm afraid I will ruin our relationship too much before I can access it.

Please give me advice so that i can at least be able to love her without the fear of losing her. To be able to trust what she tells me. Anytime I try there's thoughts that she will leave me and that I'm not good enough.

Does Valium help on anxiety and physical symptoms of anxiety?

I just bumped my head against the corner of my nightstand not that long ago, I didn't hit my head against it that hard but the edge of the corner is sharp. I am worried that I suffered a concussion or a brain bleed, there is pressure in my head and it aches in the spot that I injured :( Bumping my head is one of my main triggers that sets my anxiety off and I always assume the worst.

I'm posting this from my girlfriend's reddit because I can't find my phone at the moment but I'm having some extreme hangover anxiety Ik it's my fault but can someone just tell me I'm going to be ok and I'm not dying I don't know why it just helps a bit

so, after being on constant edge and anxious since the beginning of january. i started taking my meds, and finally felt a sense of calm. and you know what my brain does? “why are we calm this is weird what’s about to happen something bads about to happen” like you have to be absolutely fucking joking me. i can’t even be calm? i can’t be at peace without thinking that it’s a sign of danger? this lead to a very odd panic attack where i was somewhat calm but was panicking at the same time. am i fucking broken or something? anyway i ended up calling the ambulance because i thought that it was the “calm before the storm” and this time it was really it! they ended up making me feel so stupid 😭😭 i don’t think they meant to on purpose though.

Hi all, how do you combat paranoia in relation to "the outside world"? For context, I've been attending therapy for almost 2 years now, and have been on medication for a year. The medication has helped me a lot with my depression and a lot of my general anxiety symptoms, as I used to be on edge and anxious for seemingly all time. While my medication has helped me a lit generally, I still struggle a lot with paranoia in terms of anything to do with leaving my home. I'm hyper aware of my surroundings because I'm afraid someone might try to hurt me, if someone is walking behind me I freak out and try to speed up away from them, if I'm in my car I have to constantly make sure my doors are locked, when I'm walking on the side walk I must be on the side that is walking the opposite direction of traffic so I can see the cars coming towards me rather than them driving in the same direction as me. I'm constantly checking the locks in my home because I don't want someone to break in, and walking into my front yard when it's dark out fills me with so much fear that my fight or flight kicks in lmao. There are many other examples, but these are just some. I've been trying to work on these things, but honestly my previous job made things 10 times worse (I used to work at a homeless shelter and had to leave due to threats against my personal safety). I just feel like whenever I take tiny steps forward, I immediately get pushed back farther :/ do any of you have tips or ways that you try to cope with similar feelings of paranoia? if it's relevant, I'm diagnosed with depression, generalized anxiety, and ocd. thank you in advance, and remember to stay safe and take care of yourselves <3

I’m 21M, and I’ve been living with constant, high-baseline anxiety for years. It’s mental and physical—racing thoughts, intrusive worries, shaking during social pressure, and lately, I’ve been waking up way too early in a state of anxiety, like a cortisol shot. It’s exhausting and honestly torture.

My anxiety is especially bad with:

• Anything dating-related
• Career/internship stuff
• Confrontation or any situation where the stakes feel high or there is a lot of risk involved

I also have OCD-like symptoms—repetitive thoughts and rituals that I feel like I have to do just to avoid spiraling. I’ve tried all the typical supplements (L-theanine, magnesium, CBD, THC, ashwagandha), and none of them worked. Alcohol does help, its the only thing that really does—but it wrecks my sleep, makes me feel like crap, and I know it’s not sustainable.

I can still function (college student, gym, track diet, etc.), but I’m living in mental hell almost every day. I’m NOT interested in talk therapy right now—I’ve thought hard about this. I just want relief from the anxiety itself.

I have an appointment with a psychiatric nurse practitioner soon, and I’m ready to try medication. What I need help with is:

• What meds should I bring up based on my symptoms?
• What are your experiences with Lexapro, Zoloft, or Buspirone?
• I’m very cautious about weight gain—I've lost weight through strict tracking, and I’m scared of gaining it back.
• Is there any med that helped you feel calm without feeling emotionally numb or flat?

I’m open to SSRIs, beta-blockers, or whatever works. I just want to live without this constant pressure crushing me every day. Thanks for reading—I’d really appreciate any advice, stories, or recs.

For context, I went to an outdoors event earlier today where we were doing a reforestation project and weeding out invasives/planting native plants. I'm a huge nerd about plants, am skilled at identifying them and working with them (I work at a nursery) and am studying biology/botany. Needless to say, it's my thing.

I had a great time, but looking back on it kind of makes me want to crawl in a hole. I think back on how I get too excited and start yapping about plants and wonder if I sound like a giant know-it-all or if I sound really egotistical or preachy to the people around me. In the moment I actively try not to behave in that way, but in hindsight I always get stressed out and anxious wondering if everyone thought I was a huge asshole.

Does anyone else get this about their passions/interests? I always feel ashamed and overthink how I behaved, even if in the moment I'm trying my best to be really attentive with how I'm behaving. If you do feel that way, how do you get through it? Any tips on how to know if you're genuinely being a know it all jerk?