I am promoting from class 10th to 11th and am really confused about the streams. Most of my knows have figured it out till now; I have decided to opt for Non-medical. However, for the optional subject: Computer Science, Psychology, PHE, and Painting - I just want to know if it'll really put a massive burden on me if I were to follow my interest and choose Psychology. My parents and relatives are suggesting that Painting or PHE may be the best - should I follow their advice? What if I might not be able to may time for the optional subject and lose marks because of it?

Lately it feels like I’m stuck in a cycle where I’m constantly “on,” but not really present. Work demands a lot. Family stuff is piling up. I haven’t had a real break in months, and even when I do try to rest, my mind just won’t cooperate. It’s like I’m surviving on fumes but still expected to be high-functioning.

The worst part is that nothing is technically falling apart, which makes it harder to justify slowing down. But internally, I know I’m burning out. I’ve tried journaling, occasional meditation, even short walks, but they’re just Band-Aids right now.

I don’t want to wake up a year from now and realize I let this feeling drag on. Has anyone been through something like this and actually turned it around? What helped you reset when the usual advice wasn’t enough?

Open to any perspective. Not looking for magic fixes, just something real.

Edit: really appreciate the thoughtful replies—if anyone’s into deeper breakdowns like this, I write a short daily thing here: NoFluffWisdom. no pressure, just extra signal if you want it

This sounds so terrible and I feel bad but my older sister became awkward and corny now that she’s in her late 20s. She is constantly eating her words when she speaks, forcing herself to laugh when she says a punchline (to the point where you don’t understand what she’s saying), or reacting in a way to something we say in an unnatural way. For example, if I vent to her about my favorite show, she says “Oh no, that sounds like it won’t be your favorite show anymore!” Me and my whole family get fed up sometimes and on a few occasions, we have lost our temper and yelled at her for being so awkward or corny. I don’t understand why it bothers us so much and I feel bad. It’s gotten to a point where I have a recurring dream a few times a month where I’m yelling at her with all my might and listing down everything that’s wrong with her. It’s so frustrating because she was never like that before and was so confident and cool. After she studied abroad and moved back, she has gotten so awkward and now I just look down at her. I would like help on how to regulate my emotions better and maybe understand why it bothers me and my family so much.

I'm worried with everything going on in the U.S., that it's become unsafe for me to remain here (in a red state, no less). I'm just an average office worker for the FAA, with a B.S. in Psychology from an alright university, so no ultra high-demand skill sets that might set me apart. I only speak English, and have no family nor friends in the EU, and only have citizenship through my maternal grandfather (citizenship by descent). I have about $10k in the bank, could get more if I raided my gov 401k and other stocks, so I wouldn't be immediately destitute if I moved. Live with my parents currently, so I wouldn't need to deal with breaking leases or selling a house or anything like that. Does anyone have experience with a situation like this? Any advice or anything to help out?

A couple of nights ago, I was pretty inebriated. I was using a torch (lighter, not a flashlight) and... well, long story short, I no longer have a left eyebrow! Nor do I have any lashes on my left eye! E-GADS!

I just ordered some false lashes and some lash serum today. Does anyone know if lash serum works on eyebrows as well? Does anyone have any other tips or tricks to speed up this process? This is so stupid and embarrassing! 😳

I have been very blessed to be accelerating in growth in my field. I gained confidence with each semester at school and have aspirations to be a teacher once I'm done with my academic journey. I met this one guy, I'll call him Chad. Chad was not having a fun time in the first semester, so I lent him a hand. I helped him learn some concepts, tried to provide feedback when he asked to show me his compositions and work, and I also assisted him with some assignments and projects as well as studio related lessons.

As I told my friends about the things I've been up to, the comments I've gotten from them is to be careful about people using you (because a lot of what I do is pro bono). On the 22nd of March Chad recently asked me about help with another assignment, of which I've been really close knit with the professor that teaches him. Actually, I taught the professor how to use the facilities for the very class Chad is doing the assignment for. I think I know what one of the skill outcomes are for that class, and how important it would be for us to learn in the industry after discussions with the professor. Chad however, asked me for help, and he told me that he was strep for time and was just going to go about a shortcut way to finishing the assignment. For further context, he asked me for help on two days the week of the assignment being due.

Mind you, I do recognize it's not my place to say anything, maybe I shouldn't have, especially since I’m just a student like him and not a GA/TA. But I definitely felt upset that despite asking me for help, he told me what his plans were. Chad’s plans were the complete opposite of what was required for the assignment, and I recognized that he probably just wanted me to help him just to get this assignment done and not take the opportunity during the class to internalize the skills our prof was trying to teach.

What I think got me more frustrated over anything was that it was a topic related to our major, it was time I was willing to set aside for him to cover a topic I'm passionate about, and I felt that would have been for nothing. There was a possibility that I was being used. I cancelled on him and said something along the lines of "I wouldn't stand for that, and good luck". It's paraphrased, but I was definitely harsh in tone and language. I recognize now that I was cold, brutish, and barbaric in my response. After the altercation we proceeded to ignore each other. I tried to reach out shortly after on the 27th of March via sending a video. For context, I send these weekly private vlogs to my three friends from Junior High as mental health checks as well as updates to what's going on in each of our lives (It's only me and three close friends that made a promise to do so this year, sending them via unlisted links on my YouTube channel that is not publicly available). I started by sharing some good things happening in my life in this vLog journal, and then I started explaining sound concerts to my friends when I got to exploring the altercation with Chad… When I started unpacking my thoughts and emotions about the situation in last week's video submission, I realized that It was the most raw response I had at the situation.

I decided to send that link to Chad and wait for a response. He wasn't too happy, and he said I have this complex and think I'm better than people. Chad mentioned that I wasn’t a “man” for facing him with the problem in person, he also said that “...I can see right through your game”, and that I should have some humility. He made the point clear that he thinks it's not my right to decide what he can or cannot do, and that I'm “not his superior”. Text message logs can be sent if needed. Now... it's gone from Chad avoiding my advances to talking in person, to him wanting to now bring it up with the Chair/Dean. He also shared the video with other people who weren't involved. The view count on the video was 10 views when it should only be at a maximum of 4. From my fellow classmate “Jake”, he told me how Chad shared the vLog diary with other DAA students out of context. At the end of the day, I only wanted to help. I recognize now that my approach and my tone and language may be the cause for the miscommunication of my intentions. When I saw that he was going to rather cheat and take a shortcut, I did the best I could to explain the future effects of that. Maybe it was here that I screwed up, and I should've just let him do what he wanted. But I only wanted to help. He sounds serious about escalating this to the committee, I just don't know what to do this time around. Any advice?

EDIT:

Formatting, Context, Clarification

Scroll to bottom for TL;DR

Hello, I'm feeling really lost right now.

I'm 25 years old, male, been working as a setup/operator/machinist since I was 18. Only reason I'm doing this is because it's the only career field I thought I could stand that would also pay the bills (turns out the pay in my area is dogsh1t and doesn't actually pay any bills, I'm pooling money with my mother and GF just to keep us all housed and fed, and I'm the highest paid of the 3 of us)

Problem is? I always screw it up, I'm typing this while staring at 800 parts that don't fu'(8!g fit. It doesn't seem to matter how hard I work or how diligent I am about checking dimensions, doesn't seem like I can go more than a couple months without screwing up. I haven't lost my current job because if it yet, but it's going to happen, I know this company has already spent more than my yearly wage fixing issues I caused.

Okay I'm going to end up typing out a wall so I'll just cut it here.

TL;DR: I'm really bad at my job and it's making me miserable. Do I cut my losses and risk losing everything to find something I enjoy or do I try and stick with the career that's making me miserable.

i don't know what's going on with me. other than my very annoying loss of appetite and complete disinterest in food, there's nothing else wrong with me. i feel fine. it's been like this ever since i woke up on Sunday, i just haven't been hungry in the absolute slightest and i have no idea what to do. it's really worrying me and frustrating me. i usually experience food aversion and have severe OCD with food but never to this degree. i've barely eaten anything at all today and i'm not even hungry.

for context, i'm 22amab, 5'11, 165 lbs, i take 7.5mg mirtazapine nightly and 2mg glycopyrrolate twice a day, and i've been taking 9mg Velo nicotine pouches to help quit vaping for about a month at this point. i also suffer from chronic anxiety and depression.

update: it's been a week and i finally got my appetite back. i finally feel hungry again, i'm so relieved. thank you to everybody who gave advice🖤

I have a neighbour in Victoria who has a mental illness (not sure what it is). But he was never violent to me or to others. In 2023, I rented out my unit to a friend and her family and I moved to Queensland. After a few months this neighbour became aggressive towards my friend and her husband but it was just cussing. From time to time I received reports that he has been aggressive but due to family circumstances they could not move out, rent is higher elsewhere and my unit is close to everything. Today my renter reported that they have been chased by my neighbour and they are really scared for their safety. They want to move out but rent elsewhere is higher and they wish the neighbour be sent somewhere and live in a facility for people with mental illness. Is there a way we can request authorities to transfer the neighbour as he is posing a risk to the family especially to the child? Who do we ask help from? Please help. Thank you 🙏

Hi. Working off mobile, so I’m sorry for any weird formatting. Anyways.

My friend and I are looking to get an apartment together by the end of the college semester this year (May 2025).

We’ve been looking and we both have solid jobs where we make about $1,000 a week. What does the apartment process look like? Should I apply for some loan? (Because while we do have these jobs, we both just happened to start them up, haha, so we’re not all that solid in terms of savings). I’m honestly trying to avoid going back to my parents, so this is my best option, especially since I can afford it.

My friend and I currently leave on our uni’s campus. Sorry for vagueness, just not entirely sure what questions to really ask. I’m really wondering what the apartment searching process realistically looks like, what I should expect to deal with, etc.

Thanks for any advice that comes my way. Thanks. ❤️

I was gifted a commemorative gold coin years ago. It is now old and tarnished, and I've been thinking about getting it melted down and minted into a different coin but I don't know where to look. To be clear, I intend to make it into a flashy d2 for use in tabletop games and basic HoT disputes, and am aware it is illegal to mint a coin with the intent to pass it off as legal tender or otherwise seek to make a profit off of it. Any direction would be appreciated.

Not entirely sure if this fits in here, or the rules, but I'm just gonna take a shot at it.

I (male, almost 16) have been pretty much lonely for a decent chunk of my life. Obviously, it hasn't always been this way, but I've been on this downward spiral since I think when I was roughly 8 or 9? And, ever since the pandemic, it basically sealed my fate.

Fast forward to now, and I think both my "personality" and my environment is preventing me from changing? First of all, I'm pretty shy, almost never talking unless I'm with one of my siblings, in which I will almost be exclusively talking to them and them only. I think the reason for that is that I don't even want to risk embarrassing myself, so I don't take the chance of talking to people. I also used to really not like my body, and a part of that still lingers, not that much.

It is not just me, I believe. First, I live in a city that doesn't have much to do, at least, not to meet people. We have a big park, but at peak hours it has maybe 20 people, and most of them are little kids and their parents. We also have a YMCA, which I go to about 2 - 3 times a week (if my sleep schedule allows it) but it doesn't help much with socializing. I also go to culinary class, but everyone that goes there is a girl, and I'm not saying this as a joke, but the whole "not wanting to talk to people out of fear of embarrassing myself" thing amplifies about 3 or 5x whenever it's a girl. If I had to take a guess why, it's because of the fear of the girl thinking I'm trying to hit on her when I'm not added onto the existing fear. I'm not entirely sure why I have this fear specifically.

I also live in a relatively bad part of my city. Not horrible, but they don't trust me walking around alone out there, and I do not blame them. There is almost nobody my age in my area, so just walking outside and finding someone to talk to is not an option.

I go to virtual school (ever since 1st grade), so I can't just go sit at someones lunch table or go up to someone to start a conversation. The only people I regularly interact with around my age are the girls in culinary class. My school has clubs, but I'm either not interested in them, or I am, but I'm bad at the subject. I also want to meet people in real life, not online.

I have a singular friend, which I had ever since 2019. We first met in person, but we only met each other in person after about four times. Not much about him is important to this except for the fact that ever since about November of last year, we haven't talked much. His friends have the "hurr durr racism funny, and I worship the austrian painter!" type of humor. I do not like them, to say the least. They don't like me neither.

I know some of you (if anyone reads this at all lul) would probably just say something along the lines of "Just be yourself, and you will find someone to be friends with!". Being myself is either me sitting in my room all day playing games, or sitting in a corner minding my own business in public, minimizing social interaction that I am not ready for. (which, I am almost never ready for social interaction.)

I also suspect that someone might say "Just wait until you're 18, or 20, or whatever age!". This is not going to happen. I need friends before I'm 18. This is not a guideline, this is not a suggestion, this is a requirement. Do not ask why. (to clarify, it has nothing to do with rule 8.)

So, any advice on the next step of the operation, please?

im 21f n this story rly starts from the day I was born so it’s a long story I will try to summarize but pls ask questions in the comments for more elaboration n I’ll answer. anyways, Since I turned 18 and started college, my parents and I have always said im going to move out once I graduate and find a stable full time job. I moved away for an internship last year that was exactly four months and this was always the case. It was always going to be four months. More background (sorry), I have two little sisters who have always shared a room and I got my own room at 12. Once I moved out last year, my sister moved into my room by day two. Since I always made sure to clarify with them that I was coming back, I figured I’d move back in to my room n everything would be normal because, I was only gone for four months and how could that change 21 years of living and sharing a life w them? Looks like it changed real quick. My parents came up to my apartment two days before I moved back home to help move stuff and broke the news I will no longer be having a room (this came COMPLETELY UNEXPECTED guys). Nobody dropped hints at all. I am sleeping on a pullout sofa mattress in the living room right next to the kitchen, where I hear them make breakfast everyday at 6am and can’t go back to sleep. Can someone tell me why my parents hate me? My mom will know I have woke early in the morning and purposely hog the couch so I can feel uncomfortable. Help. If you need more context to help me figure out if my parents hate me, I’ll gladly respond

It's been going on since 9 AM and I was looking forward to sleeping really late and just playing video games all day since this is my one day every week where I can chill and do nothing. Headphones won't even block the noise.

I don't want to come off as a dick to them but this seems like a pretty shitty thing to do. They could have at least sent an email a few days ahead of time and then I would have made other plans. I've been living here for 5 years without anything like this ever happening or I would at least know about it ahead of time.

Should I just start looking for another place to live?

Hello, I've been sad lately because I cannot lose weight. It's really hard to do when everything is exercise and healthy eating but I cannot exercise for health reasons and the only food I can afford is rice or cheap pasta. I weight 104kg and I'm 164cm (5'4). Besides that I'm relatively healthy, my blood work is always good. Considering that, would it be bad if I give up? I'm tired. However I'm open to suggestions and I'm willing to try things.

Hi everyone,

Last night we had an issue regarding natural gas in our home, and I want advice on how to do better next time if something were to happen like this again. We are new with having a home with a natural gas stove.

Yesterday, we were out of the house and our child was at our home with my mom. My mom, at some point, hit the knob on the gas stove. No flame, but the gas was releasing. She didn’t smell it. When we got home, we ran in and were panicked. We smelled it the moment the door opened. I told her “how did you not smell it?” Our carbon monoxide detector didn’t go of.

We turned the knob off and opened all our windows and doors. I immediately checked her and our child to make sure they felt ok.

She was so upset this happened, as was I.

I was worried about carbon monoxide poisoning, so I called poison control. The phone operator was super understanding and educated me that natural gas is not poisonous. That my carbon monoxide detector wouldn’t alert since it was natural gas. I didn’t know the difference, so I was happy for the info. He left it at that and told me to air out the house.

We went to sleep with windows open and they were open all night.

This morning I was reflecting and did some reading online. I feel as though I maybe did not act properly. Some resources said what I did was fine. Others said that we should have called the fire department or gas company for a gas leak. Even though it wasn’t technically a leak.

As of this morning, we have ordered a natural gas detector and covers for the stove knobs.

I hate the whole situation and how it played out. Can you give me advice on how I should have handled this or if I acted properly? I want to know better so that I can make sure this doesn’t happen again and can be as educated as possible.

Context: I live abroad away from family, alone.

When I am back visiting family: I am very family oriented, I crave spending time with my sister, pets, family, I am very reflective and goal-oriented, I daydream about moving back to be closer with family.

When I am back in my own home: I am like a "different person" - I forget family, go long periods without calling, spend all my free time with friends, forget about my dream about moving back home, etc.

Is it simply a case of "grass is greener" syndrome? Settling into a routine so I forget about family? Why am I like this? I feel like I am a better version of myself when I am at home.

Soooo this has been a struggle for me for about 8 years now. The first time I tried to give blood I was 17, and I damn near fainted after they pricked my finger.

I have attempted to give blood probably 7 times now. My problem is I generally don't make it past the BPM check, as my anxiety drives up my pulse when they go to check. I can be sitting at 75 for 10 minutes, they pick up my wrist, and it leaps up. The last time I tried, the phlebotomist literally told me she could feel my heart speeding up as she was counting.

I have succeeded twice! The first was at 19, and I had to beg the guy running it to let me. We checked my pulse 3 times, even though they're supposed to only do 2, because I was so sure if I could just donate successfully once that it would cure my hemophobia. It has not. I have no idea how I succeeded the second time (20) but I have failed 3 times since then, because my anxiety in being rejected spikes my pulse, and they tell me no.

So any advice? How do I keep my pulse down when Im paying attention to it? Breathing exercises don't seem to help. I find giving blood so so important, and I have O+ blood, and I feel guilty that I am willing to donate and my body is not. Please help me succeed!

Ty in advance :)

I have a dog groomer who is fantastic and she always goes above and beyond with my dog. She’s responsive and does her best to fit me into her busy schedule. Sometimes I think the reason why she provides the extra care is because I’m blind and she wants to accommodate me and my guide dog. I don’t have a problem with that and it’s truly appreciated. My dog is well-behaved and she loves that too.

Last week I had scheduled an appointment but I missed it because I missed my Access ride. (Access is a rideshare program that local governments might provide for residents who are disabled.) We rescheduled and she offered to pick me up next time . I initially said it was ok but she insisted and I took the offer. Again, she really goes out of her way for me and I appreciate it.

During our drive this morning, she was talking about her son and how he was going to seminary. I’m a little jaded with religion and God because my parents dragged me around the country with a cult-like group. (A story for next time.) Anyway, she said he was going to XYZ university and I told her I’d been there before. This is when the Lord entered the chat. I told her I had only been there for a job fair to recruit veterinary techs as a representative for my guide dog school. There was nothing religious about it.

She started asking me about where I went to church, what religion I was a part of, etc. It was a little rapid fire and I could feel my heart rate rising and my anti-religious retorts filling my head. She brought up topics like false religions, telling me about how she was converted, how Jesus was this and that. I told her I wasn’t really a religious person anymore and she said she’d like to pick me up again so we could continue talking about it. I just answered with a non-committal “ok” and we left it at that.

The adult thing to do here is to tell her I’m not interested. Another option is to be conversational about it but don’t tell her I disagree. The next thing is to refute her claims and convert her instead to atheism. Haha. I don’t want to ruin this relationship because I really do appreciate her work—it’s really important to me. However, after just this initial conversation I’m not feeling too good about this. It also makes me wonder if I was a project for her due to my blindness. I have strangers always telling me they’re going to pray for me. I know they mean well, but that’s really something to make themselves feel better and not really about me.

Needless to say, I’m definitely not going to ride with her again. I need advice on how to proactively nip this in the bud before it becomes something bigger.

——-

Edit: Thank you for all the suggestions! I think letting her know I appreciate her work then telling her I’ve got some religious trauma and I’d rather not talk about is a sensible approach. I’ll also look to deflect if she tries to go back to the subject.

Like the caterer, make up artist, hair dresser, officiant, etc. What are some things to watch out for? Or any advice about contracts?

Just a few months before I may be jobless :(

I’m working a temporary/contracted job in my local county. Before this, I quit my previous job because I wasn’t satisfied with being overworked (they are a private environmental consulting company). It was my first ‘real’ job out of college and I stayed over 4 years before I quit and secured this position. This county job is only contracted to two years, then I’d have to take unemployment for 3 months and can work another two. I applied to multiple positions and did several interviews but nothing has stuck for the county. I have less than five months left and I’m beginning to worry I will not be hired before then.

My question is: do I wait it out in hopes I will get a call back for another position at the county? Or do I go back to my previous job and get something more secure?

I know with my last job, I’ve seen a lot of people leave and come back easily. The company is chill and accepting like that. This new position I’d apply at my old place will be for a project manager, so no field work. That’s pretty much what I want since I’ve been working outdoors and traveling for a while and would like to leave that (it’s currently what I’m doing).

I have no shame in going back, just don’t want to regret it but also the old job would pay more and I’m just trying to prepare way in advance.

Thanks!

Im 18 at the minute but last February a “friend” of mine accused me of doing some pretty serious shit to someone, since that point I did not go into school, Im now in my final year and exams are creeping up and I feel like a total wreck, and I have no idea why.

I was severely depressed for months, I thought I had gotten over it but recently I’ve been having outbursts, Im getting so emotional and I keep pretending everything is fine, it should be fine. Ive rebuilt my life, I have good friends but something still feels so, so wrong.

I always struggled with school attendance, but recently its been so poor to the point that Im not going in, not for a lack of trying but, even thinking about it makes me have severe anxiety attacks. I have no idea why. Everytime I go into school Im so lost and I need help but everytime I ask for it, I just get a “well you werent in” and thats that. My exams are in June and I have no confidence whatsoever Im going to do well, I feel like a complete and utter failure. I dont know how to fix it, I dont know how to go in, do I just not go in? Ive been recently studying from home but I still feel so much guilt for not going in.

Im meant to be moving to England come August and Ive lied to pretty much everyone about my savings, I havent saved a cent. Now that August is nearing too I am stressed so badly about it and now even thinking about it just seems like a horrible idea.

I feel like I should be fine, Im not in that situation I was before but I still feel so depressed, so alone, Im so afraid of everything. I havent left my house in days other than to work. Im so anxious all of the time and I cant keep my emotions under wraps. I keep having these outbursts and I just dont know how to fix anything. I feel like Im going down a path to a life that I never wanted to live. Im so scared and I dont know what to do. Nobody else understands and I cant talk to anyone because everyone thinks Im fine. What do I do??? My therapist is leaving me in June too, and I just feel like my entire life is falling apart but everything should be fine. Why is it not fine?

I've spent my whole life on the side lines. Trying to speak up but getting silenced due to my disabilities and people just not liking me. My nature is to fight. Not in a physical sense, but in more of a I can't help but push back sense. I've been told my whole life that being passive is the way to a good life, but now I see it as a way to waste away all that I have to offer. My world is encompassed by people who just don't support my dreams or want me to push back. I'm now worried if doing so is truly the right choice. I want to, but the fear of losing what small progress I've made prevents me from being my true self not matter how good it would feel.

I'm 25 year old Female and my older brother 27 year Male, I feel like he hates me, he always hits me every chance he gets, he constantly calls me names he calls me "fat" when I eat sometimes even when I haven't eaten all day he still calls me "fat" and "why you eating?". But he also asks me for help whenever he needs it and me being me I help him, he's also horrible to my mom especially when he doesn't get his way but I'm the one at the brunt of his anger, it's getting to the part where I just want him gone whether he's homeless or dead (I know that's horrible of me to say but I don't care anymore I want to feel safe and happy in my own home and I don't whenever he's around) I feel hopeless and upset because it's all the time, I don't know what I've done to make him do this to me I just want him to love me not constantly hurt me and call me names just because I stand up to him and tell him the truth, I've told my mom and she has a word with him but he keeps doing it especially when my mom isn't around.

I’ve been working on different book and anime projects I want to use a fake name and already have one picked out but I don’t want anyone to take credit for my work so should I just use my real name or use a fake one please help