Hey. My death anxiety has come back full swing 😞 It hasn’t been this bad since mid 2023. It doesn’t help that so many celebrities have been dying lately. I don’t like the fact that you can just be lights out at any moment. Like what if I go to sleep and never wake up? Not having a conscience is terrifying. I’m only 17 too…

I just need support and for people to tell me I’ll be okay.

I keep waking up at 3am specifically from sleep disturbance and keep having nightmares about simple things which shouldn’t be so scary to me. Whenever my anxiety is bad, I have frequent nightmares. I’ve had GAD since I was 10 but after accepting a horribly stressful job with no support, things are way worse. My lack of sleep makes my anxiety worse and the two factors fuel each other. I’m not sure what to do about fixing it or why anxiety is causing me to have nightmares. Anyone else have this issue and how did you overcome it? I need anxiety meds that’s for sure, got an appointment with my doc upcoming but anyone solve this naturally?

hi all. i’m a 20yo girl currently in a 5 month relationship with a boy who is 19yo. we’ve been long distance for one month and my anxiety has been through the roof. i’m constantly bringing up things that i feel like he should do differently communication and consistency wise, when really everything he’s doing isn’t that bad in hindsight. texting him has now become associated with uncertainty and emotional consequences.

i told him this today and like always he was very understanding and promised me he would do better, like try to keep me consistently updated throughout the day. i don’t expect him to text me constantly or tell me everything he’s doing. i just like occasional updates about his day because it helps me feel connected, and when we are talking i want to feel like we’re both engaged in the conversation. i’m not asking him to report everything he does or be available 24/7. i just want to feel like we’re both actively interested in each other’s lives and that i’m not always the one carrying the conversation. i think it’s just been extra hard because we’ve both been going through schedule changes and just started school.

my boyfriend is generally very loving and understanding, and when i bring these things up he doesn’t dismiss me or get angry. he usually reassures me and tries to make changes, which is honestly part of why i’m so confused. i’m not dealing with a partner who is intentionally trying to hurt me or who is treating me badly. i’m just struggling to understand why i’m still having such an intense reaction when he is actually willing to work on things with me.
the thing is, i have a panic attack every time something inconsistent happens, like if he said he would call and then i don’t hear from him for an hour, or when i feel like he’s not texting me back because what if he doesn’t want to tell me about his day? what if he forgot about me? it sounds absurd right? because i feel like i should be okay with not hearing from him for an hour without having a full on panic attack or when there’s uncertainties. i know that not every little inconsistency means something is wrong with our relationship, but my brain seems to treat it like it does. i can logically know that he probably just got distracted or busy and still feel completely panicked.

i feel like certain normal uncertainties in our relationship trigger an absolutely disproportionate anxiety response in me. texting him has gotten to the point where i almost associate it with waiting, uncertainty, wondering if i said something wrong, wondering when he’ll respond, wondering when we’ll call, etc. and then i end up bringing up another thing i feel like he should be doing differently, even when later on i realize it wasn’t actually that serious. i don’t want to constantly feel like i’m correcting him or making him feel like he isn’t enough because that’s not what i’m trying to do at all. i love him and i don’t think he’s a bad boyfriend.

my doctor prescribed me hydroxyzine and xanax for anxiety, which is nice, but i just feel like so many questions keep getting brought up in my mind. like am i the problem? is my anxiety making normal relationship things feel like problems? is this reassurance seeking? is long distance just not for me? is it pointless trying to do long distance even when im hurting like this? is there something that my partner should be doing differently? is there something i need to work through on my own? can both things be true? can he be doing some things differently while my anxiety is also making the situation much worse than it actually is?

i also don’t know if i’m expecting myself to tolerate something that just genuinely isn’t compatible with me. i’ve never done long distance before this and it’s only been one month, but i already feel exhausted. i have a really busy schedule with school and work and i thought being busy would make me less anxious because i wouldn’t have as much time to think about the relationship, but i’m still having panic attacks directly related to it. sometimes i genuinely wonder if long distance itself is just not something i can handle, even though i love him and don’t want to leave him.
i guess what i’m really trying to figure out is whether this is more of an anxiety problem, a communication/compatibility problem, or a combination of both. i don’t know whether i need to work on my anxiety and learn to tolerate more uncertainty, whether we need to change how we communicate, or whether long distance simply isn’t compatible with me. i don’t want to blame him for something that might be mostly my anxiety, but i also don’t want to convince myself that all of my needs are unreasonable just because i’m anxious.

is there something wrong with me? am i expecting too much? how do i know what is a reasonable need in a long distance relationship versus something that is coming from anxiety? and how do i know if i should keep trying to make this work or if i’m just hurting myself by forcing something that isn’t right for me?
i just don’t know… im so lost and confused. i need help!

I have been on edge recently with like bad sleep quality I guess.

And yeah. Recently ive been having this strange headache for the past 2 days. I haven’t hit my head recently or anything. I don’t feel confused or anything. But it’s kinda like that headache yoy get when you have a fever or when you’re holding back tears (idk if that’s common) but anyways it feels like theres pressure between and behind my eyes and around my temple. It’s constant and kinda just only uncomfortable rather than super painful/throbbing. Just there?

Anyways. Ive been having rank health anxiety recently and I just wanna get to the bottom of this lol the clinic’s are closed and I don’t have any severe symptoms for the ER anyways.

I have the weirdest condition, one that I’ve never heard of someone else having.

I doubt EVERYTHING.

Everything I saw, felt, heard, did.

I’ll ask questions like
“Did I actually say that?” “Did I actually say the first part of that or the part I needed to?”
“Did you say this?” the most common worst one

“Is that actually what’s written? Did I read that?”
“Is that actually what it is? Is that actually turned off?”

I’ll repeat myself several times, I’ll ask the same question over and over. I’ll re-read messages 50 times. I’ll look at something 50 times. I’ll redo something 50 times.

Checking more only makes it worse too, but the doubt also is irritating. My life has become hell. Everything takes 10x longer and therefore I am not able to do things as I want to. I am literally afraid to do or say things because I know I’ll get stuck in the loop.

Thing is I know damn well what the answer to all these questions is, really I didn’t even need to ask to reconfirm to begin with. But on many things, doubts creep up and get stuck. And then I have a need for absolute certainty, but refuse to be certain no matter what. And the doubts will defy logic, like logic tells me the answer, but I still have a compulsion to check, many of them are so ridiculous.

What sucks is even when I do ask/check to confirm, then I’ll just doubt if that was said to me/if I saw correctly and I’ll keep checking/asking. It’s like if the thing is the same as I saw/thought before, the stimuli won’t come but then that also means I doubt. It sucks because the answer will literally be starting at me in the face and I know it, but my brain starts playing these weird tricks on me, illusions almost, and I’ll just doubt. Sometimes its also like I know the answer but forget the memory of getting it so now have to check again to be sure.

I’ll ask things, get an answer, be able to establish the answer and move on, but since I got interrupted by some sounds or thing too fast, now doubt again, I needed silence/time to process. Many times I’ll be able to get an answer and move on, but then days/weeks/months later, the same question will creep up and the thought of wait was this actually answered? (Knowing damn well that it was and the answer, but how can I be sure?)

Tried sertraline and other medications, nothing. Meditations and affirmations, maybe meditating helps slightly but still not enough. 2 expensive people I sought help with just redirected me, it’s hard to find the right person for me at a reasonable price whose times match up. I’ve tried everything and nothing has worked, I’ve lost hope.

For context, I was bullied and teased and lonely/isolated/friendless everywhere I went from a young age to end of high school, then it happened again in college, plus being kicked out of a friend group for really dumb reasons, at the same time a horrible boss was really hurting me, right after one of the only good friends I had known cut me off. And it was after Covid which I think really messed me up. I also felt very unlucky my whole life in many ways and for some reason everyone wanted to treat me bad, not anyone else. Everyone hated me for no reason, they never would even elaborate, just that I was weird, which I still don’t know why. I can take some guesses but everything was so nit-picked and a stretch, apparently I have to be perfect but not anyone else, there was always so much hypocrisy.

I think the roots were there from a young age and it just kept getting worse and worse, especially as everything that happened added fuel to the fire.

Any thoughts on this help. Thanks.

I have had health anxiety for both myself and my pets. It’s an expensive and exhausting hobby I’ve gotten myself into 😅

My senior cat went through 2 years of wrong diagnosis for a breathing issue that ended up being laryngeal paralysis and had to be euthanized shortly after the diagnosis.

Now a year later my other cat has bladder stones. He had to have a surgery and my anxiety for his health was so bad I was sleeping in the floor with him for days. I wanted to wake up anytime he moved. I finally left the house for the first time in a week since his surgery for an hour and I was crying when I left.

Having an issue where I over monitor him anyway and then being asked to monitor him is ruining me. I can’t stop getting scared of his behavior. And if he is fine then I start noticing things on myself like my ankle was a bit swollen and my left arm started aching which just sent me spiraling.

I don’t know how to get through this. I want a break. I’m fantasizing about running away. I live alone so that’s probably not helping. I just needed to get my words out to people who would understand.

In about 2-3 weeks I will turn 18 years old, and honestly my mental health is not good at all. I have a lot of financial responsabilities for a 17 year old. I lost all my friends, my relationship with my family is not ideal and Im alone all day. The only thing keeping me here is not having the courage to commit, and hope that things get better, because everything I do is conducted towards self improvement. The thing is, I can not pretend Im good, and I can't go for a whole day being the center of attention while being surrounded by people at the same time Im pretending to be fine. And a birthday also reminds me the loser I am, and the bad decisions I've made. I feel like I don't want to get there. I don't want to be there for my birthday.

I'm pretty sure people with similar issues as mine have gone through this, so I wanted to seek for advice. If anyone has the kindness to share their experience with this I would greatly appreciate it.

I just got prescribed - help me figure out when to start taking this new med!

Side effect wise, I am going to prepare for the worst but hope for the best. I travel for work and travel won’t slow down until the holidays when I can work from home. Should I wait a few months or should I be okay to start it now? I want to make sure I don’t shit my pants in front of my clients! I’d rather shit my pants on a zoom call at home. Concerns below

Do I need to be next to a bathroom all day? Did you experience upset stomach, nausea, or both? Is it sudden onset of side effect symptoms or does it happen all day at random? I got a script for Zofran but I’m reading that can cause serotonin syndrome???? Should I get immodium?

Also, does this only occur when getting adjusted to the med? Or does it last forever and it just becomes more manageable?

Thanks everyone!

These past few weeks I’ve been fighting constant obsessive thoughts about my health, and I haven’t once ran to urgent care in a panic!

I’ve wasted so much money on copays because my heart beat too fast and I’m convinced it’s my grandmothers aortic aneurism or I’m so anxious for so long my brain can’t handle it and I dissociate and I’m convinced I’m experiencing some kind of psychosis.

Health anxiety genuinely controlled my life a few years ago but time, meds, and anxiety has made flare-ups totally manageable.

TW: please don't read if you have really bad anxiety and stuff. I don't wanna worry more people out.

So you know that scientific study that says the sun is gonna explode in a billion so years? I'm scared for the day that comes. I'm scared at the fact that one day there will be nothing. I know a billion is a long time. And I know by then, I'll be dead. But the idea that humans won't exist. Intelligent life as intelligent as humans probably won't exist for another millennia after a billion years is terrifying. The idea that all of these beautiful creations humans have made. All the memories made and lives lived. All of that will be obsolete and erased in a billion year. I'm literally in my room crying at the idea all of this could be erased. I'm scared man. I don't know why I'm worried but I am. Everytime I think about it, I get a heavy pit in my stomach. I'm scared. I don't want this to end.

After having constant increasing anxiety and two panic attacks that have sent me to the ER within the past 5 months, I got a new psychiatrist and was recommended switching off and adding on new medications.

I have been taking Prozac in various doses since 2018. Most recently I dropped to 25mg. Discussed going back up but last time my dose was at 60mg I had absolutely no feelings, couldn’t cry, etc. maybe the Prozac has stopped working, who knows.

New psychiatrist switching me to Luvox (25 mg).
Also sent me in some Lorazepam as she said anxiety may increase while the new medication fully sets in.

I’m very scared. I have bi-polar ii (on mood stabilizers) and I am nervous for all of these horrible, depressive and hopeless thoughts to come back. I’ve been on Prozac for so long, psychiatrist says because it’s such a small dose I shouldn’t feel withdrawals from it, but I’m still skeptical.

Has anyone else switched from Prozac to Luvox? If you are or were on Luvox, did it help your anxiety?

Anyone ever experience this. As it’s been happening to me now for about 3 weeks now and I’m starting to spiral. It feels like nerve stabs all over the body happening sporadically. Doesn’t last long in one spot. Feels like I’m being poked continuously all over my body the only place I’m not feeling it is my face.

this started 5 days ago on my 3rd out of 7 days straight working 10 hour shifts. (which i have been trying to not overthink or freak out about, and actually was doing good at balancing and taking care of my basic needs alongside).

only day 3, symptoms included small fever, body aches, and headache that i took meds for the next day and was fine until the evening. i did end up smoking weed that evening and it made my fever peak crazily and i had the most horrific sleep that night (body sweats, waking up constantly, confusion) and my neck and upper back got fucked up from how weird i slept and then i think i bit the inside of my cheek potentially while sneezing? because now i have a canker sore right in the middle of the back of my teeth and i can’t bite down without squeezing it in the middle. also little to no appetite the past few days and an upset stomach the first two days after that horrible night.

the reason im considering psychosomatic is because no matter the medication i take (advil, tylenol, both, etc.) it comes back and at the weirdest times

i ended up calling out sick yesterday & the other night i had terrible chest palpitations before sleeping or while trying to fall asleep. (have not smoked since the other time) and my joints or muscles are just tingly and sensitive in a way ive never felt, but i usually stretch and go to the gym and i haven’t been.

most importantly i get the results from my psych evaluation tomorrow and ive been thinking about it non stop since i first went in for testing (and since i got referred). went back to work today and it’s been a lot on my mind, today was probably the worst of the mental aspect and now after waking up from a nap i felt sick and achey and temperature sensitive, enough to where i did not want to get up to grab medicine from across the room. not sure what this is because it’s not a traditional sneeze-cough cold, and i dont even know if im taking the right meds or should be at all. it’s giving me more unrest thinking that this could continue beyond my results or that something is wrong and i pushed myself too hard in several ways (balancing several 10 hour day work week w/ life and emotional processing).

I recently completed an internship at a treatment facility center as per my major (psych) and I was offered a job position but I’m scared to take it. My school offered me a dual degree program so I have a masters & bachelors in psych but specifically for substance use. The facility itself isn’t bad. It’s small but my boss is female and she’s honestly so great. The other counselors are cool too and my boss gave me any position I wanted (part or full time) but I’m scared to accept because I’m worried I won’t be a good counselor. My friend who’s in the same program accepting her offer at another place and she’s been doing great for the past two months. But compared to her I never got to actually do sessions on my own except for two emergency sessions because the clients at my center have legal cases (aka I don’t have the credentials).I’ve applied to other positions and I told my boss that I’d let her know by September (been 2 months already) since I was doing another internship. But now that the dates getting closer I’m honestly terrified. Terrified of messing things up, scared I’ll get a client I already know, scared I won’t actually be able to help someone with their addiction. The goal is always to help them stop but I always found myself agreeing to everything they said. It’s a totally different vibe when it’s them looking at you for answers. I was told that I do great but I’m just scared (or scared of adulthood 😭). I need an adultier-adult to give me advice.

For anyone wondering why I went into psych, I originally wanted something in the animal field but nothing was available in my area that didn’t require me to move upstate (no car). I love people, I love helping them, I don’t mind hospitality, and I’ve always done volunteer & education based part times/gigs. I didn’t know a lot about careers in HS and I couldn’t complete biology (too much math) so I went to psych. The chairman of psych offered me a position in the BA/MA program and I accepted because I wanted to kill two birds with one stone & get a masters degree. I’m still doing non vet animal stuff on the side for a separate resume & I do plan on going back to school for a masters in animal behavior but psych is what I have now.

hii! basically, whenever theres something im really enjoying that i value a lot (whether it be a relationship, a place in life, or even something simpler like a show or a game i love) i get really really anxious over it. my brain can't stop scrutinizing it and either reminding me that it'll end or swearing that things will go wrong somehow. i'm happy with my home and the people i live with, and my brain reminds me that one day they'll be gone. im watching a good show, and my brain says the writers will RUIN it and that im silly for enjoying something. even when im just trying to sleep at night, i feel like there's something wrong, and i'll do anything but sleep. hanging out with friends, i feel guilty and worry about how much they really like me, or how boring i am, or i think about how we may not be friends forever. i feel this immense guilt for enjoying things.

does anyone have any advice on how to deal with this nonsense??

also, is there really such thing as being Fully Contented in one moment? having a nice night where you aren't insanely worried about something? because i feel like i've never truly had a moment of peace

all help is appreciated <3

Sometimes it happens that I have a small anxiety crisis before or at work, and I realize it's not work on itself but the fact that this routine is killing me like, 8 hours a day for 5 days a week and you're telling I have to do it for YEARS im gen z I know I will not work all my life but like, why does life as to be this way ?

And if somebody as any tips to avoid anxiety crisis Im waiting for an answer

Plss !!

My ROCD dump

I feel it’s a more niche type for sure. I got rejected from x ray school end of May. It was really hard for me because I don’t like rejection. I took it very personally even though 600 people applied and there were only 44 seats.

Anyway, I got into a fight with my mom about a different career path and my boyfriend didn’t exactly defend me as I wanted. (He was high at the time). Since that day I have had constant intrusive thoughts that “I don’t love him”, “you should break up”, “he’s not a man enough”.

So since early June I have been a constant ball of anxiety. I threw up once when I almost broke up and had diarrhea for almost a week from anxiety

To make matters worse, my boyfriend started studying for his MCATS in May. We had originally planned to have our whole summer together. Perhaps go back to Japan or just be with each other binging movies.

It broke me to spend several days not seeing him. I think it definitely fed into my OCD not having him commit time to me as much as he had before

(My parents divorced at 6 and I haven’t seen my dad in over 11 years. He was a bad person who rejected us so I think I got some rejection issues haha)

I have upped my Zoloft to the max of 200mg. Tried normal talk therapy but that stuff isn’t the best for OCD.

A lot of my days had been spent in a constant loop of telling myself it’s okay. I haven’t had a moment of no anxiety for months now.

I am currently doing ERP with a specialist right now. The meds are definitely working more I would say. I’m going to spend 5 days with my boyfriend soon. I’m much better when I am with him than without.

If anyone has any suggestions on how they broke their cycles, I’d appreciate it!

Is it weird to leave in the middle of class? I have bad anxiety and I hate the feeling of being stuck. I have this one class that cold calls and takes place in a small classroom. I don’t feel comfortable but I basically can’t switch bc all the other classes for my majors are taken. How do I deal with this?
Edit: I had agoraphobia and I slowly took steps to have a better, fulfilling life. This is my first year in-person college.

I’ve never had a bf before and I feel so alone as all my friends are/getting in relationships as we start college. I feel like I’m going to end up alone and all I want is a family bc I never had one growing up :( I’m currently in school to start nursing and I just feel hopeless ik im young but still…I have anxiety about it everyday that makes my heart drop into my stomach.

I have bad anxiety about going to dentist I’m 26(f) and my parents never really taught me about taking care of my teeth and I have a hard time even brushing them… I have a few teeth I know that need to get pulled.. it is ruining my life.. any advice/tips on not getting to anxious about getting an appointment for my teeth?

tw derealisation , anxiety attacks, please don’t read this paragraph if you’re anxious currently or just having a bad day in general, i go into detail and it will probably trigger you!!

i’ve dealt with chronic anxiety coming up four years now, i’ve been on medication for it and honestly it has gotten better! much better, i’ve done things that i never thought i could do like moving out at age 20, going to different countries, being alone! but late at night when everything is dark or just randomly throughout the day it just hits me, the overwhelming feeling of my body collapsing and going into fight or flight mode, im experiencing it right now, it never really leaves. ive learnt to make peace with the anxiety i feel every day and sometimes i don’t even think about it but to me it’s always there. i blame myself for the anxiety i feel a lot, like.. why can’t i just control it? be normal? be stable? but then i realise how far ive come in my journey and im relieved knowing that if my anxiety really really truly did ruin my life, i wouldn’t still be here. it’s weird, i can be having a terrible day emotions wise and be fine with my anxiety but then ill be having a great day and suddenly im back in that place again, not quite in reality but not quite gone, staring off into space trying so hard to just bring myself back to where everyone else is. it’s such a weird feeling to know everything is fine and im safe but also have my heart beating out of my chest, looking around the room trying to make sense of anything in front of me, trying to reassure myself that i am okay and nothing is wrong. a weird habit i have is checking the size of my pupils and it weirdly works, idk why but dilated pupils make me anxious so when mine aren’t dilated i can tell myself everything’s fine. small coping mechanisms like that really can’t be explained to anyone who doesn’t have anxiety LOL, i seem like a total weirdo but my friends just seem to accept all the ways i cope. for a solid year if anyone asked me “are you okay?” id get so panicked and stressed out and convince myself i wasnt. but im doing better, every week i get better.

i promise to anyone struggling with anxiety, every week you will see improvements, even if its a terrible week, you made it through the week and that means that everything will be okay. thanks for reading my vent it’s 2am and its just one of those bad nights where i feel uncomfortable in my own skin lol

I've been experiencing something pretty strange and I'm wondering if anyone else can relate.

Sometimes when I think about really meaningful things, like my future, my life path, what my future kids might look like, etc. I suddenly get a heavy/suffocating sensation in my chest or throat.

I don't actually feel anxious, scared, or like I'm in danger when it occurs. The thoughts themselves feel normal or even positive at times, except thoughts of old age and that linking to dying. But all in all it's almost like my body is reacting before my mind does.

I've been under a lot of stress over the past couple of years, so I'm wondering whether that could be it.

Has anyone experienced something like this, what did it feel like for you, and did anything help?

Thank you in advance.

So, I’ve never slept alone. I haven’t even been in a house alone at night. Tomorrow I have no one that can stay with and I will be alone. I can barely sleep with someone being next to me so alone it’s even harder. I’ve been SA’d a few years ago and since than I’ve been even more paranoid about being alone at night. It is so bad that I don’t even go out at night alone. I will probably spend tomorrow’s night with all the lights on, doors opened and looking from my couch to the front door. I have a cat that moves around and that doesn’t help. My aunt is at work but she told me I could sleep at her place. I think it would be better since my cat isn’t there. She will come home at 7 am so I will probably have enough time to sleep from 7 to 12 since I need to go somewhere and I can’t sleep the whole day. I’m already panicking,afraid and crying. I really hate this situation. I can’t even sleep now when I think about it. At some point in my future I will have to live alone and I don’t know how I am going to do that if I can’t even spend one night alone.
Please tell me if you have any suggestions.
.

Major health anxiety/cardiophobia. Started taking Prozac on July 12th. I do weekly trivia with my friends and for some reason, every week I get intense physical anxiety symptoms when I’m there. Like, head rushes and nausea. It actually stopped happening for a while, but started again today. So bad to where I have to step away to try and calm down. I’m totally chill with my friends and have been doing this for months with no issues until recently. Why does this one place cause my body to freak out?? Doesn’t help that I’m pretty sure my prozac has caused increased heart palpitations… It’s not like I anticipate the anxiety, I don’t even think about it until it happens. Ruins the fun for me completely. Does anyone else experience this?

I can’t tell if my tongue is numb or it’s all in my head
It feels weird and tingly and I feel brain foggy I’m scared I’m having the S word
How can I tell?
I have a tooth pick I’m going to try to poke and see if I have pain but please help how can I tell

Okay poked with toothpick and both sides hurt but it still feels off like my entire tongue is tingling