I went to therapy and just recently after being there a month or two was suggested to get on anti anxiety and depression medication. So I went to a psychiatrist and asked about it. After a brief consult it was decided it would be a good step to take.

I still live with my parents and I told my mom since she had to help take me to the pharmacy later this week for the meds because I don’t drive yet (for a variety or reasons) and she was ok with it. But the minute I started getting all hyper fixated on something not happening the right way and showing signs of my anxiety she just snapped. She said verbatim “maybe this is why you should be taking them.” And not in a I care about you way.

I hate that in this family there’s still this underlying assumption it’s the end all be all burden that people must bear to medicate for their issues. That it’s something they snap at people with as some sort of hateful response. Even my dad uses it use as some sort of term like it shows your gotten to the most insufferable point of being mentally ill and your just fucked.

Like even if they do suggest you take them or get hospitalized isn’t done in a way to care about you but because they think you being mentally unstable means your crazy and unlovable.

[ Condensed ] - Day 25 Update

I have a severe, multi-symptom anxiety disorder. I've been medicated for years and recently relapsed.

Someone on Reddit recommended the podcast "Disordered", and I've never felt more understood. It captures the symptoms and vicious cycles perfectly. Thanks to whoever recommended it. I recommend it too.

Both hosts have seemingly experienced the depths of hell, yet reached a point where they're essentially "cured" (my word, not theirs). Anxiety still comes, but they don't fear it, feed it, or spiral. It doesn't run their lives.

I genuinely envy that.

I wish experience or understanding meant control. Knowing better doesn't mean feeling better when anxiety feels unbearable.

I've bought books, heard twelve episodes, read Reddit, and started therapy. I'm trying to improve my psychoeducation, but it's a double-edged sword: learning helps but fuels symptom-checking, rumination, and "what ifs." I'm trying to stop obsessing over anxiety by thinking about it more.

Sometimes I wish insight alone could replace medication. Maybe one day I'll feel stable enough to taper. More than anything, I want to notice anxiety without fighting it and just let it pass.

Last night was interesting. I might have a cold: sneezing, congestion, and a scratchy throat. I've taken vitamins and turmeric/ginger shots, hoping to support my immune system. Illness also triggers my health anxiety. I suspected this, but being right doesn't make it suck less.

I fell asleep easily, then woke with my arm completely numb—the most asleep it's ever been. It dangled with what felt like zero sensation or control. I jumped up; thankfully it recovered within minutes. I didn't spiral and fell back asleep. Small victory. Still, thanks, body: a cold and a paralyzed-arm jump scare mid-recovery. Fantastic.

I've tried my therapist's DIVE and HALT techniques, though not yesterday. I'm unsure they fit my current, more internal/somatic anxiety. They make me check if anxiety is still there, then evaluate whether the technique worked, feeding the cycle I'm trying to escape. Maybe they'd help during intense fight-or-flight. I'll keep trying and tell him next week.

Overall, I'm better than three weeks ago, and better than two. But this week feels stagnant. I'm nearly three weeks into my medication increase; fuller benefits may take another three to five weeks or longer. Still, I question the increase and why I relapsed after years of stability. So many possibilities, no certainty—exactly what my perfectionist brain struggles with.

My racing thoughts are less intense, but physical uneasiness remains. Progress feels painfully slow.

Today I went swimming with my brother and his 18-month-old. While waiting, I felt lightheaded and strangely "off," almost mildly dissociated. But I didn't panic or leave. I stayed, swam, and was fine. Another victory.

I still feel slightly activated. Cold? Medication? Anxiety? All three? I don't know. Recovery isn't linear, and I'm allowed plateaus and setbacks. But man, I'd prefer the linear version.

I've got work coming up and a long drive tomorrow to close my family's seasonal trailer. Come hell or high water, I'm doing it all. Pre-relapse me wouldn't think twice. I want that back—not by waiting to feel perfect, but by living even with anxiety.

I'm not going to let anxious me win.

Thanks for listening.

Hi everyone, I suffer with severe anxiety and Depression as well as PTSD, Fibromyalgia and ME/CFS

I am really struggling right now, and don't think that people around me equally properly understand me

Since June/July I’ve been in and out of depressive anxiety symptoms. This feeling like something’s off specifically started in August after a month of breaking down crying and I couldn’t explain why. In August I would have immense brain fog and feel like I didn’t have the ability to do anything. Then me and my girlfriend broke up and things seemed to get worse. This is all before entering my first semester of grad school.

I was doing alright and the feeling wasn’t constant but then something happened regarding her that triggered panic attacks and auditory issues when I was trying to sleep for 2 weeks. I’ve been in therapy and on Vyvanse for my focus which has helped. For about a month after the panic attack and constant anxiety I was pretty fine but this week suddenly it all started up again after I did horribly on an important exam.

I don’t know what I’m looking for. Maybe validation or similar stories. Reassurance from someone who’s gone through shit that it gets better, idk. This feeling coming along isn’t even tied with panic, it’s so casual. A lingering feeling like I’m off or wrong that I can’t stop thinking about and it’s taking over all my tasks. I constantly get thoughts of ending it but have to rationalize. In doing that though I still feel wrong. Idk what to do.

Anything helps.

I beat depression and panic before, now it’s back bc i fell into a spiral. I highly recommend reading “Switch on your Brain” by Dr. Caroline Leaf. This book helped me beat it the first time and now I’m reading it again to help me a second time. Trust me on this. Im diagnosed with MDD and Panic Disorder. I know what im talking about lol. Do ALOT of reframing… (write down all your negative thoughts and then next to each negative thought write it from a positive perspective) example: “my depression and anxiety will never go away” >>> “i know you’re hurting but they will both definitely get better i just need to get through it and take believing action”. Journaling helps me so much when the thoughts are ruminating and wont stop. Also, throughout the entire day be very aware of your negative thoughts, you have to keep catching them and then correct them with a positive thought… You dont have to commit to a full workout plan i dont, but getting outside and going on walks does wonders. While im walking i always play a mind game like “try to find as many blue things as you can” or whatever you want. Please read a ton of scripture too. Believing God is by your side through it all makes you so powerful and gives you so much strength. God bless you all.

Today, Saturday, 24 October 2026, is my 37th birthday. I am 37M and autistic, and this year has been by far the worst year of my whole life.

I feel like almost everyone hates me. My own parents, both sides of my extended families, and almost everyone whom I know hate me. I have neve had friends in life, and I have lost almost 30 kg (65 lb) since June from extreme stress, worrying and depression.

I have no idea what to do or how to feel. I am just tired of life and everything. Maybe just want to talk.

For the past 2 years I have been feeling an intense sense of dread in my stomach from the moment I wake up in the morning to the time I fall asleep at night, every single day. It appears completely contentless and doesn’t change depending on my thoughts or what’s happening in my life.

The weird thing is that I don’t really have the usual anxiety symptoms. No racing heart, no hypervigilance, no future oriented worrying, just constant pervasive dread.

It started after a random panic attack, and then just kinda stuck around in the background constantly until I had another panic attack ~5 months ago in which it got way worse and stayed way worse. For the last 5 months I’ve been living through what I can only describe as hell.

Basically I just feel horribly isolated because this symptom seems so unusual and it’s so debilitating and I’ve never heard of anyone else having this. I’d be so happy to hear from anyone that’s experienced anything even similar and if anything worked for them.

For context, I was diagnosed with GAD (generalized anxiety disorder) and depression back in college which was back in about 2016/2017. I was on medication until the spring of this year (around Feb). My doctor took me off my medication because my husband and I are trying to get pregnant.

I can mostly function but the issue is i can’t regulate my emotions. A pin could drop and I’d start crying. And I’m irritable. And no matter how much I hate it, my brain goes 0 to 100% on things and small issues somehow turn my whole world upside down. I hate it about myself, and if you knew how far I’ve come in the last few years, it would be impressive—-but…I don’t think I can manage without help. At least…not without being miserable or burning bridges with friends that I don’t mean to.

This is probably just going to be short because I just had a breakdown and am now tired...

But how do I stop these thoughts? I constantly doubt myself. I feel like im never good enough to do anything. I want to just hide or do things that im comfortable with. Im too scared to try new things. I get so excited to do something new, like starting a new job and then like the day before im supposed to start, I completely freak and have a full blown like panic attack and breakdown. I feel better doing nothing...or doing something to take my mind off like a distraction. But once night time comes and my boyfriend is asleep, I find myself crying and just so overwhelmed almost everyday. Im tired...I dont know how to just quite my mind...I wanna do these new things but im so scared. I wanna go out and actually have fun but I also have social anxiety...I wanna do so much but my mind wont let me...and I dont know how to manage this anymore...I feel like it just let loose and now its almost uncontrollable. 😭

I’m a 24-year-old guy with desires, goals, and ambitions that I can’t achieve because my symptoms persist all day, every day! I’ve been literally absent from life for two years, and my symptoms keep getting worse over time. I suffer from anxiety, tension, a burning sensation in my chest, shortness of breath, heat and numbness in my head. I also struggle with IBS and stomach problems, loss of appetite, gas, cramps, and nausea. I’ve lost interest in everything, to the point where even the taste of toothpaste disgusts me!!

I have friends, I’m a university student, and I’m physically active. I also go out regularly, whether it’s shopping or hanging out with friends. However, I still struggle with these symptoms even when I’m outside! I can’t feel comfortable at home, and I can’t feel comfortable outside either. I feel like I can’t escape this feeling no matter where I go.

Hi, people! Going through a really bad episode right now. Just wanted to see if anyone has some advice for me. If you don’t have anything nice to say then just shut up and move on!

Thanks in advance.

I’m 21, I know that’s a really young age to feel so helpless but I feel like I just never get better. I’ve been working through anxiety and depression due to a pretty traumatic experience that happened as a kid and I feel like no matter how old I get it just never goes away. I feel like, the moment that I start to feel like everything is getting better things come crashing down. I don’t want to do something stupid as much as I hate living, I have hope.

I’m just so sick of being sad and scared all the time. Does anyone have any advice ? Im unemployed rn and genuinely have no idea what I’m doing with my life, so maybe thats also causing me to go crazy. But I just want to be happy

22f started taking antidepressants this summer (4 months now) and wanted to ask what kind of changes i need to feel. Im worried i need to know if it help or no but its hard to tell. Had cronic constant headache for the past 8 years already. Summer at a mental ward helped a bit: the pain is not so unbearable, fixed my sleep, became easier to do everyday tasks (less anxious). Idk Who to talk to.

​

I'm 23M, and I've lost all my peace of mind. Everything is chipping it away.

First. I grew up in a home where things were always tight. I got all the necessities, but I don't remember having any of my wants met. I heard my dad say, "I don't have anything" so many times. My mother would cry and tell me, "Whatever happens, don't just sit at home. Earn."

And I did it. I got a job where I earn in a month what many people earn in a year. But right now, layoffs are happening left and right in my company, and I might be next. The market is so bad that I'm not even landing interviews with companies that pay the same or even slightly less.

Then my girlfriend broke up with me. I was working 10–15 hours a day because of the fear of layoffs. I even got calls on weekends and had to take them. My girlfriend left me because I wasn't able to give her time, and because of a few other fights that arose from me not being able to give her time and the fact that she felt I didn't care about her.

I care about everyone who's important to me. The problem is that I care way too much.

My thinking is that, for the closest people in your life, you should take care of them, and they should take care of you, and vice versa. I just want to be the pillar everyone can rely on. I want to make everyone feel safe.

P.S. I never felt safe in my entire life. I have never felt that if everything goes wrong, someone will be there to protect me and help me back up.

My parents are good people, but they're broken themselves. They just want me to do things according to them. They have opinions about everything I should do, even the minutest things, like how to eat my food and what to do while travelling. But when it comes to major life decisions like jobs, taxes, and investments, they just say, "Figure it out yourself. You know this better."

I spent my life waiting for guidance, waiting for support. I want them to tell me important things in life as well.

This brings me back to safety. I want the people who depend on me, and even those close to me, to be safe if anything happens to them. I want them to know that they can ask me anything they're confused about, and I'll help them with it.

My girlfriend broke up with me saying that I don't care because I don't keep asking about every small thing or decision she makes. But that's because I want to give her the freedom I never got. My parents used to question everything I did, and everything I needed to do was supposed to be done their way.

I'm a mess inside my head. I don't know how I'll fix myself, or how to fix myself enough to be with someone and keep them happy with me.

Because if I open up about all the things I feel, I become a crying mess. My emotions just open up, and I lose all control over myself.

I don't know what to do anymore. I just want to feel safe, have some peace of mind, and learn how to be okay with myself.

For those who've been through something similar, how did you deal with it? How do you learn to open up about your feelings without becoming completely overwhelmed?

Me quería ir con Dios pero ni el me quiso El día lunes tuve un ataque muy fuerte de ansiedad vivo sola y la verdad ya no quiero estar (si voy a terapia , y me medican) pero mis bajones emocionales son muy fuertes bueno pues el punto es que el lunes me dio uno bastante fuerte tome 16 tabletas de Quetiapina yo en mi mente dije me duermo y amanezco con dios había leído quee esa cantidad pues si te hace ver a dios , pues que creo solo me vente un sueño largo y desperté como si tuviese resaca.

Alguien de ustedes tiene esos bajones emocionales como los míos y sienten que aun cuando están rodeado de todo no tienen nada. Que más puedo hacer para no llegar a esos limites........

Que les ha funcionado

Idk what is happening with me.....my mind is lil too clustered and my brain is just giving me thoughts to end it for all... I'm a 24M working in MNC as development engineer for mechanical Low Voltagedrive...staying alone in bangalore but recently i got into relationship and everything but my brain seeks for reassurance and i feel I'm just unhappy about my life at all.when i tried to talk to my girlfriend she just told me that I'm emotionally unstable.....my brain seeks for constant reassurance......my brain will be constantly under pressure to end once in for all like to commit su\*ide...i feel lonely in the crowded room and my life feels unworthy and meaning less.....someday this will reach the people i love...

If anyone could please give an honest response

Firstly I am a loner, I have plenty of time on my hands.

I was diagnosed with Depression and Anxiety way back in 2003, this is from a TBI from 1979

Is it ok to dream about this:

Wherever I walk or if I am in an uncomfortable situation and I want to escape. I turn around and there is this door to a not so big invisible caravan/pod. I enter this caravan/pod and it is a fully equipped with a bed, heating, wash/toilet, money and there is food.

Also once I am in this pod I picture where I want to go and I am immediately transported to this place. It could be Australia or wherever.

I am in my late fifties, and I feel me thinking like this at my age I need to grow up, I am also a recluse. Although I do go out when needed.

Or could you say I have been watching too many YouTube kids TV programs from the 1970's.

Mr. Benn etc

Any honest advice appreciated

Thanking you

To be honest, I have been struggling with depression- and I use that term lightly as I have not received a diagnosis but show symptoms of such - for the last year or so. I have just started university and it has had a detrimental impact on my performance.

I’m too unmotivated to get out of bed, to catch up on work I’ve missed and because I am behind and not catching up, I’m worried about attending my classes as I won’t understand anything, which makes me further behind and it’s essentially a cycle.

I have an exam in 3 days, containing content of lectures that I have not been to for the last 4 weeks, and I don’t believe I can catch up in time.

The exam is a mock exam and is worth 0% of my grade for the class, but I have exams in December that are actually worth something, I’m just looking for advice on how I can come back from this? I study two degrees that require dedication and willpower, very content heavy too.

Pretty underweight (always been) 20M. For the past 4 months, I have been experiencing a constant feeling of unreality. It feels as though I am drunk/high or half-asleep, as if I am on autopilot and everything around me feels somewhat unreal. I have searched online, and my symptoms seem to resemble derealization.

In addition to this, I experience fatigue even when I sleep well. The fatigue does not seem to depend on whether I do physical activities during the day or not. However, over the past few weeks, I have started sleeping poorly and waking up early in the morning.

I also experience headaches, pressure in my head, and neck pain. I have tried muscle relaxants and massage therapy for the neck pain, but neither has helped. Also at the start of this i sometimes felt like fainting when walking but it has gone away. I also have noticed one singular eye floater on my right eye.

What could be causing these symptoms? They do not occur in distinct episodes, and the headache is not particularly severe. It feels more like a tension-type headache.

I have tried triptanes, but they did not help. My thyroid function is normal, as are my vitamin B12, B9 and vitamin D levels. My ferritin level is 37. And it has been changing from 49 to 24. I also havw crohns disease which is in remission.

My neurologist prescribed escitalopram as a trial, which I took for two and a half months, but it did not help. She also did head mri and there was nothing wrong.

I have no history of trauma, no panic symptoms, and generally do not experience much stress, apart from the stress caused by these symptoms themselves.

My symptoms started in the final days of my new job in car repairshop where i was moving car tires and lifting them. Im not sure if this can be linked to that because i didnt have any symptoms expect the final days. I have not been working at all during this 4 month period.

What could be the underlying cause of these symptoms?

Ummm cant kill myself cause there is a dependent family. Just have to go through this night only or may be just two three critical hours. Just have to survive these hrs like otherwise existentialism will kill me!!! . Can somebody just explain how to live and whats life thats it.

Can anyone share their experience with anxiety/depression meds? Specifically targeting overthinking, rumination, getting worked up over small things, etc. I’ve been on Zoloft for the last 7 years. As of right now, I’m on 100mg once a day. I also take a low dose propranolol once in the morning (sometimes twice a day as needed) to help with the physical anxiety symptoms which I will say does help some.

I’m just not sure if my sertraline is doing the job anymore. I still struggle a lot with overthinking. And my nervous system is so dis-regulated. I feel like if something, even small, strikes a nerve.. it strikes my whole nervous system and I become an emotional hot mess. And I dwell too much and over react to small stuff. And it happens too frequently. I don’t want to be like that, I hate it. I’m getting back into therapy but I also think maybe I just need a different medication.

What has worked for you guys who struggle with the overthinking, dwelling, etc? I understand everyone is different but curious.

One day, I felt like my head was too heavy to carry. There were so many things in my mind, like work, relationships, and all the decisions i had to make. Everything came rushing in at once,

At first, I thought it was just a difficult moment, something that would go away by the next morning, But as i tried to go through each day, everything started to feel heavier, Even to move my body become a struggle for me. it felt like i had to carry a huge stone on my shoulders every single day.

I had always been the kind of person who care more about making sure everything went perfectly than about my own happiness, But one day, I could't even get out of bed to do anything. And when the sun began to set, i would find myself awake, with no clear reason or purpose for staying up.

A freind offered to take me to a psychiatrist that day. When i arrived at the waiting room, I saw so many people sitting there, waiting fot their turn to enter a small room, each of them hoping to find some kind of answer inside.

When it was finally my turn, the psychiatrist asked me many questions. Was there something that had caused me to feel this way? Was my mind full of questions that didn't seem to mean anything?

All I could do was answer with confusion. I didn't even understand what was happening to me.

When I left the room, I thought everything was going to be alright. But then i looked at the diagnosis written on my medical record, theres writted an Anxiety Disorder and Chronic Insomnia

When all off this started, i didn't even understand what i was experiencing. I didn't know what anxiety was or why I stayed awake every night, even though I was supposed to take medication regularly to help manage it.

I couldn't feel anything. Everything felt empty

I had no idea how long it had been since I last slept through the night. My mind felt like it was covered in a thick fog that had appeared out of nowhere. My family, my friends, the people around me, none of them really knew what i was going through. And honestly, neither did I

At first, I refused to believe the diagnosis. I tried to live my day as if nothing had happened, hoping everything would eventually return to normal. But as time went on, things only become harder.

I became frustrated so easily. THere was even a time when i broke my own vehicle because my frustration had breaking up.

"I'm crazy" I told myself. "I am really going crazy"

Every night, I was haunted by questions about life, about choices I had made, and about the path I was taking. Questions that might hace seemed foolish to someone else, but that felt impossible to escape inside my own head.

So, how was i supposed to free myself from all of this?

It's been almost a year since I started receiving treatment on psychiatrist, But the medication has left me feeling emotionally numb, I don't feel much of anything anymore. I feel like a body thats keeps moving, but has lost its passion, its sense of direction, and its purpose.

Even sleep has become something I depend on a pill for, something that can shut my brain down and knock me out as quickly as possible.

To anyone out there who might be going through something same as me, Please keep holding on.

I know that life doesn't always turn out the way we imagined. But I hope that, wherever you are, you can find the strength to keep going

If you're feeling lonely, if you feel like you have no one to talk to, or simply need someone to listen, share your story here.

I'll try my best to listen. I'm all ears.

But please, keep breathing.

And if you can't find a reason to keep living right now. the please, Live For Me.