I am an 18-year-old, and since I was 15, my biggest passion and motivation in life has been to discover something genuinely new in math and physics.

This year, I actually did it. I discovered 1 new theorem and 4 new types of series. I submitted them to the OEIS (On-Line Encyclopedia of Integer Sequences)-two have already been accepted, and the other two are currently under review. (Please, if you don’t believe me, just skip commenting on the post. Proving myself isn't my main concern right now, and I havent posted to convince anyone).
Even though I achieved exactly what I wanted, and i want to learn more and more maths but my mental health is in a terrible place. I am suffering deeply from what feels like nostalgic depression, anxiety, autism,and OCD. I always wanted in my life for everyone to be in a specific place, like they were in the past. I have this constant, overwhelming fear that everything bad in my life is going to loop again. I know, I know, this is very, very foolish, but this is what it feels like. After shifting cities because of my parents' job, these disorders have been up a lot. They were previous too but now they are just at peak. I don't know what to do.

On top of this, I have been incredibly lonely. For the past two years, I have had zero friends to hang out with. I have friends back in my old city, but no one here. I have also completely stopped meeting my relatives—most of them. I meet a few of them occasionally. I don't know, I think this is not going so well.

I always wanted to discover something new in maths and physics, and I have done it. I want to do it at a higher level too. But really, I don't think I am gonna make it past 20. I just needed to vent and say all of this
i know this is not the right sub to say all these but i didnt found any other sub helpful

This year, I actually did it. I discovered 1 new theorem and 4 new types of series. I submitted them to the OEIS (On-Line Encyclopedia of Integer Sequences)—two have already been accepted, and the other two are currently under review. (Please, if you don’t believe me, just skip commenting on that part. Proving myself isn't my main concern right now, and I just need support).

Even though I achieved exactly what I wanted, my mental health is in a terrible place. I am suffering deeply from what feels like nostalgic depression, anxiety, and OCD. I also have extreme attachment issues. Because of these attachment issues and disorders, I always wanted in my life for everyone to be in a specific place, like they were in the past. I have this constant, overwhelming fear that everything bad in my life is going to loop again. I know, I know, this is very, very foolish, but this is what it feels like. After shifting cities because of my parents' job, these disorders have been up a lot. They were previous too but now they are just at peak. I don't know what to do.

On top of this, I have been incredibly lonely. For the past two years, I have had zero friends to hang out with. I have friends back in my old city, but no one here. I have also completely stopped meeting my relatives—most of them. I meet a few of them occasionally. I don't know, I think this is not going so well.

I always wanted to discover something new in maths and physics, and I have done it. I want to do it at a higher level too. But really, I don't think I am gonna make it past 20. I just needed to vent and say all of this.

I am an 18-year-old, and since I was 15, my biggest passion and motivation in life has been to discover something genuinely new in math and physics.

This year, I actually did it. I discovered 1 new theorem and 4 new types of series. I submitted them to the OEIS (On-Line Encyclopedia of Integer Sequences)—two have already been accepted, and the other two are currently under review. (Please, if you don’t believe me, just skip commenting on that part. Proving myself isn't my main concern right now, and I havent posted to convince anyone).(i am not gonna dox myself so i am also not sharing any series or results )if you dont want to believe just dont comment on the post ty

Even though I achieved exactly what I wanted, my mental health is in a terrible place. I am suffering deeply from what feels like nostalgic depression, anxiety, autism,and OCD. I always wanted in my life for everyone to be in a specific place, like they were in the past. I have this constant, overwhelming fear that everything bad in my life is going to loop again. I know, I know, this is very, very foolish, but this is what it feels like. After shifting cities because of my parents' job, these disorders have been up a lot. They were previous too but now they are just at peak. I don't know what to do.

On top of this, I have been incredibly lonely. For the past two years, I have had zero friends to hang out with. I have friends back in my old city, but no one here. I have also completely stopped meeting my relatives—most of them. I meet a few of them occasionally. I don't know, I think this is not going so well.

I always wanted to discover something new in maths and physics, and I have done it. I want to do it at a higher level too. But really, I don't think I am gonna make it past 20. I just needed to vent and say all of this.
I am a dropper but studying is not a big issue for me i just want to say al lthese things

I am an 18-year-old, and since I was 15, my biggest passion and motivation in life has been to discover something genuinely new in math and physics.

This year, I actually did it. I discovered 1 new theorem and 4 new types of series. I submitted them to the OEIS (On-Line Encyclopedia of Integer Sequences)—two have already been accepted, and the other two are currently under review. (Please, if you don’t believe me, just skip commenting on that part. Proving myself isn't my main concern right now, and I havent posted to convince anyone).(i am not gonna dox myself so i am also not sharing any series or results )if you dont want to believe just dont comment on the post ty

Even though I achieved exactly what I wanted, my mental health is in a terrible place. I am suffering deeply from what feels like nostalgic depression, anxiety, autism,and OCD. I always wanted in my life for everyone to be in a specific place, like they were in the past. I have this constant, overwhelming fear that everything bad in my life is going to loop again. I know, I know, this is very, very foolish, but this is what it feels like. After shifting cities because of my parents' job, these disorders have been up a lot. They were previous too but now they are just at peak. I don't know what to do.

On top of this, I have been incredibly lonely. For the past two years, I have had zero friends to hang out with. I have friends back in my old city, but no one here. I have also completely stopped meeting my relatives—most of them. I meet a few of them occasionally. I don't know, I think this is not going so well.

I always wanted to discover something new in maths and physics, and I have done it. I want to do it at a higher level too. But really, I don't think I am gonna make it past 20. I just needed to vent and say all of this.

Are we casually living through a third Golden Age of Math?

Think about how science history always has these insane peak eras:

• 1600s–1700s: The Golden Age of Math (Euler, Gauss, calculus blowing up)
• Early 1900s: The Golden Age of Physics (Einstein, quantum mechanics rewriting reality)

It honestly feels like we’re sitting right at the starting line of a third wave. Except this time, it’s math again, and it's because of the insane influence AI is going to have on the field.

For centuries, math only moved as fast as a human brain staring at a chalkboard. But AI is completely hijacking the pace of discovery. The whole workflow is shifting right in front of us.

If physics exploded in the 1900s because we discovered alot of things, is math about to explode because we unlocked a machine collaborator? Are we looking at a total renaissance, or am I just overhyping it?

My teacher dropped a stat the other day that really changed how I view math talent. They said if you take 1,000 high-level math students, maybe 50 can pull off elite, top-tier problem solving. But only about 5 of them actually have the creative to build new concepts or rediscover known theorems entirely on their own from the maths they know.

This makes total sense to me. Anyone can grind hard enough to master existing frameworks and solve insane equations. But the rarest skill-the one that separates regular math people from the absolute legends-is pure creative intuition. It’s the ability to look at what you already know, find hidden patterns, and actually create or conjecture something meaningful out of nowhere. Problem-solving is just execution, but problem-posing feels like a totally different beast.

What do you guys think? Is genuine creativity the ultimate bottleneck in math, or is it something else?

This is probably going to sound like a really weird question, but hear me out.

Once you learn enough math, you get pretty good at telling when someone is just talking absolute nonsense or making up fake math. You know how proofs work, and you can see right through bad logic.

But I'm curious if anyone of you has those secret inner thoughts that you just can't shake. Like, you've learned enough math to know your thought is completely wrong, but part of your brain still secretly believes it. If you actually told the math community or your professors about it, they would definitely think you lost your mind or call you a crank.

Does anyone have a mathematically irrational hill they are secretly willing to die on? What is that one weird gut feeling or thought you have about a math concept that just feels right to you, even though you know the actual math says otherwise or we dont know abt the yes or no but you believes in completely opposite of what maths community thinks

This is probably going to sound like a really weird question, but hear me out.

Once you learn enough physics, you get pretty good at telling when someone is just talking absolute nonsense or making up fake math. You know how derivations/proofs work, and you can see right through bad logic.

But I'm curious if anyone of you has those secret inner thoughts that you just can't shake. Like, you've learned enough physics/-maths to know your thought is completely wrong, but part of your brain still secretly believes it. If you actually told the physics community or your professors about it, they would definitely think you lost your mind or call you a crank.

Does anyone have a mathematically irrational hill they are secretly willing to die on? What is that one weird gut feeling or thought you have about a physics concept that just feels right to you, even though you know the actual math says otherwise or we dont know abt the yes or no but you believes in completely opposite of what physics/maths community thinks

EDIT-"I also asked this on the math subreddit, so please don't point it out-I'd find it pretty embarrassing."

This is probably going to sound like a really weird question, but hear me out.

Once you learn enough math, you get pretty good at telling when someone is just talking absolute nonsense or making up fake math. You know how proofs work, and you can see right through bad logic.

But I'm curious if anyone of you has those secret inner thoughts that you just can't shake. Like, you've learned enough math to know your thought is completely wrong, but part of your brain still secretly believes it. If you actually told the math community or your professors about it, they would definitely think you lost your mind or call you a crank.

Does anyone have a mathematically irrational hill they are secretly willing to die on? What is that one weird gut feeling or thought you have about a math concept that just feels right to you, even though you know the actual math says otherwise or we dont know abt the yes or no but you believes in completely opposite of what maths community thinks

My best friend and I just finished high school and are starting university this year. A few months ago, he learned about perfect numbers. Since then, he has gone down a massive rabbit hole reading about Mersenne primes, the Euclid-Euler theorem, and heuristics regarding odd perfect numbers.

Now, he is completely obsessed. He spends 4 to 5 hours every single day trying to prove that no odd perfect number can exist.

I’ve tried telling him that this problem is nowhere near being solved by global experts, and that he should focus on other areas of math. I want him to look into high-yielding math topics that are more interesting and useful, especially since we need to prepare for university-level calculus and algebra. He completely ignores me and won't listen.

How can I convince him to broaden his horizons without ruining his passion for math?