u/First_Strategy_2870

I’m just curious about this if it happens to anyone else because this seems to happen to me every time I’m at a doctor’s appointment. Without fail I will get asked what I do for a living, if I’m searching for a job, What I’m ‘planning’, etc.

For some context I recently graduated college and I am currently searching for a job, but I constantly feel the need to ‘defend’ myself because I don’t have one yet. Is it normal to get asked this question? Maybe it’s just because I kind of hate small talk but it feels like an interrogation. If they ask if I have a job I say I just graduated and I’m currently looking, and then the questions just keep coming. They will ask what I majored in, What I’m ‘planning’ for the future, what field I want to go into, etc. It’s also almost always at the end of the appointment when they are about to leave the room, and then suddenly they are asking me this? It just confuses me. I never really know the reason for wanting to know this stuff anyway because what does it matter?

Hi everyone, I recently graduated with my bachelor’s in history and have now started the process of searching for a job. So far, I’ve hit a lot of snags that has really dampened my hopes of finding a good fit for me. For context I recently had to move to a pretty rural area, and there are no history related jobs around me or really many jobs at all. For that reason I’m searching for a remote job which I know is already difficult, but it seems impossible with my degree. My whole college experience I’ve had complete strangers tell me that I won’t get a job because of what I studied, and I’m starting to fear they are right. Every job I come across it requires a masters degree which is just not an option for me right now. Along with that, every job that doesn’t seem like complete AI slop requires years of experience that I simply don’t have. My last and only job was basically just stocking grocery stores and I had to quit because of moving.

I know that these issues aren’t specifically related to history as I’ve heard a lot of stories that highlight how truly abysmal the current job market is, but experiencing it personally makes me feel like I did something wrong, or studied the wrong thing, even though I know that’s not true.

I’m writing this in hopes that someone has been in a similar situation or has some advice, and maybe suggestions for what I *could* do remotely that is related to history or simply requires any bachelors degree. I don’t have a lot of experience, but I know that anything research related I can easily throw myself into.

I recently started a zoom class, the type where you have to show your face, speak, get called on, 3 hours long, etc. First week was a total nightmare because I was unprepared as I didn’t have any of the books yet, and we were answering pop quiz questions + I got chosen as the group leader of a breakout room. long story short I freaked out after this meeting, and had a bad panic attack which made my POTS flare up. Afterward I was feeling pretty down and defeated, like I mentally and physically couldn’t continue this class if it was going to be like this.

I told my close friend about this, and she told me that I was ‘just going to have to do it.’ Anyway, fast forward two weeks later, I have another meeting and this week, my teacher says we are doing an ACTING exercise and getting to know each other. for context this is a class no where near related to acting, so I was again, completely caught off guard, and again I was going into a break out room out of no where. I freaked out and again, had a very bad panic attack. I ended up leaving early in fear that if I stayed I wouldn’t have been able to physically talk.

I am honestly feeling very pathetic. I really wanted to just tough it out and get through with it, but every week I am experiencing very high levels of anxiety, which by extend causes my POTS to get even worse and to have worse symptoms. even though it is embarrassing to admit, I break down crying after every one of these meetings. I don’t understand what it is about this one in particular, because I have done plenty of zoom classes before in college, and obviously I’ve had to speak, give presentations, and participate. But this one, I just don’t think I can do it.

I’m honestly scared of my friends reaction, and i’m worried that they’ll all think i’m pathetic and that’s it’s a sad excuse to blame it on my anxiety and my physical health because they honestly don’t really get POTS even though i’ve explained it and my symptoms. Same with my other friends, they would have no issues with something like this. I know i’ll have to say something, because I’ve told them all about the class. I don’t want to lie to them, but I don’t want to admit the truth either, because in my head it sounds so pathetic. I’m an adult and I can’t even do a zoom class because of all this. I just don’t know what to do.

I recently started a zoom class, the type where you have to show your face, speak, get called on, 3 hours long, etc. I have extreme anxiety about zoom classes in particular and this one seems like all of my fears rolled into one. For some context, my anxiety shows up in very physical forms, hives, flushing, chronic migraines, shortness of breath, etc. First week, there is a breakout room where i’m chosen as the ‘group leader’. It was a total nightmare because I was unprepared as I didn’t have any of the books yet, and we were answering pop quiz questions. I freaked out after this meeting, and had a panic attack. Afterward I was feeling pretty down and defeated, like I mentally and physically couldn’t continue this class if it was going to be like this.

I told my close friend about this, and she told me that I was ‘just going to have to do it.’

Anyway, fast forward two weeks later, I have another meeting and this week, my teacher says we are doing an ACTING exercise and getting to know each other. for context this is a class no where near related to acting, so I was again, completely caught off guard, and again I was going into a break out room out of no where. I freaked out and again, had a very bad panic attack. I ended up leaving early in fear that if I stayed I wouldn’t have been able to physically talk.

I am honestly feeling very pathetic. I really wanted to just tough it out and get through with it, but every week I am experiencing very high levels of anxiety, and even though it is embarrassing to admit, I break down crying after every one of these meetings. I don’t understand what it is about this one in particular, because I have done plenty of zoom classes before in college, and obviously I’ve had to speak, give presentations, and participate. But this one, I just don’t think I can do it.

I’m honestly scared of my friends reaction, and i’m worried that they’ll all think i’m pathetic and that’s it’s a sad excuse to blame it on my anxiety. When I told my friend about it she couldn’t really understand, because she is very outgoing and has no social anxiety at all. Same with my other friends, they would have no issues with something like this. I know i’ll have to say something, because I’ve told them all about the class. I don’t want to lie to them, but I don’t want to admit the truth either, because in my head it sounds so pathetic. I’m an adult and I can’t even do a zoom class.

Hello everyone! Recently I’ve started mingling with one of my close friends friend groups, mainly because my close friend kept talking about how I would really get along with some of them, that they wanted to meet me, hangout, etc. so even though I was nervous as I’m pretty naturally anti-social and introverted, I gave it my all. I’ve hung out with a few people from the group multiple times, and I’m a bit closer with some more than others, mainly because it’s a pretty big friend group and so it’s hard to gather everyone together at the same time. Honestly it’s going a lot better than I ever imagined, and I’m very grateful for that, but I still feel a bit out of place.

Obviously everyone is much closer than they are to me, so I frequently get into conversations where everyone’s going around and has inside jokes, and I have absolutely no idea what they are talking about. It’s really difficult because I want to make effort, but a lot of the time all of the conversations are quite literally things I just *can’t* contribute to. I also don’t want to push myself into any hangouts because as it’s a pretty big group and I was invited by my close friend, I’m scared that some of them don’t actually want me there and are just being polite for my close friends sake.

I’m writing this mainly because I honestly struggle a lot with social cues and in social settings, especially group settings, I can never tell if someone actually likes to talk to me or they are simply being polite. I don’t know what to look out for, because I feel a bit in the middle of the whole thing, one step into the door but not fully in the room, if that makes sense. They still do a lot of things separately and the only one I truly talk to one on one is my close friend.

I recently started a class over zoom and at first it was okay, its a 3 hour class and I have to show my face, talk, etc, but I was very willing to ‘push through it’ despite this. The second meeting though, I had a really bad experience and was basically freaking out the whole time. It started when I was put into a breakout room with only a few other people, and I could feel myself going into a panic attack. I was breaking out into hives, high heart rate, headache, etc. and i just could not calm down. The source material of the class is also a struggle for me to understand and a lot of it is being put on the spot and randomly asked questions, which I automatically just blank over and don’t know the answer, no matter how hard I try. I also have chronic migraines so staring at a screen for 3 hours + being anxious + being put on the spot with pop quiz questions, my brain just can’t even think if that makes sense.

Coming out of it I felt immediately like I just can’t do it. The problem is the class has already been paid for and the meetings are mandatory to attend. I’ve talked about this and my worries to a few friends but I’ve been told that I just have to do it. I know logically that’s what’s I have to do, but it physically and mentally feels like I can’t. I feel so drained just from that one experience, and this is only the 2nd week. I know that normally I should just push through and expose myself to these kinds of things but I’ve been trying this for years, and I feel like my anxiety for this specifically is just getting worse and worse.

I’ve been on a beta blocker for a little over a month now and so far it works pretty okay, but I have a main issue with high blood pressure and heart rate specifically when I talk at all and or feel any kind of emotions. Whether it’s 5 words, feeling anger, sadness, worry, excitement, etc, I have a horrible reaction and it’s like the beta blocker doesn’t even exist for my body in that moment, and my blood pressure will go high anyway. I will also flush and break out in hives whenever this happens. I don’t even know how to explain it, but it’s like I feel anything and suddenly my body just switches into ‘freak out’ mode, and I will not be mentally feeling anything, but my body will be freaking out, if that makes sense. Afterwards it feels almost like the aftermath of a panic attack or crying all day, just feeing worn out and exhausted, i’ll also get chills and feel very cold afterwards.

I feel like this sounds crazy but I really don’t know how else to describe it. I was wondering if anyone else has a similar experiences and if so, maybe possible remedies. It really frustrates me because it’s not like I can just get rid of my emotions or talk to anyone ever again. It’s seriously hindering my life.

I have had one constant headache for years, initially starting as a teenager and now into my adulthood. For a long time I thought ‘migraine aura’ was very concrete and that it was only those rainbow zigzags and flashes that everyone uses as examples, so i thought I just had ‘weird’ visual disturbances and it was coincidence. For context I have double vision, VSS, and floaters. I’ve went to the eye doctor various times over the years as I’ve also had these disturbances since I was a teenager, but they’ve said everything was fine. I feel a little silly for only connecting the dots recently, but every time i looked it up everything i saw described migraine aura as something very specific that i just didn’t experience.

I’m writing this to perhaps get some similar experiences, and if anyone else has constant headaches with constant visual disturbances. To be completely honest these disturbances have always stressed me out a lot, and I just can’t seem to get used to them, and instead obsess over it and always manage to convince myself something is genuinely wrong with my eyes.

Most recently I’ve been on a medication for about a month now and my headaches seem much more ‘migraine’ like, if that makes sense, I have much more of a sensitivity to light, pain, etc, and i’ve started convincing myself again that something must be horribly wrong.

I guess I just feel pretty alone in this. so far no medication from my neurologist has worked, and I can’t seem to get used to any of it despite having it for almost a decade.

for as long as i can remember i’ve used reading as a coping mechanism against my ocd, its always been something that could effectively distract me and get my mind of things, if only for a few minutes. recently i’ve entered a very bad episode and for the first time reading isn’t working. for a little while i was also using exercise to help with getting my ‘energy’ out, so id feel less focused on my own mind, but because of health issues i can’t exercise like i want to. ive tried any other of my usual distractions to get my mind off things, reading, playing a game, talking to a friend, watching a movie, hobby, etc, but nothing is working and i’m feeling a bit at a loss.

for some more context but still keeping it general my ocd is mainly within my own head and surrounding ‘what ifs’ so i spiral because there’s truly no way to ‘know’.

i was wondering if anyone has any suggestions to get out of the mental spiral of things or methods that may work for them?

A big theme for me is eyesight/fear of eye problems and i ruminate and spiral about this constantly. sometimes it dies down and gets replaced by something a little more tame, but since this theme is something i can’t control in the slightest and mainly a ‘what if’ scenario, it just keeps coming back. currently i’m in a big spiral and when i’m like this i literally can’t think about anything else. if i try to do anything, the whole time i will just zone out and be thinking about my eyesight, even if im having full on conversations with someone, i’m constantly ‘checking’ my eyes, squinting, staring at numerous things and checking for problems, but i can never trust myself, so i just check over and over and over. it’s honestly taking over my life and i desperately want to just snap out of it, but my brain always manages to come up with a new issue that i could ‘possibly’ have and that i need to figure it out immediately.

i know this may be a very niche topic regarding ocd but it’s a major part of my themes and most tie back all to this. i’m hoping that someone has some tips to snap out of these episodes or tricks on how to genuinely distract myself. any advice is appreciated!!!

I’ve suspected I may have MCAS and went to an allergist for it. Tryptase test was normal and the allergist outright told me there was no way I had MCAS because my test was normal and then just told me to follow up with my primary care because there’s no way to explain the flushing I get. I’ve done research of my own and heard many stories of this test being unreliable, so I brought it up, asked (politely) if there were other options or if we could do the test again. I was then told that again there was no way I could have it because the test was normal and I’m not going into anaphylaxis so there’s no way. I was also told that the tryptase test would always be irregular if I did have MCAS, and that if I had it i’d be going into anaphylaxis regularly, and that even if I did have it, I would simply be prescribed everyday allergy meds.

I’m kind of at a loss here because of this appointment. everything I’ve read about MCAS it’s a lot more complicated than that, but then again i’m not diagnosed and I’m not a doctor, so i’m coming here to ask if I really was clueless and this is true?

I’ve been to multiple cardiologists and every time I’ve gotten told to just use compression, exercise, sodium, etc. In my experience compression and sodium just worsens my symptoms. I told this to my most recent doctor, along with the fact that I exercise mostly with a mix of walking, yoga, pilates, doctor then told me to ‘just exercise more.’ end of appointment, NOTHING else! I have a very high heart rate and bp pretty much constantly at this point. Every time I go to a new doctor I just want to finally get help with my symptoms. Everything that can be done at home I have done, and more. I’ve cut back any and all caffeine, low sugar, eat healthy, exercise, hydrate excessively, electrolytes, etc. and nothing is getting better. I’m diagnosed with POTS and yet i’m still just brushed aside. I just really don’t get it. I do everything they tell me and it isn’t working, and then I get told to just….. do it more? I guess I’m just frustrated and I’m at a loss here on how to get someone to believe me that I need help.