u/None_too_sweet

I (26M) have had pretty bad anxiety since my teens. It peaked at around 21, when i suffered my worst nervous breakdown and had panic attacks several times a day, and has gradually gotten better since then, with some flare-ups.

Not too long ago, i got a job in a factory opperating some machines i had no experience with. The job is a necessity, and has let me finally move out on my own, but it has triggered the worst anxiety flareup I've had thus far. Im starting to have more ferquent and severe anxiety attacks at work (no fullblown panic attacks yet, thankfully), which is very embarrassing and they often don't fully let up until around midnight, and then i dont get enough sleep and I'm even worse off the next day. At home i am not having anxiety attacks yet, but feel a constant underlying sense of dread. I'm really worried it'll end up as bad as it was at it's peak. If that happens, i will be physically unable to perform my job.

I'm looking for any advice for things that might keep it from getting even worse. I tend to binge on alot of sugar when i have anxiety attacks, and while the sugar itself just makes me sluggish and depressed, the feeling that I have something reliable to turn to when it gets really bad does help. Basically, i would like to replace this habit with something more actually helpful.

For things i already do, i journal regularly, which does help a lot, and i go for regular walks. I do breathing exercises when i have attacks, but for some reason it just makes me freak out more. I'm working on slowly replacing my snacks with healthier alternatives (im a big stress eater), and I'm trating out inscents for the first time. Caffine really helps soothe .y anxiety in the moment, but can make things worse overall, so i try to limit my intake. I usually drink 1 cup of coffee at work for the appetite suppressing effect (otherwise I'm starving by the time we have lunch and get very dysregulated). I stay away from caffeine after 14:00. More intense exercise is difficult for me to commit to, as i get very physically exhausted at work and am usually in pain by the end of my shift, but i sometimes go for short runs on the weekends.

Any advice appriciated. Thank you

I have a high stress job at a factory. Plz reccomend me some songs to keep my stress lower and help me get into a flow before i go insane. Shouldnt be too calm to where its gonna make me wanna go to sleep, but also not so loud/ intense its gonna push me over the edge and i finally quit 👍

I love oddly spesific and / or mysterious song titles that really get me curious! Any mood, topic or genre!

I (26M) work in a small glass factory. I need to stick this out for a year or two at least to have something to put on my CV, just to be clear, and there are no other departments or anything within the same business i could transfer to.

My co-workers are okay. None of them are particularly friendly, but they are mostly helpful and respectful, and the once i actively disslike, i just ignore. I am the youngest at the factory by far, everyone else being 45+, so i guess that buys me some extra patience. It's not a good job by any means, but it's tolerable, except this one inescapable thing.

I opperate the 3 CNC machines, and due to having no experience or education in this, i need to need to work closely with one of my bosses, the only one experienced with this one particular machine. Problem is he drives me up the wall. His instructions are very hard to parse or understand, he gets quietly pissed at me for not doing things perfectly on the first try armed only with his half baked verbal instructions, he's condecending as hell, and he often changea his mind on what task he wanta me to do in the middle of me doing it. As an extra layer of difficulty, tho this is my own issue, i struggle to pay attention to a lot of things at once. I can manage the two slower machines by myself, but the 3rd (the one i need his help with), is much faster and has a lot of moving parts that need active monitoring. I have tried to explain that this is something i struggle with, but he just tells me to "pay attention", which makes me want to rip my damn hair out. His absolute worst quality is he likes to come up and ask me questions, which he then intrupts me 10 seconds into my explenation to give me a command, which completely puts me off, and then he gets offended by my confusion and starts being condecending, and i generally just hve to walk away from him while hes still talking just to end the interaction. At the same time, he's not aggressive or anything, its not like he does anything i could report (not that reporting would do anything, HR is one guy and it's litterally his brother), he's just insufferable in the most allowed way possible.

Haha this turned into a vent post. But anyway, does anyone know how to mentally protect myself from the bucketload of stress this man is causing me? I do alot to manage my mental health and stress levels, but this guy has a tangable effect on my well being, i dread having to interact with him every day i go to work, my fingers itch to find a new job after almost every conversation i have with him, and i cannot seem to improve on this machine when practicing inherently involves having to interact with this guy. This is bad because i dont think i can get them to up my salary with how bad i currently am on this machine. Even if i could just get the intrusive thoughts of all my annoying interactions with him to stop bothering me when im not at work so i can actually relax, that would be a huge improvement.

Any advice appriciated, thanks!

I've been really depending on my journaling as my primary form of self care for a hard time im currently going through in my life. I've realized i have a bad habit of focusing all my energy on other people or hyperfixating on practical problems to cut myself off from my emotions. Through journaling, I've been able to redirect some of that energy towards taking care of myself, and it has been a truly life altering.

I really want to continue this practice, and develop more of a "friendship" with myself for lack of a better term. Does anyone have any good suggestions for journaling prompts i could use for this kind of work?

I really love tea, but I've gotten a bit bored with the limited options available in my area, and am looking for something new and tasty to try :)

Not very concerned about any spesific benefits, just want it for the taste

I'm currently trying to get approved for top surgery. Problem is i live alone, and i don't know if ill be able to take care of myself during the recovery period, especially with grocery trips and sutch when im not allowed to life heavy stuff or put my arms over my head. I had the thought to just stay with my grandmother, my only living relative in the area, during recovery as she would be happy for the company, but i never came out to her as i just kind of dont want to deal with what a dissaster that would be.

So, im trying to think of a plausible and non-concerning surgery one could have on the chest that i could say it was. Doesn't need to be bullet proof, shes not the fact-checking kind, but at least something not super obviously false. Ideas?

For context, i just recently got away from a long-standing very close friendship that had become quite toxic. I finally ripped the bandaid off and told them i wanted to cut ties completely, which went about as well as it possibly could. We hadn't been talking much for a while, so i thought i was over most of the heartache, but i now feel very dysregulated.

Halfway through tearing my kitchen appart looking for anything to binge on, not finding anything and being pissed off about nothing being sunday open, i kind of realized i dont really have coping mechanisms other than rambeling and binge eating. I was feeling thurowly exhausted and anti-social, and had nothing to eat that would do the trick, and now i feel like im just not handling it. I've resorted to my seldom used last resort of just taking painkillers for tonight so i might have a chance of sleeping, as i have to get up for work tomorrow. I don't consider it abuse, as i luckily dont have to take painkillers very often, and it is quite effective.

I currently dont have any close relationships. I was pretty codependent with this person, which was largely the problem, and due to just generally shit luck, i dont have much in the way of family. I have tried therapy in the past, but didn't find it helpfull. I have also tried calling helplines and the like, but was just left on hold until i got tierd and hung up. To be clear, im not su*c*dal, just having a very unpleasant time.

Does anyone have any tips for regulation/ coping with grief and overwhelming negative emotion when no support system is available?

I have always been terrible with strangers, i startle and my mind goes completely blank on the few occasions anyone talks to me in public. Even so much as asking a store employee where to find stuff is kind of high order for me. I'm really tired of living like this, and I miss having people to talk to. I've tried finding a way around having to do this for a long time, but i have come to realize there's no way for me to make friends without approaching strangers. So, today I'm going to a bar for a practice round.

Any advice on approaching strangers for a socially awkward mess? Going in 8 hours.

so, the backstory; I was looking for a job and applied for this position in a glass factory because it said there would be training on the job, even though i didn't know what a CNC even was, and for reasons truly beyond me they hired me. Now, the guy i was replacing was a nice guy, and taught me as well as he could for the 3 weeks before he quit, but now i have sole responsibility and no one else in the factory knows the first thing about CNCs, and i feel *very* out of my depth. i have been at it for about 2 months, and have managed to not be fired, but i'm finding it very difficult to improve without any guidance. It's probably kind of on me, since i'm naturally kind of a moron, but i am genuinely trying my best, and wish to improve. I have tried to look up some advice online, but i cant find too much on anything that resembles the model i work on. I also feel kind of a crippeling amount of pressure because i don't want to bottleneck the entire factory, the guys haven't been exactly thrilled about the last (very skilled) guy leaving, and don't need to give anyone any more of a reason to glare me to death from across the factory floor.

i operate 2 Intermac Masters (30 and 43) using window XP (employer is cheap), and making programs in Icam 2D and 3D, specifically to mill, grind and polish sheets of glass. programming part is not difficult, but i often struggle to get a good polish, struggle with troubleshooting due to inexperience, and i wear out the tools way too quick (foreman is pissed at me). I really want to get better, but i feel kind of stuck, like i just don't know what to change. I would appreciate any advice on how i can improve, like what to focus on or what to look out for, any tips at all tbh. I'd like to have something to show for it at the end of this job, instead of starting back at square 1 whenever i move on. I also would like to improve my overall research skills, this has been pretty frustrating haha.

Literally anything guys i am desperate, i want the foreman to stop yelling at me :'-)

thank for reading <3