r/Anxiety

My psychiatrist prescribes me five 1mg Ativan a month, for maintenance. My anxiety has been pretty well managed up until about a month ago when shit hit the fan and I started feeling anxious 24/7 with random panic spikes thrown in for fun. I messaged my psychiatrist like hey, I’m not doing so great, help? And her response was basically “I’m sorry you’re going through that, try to make note of when your anxiety is at its worse and we’ll discuss it at your appointment”. My appointment wasn’t for another six weeks. So I have to just white-knuckle it until then, nonstop waves of dread every day, while trying to take care of four kids and a toddler and myself and feeling like I’m falling into a pit and I’m basically losing it, there’s just no relief.

I know benzos aren’t a sustainable solution, and I’m not asking for them to be, but why do psychiatrists make you feel like a drug addict for wanting more of a medication that helps so tremendously? I know they’re abused, I get it. I just need it to keep my sanity until we find a long term medication to control my anxiety.

It feels so unfair that I can be seen basically immediately for physical pain, and it can be treated so easily, but we’re just expected to suffer with mental issues. I don’t have chronic pain, though, so I guess I really don’t know what it’s like to deal with that. But I feel like if I told my doctor that I’m having debilitating pain that’s causing me to be unable to function in daily life, I wouldn’t have to wait six weeks to find relief. Maybe I would? I don’t know what I’m talking about, and for that I guess I’m lucky. It sucks no matter what, mental or physical pain.

I’m just ranting. I can’t sleep. I finally got my depression under control and was doing so well for a year and then this anxiety came out of nowhere and it has completely upended my life. I feel the depression and the despair creeping back in. I dread the idea of waking up every morning feeling like I can’t make it through the day. I dread having to try to find a medication that helps, and wondering what part of me is going to diminish as a side effect. But more than that I dread the idea that this is just the new normal, that ultimately nothing is going to help except the one thing that is controlled so tightly that I’m only “allowed” five panic attacks a month. I just want a normal brain.

Does anybody feel like physically sick when you have anxiety ?
Like nauseous and just not feeling good?

I have no idea how else to describe it but just a sick feeling. Like if I ate something wrong or muscle weakness type of thing.

TMI, but like, before I go somewhere, I make it a point to go to the bathroom before I leave, but im so anxious that im constipated. Once I get there, im gonna shit my pants. It’s so annoying. But hey, free laxative I guess!

I take seven different pills and I'm only 24. All of them in some form or fashion are to manage my anxiety. I'm in therapy, I go to the gym regularly, I have a friend network. But still it feels like it hits me. I guess I'm just venting. But I'm running out of things to try.

Hello I’m new here and I suffer from pretty severe anxiety. My mind is constantly worrying or looking for something to worry about 😅. I was on Zoloft but it honestly killed my libido and that is a deal breaker for me.

What has worked or not worked for you guys? Please feel free to include lifestyle changes that have helped you. Btw I have a 4 year old so try to keep that in mind for me please 😂

Hi everyone,

I’m a woman, almost 28, and I’ve struggled with anxiety and depression since I was a teenager.

The strange thing is that I can function during a crisis, but I do it by punishing myself. I stop eating properly, barely sleep, isolate myself, smoke, obsess over the problem and refuse to rest. I survive on adrenaline.

From the outside, I’m coping. Inside, I’m suffering.
Recently, my cat became seriously ill. I handled the emergency, the medical decisions, thousands of dollars in vet bills and taking care of her afterward. But when things started getting better, I completely crashed.

I relapsed into smoking, struggled to eat and sleep, became obsessed with my finances, my health, my job and whether I’m actually capable of managing adult life.

I’m also terrified of the future. AI is changing the field I work in, climate change scares me, and the state of the world often feels overwhelming. Even when I try to do what I can at my own level, I feel powerless and unable to cope with everything.

The frustrating part is that I’ve done difficult things. I moved abroad twice, built a life in Quebec, finished my studies and found a job I like. Yet I still don’t trust myself.

I’ve restarted therapy and medication, and I want to learn how to live without constantly being in survival mode.

So I’m looking for advice from people who have experienced something similar:

How did you learn to manage your money, your health, your responsibilities and your fears about the future without constantly spiraling?

How did you learn to trust yourself, keep going, and actually build a stable life with anxiety?

I feel lost, and I’d really like to hear from people who have been there and found ways to cope.

I have literally never experienced anxiety like this before.

In the car while driving back from my first shift at this new job and I began to feel this incredibly deep sense of intense dread and anxiety. I could physically feel it in my gut, like a twisting. Then the crying started. I could not get it to stop, everything felt awful and hopeless and nothing, I mean nothing is making it better. I have GAD and am on medication but this is horrendous. Got home and sobbed to my mom about it and couldn’t stop crying. All thoughts are consumed by this and the dread kept deepening. Started crying at 2pm and it’s kept on intermittent until now. It’s 8pm.

The worst part is the shift was only 4 hours and nothing even went bad. This isn’t even a full time job. I’m assisting a charter school librarian, it’s just us two, and I came from a position I loved as an aide at a public library. Only left because of a family issue. So this isn’t even something entirely new to me.

I left the house without a hint of anxiety this morning and only felt a weird little bit of sadness during my shift. Now I am dreading going back the day after tomorrow. What if I start crying and break down again when I get there! Of course that thought feeds the anxiety and keeps it going and this horrible sense of dread.

Why have I been hit with this wall of anxiety and dread? I’ve had two jobs previously and never felt this way. I can say over never even had an episode of anxiety this bad in my life. What the fuck do I do about it? Asking for any words of comfort or advice as I tear up writing this :(

so i smoked a j i bought from a dispo the other day it came with 2, smoked the first one and it was fine then a couple days later i smoked the next one and not even 10 mins later i felt my heart beat beating so so so fast and couldn’t even form words properly when i would speak or read and couldn’t even chew or eat properly it lasted for about 2 hours and i thought there was something wrong i never experienced something like this maybe i was greening out but idk just wanted to know if anyone had a similar experience or knows what it was exactly. i’ve been smoking weed on and off for a couple years does this have anything to do with anxiety because i felt so delirious and was just scared the whole time

so these days lately i started punching myself in anxiety i’ve tried pillow and all but it doesn’t hurt as such so i don’t feel anything

Hi everyone! I have struggled with severe anxiety for years now, and within the past ten years my anxiety has been a majority health related. This summer my health anxiety has begun to center around the sun and sunburn. I’m on a trip right now and I got sunburnt so needless to say my anxiety is through the roof. The uv was a high of 9 today, and I was out there for a while but I was applying SPF 50, obviously not as often as I should have been though. When I was younger I had a really bad sunburn that left me with chills and nausea and I’m anxious that’s going to happen again. I’m not sure if this happens to anyone else but when I’m anxious my skin feels hot, and that’s making sensation isn’t helping my anxiety about my sunburn. I’ve been drinking water and applying Hawaiian tropic after sun like once every hour. It feels a little warm to the touch, nothing too hot but it’s red and I’m freaking out so bad.

Sorry for rambling but I’m just feeling so anxious and lost. I hate that I can’t make it go away and I feel stupid. Just needed to vent and get this out so hopefully someone can convince me that I don’t have sun poisoning:(

For the past several days, I’ve been waking up feeling physically anxious, heavy, exhausted, and sad. Sometimes I feel like I can barely get out of bed, even after sleeping 7–8 hours. The anxiety often feels very physical rather than being caused by a specific thought. I get tightness or a “knot” in my chest/diaphragm, a feeling like I can’t get a satisfying deep breath, and a buzzing/internal jittery sensation in both legs. I’ve also been feeling emotionally drained and like I just want to stay in bed and sleep to escape how bad I feel.

Previously, the anxiety and depression would dissipate later in the afternoon but lately it’s lasted most of the day. Yesterday, I didn’t start feeling “normal” until the evening. I’ve been wondering whether this could be related to chronic stress, depression, trauma/CPTSD, or a nervous system that has been stuck in overdrive for too long. I miss feeling like myself and enjoying people and life.

Has anyone else gone through a period like this, where the anxiety feels almost entirely physical and lasts for much of the day? Did you also feel extremely heavy and exhausted? What helped you, and did it eventually improve? If you have experienced this and were diagnosed with something, I’d be curious to hear what it is. If you aren’t comfortable sharing that, it’s ok - I’m just hoping to hear from people who may have experienced something similar, what helped them get through it, and if it eventually went away.

OK, so just to preface this by saying that I have had anxiety my whole life and I’ve been taking medication for 17+ years. I’ve been diagnosed with general anxiety disorder as well.

I’m in my late 20s. For context, in September 2022 I was diagnosed with obstructive sleep apnea. I got a CPAP and it hasn’t really worked for me

fast-forward to October 2023. I was sleeping in bed with my CPAP on and all of a sudden, I just started hyperventilating and I thought I was dying, I had to call the ambulance and they suggested I go to the hospital but I said no. My heart rate was going 160 or even more. Basically, since then I haven’t been able to sleep and be CPAP still doesn’t work for me even after changing the mask a couple of times. Period. I am at a point now, where I physically cannot get to a proper cycle of sleep. Either I have insomnia, so I am up all night and when I try to go to sleep, I can’t fall asleep in bed because I’m terrified the only time I can get some semblance of sleep and even then not really deep is in my wheelchair.

Basically, I haven’t had a proper sleep in three years because my mind and my body are like on high alert waiting for something to happen and even though I know I’m fine my body just isn’t cooperating. Yes I’ve had therapy and I did switch medications but I also think I need to switch therapist.

Anyway, I’m at my wits end and I just feel like I don’t know what to do and I don’t know if anybody else has been in my situation but I would just like to know what happened and how you overcame this because it’s really affecting me and it’s taking a toll on my body over the last three years and I am Starting a masters program in the fall so I need to figure out what to do.

Please help.

that's just it, i feel like i had a severe panic attack a few years ago. what the fuck is wrong with me

Good morning.
I have the worst anxiety. I’m 39 mother of 3 awful births from two of my babies almost died with one.
My eldest has Trisomy 21 and adhd my second has adhd and is full on sometimes
Then I have a bubba.
Since my aunt and my nan died a few years ago
My anxiety about death has gone insane.
I’m scared to do anything without thinking I’m going to die
I was getting panic attacks 3/4 times a week,
With obsessive thoughts that I was going to die constantly
I started hypnotherapy which has calmed the panic attacks but not the anxiety
I still get heart palpitations and constant thoughts I’m going to die and leave my kids alone.

Finally I’ve gone to the dr and said I need some help and they have put me on lexapro starting 5mg and getting up to 10mg

I do have ADHD also

Tbf I don’t know why I’m even writing this maybe to see if anyone else has gone through something the same if there is light at the end of the tunnel.
Anxiety is crippling. I don’t want to keep living like this.

I am 18 and I do not yet have a driver's license. I'm currently learning to drive, but I am absolutely riddled with anxiety.

I am so absolutely scared of driving on a main road. Like, I'm going to throw up, I'm so scared. The other cars on the road scare me, I have trouble following the rules of the road because I'm scared either a car is going to hit me or I'm going to hit a car. I'm afraid I don't know something I should know about traffic rules, or I'll forget something. I did my permit test, I have a permit, and I try to watch videos and review traffic laws and rules as much as I can, and I pay attention every time I ride in the car to make sure I know what to do when driving, but it doesn't feel like enough. I know that as soon as I'm surrounded by all of those cars, I'm going to forget all of it and just go into fight or flight. I've driven on a basically empty road, with very minimal cars and one stop sign, and THAT freaks me out.

I can operate the car well at this point, but I need to drive on a main road with other cars. But just thinking about it makes me want to throw up, or cry.. or both. I don't even know where would be a good place to start?

Has anyone else had this problem? Can anyone relate or offer advice? Either advice for anxiety or driving lol

Thanks ! :)

Hi everyone,

I'm 20 years old and have been struggling with anxiety and hypervigilance.

This all started last October after my mom was diagnosed with schizophrenia. That diagnosis terrified me, and I became obsessed with the thought:

"What if I develop schizophrenia too?"

The first fear was:

"What if I'm hearing voices?"

The strange thing is that I never actually heard external voices. It was always my own mind asking, "What if you're hearing voices?" That question alone would send me into panic.

Over time, the fear changed, but the mechanism stayed the same. It went from:

Fear of hearing voices.

Fear about my own sexuality ("What if I'm becoming gay?").

Fear of my own imagination and thoughts ("Why am I imagining voices? Why am I creating scenarios? Am I going crazy because I daydream so much?").

The content kept changing, but it was always the same cycle of intrusive thoughts, hypervigilance, checking, and anxiety.

After last November, these fears gradually disappeared, and from around December until May I felt almost completely normal. I genuinely forgot this was even a problem.

Then I went through a stressful breakup last month, and the same fears came back. They aren't constant—they usually flare up for a day or two, disappear again, and then return during periods of stress.

For example, yesterday my house flooded. I spent hours dealing with the situation and didn't think about any of this once. Later that night, when everything became quiet, my brain suddenly asked:

"What if you're hearing voices?"

and the panic started again.

I don't actually hear external voices. I don't lose touch with reality. When I'm calm, I know these are just intrusive thoughts and anxiety. But when the panic hits, it feels incredibly convincing.

Has anyone else experienced this kind of "fear of going crazy" where your brain constantly wants you to check your own thoughts, imagination, or sanity?

I'm not looking for a diagnosis—just hoping to hear from people who've experienced something similar and what helped them break the cycle.

TL;DR: My mom was diagnosed with schizophrenia, and since then I've developed a recurring anxiety that I'm "going crazy." It started as a fear of hearing voices, then shifted to fears about my own thoughts, imagination, and even my sexuality. The fears disappeared for months, came back after a stressful breakup, and now they flare up occasionally. I don't actually hear external voices or lose touch with reality, but the anxiety feels very convincing when it happens.

Thanks for reading.

I have terrible social anxiety since I was 15. I've been through anxiety my whole life. I was on xanax 1mg for months until I had no choice but to go to a different doctor and she stopped me on them, cold turkey. I know It's not good for long term but I need it just for anxiety inducing stuff. Especially I'm a dancer and looking for jobs. I'll perform on stage in front of hundreds if not thousands. dance auditions. these events require networking which requires to socialize and meet new people and make new friends which is the scariest part for me. Interviews! they freaking suck!

Why can't they give me xanax despite me telling them my debilitating anxiety and because of it i've tried taking my own life 5 times! this is so not fair. I haven't been suicidal in a while and today i thought about offing myself for the first time in a while just bcz i didn't get my xanax.

​Hi everyone. I’m looking for some advice, solidarity, or just anyone who has been through this. I’m a mom to two very young boys (a toddler and an infant), and I am currently spiraling down the drain of severe anxiety.

​I have been diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) and ADHD for many years, alongside treatment-resistant anxiety and depression. I’m working on getting consistent with my ADHD medication right now, but up until this point, no meds have really helped.

​Here is what I am dealing with, broken down because my brain is a bit of a storm right now:

​The Background & Relationship Trauma

​In 2023, I had my first son. The pregnancy was brutal—I had Hyperemesis Gravidarum (HG), was constantly hospitalized for dehydration, and couldn't keep water down for 85% of it. My partner was less than helpful at the time, and I ended up hospitalized myself when our son was 9.5 months old.

​By early 2025, things seemed to turn around. We decided to try for another baby, who was born this past fall. While this pregnancy was physically much easier, major relationship issues surfaced. I discovered my partner had been cheating on me with multiple women (one physical, the rest were "text girlfriends").

​This post isn't actually about him, but that discovery was the catalyst for the massive anxiety storm I am currently stuck in.

​Paralyzing Fear of Leaving the House

​Right now, I don't know how to be a self-sufficient mother. Me and my children spend all day inside. I am terrified to leave the house alone with them. My mind constantly plays worst-case scenarios on a loop. I am afraid of them being abducted, having a massive public tantrum I can't manage, or someone getting severely hurt. Because the anxiety takes over, we just "couch rot" all day.

​The Mess & Rage Trigger

​I am incredibly triggered by messes. Seeing my kids get messy or seeing the house cluttered sends me into an immediate internal rage. Because of this, when my partner is at work, our routine is strictly watching TV, eating snacks, and playing with a disgustingly large amount of toys to keep things "contained." My toddler is already showing behavioral problems because of this environment, and the guilt is eating me alive. I regularly cry before major holidays because I want them to have a magical childhood, but the events trigger too much panic.

​My Current Support System

​I feel entirely lost. I’ve tried therapy, but the therapists I've seen only want to focus on telling me to leave my partner. Right now, that isn't helpful advice. Despite his past terrible decisions, he is genuinely doing his best right now. When he gets home from work, he completely takes over, cooks, cleans, validates my emotions, and entertains the kids. He is the only immediate support I have.

​We do not have "a village." My parents live over an hour away; they do what they can and are the only trustworthy people in our lives to watch the kids, but they aren't down the street.

​I love my family so much, but I don't know how to convince my brain that the world isn't terrifying. How do I take the first step out of this survival mode?

​TL;DR: Mom of two under three with BPD/ADHD dealing with severe anxiety, agoraphobia, and mess-induced rage. I'm too afraid to leave the house alone with my kids, so we spend all day on the couch, and I feel like I'm failing them. Traditional therapy hasn't helped, and I have no local support system. How do I start breaking this cycle?

hey everyone. I am at a total loss, I am coming off lexapro because I didn't find it as helpful as I hoped it'd be and the side effects kind of overruled everything anyway.

my anxiety is debilitating and an everyday struggle. I try to expose myself socially but I just have constant reoccurring thoughts that everyone hates me, everyone knows things about me that are awful and I don't fit in anywhere etc.

I have tried therapy and found it kind of helpful but I just want something that helps me stay at baseline.

I've had beta blockers which are great but don't stop the racing thoughts. weed helped but I can't be high at work lol and it actually can make me more anxious

what medication helped you?

Hello. I’m 23 years old and since November I’ve been struggling with fear. It all started suddenly, when one day I thought I was going to die and that it was my last day in life. While I was feeling so bad and afraid, I went to take a shower, and while I was showering I decided to shave. However, while shaving I suddenly thought: what if this is maybe the last time I ever shave, and that I shaved because I’m going to die or something like that.

After that, life continued normally, until my mother’s old friend came to our house a few days later after a long time. Again I thought that since she came, it means I’m going to die, like she came to see me before I die. After that, hell started. For every single thing I thought it was a sign of death. I started seeing the number 22 everywhere, and what may have reinforced the fear is that when I randomly put a number generator from 1 to 10,000, the first number (or one of the first) was exactly 22. That confirmed my fear.

From a sentence my friend said, something like on 16.12 “We still have a few days to finish that website,” I thought that secretly meant I would die after those few days and that it was a sign for me. I spent the whole December in fear, strange coincidences were happening…

Everything calmed down a bit in January, but then it started again. My aunt said she heard a cat howling outside and that it means someone will die. I felt such a real fear that it would be me, and I finally connected all these events and decided that it is destined for me to die.

A few days passed, I researched over 500 Reddit posts and comments about these fears and coincidences and managed to calm myself a little. But then on 21.1 the electricity went out, and I became 100% convinced it went out because of me, more precisely that it was some kind of sign because the next day was supposed to be 22.1.

Since there was no electricity all day, my family decided to go out by car and take a walk because it was winter, cold, and night. However, as soon as we left, the electricity came back almost instantly. At that moment I was convinced I was going to die, and I thought what if God planned this as the last time we all ride together in the car before I die.

I remember being convinced without any doubt that it was the end. In the store I couldn’t collect myself because of fear. When we got home I started researching forums, articles, everything…

Of course, the number 22 continued its “game,” and I became obsessive with it. I constantly looked for the number; if I saw a date on a package and it had 22, I wouldn’t buy it. If it had another date, I would add the numbers together, because if it equals 22 it means I will die or something like that.

It happened that whenever there was a 22 on the clock or anywhere, I would usually see posts or images related to death or hear something about death. I thought it was a message that I will die.

The fear was so strong that I didn’t even dare to train, because whenever I would start, I would think that starting something good means I will probably die soon, like terminal cancer patients who suddenly feel better before they die.

The fear was constant. I even dreamed that my sister told me in a dream: “you will die in December or you will live until December.”

And that very morning, a few hours later, she took something and found my index photo from college and gave it to me in a small format, and I felt like she was giving me a picture for an obituary. I remember crying from fear later, just wondering why God is sending me signs if I am going to die.

And this all continues like this, and then in March, a day before we were supposed to go to the cemetery, I got a skin in a game for a hero named Graves. And “graves” in English means cemetery. I thought someone was mocking me.

Then when I play games and do very well or have many wins, I think it is a sign that I will die soon because like people do their best right before death.

Then in a store I saw a psychology book called “Don’t Believe Everything You See.” I took it and only then realized that on the cover there was an owl, and in many cultures owls are seen as a sign of death.

After that there are coincidences where I think about someone I haven’t talked to in a long time and then they contact me after a few days.

Also, when on April 30 a dog was howling behind my house (stray dog), and here people say that when a dog howls someone will die.

I have read tons of forums and stories and everything, but nothing helps. This is stronger than me and I still think it is true.

For example now, I want to plant grass in the yard and fix the yard, but then I think what if the dream is true that I will die, and that planting grass is like the last thing before my death.

Last night I played games 2 hours longer than I wanted because in the stats there was the number 22 and 13, etc.

Also, considering all these coincidences I am no longer sure if I am living in a simulation, if anything is real, I try to look for patterns of death…

When I was a child, at 13 years old I first had fear of death, but I solved it religiously, I thought if I dream that dream it means I will live long, and whenever I interpreted a dream I would feel calm and think I will live long.

But since the death of my grandmother at the end of September last year, nothing works anymore. I am constantly in fear but I cannot describe to people in what way.

I am also convinced that if I think about someone that they have died or will die, then they will actually die, but only if I think about it strongly enough.