r/Stress

Does anyone else feel like their body never actually relaxes?

Even on weekends I can't seem to switch off. I'll sit down to watch something and within five minutes I'm thinking about work, bills, emails, things I forgot to do...

It's like my brain forgot how to be quiet.

I keep telling myself to just relax but if it were that easy I obviously would've done it already.

If you've been through this before, what actually made a difference for you?

Not looking for a miracle just wondering if anyone found something that really helped over time.

I genuenly cannot tell if im tired, exhausted, stressed, overwhelmed, depressed, over thinking, rushing thoughts, doubt or just riddled with anxiety and i genuenly feel like my body is falling apart, unless its just all of it at once and is crushing me, I dont know anymore... this is the worst year of my life so far... and I can't see where my future self will be.

I'm 18 year old boy which have a lot of dreams..

I'm getting so much stress, because my hairs are falling after a stressful period of unsuccessful relationship..

Currently I'm getting tension about relationships..

My hairs..

My future..

At same time..

Like..

If i get a bald before marriage.. then who'll marry me..?

If i kept getting stress then would i become a mentally ill person..

Help me bros..

It's fu\*\*ing my brain..

I'm done with these thoughts now..

I keep seeing people recommend crafts for stress relief, and honestly I think there's something to it when the craft is simple enough. My brain does better when my hands have one clear thing to do, but not when the hobby becomes a whole performance. I'm curious what people here would call the best low-pressure crafts for mental health days. Miniature kits, paint by number, stitching, clay, puzzles, anything with a small visible finish line. What has helped you calm down without making you feel like you need to be good at it?

I thought about asking this on R/Weightlifting but the rules include not asking for any medical advice. I’m just wondering if anyone else has experienced this.

I (29F) have worked as a construction plumber for the last 4 years. 8 months ago I started weight training on the side as I find the exercise helps to reduce my stress, and I am hoping that by building a stronger/fit body, I will be better equipped to handle physical stress. I recently got a personal trainer who has introduced some new exercises and is trying to help me take some of my lifts to the next level. I have been pushing myself to near- failure on lifts as I’m trying to take my bench press from 185 lb to 225 lb - for example. I now should be spending an extra half hour more on my lifting sessions that used to be 1 hour.

A few weeks after I started this program I found that my whole body became extremely inflamed with all my joints and muscle fibers feeling as if they are on fire, and that I would uncontrollably bed rot or fall asleep at 5 pm despite having slept enough the night before. It has resulted in me calling in sick for work once despite living a 100% sober lifestyle, just due to feeling physically incapable of getting out of bed. I have also felt physically incapable to go to a majority of these gym sessions. At several gym sessions I have gotten so dizzy that I feel as if I’m going to pass out.

I have a variety of mental/ emotional/ workplace social dynamic stress in my life that leaves me in chronic stress even if I were to not include outside-work exercise.
The advice may be to not push myself too hard in the gym, but honestly the labor I’m doing these days has been less physically demanding than past years, and I am only trying to push myself sufficiently to move towards my goals. I’ve had something similar to this happen at other points in my life not as a result of physical stress on the body, so I’m not sure if giving up weight training is going to be a solution here.

Anyone’s thoughts who has experienced something similar would be great as I can’t think of anyone that could give me a helpful response on this. I imagine a doctor would just suggest to stop training hard, but I’m still trying to incorporate progressive overload strength training into my life

Thanks

Couldn't sleep due to stress and anxiety even after studying 10hr. And then it leads to overthinking of worst cases

been running on fumes for weeks. work is a dumpster fire, my inbox gives me actual anxiety, and I've been grinding my teeth so bad my jaw hurts when I wake up

Weds afternoon I just snapped. Threw some clothes and my sleeping bag in the car and drove north with zero plan. ended up at this place called Ausable Pines up near Peru NY that i found on camp happy grounds while sitting in a mcdonalds parking lot

No agenda. No itinerary. Just sat by the Ausable river for hours watching the water move. didn't check my phone. Didn't answer emails. at one point I realized I'd been staring at the same pine tree for like twenty minutes and my shoulders had actually dropped from where they normally live up by my ears

Slept like a rock. like deep heavy sleep where you wake up and don't immediately remember what day it is

idk how long the effect lasts but for those two days my brain just... stopped spiraling. that's all I got. Sometimes you just need trees and water and zero notifications

So every morning I wake up with a very stiff neck, sore shoulders and a sore back. This has been going on for months. Over the past ten years, this problem has bothered me on and off. Before you ask "have you tried changing mattresses and pillows?", YES, this has been a major quest. I have tried them all, finally settling on what's best for me.

It works for a time. But it's not the equipment. Sometimes, I wake up in the middle of the night and my girlfriend is holding me. She woke me, because she noticed I am completely cramped up all my muscles tightened, shoulders raised. Survival mode. Fight or flight. Suppose I do this every night, no wonder I wake up sore as a boxer, right?

During the day, I try to do everything right. Take lots of breaks, walk, do mindfulness, meditation, stretching. My physical therapists gave me so many exercises that I can fill an entire day doing them. I go to the gym a lot, usually feel better after a workout, having oiled my muscles and spine.

It's the during the night part that I can't control. Any ideas? Hypno therapy to deal with unconscious trauma?

Last who said, let it work out, gratis!

I'm fine, but in constant pain.. The only time i don't have it is when to numb with alcohol, like now.

Tomorrow I will wake, and it start over.

Same body, same pain.

Don't worry, I don't plan to end it..yet

Within the span of 12 months, I have gotten divorced, sold my home, moved into a new house, been hospitalized twice (stress induced), been laid off due to budget cuts (for 5 months before finding new job), started new job, taken a $10k paycut, and had to euthanize my cat (aggressive cancer). I have never had a problem with my weight or body composition (bikini competitor) but the past 5 months I have been eating 250-300 cals more per day (plain leafy greens and plain boiled chicken breast) and have gained 7 lbs. I haven't seen a weight this high in over a decade. I know it's a result of the excess calories brought on by stress... but the stressors have calmed down finally this week and I am still gaining weight. How long did it take your body to recover from extreme, prolonged stress?

This difference feels bigger than people talk about.

Some things definitely help pass the time or shift attention, but they don’t always create that feeling of the body actually coming down. Then there are things that seem to send a stronger “you’re safe, you can soften now” signal.

Would love to know what falls into each category for other people.

What helps you genuinely settle your system, and what only works as a temporary distraction?

How to cope up after heartbreak any advice appreciated

I'm a doctor, and med school was incredibly demanding.
Passing professional exams was challenging enough, and the constant stress took a toll on me. I gained weight during that time. Now I'm preparing for NEET PG, which is another extremely competitive and mentally exhausting exam.
What hurts isn't just the weight gain-it's the lack of emotional support.
Since day one, I've had no shoulder to lean on. Instead, I've faced body shaming from people around me. My mom constantly brings up my weight and tells me it'll be difficult to find a good groom if I don't lose it. I've explained to her that my priority right now is clearing NEET PG, and once it's over, l'll fully dedicate myself to losing weight. But she still keeps bringing it up, making me feel guilty.
She even chose my undergraduate convocation day—a day that was supposed to be special—to remind me that I hadn't lost weight. Instead of celebrating my achievement, she said hurtful things that stayed with me.
It's not like I'm doing nothing. I control my cravings, try to eat mindfully, and do what I can while preparing for one of the toughest exams. I just can't commit to an intense weight-loss routine alongside this preparation.
Has anyone else experienced family members focusing more on your appearance than your mental well-being during a stressful phase of life? How did you deal with it?

Stress ruined my life and at certain point of searching for help i turned into breathing techniques. As i started to practice, I understood that it is not only a matter of breathing technique itself that one has to practice but several other factors. Breathwork doesn't work as strong as pill, in order to achieve measurable results - repetition and consistency is key factor for success.

I started with box breathing because it's the one everyone recommends. It helped, but only when I already had enough presence of mind to actually do it, during a real spike it was the last thing on my mind. What actually changed things for me was making it a fixed part of my day, same time, whether I "needed" it that day or not, until it stopped being something I had to remember and just became normal.

Then i started with hyperventilation, which helped me (among many others things) to deal with chronic inflammation caused by the chronic stress. Hyperventilation gives a lot of satisfaction because one can feel that day by day capable of doing stronger, deeper breaths, longer holds that directly translates to body endurance and is able to observe it on breathwork time measurement. Hyperventilation is intense, energizing kind of breathwork so it is definitely not while in the middle of heavy stress.

That pursue for discovering of new breathing techniques got me building my own breathing app (Breather) on the side as solo developer. I am improving it on weekly basis with new features and was wondering what worked for others here. Not just which technique, but what made it actually stick for you, was it the technique itself, a routine around it, tracking it somehow, or something else entirely? Still figuring out what's actually worth building next, so genuinely want to know.

I’ve been having one of those stretches where I don’t feel full-on anxious exactly, but I do feel weirdly restless all day. Like I can’t settle into anything, I keep switching tasks, and even when I sit down to relax I still feel kind of “on.”

I’m trying to figure out what actually helps when stress looks more like that than a visible breakdown. Not really looking for deep life advice, just practical things people do when their body feels tense and their brain won’t land anywhere.

If you deal with this too, what actually takes the edge off? Movement, shower, journaling, music, doing nothing, some other little routine?

I have my problems…I’m not judging.

I’m asking because I see how a lot of people get stressed out easily and as I get older, I wonder is there something they could apply to help keep calm, do they care too much sometimes, do they have different genetics that cause them to be more driven by emotions of anxiety, fear, anger, etc? Not a knock on anyone I just want to be understanding and be helpful if needed.

I'm 17, currently doing A Levels, and I genuinely feel like I'm reaching my limit.

The constant pressure, expectations, deadlines, and fear about the future have left me mentally and emotionally drained. I wake up stressed, go to sleep stressed, and lately I've been crying a lot because it feels like no matter how hard I try, it's never enough.

I'm so tired. I don't even know if I'm burnt out, overwhelmed, or just weak. I just know I don't feel like myself anymore.

Has anyone else gone through this at my age? How did you cope with the pressure without completely falling apart? Does it actually get better?

I could really use some advice or even just to know I'm not alone. Mental health has been ruined 🥀🥀🥀 if I don't make this year I ll be disappointed

please help. i just finished junior year so im at the most crucial time for college apps, and ive been so overwhelmed; for weeks i haven’t been able to fall asleep at night because my mind is racing.

i have good stats (1580 SAT) and am doing a lot already (cancer research with nyu langone professor, other research, published papers, hospital volunteering, clinical shadowing, etc etc) but i feel like its never enough. i want to go to stanford, but ill also be applying to bs/md programs. and it all just seems like im nowhere near good enough or doing enough.

but a lot of it is still up in the air and uncertain - the paper i’m publishing may take longer, the professor may refuse to write my rec letter, etc. i just - god, thinking about it is making me panic.

and getting into college is only the first step - then med school, residency, huge debts, my prospects just are so overwhelming. i know it sounds stupid and people always say it’s just college or whatever that i’ll figure it out, but i feel so out of control. it’s like there’s so much to do and so, so, so, so much uncertainty around Everything. there’s so much uncertainty and places i could go wrong or steps i could miss.

and i don’t have any idea of what “trying my best” looks like. people tell me it’s fine as long as i try my best, but what is that exactly? did i try my best studying for a test if i got 8 hours of sleep the night before? maybe i could’ve spent 2 of those hours studying more? or maybe i could’ve studied instead of socializing during lunch? or?

i don’t know. does anyone else understand what i mean? if this makes sense? i just feel so horrible. my parents aren’t even really pressuring me to go to an ivy or anything, it’s more that people expect me to go to a good school because they think im smart and capable. i’d rather not prove them wrong, but, well.

this feeling of being overwhelmed - i just constantly, CONSTANTLY feel like there’s a panic attack barely being suppressed and i can’t breathe when i think about any of this. but i can’t avoid it, because i have to do it eventually. all of it. i dont even know what it all is yet.

i dont know. can anyone offer anything at all - advice, similar feelings, anything? please.