r/Stress

apparently neutral expression does NOT mean “look emotionally dead inside.”

Every time I'm genuinely stressed — not just mildly anxious but actually overwhelmed — the standard advice feels impossible. "Take deep breaths." "Meditate." "Journal your feelings."

I've found that when stress hits a certain level, I need to actually release something before I can calm down. Like the stress cycle needs to complete before stillness is even accessible.

Curious if others experience this — that emotional decompression has to come before emotional regulation? What actually works for you when you're past the point where breathing exercises help?

You sit down. Phone face down. Nothing urgent. And somehow the loop keeps going. Replaying things from earlier, rehearsing things that haven't happened yet. That wired-but-tired state is its own specific kind of exhausted. It's not about sleep. It's about the nervous system not getting a clear signal that the day is actually done.

The things that seem to actually help are consistent temperature cues (warm bath or shower at the same time each night), a scent that only gets used in the wind-down window, and lowering the light level earlier than feels necessary. None of those require energy. They're environmental, not effortful.

What shifts the mental noise for you when the day keeps running in your head?

Maybe one year of venting out on GPT, Claude and other AI, I realized it just made me feel good at the moment. It just said good things about me and helped me process it better, but eventually I think it did not add any value, just creating the illusion of me getting better. Finally, I decided to build something cool for myself.
I don't have that much money to pay a therapist as of now, so I thought, let's make an AI which actually works and it's not like GPT or other AIs , truly understand me, remembers me, and try to nudge me in the right direction is not built to optimize more and more usage or engagement. But actually, keeping me accountable to the promises I make for the goals I want to achieve and help me be a bit more emotionally intelligent and aware so that I'm less stressed
Do you think it's possible to do this, or would you try something like that?

this has been happening for months.. I lie down in bed, relax and even before I fall asleep, an endless movement of fingers, hands, head, legs begins, most often hands.. sometimes I have a bang in my head, other times a hypnotic bang, these things keep me awake for hours... please tell me, is there anyone in this situation?

For the last four months, I’ve been throwing up most days of the week, usually in the evenings and sometimes in the mornings after eating. I’ve been on and off antacids for the last couple of months, and I recently got an endoscopy done three days ago. Everything came back completely normal. no acidity, no mucus, nothing abnormal. My doctor told me I need to manage my stress. I am honestly shocked to find out that nothing is wrong with me physically and I did not anticipate that being stressed can cause me this much pain physically. I’m shocked.

I started doing breathwork and pranayama over the last two days. Sometimes I’m completely fine for a few days and don’t throw up at all. When I take Domstal, it usually helps, but on other days the vomiting comes back.

The last year has been very stressful. I was unemployed for almost 10 months, and towards the end of it I was extremely anxious. My husband was also going through a difficult phase, so the past few months have been emotionally heavy overall. I started a new in-office role in March, and while I’m grateful for it, I feel constantly exhausted and stressed. By the time I get home, cooking and managing daily life feels overwhelming, however I do manage everything. I puke even though I try to eat healthy, balanced meals and avoid greasy food.

I do smoke in the evenings, and my husband thinks that may be contributing to the vomiting. I’m honestly not sure anymore.

What’s been worrying me more lately is how emotionally reactive I’ve become. Even small arguments or upsetting conversations make me feel shaky, extremely anxious, and emotionally dysregulated. It takes me almost a full night’s sleep to feel normal again, and even then I keep replaying things in my head for hours.

I’m considering therapy, but I wanted to ask — has anyone else gone through something similar? Stress showing up physically like this? Constant nausea, vomiting, anxiety, emotional overwhelm? What helped you? Right now I just feel very alone in this experience.

i have bad anxiety I took these gummies and the first 2 days I really liked them, they helped me sleep and I felt really calm.I’m on day three and I feel sooo spacey and out of it, I was at the store and started to dissociate really bad and started to have an anxiety attack it was scary. I know this is only a supplement but has anyone else had a bad experience with this??

Morning stress feels like pressure to start.
Afternoon stress feels more like my brain is full and my body is tired but still tense.
That’s usually when I notice the shallow breathing, tight shoulders, and the feeling that every small task is heavier than it should be.
I’ve been trying a small pause around that time.
Not a full meditation. Just looking away from the screen and breathing slower for a minute.
Does stress feel different for you depending on the time of day?

I started my teaching practicum about a week ago, and I’ve been working late almost every day since then.

On the first day, I still had enough energy to smile, greet people, and act friendly. But as the days passed, I started to feel more and more drained.

Now even simple things like smiling, greeting, or waving to people feel surprisingly exhausting. I find myself wishing I could just be invisible sometimes—like “air”—so I wouldn’t have to constantly react when someone talks to me.

In our culture, especially in schools, I feel like I always need to initiate greetings when I meet someone older, and I have to smile all the time to avoid being seen as rude or unfriendly. If I don’t, I might be seen as disrespectful or even “arrogant,” which could affect evaluations.

Today I also joined a school camp activity with many students. Even though I wasn’t leading the activity, I felt overwhelmed by the noise, voices, and constant stimulation. It felt like my nervous system was tense the entire time.

I’m starting to wonder how people usually cope with this kind of social exhaustion. Or maybe I’m just not suited to being a teacher?

At the same time, I understand that most jobs require some level of social interaction, so I’ve been trying my best to adjust—smiling, greeting, and engaging with others even though I’m naturally not very social.

But honestly… I feel very drained.

throwaway, i am dealing with a lot of uncertainty and uncomfortable situations in my personal and work life. Im worried about getting too specific because i think someone could tell who i am based on details. Long and short of it is, family dynamic flipped almost overnight and i am no longer wanted, tension with roommate over something minor but it’s putting a lot of stress and anger on my partner which is in turn making me feel some strain in the relationship. The combination of all of this is so intense that i am seriously suicidal. I haven’t felt this hopeless in years and im worried getting worse. I spiral really bad (magical thinking ocd) and with think myself into a pit so deep i end up in the ER. I’m just scared and feel stuck and lost

Lately I feel like my brain’s been permanently stuck in work mode even after the day ends. Like constantly overstimulated and exhausted at the same time :( I usually default to too much caffeine during the day (3-4cups of coffee daily) and doomscrolling at night that makes my insomnia worse.
I recently started experimenting with Cornbread cbd gummies for stress at night, it's only been 2 days but I slept earlier and less anxiety before sleep as well. Still figuring out what actually works for me, but curious about other people’s experiences with CBD for stress. How did it work for you? and does it affect you in the long run?

For over a year now, I have been facing work-related stress that has reached a point where I get anxious every day. I lack the energy I used to have before, making even normal daily tasks feel overwhelming.

At this point, I find myself torn between remaining in the same job position that I am in despite being overwhelmed, but then again, not knowing what else to do due to financial obligations. Any suggestions on dealing with this issue will be highly appreciated.

How does one begin working out with chronic stress? If I go relatively intense, I get headaches, insomnia, and poor libido after a while. It seems like the most I can get away with is 1 set per exercise 2-3× a week. I can't even do a full routine without issues. My body doesnt relax despite working out earlier in the day.

The more I read about digestion and gut health, the more it seems like stress affects symptoms way more than most people realize.

A lot of people focus heavily on:

• probiotics
• supplements
• elimination diets
• avoiding trigger foods

But then notice their worst flare-ups happen during:

• anxiety
• poor sleep
• burnout
• stressful periods
• emotional overwhelm

even when their food stays mostly the same.

Curious what people here experienced personally.

Did stress reduction noticeably improve:

• bloating
• constipation
• IBS symptoms
• stomach discomfort
• appetite issues
• nervous stomach feelings

Or do you think food choices mattered much more?

Would love to hear real experiences rather than generic advice.

Salut à toutes et tous,

Je ne sais pas si je poste au bon endroit (désolé c’est mon premier post ), mais je voudrais vous parler de ma situation qui est plutôt bonne, mais sur laquelle je ressens toujours un stress financier.

J’ai 30 ans, je suis commercial auto, je viens plutôt bien ma vie salaire annuel entre 43k et 69k entre 2022-2025 , j’ai réussi à mettre un certain capital de côté à peu près 50 000 €, mais je ressens toujours un stress financier comme si cela n’était pas suffisant

C’est peut-être dû au mode de fonctionnement de ma rémunération qui repose sur un fixe très bas, moins de 1200 € brut et le reste en variable.

J’ai toujours un sentiment ou ce que j’ai n’est jamais assez, avant je me disais 20 000 € après 30 000 € après 40 000 et ainsi de suite de côté serait suffisant, j’avais lu un truc qui s’appel l’adaptation hédoniste.

Avez-vous des conseils pour sortir de cette situation

Je suis désolé d’être un peu long, mais ça me tenait à cœur de partager mon expérience et je ne veux vraiment pas que mon message soit perçu comme une fausse plainte.

Merci d’avance à vous tous

I clench my teeth often, both while sleeping and while awake, especially when I’m focused on doing something. I’m an overthinker and get stressed easily. I bought a night guard, but I couldn’t get used to it... Any suggestions?

Sometimes work ends, but my body doesn’t get the message.

The laptop is closed. The call is over. The message is sent.

But my shoulders are still tight, my jaw is stiff, and my brain keeps replaying the whole thing like there’s still something to fix.

I’m trying to use a small breathing pause as a transition. Not meditation. Not a big routine. Just
one minute to tell my body the task is done.

Does anyone else carry work stress into the rest of the day?

Lately, I’ve noticed even during “rest,” my brain still feels busy somehow.

Notifications, overthinking, multitasking, parenting, trying to reply to everyone, remembering random things at 2 am… it honestly feels nonstop.

I miss the feeling of genuinely relaxing without mentally carrying ten things at once.

What’s actually helping people decompress lately that isn’t another productivity trend?

I've recently quit my job with a one month resignation period. I have two weeks of work left and then I'm free from the job. During this middle-ground period though, it's really difficult to let go of the stress that the remaining tasks are causing me, even though they'll not be my responsibility much longer. I find myself typing really fast, my pulse is quite high, and taking breaks feels really difficult. I also feel like my soon-to-be ex-colleagues are all really stressed about me leaving, and it's almost like their stress is contagious, like I'm not allowed to feel relaxed about leaving. I'm worried that the stress will follow me even after I'm done with the job and have no more responsibilities left for my employer. Any ideas on what to do?