r/anxiety_support

I recently joined a very small company where there were only 4 people in the office, including the boss.

From the very first day, I felt extremely uncomfortable there. The environment made me feel like I was trapped in a jail. I would start getting headaches, and whenever my boss called me, I felt a sudden sense of anxiety, like I had gotten myself into a situation I didn’t want to be in.

It wasn’t that anyone was rude to me. I just felt mentally suffocated and constantly stressed. The office atmosphere felt heavy, and I was counting the hours until I could leave.

I’ve worked before and never experienced this kind of reaction, so I’m trying to understand what might have caused it.

Has anyone else felt this way in a very small office or with a certain work environment?

What could be the reason behind this?

Anxiety?

Toxic atmosphere?

Feeling isolated?

Claustrophobia?

Something else?

I’d appreciate hearing if others have had a similar experience and what you think might be happening.

All my life, I’ve felt like there’s someone holding my throat and this heavy feeling in my chest that makes it hard to breathe. I can’t speak properly. I don’t know why anxiety pulls me back so much. Everything I want to achieve requires talking to people, but I just can’t do it. The more I try, the more embarrassed I feel.

Because of this, I don’t socialize, I don’t participate, and I avoid things. I had a meeting today that’s still going on right now. I knew since earlier that it was at 9:30 PM, but I couldn’t get myself to do any work the whole day because I was so anxious about it. I just wanted it to start and end so I could finally feel free again. I spent hours scrolling reels just to distract myself from this weird feeling in my chest.

I want to achieve so many things. I want to lead, I want to talk in groups, but I just can’t. When I joined the meeting, they were asking simple questions while everyone was joining, like “What’s something good that happened this week?” Even before they called my name, I was already anxious, thinking, “What if they ask me? What will I say?” I kept overthinking everything.

Then suddenly, I lost the audio and couldn’t hear anything, and at the same time, my name got called. I panicked. I opened my mic, but it wasn’t working either. I couldn’t respond, and they moved on, but my anxiety didn’t. It got even worse. Everyone kept talking, but their words felt overwhelming to me at that moment. I felt so embarrassed and uncomfortable that I left and messaged that I was having technical issues and couldn’t join.

And now I’m here panicking over something that probably isn’t even a big deal to anyone else. I don’t understand why it feels so huge to me. Why can’t I talk like normal people without feeling breathless?

I have zero friends. It’s my summer break, and I honestly don’t know how to get out of this position. Am I alone in feeling like this? Will I ever be able to make friends and feel normal around people?

I had two brief encounters with the same man in different places (a quiet path and later a shop), and I’m not sure if I’m overthinking it or if it was just awkward eye contact.

First time, I saw him on a narrow quiet path. He suddenly looked up and had a fixed grin while passing me. He kept eye contact for about 10 seconds from about 10m all the way he passed me.As his smile was unnatural I slowed down but tried not to show fear.

Second time, I saw him again in a shop at the till. I was about to put groceries on the till but I felt staring sensation.He stared at me for a few seconds even after I noticed him. I felt uneasy and ended up moving away to another till.

He didn’t speak to me or approach me either time.

I can’t tell if I’m reading too much into it because the first encounter already made me feel on edge, or if the eye contact in both situations was actually unusual.Would appreciate outside perspectives

i get so anxious before appointments that by the time i'm actually sitting there i forget literally everything. like i spend weeks noticing symptoms, thinking "i need to mention this" and then the doctor walks in and my brain just... empties

last time i drove home and remembered like 4 things i forgot to say and just cried in the car lol not lol actually

i've been thinking maybe i should start writing stuff down or use some kind of app but idk where to even start. do you guys have any system for this or am i the only one who turns into a completely different person the moment a doctor looks at me 😭

I am a man in my thirties. Most of my conscious life I am have been aware of my proclivity to avoid conflict, flee from confrontation. Now I want to get rid of it but I feel physically sick when being forced to confront someone. I freeze, my heartbeat explodes, my thoughts race, I feel depleted even before I do anything. This has become unbearable, the shame of knowing that I cannot overcome my cowardice and I do not want to be a disgrace for my son and my wife. Therapy had not helped me. I have tried martial arts for some time then I stopped it. I look at myself in the mirror and I hate myself. The perpetuation of this state takes me to dark places.

I have nothing else to lose which is why I want reach out and seek for help from strangers.

I can't be the only one going through this. Please help me with your advice.

Has anyone had success overcoming severe anxiety with a Neuro plasticity program? I have looked into several and would like one that uses both Christian Faith and Science. They do not have to be mutually exclusive and I just wonder if anyone has tried one of these types of programs and get some feedback.

I moved home just before the pandemic to go back to school and have been here since. The last year or so I’ve been looking to buy a home of my own. I’ve struggled with being home alone when my parents are away for multiple days. I’ve gotten panic attacks and had to ask other family to come stay with me. I’ve spent the last few years really working on my anxiety and pushing myself to start a new job, go out with friends, go on dates and all that. But that’s one thing I still really struggle with. I work with a therapist and we talk about how a transition to my own home may look unconventional where I start with one day a week and gradually increase or spend days there for a while before sleeping alone. I’ve also been looking at homes that have in law apartments for a family member who needs affordable housing anyways.

So the housing market sucks and I haven’t found anything. While looking for a home, I’ve also been considering building a house on a piece of family land my dad said I could have. I’ve done a lot of research and work contacting people and getting quotes and I finally have a builder I like who is working on a final quote. It’s not a perfect lot but I’m willing to work with what I’ve got.

Last night my dad told me we were going to see a house nearby because he think I should buy that instead of building. He’s so hot and cold about the idea of building where one minute he’s all for and the next he’s skeptical and totally against it. Well last night he told me he doesn’t think I can do it. He said I’m too brittle. He said I wouldn’t be able to live on my own and I’d just come crawling back home and end up selling the house anyways. He said all the awful things I think on my worst days out loud. Not only is he not supportive but he’s beaten me down and made me feel small.

I try so hard but I feel like everyone will always see me as this fragile person because of this thing -anxiety- that I never asked for and that I work to move through everyday.

Small small things bother me and give me anxiety and panic. I know those problems are resolvable yet my mind keeps harping on it leaving me disturbed and anxious. I don't know if it happens with other people or not. Is there a remedy?

does anyone take Ativan or any other benzodiazepine for their social anxiety. Ativan has helped me be more relaxed and anxiety provoking situations, including social interactions. I’ve heard it’s not a long term treatment solution but i don’t know what to do once my doctor stops prescribing it to me.

Does anyone else get really confused by verbal instructions and then feel stupid afterward?

Today my dad was trying to explain something on a video call about the TV and I got completely mixed up and started looking in the wrong place. He reacted like I was hopeless and now I feel embarrassed.

Lately I’ve also noticed I don’t really feel pleasure or interest in things I used to enjoy.

I’ve kind of always been like this — hyperactive, overwhelmed by instructions sometimes, irritable when people explain things too fast, etc. I’m wondering if I have low iq?

So I've been taking hydroxyzine as an as-needed situation. It kind of helps to calm me down when I'm panicking. So far I think it kind of does help me when I'm anxious. However, now I'm being told should probably take something else because I had mentioned that my anxiety peaked a couple times in the last month and my chest started beating at 140 beats per minute. I was able to take the hydroxyzine and calm down but now a regular physician's assistant wants to offer me sertraline.

The problem is I feel like some of my recent anxiety is being caused by an inner ear issue that I've been dealing with trying to clear up fluid in the ear allegedly so I'm thinking that is making my anxiety flare up more than it normally would.

Now I'm not sure why my anxiety peaked I know that about 5 years ago I was using some cannabis and all the sudden I felt dizzy. My vision got blurry. I started pacing around. I felt like I was having a heart attack this is after smoking some potent cannabis.

I felt horrible for several days so then I made the decision to stop using cannabis.

Now I know some people will say that it helps them with their issues. Sometimes that's true. At first I didn't have a problem with it all these years. 20 years of using the stuff then all the sudden one day I felt strange. So now I don't use it anymore.

So what happened was during that time I was taking the hydroxyzine from the hospital. I ended up getting some from my doctor after that ran out it seemed like that was helping I went to my doctor's office and I met with a different provider while my other one was tied up and I told her what was going on. I said I was using some cannabis and I felt weird and she kind of agreed. It sounded like a panic attack. The doctor at the hospital that I spoke with one time he kind of said that like you don't know if all cannabis is going to do the same thing to you. He said you could try a different kind and maybe it won't do anything to you or maybe it will.

So that was reassuring but still I managed to cut it out. Mostly I tried to pick it up a few times and it seemed like I didn't need much and I felt somewhat anxious.

One time I tried some of these diamonds I took a hit and I felt really weird and I drove home from my friend's house which was 10 minutes away and I somehow made it home and I snapped out of it enough to not have a panic attack but I was pretty close at that point but somehow I was able to overcome the sensation enough which I thought was interesting because smoking the diamonds are stronger than smoking a joint I would assume but I guess the point is it still made me anxious so I decided I should probably relax from it. So now I don't hardly touch anything. If I'm drinking a couple of beers or an alcohol drink, maybe I'll take a puff or two and nothing happens. It seems like I'm okay but I don't think I could pick it up on the regular on a normal day. You just start taking Puffs off of a joint because I think I would panic.

After 20 plus years I somehow managed to overcome that habit It wasn't easy waking up sweating then feeling cold with the chills and wet from the sweating.

Anyways I won't sidetrack I guess too much but I figured I'd share that with some of you because that's part of the story gives a little background as to what I could be dealing with. And I'm sure some of you in here have dealt with something like that before too and didn't know how to approach it. I'm still learning myself.

So now what's going on here is I had the whole ear issue an vertigo it's been 6 weeks I'd say and the issue hasn't fully resolved itself I still have some type of ocean noise going on and partially blocked hearing mostly in the left ear so that probably isn't helping my anxiety any.

So basically after I had my first panic attack when I was using cannabis then I went to the hospital and then the doctor's office and all that good stuff. The lady suggested well since you told me a relative tried paxil and they did pretty well then maybe we could try you on some of that so I said what the hell what could it hurt? So they started me off with 25 mg I took it for 7 to 10 days and boy let me tell you it was intense lot of weird stuff going on I couldn't do it longer than that.

It seemed like for 3 days of taking the medication I felt great Kind of most of the day high energy I felt like I could get stuff done and I had no panic or worry then all the sudden around the 4th or the 5th day. I noticed around 5:00 or 6:00 at night. I felt like no matter what I was doing I was going to pass out like I was getting tired in some way and I needed to go home. So if I was in a store I would have to like leave and go home to my bed It was really weird happened at the same time pretty much everyday. It was on the third day of this that I realized that if I took a hydroxyzine about 30 minutes later I would snap out of whatever it was that was going on. I would feel like awake and alive all the sudden again. Then I could get out of bed around 7:00 at night and I could go to bed by 12 or 1 am I understand that this might sound weird to some people. I thought it was odd too. When I took the antihistamine all the sudden I was alive again it seemed like. But of course that's when I started noticing a bunch of weird side effects and things going on with the medication which we won't get into unless someone really wants to know what it's like for some people taking paxil I could reply with some of the side effects I ended up discontinuing it couldn't handle it for more than 7 to 10 days and getting off of it was hell. I made sure that I did my best to not just jump right off of it after I read up on it, I took a half a pill one day then I pretty much just stopped it now I know that it is suggested that you don't do that with certain types of meds and it can be dangerous. I kind of read into that, but I felt so weird and horrible that I felt like I had to get away from it as fast as possible. I've heard it could be worse if I'd taken the medication for a longer duration. I thought tapering from a full dose to a half a dose made sense but I might have been wrong.

So now with my current situation my primary care PA is offering me a different medication to try and I've tried to explain to them that I did not do well with the paxil medication but I don't think they really listen to me. They just explained to me a bunch of nonsense about how sertraline isn't paxil It's different even though when I was in in a group called surviving antidepressants something to that effect. I saw a post from somebody where they put paxil/ sertraline as the headline of the topic so it always sounded to me like they were the same drug basically. However, this doctor is implying that it does something different and it's a little easier to manage.

Basically what she told me was this sertraline the most it Will do Is cause stomach pain, nausea or diarrhea now that's what's scaring me and making me more anxious because I know that they haven't discussed the full consequences benefits of the drug with me which kind of upsets me at the same time they just threw something out there and said well why don't you try this.

What kind of annoys me is the fact that the first doctor lady allowed me to take paxil didn't discuss anything with me about it. Didn't mention that it could cause horrible side effects or screw people up for the rest of their life. Possibly did not even inform me that it was a powerful type of serotonin medication. Wasn't told that you could possibly get serotonin syndrome or anything of the sort. Wasn't told about any of those weird side effects that I experienced and I feel like the same thing is going on now. They're willing to just stick a med-on to me, but they have not informed me of the possibility of bad reactions.

I feel like I'm going to have the same type of problems that I had with the previous medication. Maybe worse maybe not so bad but It's the same type of medication basically It's a powerful SSRI and I didn't do well with it and I'm not being prescribed it by a mental health doctor, which is another thing that scares me I'm not depressed everyday. Once in awhile I might feel depressed. Probably because I'm having a health crisis. I'm having an issue and it's making me anxious and upset and feeling defeated. So does that mean you just throw a medication around at a person and say here you go just take this.

Has anybody on here ever had a similar experience? Was there anything that you were able to do to overcome these obstacles? Was there any way that you were able to overcome your anxiety and keep it manageable after experiencing it from maybe long-term cannabis use that somehow developed.

I've heard of different things from different research of reading up where a person's body could start to change as they get older and they could end up becoming more anxious somehow. Or maybe cannabis didn't make you anxious before, but now that you're older, your chemistry has changed to where it makes you feel anxious instead of sedated and calming maybe the fact that I was using cannabis along with tobacco rolling cannabis in tobacco leaves. Maybe that caused more anxiety because I was adding a stimulant in the mix plus I was also drinking three or four cups of coffee a day from places.

Maybe all of this together didn't help I feel like I'm starting to slip back into a repetitive hole I tried to exercise once in awhile plus there is this factor where I live in an environment that has at least 6 months of cold weather I live in the Northeast part of the country so we have a lot of people with lack of vitamin d and it becomes so cold that during the winter you don't really want to get outside and exercise.

Now this post is getting dragged out but bear with me though folks, I am struggling.

I would also like to add that during the several weeks of kind of panicking like when I got off the cannabis the first couple of weeks I noticed that like when I tried to go into a supermarket to get myself some food to do some shopping I had a friend bring me and I felt like I couldn't be in the store for more than 5 minutes or I started getting worried and my vision was blurry and foggy. It was like I had a state of brain fog and I would have to go back to the car after paying for my items as quick as possible then eventually over time I was able to be in the store for say 15 minutes and then I would try to get out of there.

As of the last few years I find myself being able to go into a store and walk around for a half an hour if I need to or 40 minutes if need be. Looking for items and I don't really have to rush out of the store based on the ear problem, the whole fluid vertigo thing I find that in the last few weeks I kind of felt like I couldn't stay in the store as long because of being annoyed by not being able to hear anything out of the left ear and walking around not understanding what people were fully saying now that should make sense based on the condition I'm dealing with.

The other thing, which is the final thing that I will mention to everyone is that I noticed there is times in the past 5 years where I would go camping and try to go out to eat at a restaurant during the adventure or just out to eat in general. Maybe to the local steakhouse or maybe some Chinese food and it's like I feel like sometimes I am really overly nervous and worried and it's like I have to leave. I want to go out to the car and leave its like I can't stay in the restaurant because I feel nervous can't even finish the meal the problem is I don't recall if like I were to take a hydroxyzine before I get to the place then go in maybe I would feel better and snap out of it but I can't really remember if that helped really frustrating when you're trying to have a good time and you can't even enjoy a meal like you used to.

I do remember one time I went to visit a relative and I got up and we were supposed to like go to the store and get some groceries and make some breakfast sandwiches. And at that point I felt like I was really anxious and I had to leave and drive 3 hours home. I ended up taking one of the hydroxyzines and then I started to head down the road and it seemed like once I got on the highway I kind of felt normal again less anxious.

So there it is some of my story a big effing book If anybody here can help me decipher what I could possibly do try and help me overcome some of these issues would be greatly appreciated.

Hey everyone. I’m at the verge of graduating my masters. I have my defense for my thesis coming up at the end of May. Knowing myself, I tend to get extremely anxious as I’m dealing with an anxiety disorder and perfectionism.

A couple of years ago I had used Valerian pills for a very short time to get my driving licence. It didn’t really work, but my friend told me it was because I didn’t use it long enough. I was thinking of starting Valerian now for the defense, but I’m afraid it‘ll end up making me too drowsy or confused. What is your experience on Valerian and have you found it to work well with things like exams etc?

It sucks how little empathy some people have just because they can’t relate. It’s really isolating knowing I’ve spent years feeling a kind of physical and mental heaviness that a lot of people haven’t even felt for five minutes. It feels hopeless sometimes.

Death Anxiety :

Does anyone else here suffer from severe anxiety thinking about death ??

Some nights in bed, I could be relaxing and just about to fall asleep, and the next thing - death just suddenly pops into my mind.

And then I go into full panic mode as then I starting thinking about

my own death.

Knowing that one day that I will have to die and leave this earth. I don't know I think it's just a huge fear of the "unknown" after it.

I just fear that what if it's all just black after we die, It's just black and nothing else forever. It's just that thought and it's absolutely terrifying the hell outta me

Does anyone else here have this sudden thought at night ?? Or how can I overcome this fear ??

Thank you

Hello. I'm not really a reddit person, but I need some advice and I don't really have anywhere else to turn. So apologies if I am doing this wrong, but here we go.

I (30M) am in a long distance relationship (28F) for 2 years now and things have gone great. We have met a few times and we have great chemistry. We love each other and we're both in this for the long term, but when it comes to sex I am extremely anxious and struggling.

Growing up I was a very shy and quiet person. I was made fun of a lot, teased and bullied for being awkward and quiet, so I kept to myself without really having any friends (no brothers or sisters either). Needless to say I don't have any sexual experience either. Then enter my gf. We met by chance online and we fell for each other. And when we decided to date we eventually started doing phone sex (sharing pics, videos, on call etc) and it was always great and fun. We both enjoyed it. She had always complimented that my penis was "nice and big", which I just took as her just being nice or liking it, because I had always considered myself to be around average to below average size.

When we met the first time my confidence started to waiver a lot. I was staying with her for a week, and she had bought condoms for us to use. The condom was too small. I ordered some Magnum XL's and had them delivered, also too small. She says something like "wow you are really big" jokingly and mentions the dildo she had been using while we were apart. I ask to see it and compare. Now, my penis is average length when hard, but the girth was twice the size of her dildo. I ended up using a measuring tool and having to order custom size condoms of the max girth the company made.

Now I know a lot of men are probably thinking I'm gloating or something, but I'm not, and this is why. While I might be big down there, she is small. She has mentioned she's worried I might be too big or it being painful. Now combine my lack of experience, anxiety, pressure to perform within the few days we have together, (not used to wearing a condom obviously since I didn't even know my own dick size), and fear of hurting her; I was never able to perform while we were together, and I would go soft every time. I've talked with her about it and she understood and has been very patient with me and understanding. We've been able to do other sexual things together, just not actual sex.

I'm seeing her again soon and obviously I really want to have sex with her and I'm worried about disappointing her again. While she is a little anxious about it too, she's willing and I'm the one not performing when the time comes. Can anyone help give some advice on how to get through the anxiety and perform? Or has anyone gone through a similar situation? Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

Side note: I do not drink so I can't have a drink to "loosen up", and we are well equipped with lube. My biggest problem is my own anxiousness and dealing with the pressure.

This anxiety attack, this heaviness in my chest, this feeling of being unable to breathe…

Sometimes the people who once felt like home become the very reason you no longer feel safe within yourself and they destroy the version of you that once knew how to love without fear.

Hope someday I will over come my anxiety and depression 😔

If you have any idea to get rid of this thing please help me out !

Where do i start i am a 29yr old (F) starting last year i was having really bad anxiety to the point i wanted to kill myself. Last July I was in and out of the ER (8 visits to be exact) for migraines and thoughts of having a brain tumor. I had ct scans with contrast that ahowed a clear scan and found out that my body was adjusting to a orchiectomy i had 2 months prior. Started feeling great as soon as i started taking vitamin supplements. Months go by and im fine. But then February hits and i end up having a small ulcer in my stomach that was bleeding and causing stomach pain. I was convinced i had colon cancer but went on a bland diet and took meds that healed it over the last 3 months. Didnt help that i was reading about James Van der Beak and Chadwick Boseman and their colon cancer symptoms which caused me to spiral into thinking i had colon cancer and was going to die. But now within the last week I have been having a soreness on my right arm near the muscle with a tingling feeling down to my fingers. I ended up finding out actor Eric Dane had passed from ALS which sent me down a rabbit hole of ALS symptoms which now has convinced me that i have it despite being able to grab things and have no other symptoms aside from a sore muscle and tingling. I feel like i keep moving on to something else every couple months and im scared that this anxiety is going to take over my life. I dont know what to do. I convince myself i have an illness and then cry for months until it goes away. Im scared.

I dont want this anxiety to rule my life. Im scared its pushong others away.

I am a 15 year old boy who is plagued with tons of problems but that has never stopped me. But recently i have been having anxiety issues about death. It all started about 2 months ago when I don’t know how it came up but I just started thinking about death. it lead me down into a rabbit hole of growing old and not being able to control my body and seeing my family go just the fear of not knowing what’s ahead and what I can control  dying sounds scary like how in the end your systems just start shutting down and you have no control . If you have any coping strategies or anything to say please let me know.