I am 28yo male. I have that job that I wished for. I have someone that loves me a lot. But lately I have starting to not enjoy life anymore. Every hobby that I had does not give me joy anymore. Going out with friends doesn't give me any joy. I hate that I have to spend my next 40 years working a random job.

The thing is sometimes I imagine myself rich and having everything that I wish for and STILL I do not see myself happy. I have no suicidal thoughts but I feel just empty.

I would like to know your opinions on this any how you helped yourself in the same situation or where did you asked for help?

hello everyone, i am 20F and i am kinda in a rough patch these past few months as my anxiety heightened. right now its night time and i kinda need someone to talk to and discuss about yall’s opinion on the afterlife and religion. i remembered i woke up at 2 am the other day because i was overthinking about the afterlife after we lost a loved one recently. maybe someone out there can have some time to talk with me it would be greatly appreciated. i feel kinda anxious right now and i don’t have anyone to talk to…

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I've been having these thoughts of eating myself. I really want to cut my flesh out and eat it. Im not sure why. I am very close to doing it. I have bought some topical anaesthetic. I'm not sure how to tell a psychologist about this without sounding weird.

https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/hlth\_cd\_aro\_\_custom\_22359215/bookmark/table?lang=en&bookmarkId=cba4d3da-f923-45d1-a35f-10e8b7c906e0&c=1786435165000

Imagine you're standing inside a large building.

On the wall is an emergency exit map.

At first, you can see the whole thing clearly.

There are exits in several directions.

There are stairwells.

There are other rooms you can access.

There are people you can reach.

There are different routes you could take.

The map hasn't changed.

There are still multiple ways out.

This is how life can look when we're experiencing emotional pain but still have access to hope, perspective, relationships, problem-solving, and the ability to imagine tomorrow.

You can think:

“This hurts, but maybe something can change.”

“Maybe someone will understand.”

“I don't know what to do yet, but there might be another way.”

Then the building starts filling with smoke.

The map is still there.

But you can't see it as clearly anymore.

One exit becomes difficult to see.

Then another.

The smoke represents the things that can accompany overwhelming psychological pain:

“I can't do this.”

“Nobody will understand.”

“I'm a burden.”

“Nothing is ever going to change.”

“I've tried everything.”

“This will never stop.”

Notice what has happened.

The map did not become smaller.

The other exits did not necessarily disappear.

The person's ability to access and perceive those exits became smaller.

As the smoke gets thicker, fewer possibilities remain visible.

Eventually, there may be one exit that dominates the person's entire field of vision.

And from inside that building, that one exit can begin to look like the only logical way out.

This is one way to understand suicidal thinking.

The suicidal brain isn't necessarily saying:

“I want death.”

It may be saying:

“I need this pain to stop, and I cannot see another way to make that happen.”

That distinction matters.

Because if the problem is perceived as “there is only one exit,” the answer isn't necessarily to argue with the person about whether that exit exists.

The first task is to help clear the smoke.

Reduce the intensity.

Create distance from the immediate crisis.

Bring another person into the building.

Help restore perspective.

Reconnect the person with exits they can no longer see.

The goal is not to convince someone that their pain isn't real.

Their pain can be completely real.

The goal is to help them see that their current field of vision is not the entire map.

There may still be exits they cannot see right now.

And sometimes, surviving the crisis isn't about solving your entire life.

It's about getting enough smoke out of the room to see the next door.

***I wrote this visualization to provide a different view into how the mind works, if you have read this far, I hope it brought you some clarity, some sort of understanding or simply just information to think on.

A couple of days ago, I saw looked out my bedroom window at the garage across the street and saw a girl with her leg over the railing.

I called that building's security, then emergency.

She was stepping over onto the ledge and going back to safety a few times. She'd lean back like she was going to drop, then go back to safety, then repeat.

At one point she saw me, and we waved at each other.

I was still on the call, relaying everything to the dispatch.

I heard someone (probably the cops that had just gotten there), trying to talk to her while she was out on the ledge, and she let go.

I'm...ok. Had a quiet day yesterday. Still feel kinda numb. The moment she key go keeps replaying in my head and every time I go out into my bedroom I'm looking directly at the spot where she was standing.

It's just. A lot.

Have talked to friends. Do have support. Just maybe trying to banish it a bit by writing it down?

Hi, so recentley like about 3 weeks ago i got discharged from a mental health hospital, i was in a very bad psycotic episode, this was my second one at 22 and my first one i was 18. I was in there for 9 months which is crazy. But anyways, i wont say im really healed from it, im struggling a lot rn actually, its like im becoming someone i dont like. I react negativley to things a lot, im not completley blaming myself because i know ive been through a lot but yeah, still aware. Im very depressed, i have a lot of intrusive thoughts which usually happen after an episode and a traumatic time. Im really struging to be my nice bubbly self because its like i have a perception now of everything being negative, and sometimes i dont even trust my family. Ive been getting nightmares almost every night. And one question thats been on my mind is how do i stop my mental ilness from making me a moody, not nice person to be around? How do i recover from whats happened this year? My episode was very scary, like worst than the first, and then the hospital was very scary, a lot of bad things happened there that time and its scarred me, i really dont think that enviroment was good for me. I know i need to tell someone irl whats going on, but sometimes my mum just reacts bad to these things now even if shes suppoeted me all the way. Its like people dont know what to say and tbh neither do i. Please leave some advice if u have any

Thank you

I feel like every second of my life I’m ruining and I don’t know what to do anymore. I want to care and be happy and be with friends and hang out more but I just never have motivation other than to lay in bed and do nothing. Just giving excuses and ignoring responsibilities. I thought it was nothing at first, that I’m just lazy but the more I do it, the harder it is to stop. I’ve been trying to get some help and some might say that I’m still so young and no way my life would ruined by these simple mistakes. But it feels like it, like I know it too. I want to do and be more but I feel like I can’t even vent or tell anyone that’s really close to me because I’m scared of what they’d say. They’re frustrated with me and I get it, I’m frustrated with myself too but it’s so hard to just do something and it looks so simple and easy but yet it’s so hard. My GPA is horrible and I’m probably not going to get into any of the colleges I want because I can’t even get out of bed most days to go to school and get educated. I’m trying slowly this year to get help from those who I can and aren’t as close with me but I can’t keep contact. And now people close to me and worried and I’m worried but not as much as I should be and that’s worse to me. I told myself this year would be different and I would come up and do what had to be done but obviously, I’ve just been making a fool of myself and setting higher expectations. Maybe I should tell them soon, before it really is too late.

I've never written something like this or anything on here. I am struggling hard and I guess just need to write it out to get it out of my head.

I 45f am working a job that has been doing nothing but putting me down for the past year. Nothing I do is worthy and I really want to get out and do something else. But ever job I apply for is rejection after rejection. Then to add insult to injury my BF decided to 'take some time' for himself and now won't read/respond or talk at all.

I want to be respectful of what he needs but at the same time I feel shattered and broken and start to ask myself what is the point. I spent years alone and had gotten used to it found my happy kept busy. Then we met and I saw what life could be and what happy really felt like. Then it is all taken away. I don't know how to go back to alone and I don't have anyone that I can really talk to. I don't want to hurt myself or anything like that but I do wonder if anyone would care at all if I just didn't wake up one day. Everyday is a struggle to motivate through the day and I am tired so tired. I wish I could just disappear.

I’ve had this feeling for as long as I can remember but it’s never bothered me this much. it’s so hard to describe. it’s like my body and my brain and my consciousness and my feelings are all different “me’s” that i control. my brain gives me thoughts that i don’t like, and i can’t figure out if those thoughts are the real me, or the “bad” me. i often look into a mirror and associate myself with the person i feel like, and the person i look like, and this causes these feelings to happen. it’s involuntary awareness that happens in my body and i hate it.

it happens out of nowhere. i’m trying not to think about it, and then i end up thinking about it, and then BAM: i’m suddenly no longer one person as a whole.

i’m going about my day and then suddenly i become completely aware of my body and my thoughts and then BAM: now i feel crazy and all the different “me’s” are telling me different things.

I feel like I don’t know who “me” is anymore. are the bad thoughts me? if they aren’t me, then why am i having them?

are the good thoughts me? if so, then why do i have such bad thoughts?

which thoughts ARE me? is my body me? is my brain me? which part of “me” do i control?

i’m diagnosed with autism and generalized anxiety disorder, as well as POTS if these may help understand what it happening to “me”.

i hate this feeling. it’s like im trapped in my own mind, and it tells me what to do. i can’t think freely. i don’t even know which “me” is writing this right now.

please help me

​Before this all started, I was a very deep, creative thinker. I loved sketching, coming up with engineering ideas (like building robots), and I truly enjoyed the little things in life, like the feeling of the morning sunshine. But during the summer holidays while I was at home, my emotions started fading away very slowly. At first, I didn't fully realize what was happening; I just noticed everything starting to feel flat and hollow.

​To try and fill that empty gap, I would overstimulate myself, like watching two phones at the same time. I knew something was wrong, which led me to start searching online for different illnesses. That health anxiety spiraled until I had a panic attack. Luckily, it was only one, and I managed to get control of myself. A doctor prescribed a very low-dose SSRI, but I don't think it really did anything—I was mostly just surviving by holding my thoughts together and fighting the feeling myself.

​The month following that panic attack was the worst experience of my life, honestly worse than dying. I had absolutely zero feelings, my mind couldn't grab onto a single thought, and it felt like my brain was physically slipping into a void. It is completely impossible to explain that level of nothingness in words. Over time, the only way I found to cope was to ignore the feeling instead of confronting it. I became about 80% successful at ignoring the void, especially when I was working and distracted, but the emotional flatness never left.

​Slowly, after about five to six months, a few negative emotions broke through—I started feeling anger, frustration, and shame. Then, around eight or nine months in, I experienced a tiny breakthrough: I was working in a restaurant, and a very strict chef gave me a compliment. For about 20 to 30 seconds, I felt a genuine burst of little happiness, but then it immediately went completely flat again. I realized I could only feel tiny bits of excitement at very high, extreme levels of stimulation.

​Now, because I no longer have a job and am spending more time at home, that terrifying feeling of my mind "slipping into the void" returned about two months ago. When I am alone and doing nothing, that unexplainable nothingness confronts me head-on. Because I don't have any natural emotions to keep my mind genuinely occupied, it feels like my brain desperately tries to grab onto anything just to stay busy. The only way I can distract myself is through extremely high stimulation, but the second the distraction stops, the void is right there. I just don't know what is wrong with me.

​Today, my emotions are still entirely flat. I wake up in the morning and feel absolutely nothing. Even when I am actively joking with friends, I am maybe feeling 1% of the emotion I should be feeling. The rest of the time, I just get this weird, unexplainable sinking and dropping sensation in my stomach because my brain recognizes that I am not truly experiencing the joy around me.

​I have been mentally fighting and resisting this for a full year. I honestly just want my emotions, my creativity, and my peace back. Can anyone relate to this, can anyone help me with this, and has anyone actually gotten out of it?

whenever i think about the future, i can only picture myself dead. which is curious, considering that just a few months ago, i was making big plans for my academic life

after i started college and reality hit me hard... it seems like my outlook on life just withered away

while part of me wants to study, make new friends and succeed in life; another part tries to convince me it’s not worth it, since im going to die young

does anyone else feel this way?

This time of yr is absolutely my favorite from the fall leaves to the Halloween decor, but its also the lonliest for me. You see I made a promise to myself to make ONE friend this yr and thats been a flop and once again im seeing all the posts of ppl and their friends partying from last Halloween. Im sick and tire of the line "JUst g0 oUT And mAk3 s0ME fRieNdz" like its a universally easy thing. Its not! And ive been hurting rly bad this past week i dont wanna b a raging party animal on a bender but id like to experience the Halloween festivities (family friendly or someones house) with some friends just once where I dont feel like a total loser again going to bed early on Halloween crying like last yr. My 20s will b over in a few yrs and I got nothing to show for it so ye im a bit desperate for experiences yes ik u can still do im 30s but I wanna do it now so I can atleast say I did it actually nvm f it im done with the Oct-Dec bs im done yall can keep ur stupid festivities i want no part in any of it

This isn't meant to be self promotion. I won't post the name of my song unless a moderator specifically tells me to. But I'm genuinely so happy and thankful that I hit this milestone, especially with such a personal song. I just wanted to share the good news with somebody. I hope you all have a wonderful night/day.

Throwaway account for added privacy. Sorry in advance.

I've suspected for years now that ex-sposue (39F) has undiagnosed delusional disorder. By the time I realized it was years in, and she wouldn't hear any prompting in seeking mental health support.

I've come to find out that over the last 12 months she lost her job, cut off contact with her family (they live in another country) and anyone still left in her social circle.

All of that wouldn't be known to me if we didn't share custody of our kids (50-50).

Recently she was involved with the police, but because of her disorder she refuses to believe they are really the police or that she is really in trouble. Since she may get arrested, I'm currently keeping the kids with me for their safety but she still has our kids bunny that goes between houses (long story).

She refuses to listen to me, talk to the police or seek help. The kids are worried about her (they're under 10) and her family is worried that if she doesn't have the kids she may hurt herself fatally.

I have no power here, but also not sure how to approach the situation to try to get the best possible outcome in this situation, for my kids' sake.

Any advice highly appreciated.

I’m a 40 year old woman that has created a wonderful life for herself. Frequently I am haunted and ashamed of my past. From 16-23 I allowed others and myself to abuse my body. There were reasons that I allowed this and I wish I could go back and time, make better choices and be protected and cared for by a responsible adult.

I recently had someone send me a video of me at a party between 2004-2007 and I was acting permiscuous in the video. I was appalled and ashamed. This was my fb messenger.

He thought it was funny, cool and interesting but inside I felt sad and hurt by my actions, circumstances and reputation.

This gives me poor mental health and I feel like people in my past still judge me.

i’m a senior in college, i was supposed to graduate in 2024 but changed my major so now im graduating this fall.

i was extremely busy last year, had a 9am every single day and worked so hard. i was very proud of myself considering my classes and work load were very hard to deal with, but i just feel so fucking burnt out my last semester.

and it’s not just classes. it’s everything! i don’t want to go to the gym, i don’t care about eating healthy, i sometimes dread going to my extracurricular activities, i dread doing anything that’s not going home on the weekends. i don’t feel like working, i don’t feel like doing ANYTHING. im so tired of my environment as well.

i try to be productive, but i just don’t care. i even attend workshops and stuff for career fairs and panels for when i graduate, but i still just don’t care.

i just want to scroll on tiktok and be left alone and sleep or go home on the weekends!!