For a long time, I kept telling myself that staying up late wasn't a big deal. I'd scroll on my phone, watch random videos, or just keep thinking about work.

The next day, I'd feel exhausted. I'd overthink everything, get irritated over small things, and have no energy to deal with normal life.

A few weeks ago, I started making one simple change: going to bed on time.

It hasn't magically solved all my problems, but the difference has been bigger than I expected. My mind feels calmer, I have more patience, and I don't feel as overwhelmed during the day.

We spend so much time looking for complicated ways to improve our mental health, but sometimes the basics matter the most. Sleep isn't a luxury—it's something our brains actually need.

Has anyone else noticed a big difference after fixing their sleep schedule? Or is there another simple habit that helped your mental health?

This is probably a universal experience for those with anxiety but I seriously just wish my brain would be quiet for once. I’m so tired of the overthinking and panic and fear. It just feels like my mind is constantly attacking me.

I feel like no one talks about how difficult it can be when your life seems like it should be great and yet it's not.

I feel so guilty sometimes because honestly I'm pretty privileged. Loving, healthy family. Upper middle class and plenty of opportunities for my future. And yet I'm constantly struggling and hating my life.

And then when you try to talk to people about it, they're looking for reasons when there really are none. It makes me feel like I'm being overdramatic and attention seeking. I have to remind myself that these are real struggles, that I'm not just making them up to paint myself as the victim.

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I've dealt with anxiety majority of my life. I've been on alprazolam in the past. Doctor wants to try clonazepam 0.5mg daily as needed. I know i need to stay off Google because I keep seeing negatively & it makes my anxiety worse. I just want to be able to function with my life without anxiety. I've tried other medications, but nothing helps & the side effects were horrible. Does anyone have positive results with this medicine? If you have anxiety like I do, new medicine just makes me spiral & I overthink everything 😪

I recently learned "ergophobia" (fear of work) is a thing, but it doesn't feel like that.

I'm not inherently afraid of working, being at work, or doing my job. In fact there are plenty of times where I love my job. I enjoy being there, doing what I do and hanging around cool coworkers. Throughout my 20s (early 30s now) I was always told I was a hard worker and had a great attitude and work ethic. I feel like I used to be able to do anything despite the anxiety. I just somehow pushed through it without realizing it and I thrived.

These days, the past few years, it's all taken a turn. I've gone long stretches of time where I'm not working; often they start out as "mental health days" here or there where I wake up with this weird flavor of anxiety that's more like dread--about leaving home, about work performance, about the social interactions, about the unknowns in all of these things--and I call out, saying I'm "sick" or "not feeling well" or that I have a "personal" or "family" emergency.

Then I get even more anxious about going back the next day and having to confront the absence ("Where were you yesterday?" etc.) and next thing I know I've taken 3 days in a row off. Days turn into weeks turn into months. Most recently I was off work for 9 months and just returned a few weeks ago--and this was immediately following 3 months of PHP/IOP treatment--yet here I am, right now, on a Wednesday morning, where I called out both Tuesday and Monday, where I should be brushing my teeth and packing my lunch and getting dressed, but instead I'm sitting on the couch trying to stretch time out so I don't have to leave, or send another "sorry boss but I'm still feeling sick" text, repeating this unsustainable lifestyle pattern once again.

Can anyone relate? I'm not just talking "Sunday scaries" or Monday morning dread here, I mean anxiety to the point where you're like paralyzed at home and constantly fucking up your employment status because you can't for the life of you consistently show up. Also, what do you all do for work?

Current symptoms (been experiencing these more and more the past month; they come and go but when they come, they last for at least a whole day + night)

-heart racing
-tingling, numbness in arms face and legs
-stomach pain/cramping; either constipated or diarrhea (tmi sorry)
- lower right stomach hurts sometimes
-dizziness
-weight loss and very very low appetite

Went to urgent care, they said to go to ER but my heart is healthy(I’ve been recently). Don’t want to waste money but I feel so shitty currently

Editing to say I’ve also had bouts of unintentional weight loss and I’m already on the lower end (5’9 female 130 lbs)

Has anyone developed anxiety that seems centered around leaving home?
I’m a 36-year-old guy and I’ve dealt with anxiety for a long time, but over the last 6–8 months it’s changed into something I don’t really recognize.

It starts before I even leave my apartment. By the time I’m on the subway, it’s at its worst. Crowded trains make me feel overwhelmed. My heart races, my breathing gets tight, my thoughts start scrambling, and I feel like I need to get out. The second I’m out of the station and back in open air, it eases. It’s still there, just not nearly as intense.

Busy stores like Marshall’s or TJ Maxx can do the same thing. Sometimes I’m completely fine. Other times it’s like someone flips a switch. I get overwhelmed, start scratching at myself without realizing it, and just want to leave.

The other part is home.

I miss my wife and my two dogs almost the entire day. I find myself checking my Ring camera constantly just to see them because it calms me down. Home is the only place where my nervous system really feels settled.

This has gotten progressively worse since my Australian Shepherd, Oliver, died last December. Losing him changed something in me. Since then I feel like I’ve lost about half of my happiness. I’m far more sensitive than I used to be. I don’t enjoy horror movies anymore. I don’t like watching violence. I hate politics now. I deleted almost all social media because it just makes me feel worse.

The strange part is that I have a good life. I love my wife more than anything. I love my dogs. I own a business that I genuinely enjoy. I have reasons to be happy, but it’s like anxiety is sitting on top of all of it.

I’m talking to my prescriber tomorrow because this keeps getting worse.

I’m not looking for reassurance that everything will be okay. I’m curious if anyone else’s anxiety evolved into something like this.

Did it start with crowds? Did home become your only place that felt “safe”? Did grief seem to change the way your brain reacted to the world?

I’m interested in hearing experiences from people
who’ve actually lived through something similar and what ended up helping.

It honestly feels like a death sentence risking saying or texting something that would make them think less of me.

Got some prescribed on an online GP for anxiety. Some people say the grogginess is massive and lasts days, some say that you hardly feel anything on it.

I’ve taken Benadryl plenty of times for hay fever. Don’t particularly remember it making me feel groggy.

Has anyone taken hydroxyzine for this purpose, either as a one off “pill in the pocket” or preemptively for days to weeks? What dose did you take?

Hoping I won’t need to take it. In the event that I do, how zombified does it make you? Can I still function on a short day trip of museums, sightseeing, food etc?

After actively avoiding mental hospitals my whole life (twice I was unsuccessful), I went to the ER today and begged them to admit me. They let me chill out there for a few hours but wouldn’t do it. Now I’m in a hotel room I booked for myself. Oh well.

I don’t even know what I’m looking for here, I just wanted to vent I guess.

i struggle with social anxiety, but i recently decided that i want to break free from it. so ive been deliberately putting myself into situations that make me anxious, like going out more often, and also ignoring the anxiety when texting people etc.

however, i feel like my fears are actually real about messing up social situations because after the event, i realize that i did end up saying and doing weird things that even i cant put anywhere..

and at this point, its not overthinking, because others do actually feel weirded out about me..

how am i supposed to expose myself and fight my anxiety if its the thing that actually help me not embarass myself??

I’ve always had GAD. lots of anxiety. a lot of it is existential and manifests physically in certain ways.

One is teeth grinding. Ive ignored the advice of my dentist for too long and I’m staring down crowns.

I know that my issues with teeth grinding are because of my anxiety (not for all people just me!) and thinking I’m doing better has caused me to neglect my mouth guard.

My tip is that even if your anxiety physical symptoms are managed and you’re doing good with everything youre supposed to do, ignoring a symptom like that can zap your progress. Its a constant battle to manage it.

Anyone else have physical symptoms that seem small but are hard for you to manage because of bigger ones (like panic attacks?) like I haven’t had a panic attack but because of my teeth grinding I need to be more mindful of my strategies for my underlying/baseline anxiety.

Ty for reading 💜

Hey guys, I've had OCD for 7 years now. It started when I was 12, and it's completely messed up my life. I can't live normally anymore. I don't even get any peace when I sleep, and sometimes I can't sleep at all. I've tried to deal with it, but it just keeps getting worse.

Has anyone here had really bad OCD and actually recovered or gotten a lot better? I'd really like to hear your experience.

Tomorrow I have my first psychiatrist appointment. I have dealt with chronic anxiety and depression for years, and it’s manifested more physically than mentally and emotionally.

The past few months I have been dealing with a myriad of different symptoms, from vertigo, numb feet and hands, weak legs, air hunger etc. Long story short, for the longest I thought maybe I had a disease, maybe the big C, maybe something was happening to my body. After countless visits to the ER, multiple blood tests, CTs, hell even a damn colonoscopy, it’s safe to say that my symptoms are rooted directly from my anxiety and stress issues, according to doctors.

My question is, how did taking medication improve your anxiety? What were the side effects like? Does it make you feel like a zombie like many people say? If you had any bad experiences, I would like to know aswell.

I never thought I would ever take medication for anxiety , but my symptoms have taken over and ruined my life. I feel like I can’t continue living normally until they go away. And if chronic anxiety is the root of all my problems, I see no other solution than to get medicated, maybe get some therapy and try my very best to relieve stress in my life.

My wife is in mid 40s and had depression and anxiety since around 20 years old. She has been on prozac and klonopin. Then stopped klonopin. She started a new job and got anxiety and couldn't sleep. They increased prozac dosage to 20mg and that made things worse. She started taking klonopin again but that didn't help. Then went to clinic and they gave her Ativan and had a panic attack.

It's been two months now without any change. She pretty much shaking from anxiety. She's been living with her parents and comes home once a week. She did testing for perimenopause but the tests were negative. The doctor gave her hormone pills just to rule them out but so far she hasn't taken them. Another doctor also gave her Lexapro to try but she hasn't started it either. She had bloodwork with endocrinologist yesterday and waiting for results. I reached out to neurologist but she said she doesn’t handle cases like that and it's better to work with psychiatrist instead. Any other recommendations of what to try and which type of doctors to see?

Hello everyone!

I’m an 18-year-old woman, and lately I’ve been thinking a lot about the fact that one day I’m going to die. These thoughts have been coming up ever since I did an internship at a retirement home a few years ago.
Whenever I think about it, I feel really uneasy. I start wondering why I exist in the first place, and I keep coming back to the idea that after death there might simply be… nothing. That thought is incredibly difficult for me to accept.
How do you come to terms with something like this? How do you deal with thoughts about death and mortality? Have any of you struggled with this as well?
Also, if anyone has any book recommendations on this topic, I’d really appreciate them.

To clarify: i am not religious and would appreciate people answering me without the mention of god.

Thanks :)

We’re both 18 he recently ended up in hospital for 15-ish hours due to his anxiety and found out he had slightly enlarged heart. Not a big deal, he lifts heavy in the gym so that’s relatively normal. Since then, (and a week before the hospital) he’s been having these anxiety attack where he’s convinced he needs to go to the hospital again. Yesterday for example he woke me up saying he has no pulse and we need to call an ambulance. The way he figured it out was because he was really tensed up around his neck/shoulder and that it must’ve messed something up bc he couldn’t feel his pulse. Obviously he had it, just didn’t know where to check. Then he had few more paranoic thoughts about his health which were in all honestly all in his head bc all the symptoms he thought he had he just didn’t (like swollen shoulder or droopy eyelid). Personally I never had anxiety this bad and although I’m somone who stresses a lot I have my ways to deal with it like breathing or just watching something that lifts my thoughts off the certain issue so I don’t approach it with anxiety. This is so much more different though and I just don’t know what to do to help him. Hes very logical so I try to propose an explanation to his symptoms that wouldn’t make it so severe like needing to go to a hospital. Because yeah obviously he’s tense and he’s more tense because he’s more stressed about the tension. It just breaks my heart to see him like this, yesterday he hugged me and was just trembling so much I don’t think I’ve ever seen him like that before. Today he apologised for waking me up so often in the past week because this happens almost every night and I every night need to calm him down. Obviously I don’t mind, he’s my boyfriend, I love him with all my heart, obviously I’m going to try everything in my power to make him feel better but I just want to know if I can do something to try harder, to make him feel even better because simple “keep breathing” obviously isn’t helping. Any advice would be very much appreciated, thanks everyone in advance

Having depression and anxiety makes everything so much worse. I feel both depression to do anything but so anxious I’m doing nothing.

I look around my room and I get so upset. My room needs to be cleaned out. My entire room needs an overhaul especially my closet and I just can’t do it. I don’t even do my hobbies anymore

My weight is getting out of control. I can’t eat anything without my mom or really anyone telling me how much I’ve gained! I just wish I was skinny and then no one would judge me for what I eat or what I wear.

My hair used to be so long but my anxiety made me pick it out and it’s short and stunted and I’m trying to get it back to what it used to be.

I want to leave island but I have no clue what to do. With how expensive things are I don’t know how I’d find an apartment and what state do I go to. I want to go back to school but I can’t do it here it’s going to hell. I don’t know if I should study abroad or just stay stateside. I really don’t know what to do in that regard.

Same with getting a car! I swear it’s been hell and everyone keeps telling me I need one already but no one helps. I need someone to sign my insurance because I’m under 25 but no one will! No one! So I just….i feel so pathetic at 22

hey guys so yesterday i crashed out really bad over a minor thing, i am a very bad person my little brother was nagging me and i absolutely went crazy i started yelling at him and hitting him, i couldn't control myself then i started crying uncontrollably then hit my head mulltiple times against the wall i was diagnosed with anxiety but i don't this is what it is i keep lashing out on people i love, i apologied to my little brother i feel so guilty bc this is not the person i want to be i even called out of work mid day today bc i felt horrible and had panic attacks i even threw up later on, i always feel guilty and scared idk where to go or what to do i have been in therapy since i was 17 and im 24 now i stopped going to therapy about two years ago and stopped my meds cold turkey about 6 months ago i am really scared i think i need help or i need to be punished idk i just want to get better

Dear Everyone-I often find when I have a sudden anxiety spike that I have a pain or an ache in my chest and under my arms and armpits. If I may ask, can sudden anxiety cause these symptoms, or is there some other explanation?

I have a history of anxiety and panic attacks but I never had a nocturnal panic attack before, I'm wondering if this is what I experienced last night. I was feeling fine last night before I went to bed. Then I suddenly wake up and have shortness of breath and this sense of impending doom. It freaked me out because I thought I was dying. My heart started racing and my body felt like it was burning. After a while I did start to calm down and ended up feeling fine again. I took a small nap because I was still tired, but now I'm kind of scared to sleep after that.

I’ve been anxious all day. Taken 2.5mg bisoprolol at lunch. Just boarded a 2hr train journey and HR is hovering round 150bpm, shaking, nausea. What can I do please help!?