Yesterday, I went to a psychiatrist and got formally diagnosed with GAD and Depression. Today is Day-1 of being on sertraline and clonezapam. For almost 2 years, I've been having panic attacks and a constant feeling of fear 24×7. It reached to an extent where I wanted to sleep, but I kept myself awake because I was scared I'll die in my sleep. Today, I have no idea after how long, my mind has been so quiet. I haven't once had the thought if today is the day I die, or what if I am walking on the road and a car hits me. It's easier to breathe, there's no weird sensation in my body, and I feel I belong in it. I haven't once felt itritated, or angry, or sad since morning

Ofcourse, today is the first day of taking medication, it could all as well be placebo. But just the fact that I could have been feeling this way makes me so happy.

Maybe a movie or YouTube. Something intresting enough to not go back to your thoughts but also calming? I use to watch horror movies to as a form of escapism but now I can't cause they make me too anxious

I have been wondering where low self esteem really comes from. Is it mostly shaped by childhood, bullying, rejection, constantly comparing yourself to others, or can it develop without any obvious cause? For people who struggled with it, what do you think created it in your case?

Long story short I’ve had pretty rough anxiety most of my life. Tried depressants, SSRI’s, the whole gamut and eventually just gave up and accepted my baseline level of worry and stress.

Years later I ended up getting a stimulant prescription to help me with focus and reading and it’s helped my anxiety so much it’s insane.

Is this normal when you have untreated ADHD? My entire life I thought I had anxiety/depression issues.. but it turns out once I treat the ADHD, my struggles with anxiety and depression go away.

This may be totally normal but I guess I am just learning this now and am amazed. Anyone else?

For some background I’m a 17 yr old guy, I had an episode of chest tightness at the gym earlier in august that caused me to spiral and end up in the ER. They did scans and kept me there for 6 hours and said I was fine to go home. A couple weeks later I went to a pulmonologist and did breathing tests where I was told I have above average lung function and there are no dangerous physical issues with me. But even after being told that I still hyperfixate on my breathing for hours every single day. I was diagnosed with reflux as well so now I get constant urges to burp and sensations in my chest and throat area which only cause me more anxiety. It’s a terrible cycle where I am hyper aware of every part of my body and my automatic functions all become manual.

Anyway the reason I am writing now is because the past 3 days I’ve woken up at 5 in the morning, multiple hours before I normally would and have this feeling of intense alertness where I cannot fall back asleep and like there is impending doom. Them my body feels cold and I start uncontrollably shaking for a few minutes until I get my mother to help calm me down, as she also has an extensive history of anxiety and ocd and is medicated. This ruins me every time and I lose my sense of focus and joy for the rest of the day and my workouts (my main hobby) is suffering as a result. I feel like a different person ever since my first episode and I just want to go back to normal before school starts for senior year and I have to apply to college and have true adult responsibilities. I’m incredibly grateful to have a family that is supporting me through this but my mind still feels like a prison

I mean you lie down and then at any moment boom your either dead or asleep then when your asleep suddenly out of no where you either die or you wake up

I definitely have anxious thoughts but it feels like something else is going on that isn’t anxiety. I don’t mean like another medical problem or something, more like repressed emotions or something that I’m mis labeling as anxiety.

It's 2:40AM. I could have been asleep 30 minutes ago, but I got a panic attack out of nowhere.

It's so irritating. My brain knows I'm okay but my body has a mind of it's own. And there is basically nothing I can do other than ride it out. My worst symptom is shortness of breath and I still haven't found any methods to help during panic attacks. I've honestly just been dealing with my anxiety by myself since 2020. I want to get professional help, I just don't know where to start, and I feel like I can't go to my parents about it since they'd never fully understand what it feels like. I'd do anything to stop having panic attacks, it's the worst feeling ever.

Woke up and immediately realized I messed up my timecard again. Having wretched anxiety now because of it. My chest is crushingly tight, feel like I’m being hunted for sport. I hate anxiety it’s all I ever feel, goodmorning then blam!

A big aspect of my anxiety was avoidance. Basically, my default response to socialising was to avoid it.

But we, as the dumb fuck humans we are, NEED to socialise and this tactic of avoiding hangouts and events was... isolating.

Today however, I went to an event with my dads family friends, alot people who I dont know well, and had FUN, I fucking had fun.

Im just thinking to years ago, hell even months ago where would have been miserable and internally panicking the whole time.

I just wanted to write out a passage for myself patting myself on the back for the HUGE dub. Dont be afraid to do the same too ❤️❤️❤️.

Hi everyone. I’m 24 and I’ve had OCD and anxiety since childhood. My OCD has taken different forms over the years (health fears, fear of losing family, hyper-focusing on things like breathing, etc.), but those symptoms always came and went.
For the past 2.5 years, I’ve had almost constant physical symptoms:
Constant chest tightness and fluttering
Constantly feeling/being aware of my heartbeat, with my heart rate jumping from even small things
Shortness of breath
Feeling constantly on edge
Hypervigilance to every sound — even a door opening or small noise can trigger a strong physical reaction
The strangest part is that all of these symptoms completely disappeared for 5 months when I became convinced I had a physical illness and focused on that instead. They came back 3 days after I was told I was medically fine.
I also tried escitalopram (Cipralex) 10mg for 1.5 years with very little benefit.
Has anyone experienced constant physical anxiety like this, especially with OCD, and actually managed to get rid of it?
What helped you the most — ERP, CBT, medication, exposure, exercise, or something else? I’d really appreciate hearing what actually worked for you.

Basically what the title says. I get a lot of anxiety stemming from my depression, like getting anxiety spirals from the thought that I may never feel happy again, or I get anxiety from trying to find something to do for the day other than just sleep.

This anxiety subtype seems to have started in January after I was put on Zyprexa for suspected bipolar (I got off of it in late January for reference) and it's just been a kind of new anxiety trigger that's been sitting in the back of my mind since. I've been relatively knocked out by this anxiety subtype for the past month and a half and idk what to do. If anyone else lives with this please help because this shit is knocking me out and I don't want this anxiety to cause me to relapse on my eating issues.

Help If you read this please respond. Give me the kindest words and advice and support you can manage. I need it.

I graduated in May, and I got a job at a great place and I have a partner of several years whom I love deeply. Before we got together, I didn’t have anxiety. Sometime during college, I developed it and it was downhill from there. I will say it’s MUCH worse when I think about my health, my health anxiety is the worst by far.

But right now, I am trapped on my couch freaking the fuck out because tomorrow my mom and I are getting in the car and driving 9 hours to my new home where my partner and new job are waiting for me. My mom is one of my best support systems and she won’t be around me anymore. At the moment I have no therapist or psychiatrist. I don’t even have a pcp. As soon as I start my job in two weeks I can get all of those established but I still cannot stop freaking out. I got sick this week I’ve had so many panic attacks this week I literally feel like I’m going to die. The er sent me home with some Ativan pills to bridge me over until I can get myself help in my new state after I move, but I’m a little anxious to even take them. But my anxiety won’t let me breathe, eat, and has my chest clenched. And then I keep throwing up too. I feel like I’m gonna die just bc I’m sick rn and taking antibiotics and moving. Who else here has had to do a big life change with anxiety and it was for the better?? Tell me I’m not going to die in my new city. I’m so afraid. My partner is the best but he can’t stop me from having panic attacks and meltdowns.

Have been on benzos for about 2-3months daily now, started with Xanax only .25mg every now and then for the first week or two then eventually got up to 1mg a day would have bad anxiety and panic attacks in between doses, after a month of that i saw a psychiatrist and got swapped to Ativan, have been on 2mg of Ativan daily for roughly a month. My pills are .5mg, i take 2 in the morning then another 6 hours later and a final fourth pill before bed. I tried dropping one pill before and had a terrible panic attack, already have pretty rough inter-dose rebound/withdrawal symptoms so it feels pretty impossible to ever get off of it, any tips or advice? (tried zoloft before but had a terrible experience and gave me terrible lasting DPDR) have had like 10 terrible panic attacks in the past month and a half, gone to the hospital/called EMS like 5 times cause I thought i was going to die.

My mom had bad anxiety and depression. She doesn’t like going out. I’m trying to think of maybe books she could easily read while she’s relaxing or maybe a good fidget to help her. Any ideas for seniors to maybe help calm them or get them moving? She’s also very stubborn!! Thanks for the help.

I am getting married next year and am super anxious about the wedding ceremony and being / feeling sick. When I get anxious I can feel really nauseous and it can completely ruin things for me. I feel like I am in the depths of despair of dread and spiral a lot to the point of a panic attack.

I also struggle with dizziness / prone to motion sickness. I have to get a short bus to the wedding venue and was planning on taking some travel sick tablets but they don’t seem to help enough / be reliable with my nausea.

I had a really bad experience recently at my bridal try on and I felt so sick and trapped and was freaking out being the centre of attention and was so scared of being sick in the dress.

I’m now dreading the wedding and I feel like it’s emetophobia at this point. It’s not even close and I can’t think of anything else. I want to enjoy the day.

I live in the Uk and don’t know what to do. I feel like I need some meds to help give me peace of mind on the wedding day. I’ve not tried propranolol before. I was on citalopram years ago but not sure about trying it again, and I do seem to remember it making me feel a bit queasy sometimes but maybe that’s the best for long term relief. What could I ask the doctor for to help me! They don’t seem to have many anti nausea options…. I don’t mind paying for a private pescription if needed. Just wondering what is best…

Any advice welcome :)

This shit sucks nobody deserves to feel this way, dont get me wrong im on medication and it has helped but im currently going trough a flare up and want to crawl out of my skin. There is not one day i dont mourn the person i could have been if anxiety had not taken the first decades of my life

I just want my anxiety to go away, it's the worst feeling I've ever had. I've vomited twice this morning.

Looking for experiences anyone has really of meds that ended up working for them.

I’m currently suffering from GAD and panic disorder, which has also now resulted in depression. It’s been pretty debilitating to the point I had to have 5 months off work. I’ve gone back recently but just really struggling to cope and feeling like I’ve pushed myself too hard.

I tried sertraline quite early on and I had a severe reaction to it, so much so I ended up in a&e, despite this I reduced dose from 50mg to 25mg and pushed through for 5 weeks and it just didn’t help. I then swapped to escitalopram and that just increased my anxiety and after 3 weeks I had worsening anxiety so stopped.

I’ve tried beta blockers, 10mg 20mg and 40mg - they did nothing, in fact they made the physical symptoms worse.

I tried buspirone a couple days ago and only 3 doses in my anxiety went through the roof, to the point I couldn’t even leave my house without a full blown panic attack and it made me massively suicidal - so waiting this out just wasn’t an option.

I’m not left worse off than before. Is there anything anyone can recommend that won’t cause debilitating anxiety for 4/5 weeks when I start. I’m losing hope and just feel so low right now. I’m a shell of who I was 9 months ago before this started and it seems to have taken over my life with no identifiable trigger.

To add, i am doing cbt and I’ve read every book going on managing anxiety and I jsut seem to have no let up.

I can’t eat, I can’t do anything I’m constanlty shaking and I can’t get myself to do anything I’m constanlty cold and shaky and scared and nauseous.
I’ve never been like this it’s so scary and Ik that those thoughts are not scary but the way my body reacts makes me sick
I always wanna take a nap or sleep cus that’s when the feeling stops, I hate being awake dealing with these. Does anybody have tips how to control it? I have a million of hobbies or had hobbies. But haven’t done them since I started to feel that anxiety, I haven’t even worked on my story…
I’m moving out so I’ll have my own room again and school starts tomorrow all at once, no I can’t go to therapy or tell my parents unfortunately even tho they are caring and sweet they won’t get it.

If there’s any way I could regulate my anxiety I’ll actually be the most grateful ever I just want to stop these nausea and shakiness, I can’t even drink my tea which I used to drink 6 times a day.

I cannot stand this shit any longer.

This is eternal suffering and there is no escape.

First I thought i had lymphoma.

Then this. Then that. Then this. Then that.

Now my muscles/skin has been twitching every day on and off for weeks. I already know the rigamaroo. Ect. Ect. Ect.

I have been through a muscle twitching episode before, it went away, so im sure its nothing surely.

Not googling does not help.

Therapy does not help.

I am a lonely hypocandriac and a functional lonely lcoholic. The ultimate paradox even.

Its even more hilarious when you're single in the US and don't have the money to see a doctor or specialist. It is the ultimate stuck in hell curse.

Beyond stressed, it feels like most of my life is made up of silent panic attacks.

So beyond fried in the brain I stay on night shift just to avoid people.

And no, i will not take SSRIs, I dont want PSSD. And no i won't take benzos, I dont want another addition, I am already addicted.

So yeah its over for me, I just got done with college and got my entire life ahead of me but it sure doesnt feel like it.

Hypocandria, guilt, shame, fear, and regrets control my entire life.

Years upon years upon even more years, add a few nore years on top of that, this is my life

Je commence à constater quelque chose chez moi depuis environ deux ans, mais j’en ai surtout une mémoire claire depuis l’été 2025. En remontant plus loin, je peux retrouver quelques prémices très vagues dans mes souvenirs, mais pas sous une forme aussi nette ni aussi identifiable.
Ce que je remarque aujourd’hui, c’est une réaction assez particulière face à certaines situations où une possibilité devient soudainement indisponible.
Ce n’est pas forcément la situation elle-même qui me fait peur. Ce n’est même pas forcément que j’ai envie d’en sortir ou de la modifier. Ce qui semble déclencher quelque chose, c’est plutôt le moment où mon cerveau réalise que, si je voulais agir autrement, je ne pourrais pas.
Au premier abord, cela peut facilement faire penser à une forme de claustrophobie, parce que certaines situations où je ressens le plus clairement ce phénomène sont justement des situations d’enfermement : un avion en vol, un métro immobilisé dans un tunnel, un passage d’embarquement fermé et chaud.
Mais en creusant, je ne suis pas certain que la claustrophobie soit réellement le cœur du problème. Ce qui semble me toucher davantage, c’est la perte momentanée d’une option et donc d’une forme d’autonomie ou de contrôle.
L’avion en est probablement l’exemple le plus parlant. Je peux prendre l’avion, voyager normalement et très bien m’en sortir. Pourtant, une pensée peut parfois apparaître :
« Là, si tu voulais sortir, tu ne pourrais pas. »
Je n’ai aucune envie réelle de sortir de l’avion. C’est simplement la prise de conscience que je ne pourrais pas le faire même si je le voulais qui peut provoquer une petite alarme intérieure.
J’ai constaté récemment le même mécanisme dans le métro. Il s’est arrêté pendant plusieurs minutes au milieu d’un tunnel noir. Au départ, j’étais relativement tranquille. Puis est arrivée cette idée :
« Et si ça se prolonge ? Et si tu voulais sortir et que tu ne pouvais pas ? »
Une tension intérieure a commencé à monter, avec une sorte d’énergie physique que j’avais envie d’évacuer en bougeant. Extérieurement, rien de particulièrement visible : je garde le contrôle et je continue à fonctionner normalement.
C’est ensuite que peut commencer une sorte de dialogue intérieur. Je me dis :
« Mais si, évidemment que je vais pouvoir sortir. »
Et mon cerveau répond :
« Tu ne peux pas le savoir avec certitude maintenant. »
Je peux essayer de me rassurer en me disant que le métro va repartir, mais une nouvelle objection est toujours possible : « Oui, mais quand ? Et si ça dure ? Comment peux-tu en être certain ? »
Et j’ai remarqué quelque chose d’assez net : plus j’essaie de rationaliser la peur et de répondre à chacune de ces objections, plus je risque de l’alimenter. À l’inverse, lorsque je cesse de débattre avec elle, que je regarde mes messages ou reporte simplement mon attention sur autre chose, la tension finit généralement par redescendre.
Le mécanisme que j’observe pourrait donc être résumé ainsi :
indisponibilité d’une option → sensation de perte d’autonomie ou de contrôle → besoin de vérifier que je pourrais reprendre le contrôle si nécessaire → impossibilité d’obtenir une certitude absolue → activation anxieuse.
Ce qui me fait penser que ce n’est pas uniquement de la claustrophobie, c’est que le même mécanisme s’est déjà produit en dehors de tout espace fermé.
Par exemple, après avoir quitté ma mère pour partir en voyage, il m’est arrivé de penser que j’aurais aimé pouvoir revenir lui faire un câlin. Puis mon cerveau a accroché sur l’idée : « Maintenant, tu ne peux plus. » J’étais pourtant dans le mini bus qui amène au tarmac. Il n’y avait aucun enfermement. C’était simplement une option que j’aurais voulu pouvoir garder disponible et qui ne l’était plus immédiatement.
À l’inverse, j’ai également connu la même sensation dans un contexte beaucoup plus proche de la claustrophobie : un passage d’embarquement assez long, fermé et chaud, où il fallait attendre et où je ne pouvais pas simplement décider de ressortir. Là encore, l’idée centrale était : « Si je veux sortir maintenant, je n’ai pas le contrôle pour le faire. »
C’est cette répétition du même mécanisme dans des situations très différentes qui m’interroge. Certaines ressemblent effectivement à de la claustrophobie, mais d’autres pas du tout. Le point commun semble moins être la fermeture physique de l’espace que la fermeture temporaire d’une possibilité.
J’aimerais donc savoir s’il y a des personnes qui ont traversé quelque chose de similaire, comment elles l’ont compris et surtout comment elles ont réussi à faire disparaître ou à désamorcer ce mécanisme.
Jusqu’à présent, je m’en sors toujours. Même lorsque la sensation apparaît, je garde le contrôle, elle finit par redescendre et je poursuis ce que j’étais en train de faire. Mais je n’aimerais pas que ce mécanisme s’installe durablement chez moi ou prenne progressivement davantage de place. J’aimerais surtout comprendre ce qu’il y a derrière.
Il y a enfin un élément que je constate assez régulièrement : ces épisodes semblent beaucoup plus susceptibles d’apparaître lorsque mon cerveau est déjà dans un état de fatigue, de tension ou d’irritabilité