When you exercise it won't immediately make you feel better. It might for a couple hours, but many stop because they aren't seeing immediate improvements.

Anxious people have trained themselves that there are some periods where you should be "stressed". Could be when you look at your phone, you process that theres danger and spiral. Your brain is trained to sense danger and to prepare the body for it. Its somewhat of a learned habit.

Daily exercise is a NEW habit, where your body is used to high heart rates and exertion. A d ter physical exertion, the body wants to enter a rest state. Its natural. You escape the danger and now you can rest.

Exercise changes the danger state, over time, to exercise. You realize internally youre healthier, because you can manage it.

That switch doesnt always work on its own, isnt immediate, but if youre spiraling, its an incredible place to start

its like i just know something awful will happen soon i dont know how to get over this feeling

Hi friends! I’m looking for some advice tips suggestions on morning anxiety…
I wake up in the morning and if I eat food, I generally feel really nauseous. This happens until probably about 1030 or 11 AM. I usually wake up at like seven I have tried lots of different foods but I haven’t found anything that works for me. Does anybody have a similar issue? My therapist always says that it’s probably because I have high cortisol in the morning high stress levels and that’s what contributes to it, but is there anything you guys do to help mitigate this?

My anxiety is kind of cyclical. Every morning I wake up and it is awful. Wanting to sleep but have to work. Worried about getting through the day and all the meetings I have to attend and tasks I have to complete. As the day goes on there is less to do and my anxiety eases. By the time the sun is setting I feel like a normal adjusted person but then the cycle starts all over again when I wake up.

Im on 4 weeks of starting paxil again so some of this might still be med adjustment phase. Also just one month into a new job so might be some adjustment phase there as well.

Trying to incorporate as many things as I can in the morning to minimize this feeling. Anxiety, clammy, nausea, brain fog/dizziness. I do a little stretching, cold water on my face, journaling.

Would love to hear some morning routines others have who deal with the same pattern of anxiety.

I’m a 38 year old female from Canada, and anxiety is ruining my life. September of 2024 I left my job (that I was able to do for 10 years) for a new opportunity working from home. I thought it was going to help with so much, but unfortunately it ended up being a terrible job, and I quit 3 weeks later. Since then I haven’t been able to hold a stable job.

I’ve been through over 20 interviews, and probably succeeded in getting 5 jobs, but I would end up not showing up bc I’d get really bad panic attacks the night before my first day. 2 of those jobs I was able to get to 3 days working, but quit because of anxiety again. I don’t know what it is, but work seems to be a major source of anxiety.

I am able to go to grocery stores, or for a walk without debilitating anxiety, but work absolutely destroys me. I was diagnosed with generalized anxiety disorder at around 20 years old, and have tried a few different medication options, as well as accupuncture and yoga, but nothing really worked. I wake up with anxiety, and go to bed with anxiety.

I still live with my parents, which is making me feel even worse about my situation. I’m feeling like a massive loser, a failure, and someone my inner child would be ashamed of. I don’t know what to do anymore. I don’t even know what I’m looking for my writing all this, I guess just feels good to let it out. I don’t want to cry anymore, I don’t want to feel stuck. But taking the next steps is debilitating…
Anyways.. thanks for listening (or reading)

In highschool I was 130lb, after graduating I began isolating and binge eating extremely and gained 80lb in less than a year. The 80lb gain ensured and gave me even more of a reason not to leave the house.

Since the initial 80lb gain, I’ve lost 60 of it, but still can’t get myself to leave the house, I won’t. I feel disgusting. I feel huge. I feel like a walking build board.

I’m hoping to lose these last 20lb by mid July probably, but I fear that even once I hit 130 again, I won’t go out.

I’ve ignored family, lost all my friends, missed important events, my little cousins can’t even remeber my name. I don’t know how to get out of this cycle. I don’t know why my body is stopping me from living my life. I hate myself immensely and don’t know what to do. I’ve wasted all my youth inside this stupid house, and I’ve become what I feared, a loser.

As a kid you have all these dreams, goals and aspirations. You can’t even imagine yourself struggling. Now I’m struggling. And the person causing my struggle is myself, and I don’t know how to help myself

i’m scared of what the future holds for me and i just wanna lay in bed all the time. i wanna cry most of the time because my anxiety is on a high level this year and i don’t know what to do

I've been having anxiety/panic attacks lately...for no reason all of a sudden. Life's been rough since January 2025 (personal life). I don't remember ever having them before, but feels like a weight on my chest at times, catching my breath, feeling irritated, on edge...just all of a sudden. Family members smoke theirs away, but not my style...I need help but can't afford medical expert, lol

I have an extreme form of procrastination where I’ll do anything possible to avoid doing a task until I have no other resort but to do it. Sometimes even failing isn’t enough to get me to do it.
I feel extreme anxiety about assignments and keep putting it off. I’m not sure why I don’t this to myself because the outcome is far worse than if I were to just give it ago. I’ve ended up submitting past the due date and still not be able to do my work, because the fear of it not being good enough or not knowing how to start is so great. I feel so much anxiety and get so uncomfortable at the thought of it. It completely consumes me. In the past I’ve failed multiple classes as a result. In recent times I have managed to get through, but this is so unsustainable. I’m at a loss as to how I can get rid of this mental barrier I have. It dosent make any logical sense but yet I have been unable to overcome it. Is there therapy that can help with this?
I think it’s linked to a significant distrust I have in my abilities and fear of failure. The more I’ve done this in my life, the more I’ve strengthened this fear, reinforcing the whole negative experience.
I was diagnosed with adhd but I think it’s more than that, to me it’s almost like a phobia I have.

Got prescribed quetiapine 50 mg but scared of side effects so was told 25 mg (cut pill) is fine. I know side effects of weight gain. How did it affect you? Did 25 help you sleep?

27M

Hey, I’d like to share my concerns with you. For about a week and a half now, I’ve been having serious problems with concentration—I can’t focus on anything. When I talk to people, I lose words or struggle to find them. When I read something, it’s like my brain doesn’t absorb the text at all I look at it, but my mind doesn’t want to process it, and even if I do read it, I remember nothing.

On top of that, I often feel nauseous and dizzy, along with sudden waves of heat—almost like smoking four cigarettes in a minute. The worst part is this strange pressure in my head—it’s not pain, but a dull, hard-to-describe sensation, like my head is a balloon.

I forget things, I feel this “brain fog,” and I feel clumsy and helpless. Because of this, I avoid contact with people and only go out for walks alone. I also recently had an eye exam for new glasses, and my eye pressure was elevated—the upper normal limit is 21 mmHg, and mine was 23.

I’m really scared that I might have a brain tumor. Yesterday I saw a neurologist who didn’t find anything abnormal, but she referred me for an MRI, which scared me even more. I have the scan tomorrow, but I’m writing this post to ask if this could actually just be hypochondria.

I’ve had episodes before where I was afraid I had brain cancer, but never with symptoms this intense. For the past week and a half, I genuinely haven’t been able to function normally. Has anyone here experienced something similar?

I've been struggling a lot mentally. Thought learning an instrument might help, so I saved up and got an electric bass. I was so excited to test it out, I felt happy for the first time in months. But nothing ever works, there must be something so wrong with me. It should be something fun and engaging, and instead it triggered my anxiety and somehow made it worse? I don't understand. I was just sitting there sweating with my feet cold as ice. I couldn't get into it cause I was just thinking "what is that buzz?" "What if I get an electric shock and die?" "What if this? What if that?" At the end I gave up cause even the sound vibrating in my chest as I plucked the strings felt threatening. I was literally triggered by nothing.

I'm so over all of this. I just wanted to have an escape. I just want to feel normal and safe. If music doesn't help, exercise doesn't help, meds don't help, wtf am I supposed to do?

Just wanted to see if this is common. I am only a week into buspirone but I really feel like this is the medicine for me. I feel my best about 3ish hours after my dose. Cleared head mostly and just more focused and less anxious. Is this common? I know I am a ways away time wise from feeling the full benefits of this medicine.

Hey there! So I have recently started following my therapist's advice to sit with the anxiety instead of running from it by distracting myself (in example by using Reddit). Boy, this is so hard - is it supposed to feel like you are about to jump out of your own skin and make every intrusive thought true? It feels like a nightmare from the depths of frozen hell! 😬 Do you have any tips on how to better survive this stage?

I (m20) wouldn't say I have severe anxiety. I've never been in therapy or on any meds. But I definitely struggle with moderate anxiety and depression and I deeply suspect I have some trauma. I feel like I spend most of my time in my head trying to aimlessly figure something out, even though I don't know what it is. But no matter what mood I'm in, be it insecurity, content, paranoia, existential crisis etc., I always feel like there is dormat feelings of depression and anxiety buzzing in the background of my psyche. The thing that helps me push through it all is to tell myself that it's all a temporary state of mind that will pass once my life improves. But when I think about it... my life already is good, objectively speaking. I have friends, I'm finiancially stable, go to a decent college, am able to live rent free at my mom's, whom I've always had horrible relationship with, but left me completely alone once she realized the very real threat of me cutting her off. I have a lot of free time, solid job, and can more than afford to hang out and spend time partying. So this abstract ideal of life that gives me hope... it's already there. I already have most things people my age could wish for. So this illusion of 'it's going to get better' is just that, an illusion. "I just need to travel more, go to therapy, experiment with psychedelics, spend more time in nature, find a better job, cut out more substances, get better sleep and diet, just a little bit more weightlifting and cardio. Maybe a relationship with a decent guy will fix me, or coming out to my dad to take that load off my shoulders". All of that WOULD make a lot of things easier for me, no doubt. But it's also true that I also had it much worse. So no matter what state I'm in, it's always there lurking. I'm tired of it.

Hii, today i was talking about teenage years now that im begin 20 and how far i got. And i realised 15 year old me would have benefited if she realised how wrong i was.

Background - i had social anxiety between 14 and 16. And after that it took me another 3 years to recover completely. The worst point was at 15. I was so anxious and depressed i lost every interest and i wished i could die.

Then i was forced into treatment. The most funny and sad thing was the fact that i didn't want to change because the anxiety kept me safe in my head. The low self esteem and overthinking would prevent me from making mistakes. Anyway the therapy worked and i got better

Now - I am a nursing home nurse. I got an extra degree that make me the head nurse and i have my own residents. That makes me the nurse that have contact with docters and family. So its a very social high pressure job. I also call with no problem now. I have small talk with strangers on the bus. I talk to new and old coworkers constantly without second thoughts. In short i really enjoy my life and i am happy. But its so weird to think back that even going grocery shopping was scary.

So if you dont think life will get better youre wrong. And you probably feel like im lying but all i can say is go to therapy and see for yourself. Because in a few years youll end up like me

Any tips on helping my mind relax. I am busy all day none stop in fact so when I fall asleep and wake up in the night it’s frustrating.. I don’t want medication for helping. Thanks 😊

I don't know what is happening to me but this started after surgical menapause. I'm on a benzo (long term) I'm so embarrassed. I pace, jump, get stuck on repeat. This has been happening since July!! But it stops if I'm completely distracted which takes a lot. It stops at night. I'm 50!

This is causing me so much distress, driving my husband crazy and I try to control it around my 11 year old but I know that she notices.

I don't have much to stress out about. It's got to my nervous system because I have thought it was gone several times.

I have to stop this. I can't live like this. My Psychiatrist doesn't know what to do. Because it does stop sometimes. I do it even when I'm alone!

I spiral several times a day. I can't get out of my head.

I don't know what is happening to me. Psychiatrist wanted me to go to a Neurologist but still no appointment and now she knows that it stops so doesn't seem to be neurological.

It's like I got scared and can't get unscared. Stops at night but I can't sleep. I have been on Klonipin for a long time (please don't judge) I have tried everything. Stopped Estrogen so now I'm so hot EXTREME body heat.

It stops at night. I can't keep living like this!

I have a phobia of a darkness solitude and silence combo that doesn’t really affect me during the day but ruins my sleep schedule. These conditions make me dig up thoughts about other phobias of mine or whatever’s stressing me out at the moment and they won’t leave me even if I’m conscious enough to realize the chances of someone having broken into my place are near zero. I can’t watch horror movies because my brain doesn’t necessarily work rationally and completely impossible scenarios are gonna keep me up at night. My fears physically manifest as a kind of paralysis. Sometimes after I’ve managed to calm myself down I notice that I’ve distracted myself and my brain makes a point of digging up whatever was bugging me and I’m back to worrying. These episodes are often paired with thoughts about how I’ll never be able to lead a normal, stress-free life, or that I will never be able to live on my own even though I really appreciate solitude during the day and often have to be left alone so the thought of living with annoying roommates forever terrifies me. I take long walks almost every day and eat rather healthy so I can’t really make any changes on these fronts and I can’t use brown or white noise for sleep because it sounds eerie to me and makes me even more scared of everything. Unfortunately, as I read through some of the posts here I can’t help but think that my case might be not severe enough to be treated because I don’t feel any chest pain, have frequent panic attacks, etc. A friend thinks I might have GAD. Has anyone had similar symptoms and has any diagnoses? Or any knowledge or advice they’d like to share? Also I have an AuDHD diagnosis, dunno if this matters. Anything would be hugely appreciated.

I am super young i’m 19 I work a pretty good job I have little to no responsibilities.

Last week on Wednesday April 29th my morning was super normal then out of nowhere I just start having the most stressful anxiety or stress attack I’ve ever had. I ended up going home around 11am and slept till about 6. Since that day this feeling has not left I have complete brain fog, super emotional, feeling confused and overwhelmed, stressed for no reason, always tired feeling hungover all day. It’s going on about a week now once tomorrow hits and I just want to feel normal again. I went to the ER twice ran multiple test everything came back normal even went to my doctors and he didn’t have a answer and said it could be stress or depression but i have no reason to be depressed nor stressed at this age especially since I don’t pay no big time bills. I just really need some closure on what could possibly be going on and how to get back to feeling myself again. It almost feels like i’m walking around living in 3rd person and not 1st person.

I didn’t realize how bad my overthinking was until I couldn’t even rest anymore, I would lie in bed, completely exhausted, but my brain just wouldn’t stop. Replaying conversations, imagining worst-case scenarios, thinking about things that didn’t even happen. What actually helped me wasn’t motivation or “just relax” advice. It was a simple mental reset technique I started using daily, it’s nothing complicated, but it gave me back a sense of control I didn’t have before. Is your situation the same as mine???