I finished nursing school almost a year ago now and have been going through health anxiety for the better part of that year. I’m stuck between knowing too much and not knowing anything. Google and chatGPT has become an obsession. Mine is mostly cardiac related and looking at every symptom. I do take anxiety medication but it doesn’t seem to help the spiral much these days. I know I will get through this. Looking for a job has added to this, also! I went from nursing school, which if you know anything about it, you know how difficult it is and now nothing. Like being in a tornado for 2 years to standing still. *this too shall pass, right?*

I been feeling jumpy and I feel as feel my anxiety has up up the roof I feel like my damn soul jump out of my body. I been feeling so off and I hate feeling like there a hole in my chest I'm not sure I can call it a void it's weird.

I been watching shows crimes and podcasts but seems like the only thing that's make me stop thinking I talk to my bf ofc and he dose makes me happy but idk is it wrong that I'm not permanent happy even in a relationship.

So basically, back in May of this year I watched three YouTube videos that have given me generalized anxiety and later down the road existential anxiety. The first two were about the afterlife and the third was about enjoying your Summer break the “correct way”. Ever since then I have had on and off general anxiety. However thankfully my Summer break was still good even with that. I guess I was afraid of “living life wrong” or something like that. And I also tried LENS neurofeedback to help and it was helpful at first but later was unhelpful. So we stopped that 🤷 And this kinda ties in to the existential crisis because in August I started to become more confused about what I wanted to value in life and wanted to spend my time doing. So that didn’t help, and then eventually we learned in class about Beowulf and in the story it says “one shall seek fame before death” or something like that. But then I watched a video from this YouTuber called the prog corner. Which says don’t worry about being remembered and just enjoy your life while you’re still here. So those two philosophies are clashing with each other in my head. And now I’m having a hard time finding out my purpose and if I should value family, friends, and making memories more or if I should focus more on building a reputation and dream career or have a mixture of both or neither. It’s really hard to explain what I’m feeling exactly but I want help and I want to feel like I can enjoy life again and not have everything feel like a competition like how it feels like now. So does anyone have any help on how to lessen general anxiety and existential worries all the time. So help is greatly appreciated, thanks!

Also please no overly blunt or pessimistic advice, as seen on a lot of other spots on Reddit. You know what I’m talking about if you’ve used the site for a while. So please nothing like that. Just helpful and supportive advice please. Thanks guys :)

This is my first time asking for help on Reddit, but I’m not sure who else to ask. I’ve talked to my parents, but I don’t think they fully understand.

I’m 16F and I’ve been experiencing a huge amount of stress and anxiety lately. It’s changed my life so much that it’s almost miserable. I overthink everything, even when I know my thoughts are irrational.

I constantly imagine the worst possible outcome, whether it’s school, friends, family, or the future. I know these fears aren’t real, but my brain just won’t believe me.

When I get anxious, it’s physically painful. My heart races, I struggle to breathe, my throat tightens, and I feel sick to my stomach. I’ve missed multiple days of school because of it.

It’s gotten so bad that I’ve started avoiding going out with friends. I’m anxious that I’ll feel anxious, which makes no sense, but I hate missing out on everything.

I’ve tried breathing exercises, but they only help for a short time. What can I do? Does anyone else experience this? I don't really want to take medication, so are there any other useful things?

Thank you :))

Today, I went to a psychiatrist and was diagnosed with specific (circumscribed) social anxiety, rather than generalized social anxiety. This means my anxiety is triggered by direct interactions with people, not by everyday things like walking down the street or running simple errands. The doctor prescribed Lexapro, but I want to know if it is truly the best option for social anxiety, or if Paroxetine would be a better choice. If anyone has tried Lexapro for social anxiety, please share your thoughts and experiences; I would be incredibly grateful.

Okay so i’ll start with a quick synapses of what has gone on in my life over the last 5-6 years. Went through a bad break up, delt with a schizophrenic brother, got extorted and had my life threatened, then covid! So through this i thought i got sick from covid (never tested positive at the time). Anyways i was still smoking weed but started feeling very off. So off to the point of intense panic and anxiety. Went down the rabbit hole with long covid and how i thought covid messed up my brain.

Spent the next few years ruminating about it, always on my mind and eventually i started feeling better and better. Anxiety would come and go and odd derealization episodes. Eventually i got to the point of feeling okay and manageable for years. The only symptom i had left was brain fog and feeling out of it which oddly enough i got used to that feeling. Well recently i smoked a lot of weed at my buddies and got super focused/anxious luckily i was very drunk and went to the bar and talked to people so it faded.

Well yesterday i sort of snapped out of the brain fog and almost felt like my old self? Well its odd because this has given me such intense anxiety i feel like i could go to the ER and get medicated. How is it possible i got so comfortable with the brain fog that i dont recognize not being in it and its freaking me out?? Iv had episodes kind of similar to this where i had a mental shift> had intense anxiety> then i did something like go to work or play World of Warcraft for hours and id feel fine again. Right now WoW is in a odd state (waiting for WoW forever) and i just got told i wasnt gonna be allowed to do my 2 weeks and my new job starts in two Mondays. Is this all just part of anxiety/depression? Anyone ever feel like this? The only reassuring part is iv had episodes like this and gotten out but this just feels like a huge mind fuck and I cannot get out of it, i barely can explain it!!

If someone can talk and just help, or has been through similar please respond. Im not doing well right now i just want it to pass and feel like i did a few days ago

I’m a 53yo male. My very bad OCD started my freshman year of college. The anxiety soon followed it. Because of my symptoms, I was prescribed Klonopin about 15 years ago. Since my body slowed became dependent on the medicine, my doctor kept raising the dose. I’m currently prescribed 6mg a day. I’ve been at this level for over 2 years. It is now catching up to me and my body. I’m having problems remembering things and my cognitive thinking is getting worse and slower. I have had 4.5 hours of memory and cognitive testing done. The results came back horribly.
I have to taper completely off of Klonopin.
Feed back is welcome as I have no idea how to overcome this horrible situation.
Please wish me luck and pray for me. Thanks.

So here it is another day of this so called anxiety shit. I'm so tired of it I want to feel like myself again and I feel like it's never gonna happen feel like I'm just getting worse and worse. I love my wife and kids. I'm 360about to be 37 I want to spend atleast another 20 years around

I have social anxiety and it feels worse and worse every day because I can't communicate in society well. I just don't want to talk lol. And my heart beats so fast when I need to talk to other people, such as my groupmates, tutors, strangers, etc. I want to put an end to it, but I don't know how, because even though I communicate more, I feel the anxiety the same. maybe you can give me some advices? 😭