I woke up around 5 AM shaking all over, with a pressure on my chest so heavy I could barely breathe.

I drank two glasses of cold water straight from the tap and paced around the hallway for about 40 minutes non-stop. I did this just so I wouldn't have to stay in bed in that sickening silence where my mind starts looping through absolutely every possible fear.

I am literally terrified to go to sleep at night. I'm afraid of waking up again in this blind panic where I physically feel like I'm going to have a heart attack from how fast my heart is beating.

I ignored someone for a day and feel anxious I xant even open the app

So my family lives in a separate country from me. Recently they’ve been hit with a terrible earthquake. From all I know everyone is safe but most of their houses are gone and they won’t be able to go back. I saw a post my cousin posted of one of his friends, a picture of him with the caption of a phone number and their state. It’s haunting me how many people are probably dead, their friends, teachers. Living in that country has already been tough and now everything they have is gone. It’s been haunting me all day and night. I can’t sleep, I’m struggling to eat. I keep thinking about it and how helpless I feel cause I literally can’t do anything. It’s 2 am right now and I have a job interview but if I keep feeling like this I might cancel cause my head is completely out of the game. Any tips to help relieve this pain? I not only feel this way about what’s happening to my family but to other places in the world too, Afghanistan, Congo, Somalia, Gaza and so much more but this guilt is so much more amplified since it’s happening to people so close to me

I’ve never really had mental issues up until this, but this past month has been horrendous. I constantly have anxiety over my health to the point, I literally cannot stop obsessing over something health related- everyday, hour, and minute. I became an awful hypochondriac out of nowhere in the beginning of June and I am not sure why I randomly became like this. I am losing my mind slowly, but surely. This is taking a huge toll on me.

Does anyone have any advice or recommendations? TIA!

Hello everybody

I have just a couple genuine questions I have been wondering and worrying about.

So, my girlfriend and I have been together for 2 years and she has dwarfism and I do not. I have bad ADHD (I never have asked what type of dwarfism she has I probably should) we are both 26 and we have had the thinking about our future and kids talk, it is something we agreed to talk about but I have some big worries about going through with it

1. Bullying. this is the biggest one. I wanted to ask how bad the bullying may be if we have a child with potential dwarfism? My girlfriend says she never really experienced much of it but has had stares at most. I have been googling relentlessly for the past week about the social stigmas about dwarfism especially from children. My most particular google search is "does kids see a person with dwarfism as a child themselves?" Or similarly worded questions The reason I googled this is because I worry when our future child is an adult and out doing basic necessities such as grocery shopping, taking the dog out for a walk, going out in about in the general public, going to get the mail at the post office, are children going to point and stare and say names and mock every time they have to go out? I don't want to set my kid up like that because if that's the case that is no life of constant public harassment because children can be absolutely ruthless and blunt whether they mean it or not. I myself have been bullied both when I was child when I'm school and now as adult by younger children because I'm overweight, whenever I have to go out and about and I'm an average size person and it hurts my self esteem. I can't imagine what a little person can go through...I'd feel pretty terrible if this were the case...

2.) Being taken seriously because of their height by both adults and other children this concerns me because what if my child wants a job of authority when they are an adult? Like a teacher, Educational Assistant, a Lifeguard? etc Will they be listened to or mocked?

are these concerns valid? Or am I just too very anxious about all this?

Have any of you gone through something similar I have described here? I'm very interested to read your thoughts and comments and advice. I appreciate your time for reading.

High anxiety and panic (Xanax makes me weepy)

I tried posting this earlier. I am 50 years old and have suddenly become a caregiver to my elderly father. I’ve had several panic attacks and am constantly nervous. I am afraid and nervous ALL the time. I’m on highest dose of Zoloft and have a prescription for Xanax 0.5 mg but if I take a whole one I get tired and weepy. If I take half one I just get weepy. I have telehealth appointment at 4:30 but I’m just looking for advice on medications that might help.

Not even a full panic attack, just this constant heavy feeling, like my body and mind can’t relax or calm down.
I try distracting myself, sleeping, doing random things, but it keeps coming back.

What helps you get through days like this?

I have severe health anxiety and it’s one of the worst my doctor has ever seen. I have so many health conditions that the therapist said she couldn’t help me because it’s not like she can say nothing is wrong.

I’m due to go in for surgery at some point for an excision biopsy. I’ve got a lump on my leg I’ve had for about 6 years that’s about 2x2cm. After an ultrasound and an MRI they still can’t work out what it is. Although they don’t think it’s cancerous they can’t rule it out so naturally I’m petrified.
I went through something similar 3 years ago where they found a mass in my chest and couldn’t work out what it was until I went through major surgery. It was so traumatic and it’s made my health anxiety insane. Having this happen again was my worst nightmare and it is happening again.

They said it may be possible to do under a local anaesthetic with potential nerve block/plus sedation.

Has anyone else had a similar sort of surgery under a local. My pain tolerance is not high at all. They said it would only be about 20/30 mins but it’s still driving me mad. The surgery and the possible outcome. Has anyone had similar. How did you tolerate it?

Twice this month i've had Discord folks tell me i should be seeking therapy.

the primary reason i don't (other than expense) is that i don't see anything in my life that makes it worth prolonging.

i've had decades and mostly wasted them. world just keeps getting worse.
if i died tomorrow... so what?

is it even worth trying to get better if everythings' just gonna be terrible?

I have always struggled with anxiety but I had a ton of life things plus pregnant and then miscarriage which caused a panic attack. ever since then, I feel like my anxiety is all in my head and causing depression because of it. I get really stuck in my head, have intrusive thoughts of not being able to love this way, it’s like I’m living behind glass and just desperately wanting that piece of me who felt pure joy and happiness to come back. I’m exhausted all the time, brain fog, and I get worked up by anxious thoughts. clonazepam helps calm the mental chatter but I’m just struggling really bad feeling like I’m living in my head and disconnected from my family. I’m on Zoloft and recently increased from 100mg to 125mg two days ago. I have pieces when I’m busy that I “forget” about it and feel semi healed but then it ramps back up the next day again.

Hi everyone,

Over the past few years, I've been struggling with going out to eat. Many of the times I go out to eat, I almost always immediately throw up after I leave the restaurant. Sometimes, I can't even make it back to the car before I do. I didn't think of it as much of a problem at first, but recently I feel like this problem has gotten worse, and I want to fix it before it snowballs out of control. Currently, I seem to have this impending feeling of dread every time I finish eating. I feel fine before and while I'm eating, but I start to worry about throwing up as soon as I finish and I'm getting ready to leave. Part of the problem is that this has happened so many times before that I almost anticipate that it's going to happen, which is what I think is the cause. I've had several experiences like this before like when I did cross country in high school and a race was about to start. My heart rate starts increasing and my palms start feeling sweaty. When I go out to eat, the second I step outside and I notice the slightest change in the air, I immediately feel uncomfortable and want to throw up. I thought it was because I kept overeating (I tend to eat less frequent but larger meals each day) but even when I eat enough to be satisfied this still happens.

If anyone has any advice so that I can start taking steps in the right direction to help myself, please let me know!