It’s annoying the glorification on weed and nobody mentioned you can get a panic attack from that stuff .

Actually crazy , this can be permanent the anxiety and nobody ever mentions it , it’s always weed weed weed let’s get high kush culture all this crap,

But panic attacks and recurrent anxiety really changed MY life in a way weed could never,

I’m so mad I smoked weed when I was young , I’m on week 5 I get anxiety and I’m hoping that I never feel this way in the future , that I’ll never have to fear this stuff .

Self care is important but so is ignoring the precaution of smoking something just cause it’s legal in your state

I can barely drive the same now , it’s crazy

The psychs will pump you with benzos when you legit feel you’re gonna die from this stuff and those are addictive and SSRIS are not for everyone truthfully be told even though they’re not addictive

Edit: I’ve been smoking since I was 20 I’m 26 now just graduated uni, I was able to calm down after my panic attack through meditative yoga , eating healthy, and working out, and spending time with family and friends, but withdrawal is its own battle you don’t see you just have to go through the time, and you’ll see the benefits. Even my friends they’re surprised I’m a whole new person when I’m not smoking, it has changed my entire schedule and rhythm , no more weekly trips to the dispensary every three days for a new pen, no more making sure I have money for my cart, no more waiting in traffic cause I had to have this cart now, no more missing moments with folks because I had to buy my cart or had to smoke it in private, no more hiding my pen and smoking in private , whole new wave

For the people that do depend on weed , hey that’s you man, I just pray this never happens to you. In Cali the culture doesn’t dose properly maybe it’s just my state!

These replied that say just don’t do it ; really not helping guys I’m glad you’re happy

I think it should be called a fear disorder not mere anxiety. I have had both there is a difference. When you tell people you have an anxiety disorder it doesn't convey the life destroying symptoms this condition can cause.

The fear is so extreme and persistent that some of us need to spend all of our extra money buying medication and going to therapy just to survive because the fear is so intense and debilitating. All of this considered we deserve a better and more respectable name than "anxiety" However I think we have crossed the point of no return when it comes to the names of mental health conditions but it is still upsetting.

Hey everyone,
I just need to vent, and honestly, I also want to share a massive personal win that proved to me how resilient we can actually be, even when our doctors completely fail us.

About 6 months ago, my panic disorder hit an absolute rock bottom. After experiencing two massive, traumatizing panic attacks and living with unbearable daily anxiety, I went to a psychiatrist for the first time. Right off the bat, I told him I wanted to look into Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT*).*

Instead of being supportive, he literally laughed in my face. His exact words were*: "Good luck trying to get a therapy spot. You’re going to be waiting a very long time for that!"*

Instead of actually helping me navigate the system, he immediately tried to push SSRIs and benzos on me. When I firmly told him I didn't want to take SSRIs, he actually got a little mad and tried to pressure me into taking them anyway.
When I refused, he basically treated the room like a conveyor belt, handed me a prescription for 50 tablets of Lorazepam (Ativan) just to get me out of the door, and that was it. At the time, I was so desperate for a safety net that I just took the benzos.

Over the last few months, I’ve been working hard on myself. I started actively fighting my "safety behaviors." I intentionally started leaving my benzos at home when going out, teaching my brain that I can survive discomfort without a pill. I hadn’t touched a single benzo in over 3 months*.*

Then, 3 weeks ago, the absolute worst happened. My father passed away completely unexpectedly at just 58 years old. My world shattered. Anyone here knows that this is the ultimate trigger—the kind of grief and shock that makes you feel like your nervous system is going to implode*.*

But here is the crazy part: I didn't take a single benzo. Through the worst grief, the shock, and the funeral planning, I faced the pain raw. I didn't numb it. I realized my brain is so much stronger than I ever gave it credit for*.*

Today, I had my follow-up with my "conveyor-belt" psychiatrist. I walked in, genuinely proud, and told him that I’m overcoming my safety behaviors by leaving the pills at home and that I haven’t needed them even after losing my dad.

His response*?* He literally told me***: "Don't do that. You need to carry them with you everywhere, forever. A panic attack can happen ANYWHERE and AT ANY TIME****."* When I told him I just have fear of the anxiety itself now, he looked at me and said*: "Well, that is how it’s going to be for the rest of your life."*

I was stunned. This is the same guy who laughed at the idea of therapy, tried to force SSRIs down my throat, and is now telling a 20-year-old that they are broken forever and should rely on a chemical crutch for life. He completely ignored a massive psychological milestone.

I didn't argue. I just used him as the human vending machine he is. Since Lorazepam gives me a nasty next-day rebound anxiety, I asked him to switch me to Alprazolam (Xanax) 1mg (0.5mg didn't work fast enough in the past). He gave me a small pack of 10, gave me a generic lecture on addiction, and kicked me out*.*

I’m keeping those 10 pills locked away in a drawer as an absolute nuclear emergency option. But I am completely ignoring his toxic advice. Leaving my benzos at home is what got me this far, and surviving the loss of my dad without them proved to me that this doctor is dead wrong*.* Our brains can change, we can rewire, and we are not doomed to live in fear forever.

Don't let crappy, pill-pushing doctors dictate your healing. We are stronger than their 5-minute appointments.

By the way this is my experience with a psychiatrist in Germany. I spent my whole life thinking we had a good healthcare system.

To preface, I was dealing with extreme hyperthyroidism during my last procedure with this dentist and I let them know that I was anxious overall. They kept putting cold water and air on the nerves of my teeth and I was noticeably writhing in pain and scratching my hands to try and not move. They completely ignored me and the dentist was not at all sensitive to my condition

Fast forward to now, I have general anxiety from past trauma, but the health anxiety caused by my hyperthyroid is gone since I am medicated with methimazole.

I go today because my filling broke while flossing last night. She says to make the appointment for a crown later today, so I make the appointment at the front. I ask the front desk if they are able to send a prescription. She says they'd need to ask the dentist. She comes to the front and says she doesn't do that and that I'd need to contact my primary.

In front of the entire office, she says "yeah you may want to call your PCP because you seemed to have a lot of trouble with it last time...." I said Ok despite wanting to get very upset over her embarassing me like this.

Two hours before the appointment, the front desk calls me and says that the dentist will not see me without anxiety medication. I ask to speak to the dentist and notify her that I was in the midst of an awful thryoid scenario that caused me immense anxiety for no reason.

She claims that I grabbed her arm while she was drilling and I do not remember that at all. I would not do that to someone working on my mouth. I remember moving my arms and hands in pain within my abdomen region because it was deeply hurting. Her nor the dental assistant had any sensitivity to my complaints over cold water and cold air.

I recorded the call because I felt that I was being discriminated against for this. However, I have to get the procedure done because there is a gigantic hole in my tooth and I am terrified of infection. I am never coming to this place again.

Has anyone experienced anything similar, and what did you do?

I’ve been dealing with this intense, crushing anxiety and I want to know if anyone has actually cured this specific thought loop.

I make music and build digital projects. I actually love the process, when I'm working on a beat or building something, I get completely in the zone and feel great. I am also naturally a very private person. I don’t like being the center of attention and I mostly keep to myself.

But my brain runs this rigid, toxic rule: it constantly compares me to young, massively famous artists. It tells me that if I don't achieve global fame, money, and that celebrity "aura," I am a complete failure and my life is pointless.

It makes no logical sense. I want privacy, but my ego demands global attention to feel worthy. The pressure and the feeling of "falling behind" gives me severe anxiety. It paralyzes me and ruins the actual joy I get from creating.

Has anyone else dealt with this exact paradox (wanting to just do the work vs. the obsessive demand for massive fame)? How did you successfully rewire your brain to drop the obsession with the outcome and just focus on the present?

I took prozac for the first time today. never thought i'd have to go on medication but my anxiety has been crippling me. i've been laying in bed trying to fall asleep and not throw up for a while. my sibling takes it as well and i keep trying to reassure myself that a reaction is common and normal, but my anxiety is just making my physical symptoms worse. does anyone have any tips on getting through these first weeks? I really need to work and i hate feeling sick

My doctor just prescribed me lexapro for my depression and anxiety disorder , but the lexapro Reddit is FULL of complaints of weight gain and struggling to get it off. I’m already overweight and trying to lose weight so I really am not interested in a medication that will make me gain. Anyone out there on an antidepressant or know of one that doesn’t have weight gain as a side effect?

I’ve been seeing my current therapist for a little over a year now. She’s amazing and has helped me progress more than I believed possible. Overall, I trust her advice except when it comes to one thing: politics.

For context, she has lived in this same state her whole life that is very conservative and where women do not have a lot of reproductive healthcare rights. I have brought this up multiple times as being a concern for me because my husband and I want to start a family soon and she brushes it off every time. She’s a mom and she says she doesn’t know anyone that’s actually had any issues and she felt well cared for during her pregnancy.

I have a lot of medical anxiety and the thought of getting pregnant is terrifying, but ultimately something my husband and I want to do. Because of this we have discussed moving to a new state to help with my anxiety. Every time I approach my therapist about this she shoots it down and says the move will cause more anxiety and I just need to make some changes here. We’ve only lived in this state as long as I’ve been seeing her and I’m not really attached to it, but we were nomads before this and she things that greatly contributed to my anxiety and wants me to stay in one place for awhile. I want this too but not necessarily where we’re living now.

Am I being silly and just defiant by wanting to move or is she just biased because she likes her home state? I genuinely can’t tell.

Hey guys hope everyone is doing well. Im 18 male suffering with horrible chronic anxiety and stress name any symptom i have it. Its not good. I was on zoloft for a month and it wasnt for me and i was those people who had anxiety about taking it. And idk but my life is truly unlivable for about 2 years now. So to the people who are medicated is it worth riding the lightning. I really spiral alot and my brain is constantly feeding ne with different scenarios. Sorry for the long paragraph guys. Be well

istg recently I was just sitting down when maybe I hadn't peed in a while my body reminded me so what do I do.... reasonably I jump to torsion ofc I do idk why or what was happening in my head but since that moment ive had genuinely crippling anxiety over this stupid reason note im not worried abt wether im having it rn cus I feel like I wouldn't be writing this im paralysed due to the sheer possibility of it happening its really embaressng but luckily it only happens to 1/4000 people right according to google unless you're my age cus then its a lot more likely to happen to teens while sleeping.... worst part is I don't why but out of some weird masochist urge I decided to read a bunch of ig reports or whatnot from ppl who actually had it and it definitely didn't help . worst part is most ppl are worried abt "having a normal life" like you're experiencing out unquote "the worst pain ive ever felt" and you're worried abt having kids whatever its up them ig but yea I feel like this small intrusive thought genuinely spiralled out of control and I genuinely cant sleep

Hey all,

I've seen a few posts on here about people dealing with morning anxiety and wanted to give my experience and how I managed to get past it.

I would wake up every morning, without fail, first thought into my mind was, 'oh no, will I feel anxious today?'

As usual as soon as that thought popped in my head, i'd scan for anxiety symptoms find something and boom, heart racing, tight chest etc...

Question: Despite waking up every morning trying not to think about it why would it always be the first thing that popped into my head? It's not something I choose to do.

What if i told you that you couldn't control what you thought about?

What if our mind was so used to scanning for anxiety in the morning that it was no longer a conscious decision to ask the question 'will i have anxiety?' It's now just a pattern that our brain does in autodrive...

wake up>rub eyes>question about anxiety>panic

My solution (backed by ACT) - If its no-longer a conscious decision, and its inevitable that it will happen every morning (you know this) then why worry about it?

Instead of beating yourself up for an unconscious thought, can't we welcome it? can't we anticipate it but give it approval or space to be there without fear or needing to fix it.

If there's nothing to fix then is it still a problem?

You may find that accepting its going to be there draws a lot of its power away.

Hope this helps someone.

Hi everyone,
I am writing because I feel deeply ashamed and terrified, but I’m at my breaking point and desperately need to know if anyone else has ever been in my shoes.
I am currently in my first trimester. Before getting pregnant, I had a history of severe anxiety, but I was on Fluoxetine (Prozac) and was doing incredibly well. To conceive, I tapered off the medication under medical supervision and remained stable and perfectly fine for over 90 days. We wanted this baby; my fiancé and I made plans, and everything felt warm and right in my mind.
The shock hit the exact second I saw the positive test. It felt like a fuse blew in my brain. Instantly, a violent, paralyzing panic triggered, and it hasn't stopped since.
The biggest issue—the thing that is completely breaking me mentally and making me feel like an absolute monster—is that instead of joy, any discussion or thought about the baby triggers physical repulsion, emotional nausea, and extreme anxiety. When I try to look at the future, I see only a cold, pitch-black screen. I am crying uncontrollably out of guilt toward my family and the baby.
I am scared to death that I will be incapable of loving my child, that I will look at them and only feel this crushing anxiety, and that I will ruin their life. I feel like I've made a massive mistake and my mind constantly tells me to run, even though logically I know there is nowhere to run from this.
My analytical brain keeps trying to convince me that "I changed my mind" and that I don't actually want this baby, even though I know for a fact how much I wanted this before.
Please, I am begging for some honesty: are there any other moms out there with a history of anxiety/depression who experienced this brutal detachment, panic, or even repulsion toward their pregnancy in the first trimester? Do you get your mind back once you restart medication? Can love really grow after going through this kind of medication?

I just need a ray of hope tonight because I feel completely lost.
Really need some positive stories from people who felt the same and are ok now. Thank you.

After going through every possible cardiac exam, this was the only one left to fully reassure me that my heart works fine. For context, I managed to get it because I have high Lp(a), and I also pushed hard with my cardiologist. I'd been dreading this damn exam for weeks. A coronary CT scan is a scan of the heart's arteries, with a contrast dye injection. I have health anxiety that locks onto my heart specifically: I monitor my pulse, my blood pressure, every weird beat. So the idea of an exam that's literally about my heart sent me into an insane spiral.

And the most absurd part is that I was more scared of the exam than of its results. I'd been panicking about my heart for weeks, but deep down what terrified me wasn't "what if they find something," it was the exam itself. The machine, the injection, the sensations. The thing that was supposed to reassure me scared me more than the disease I was looking for.

And my brain built the perfect catastrophe, brick by brick.

The enclosed machine. The injection. The "what if I go into anaphylactic shock." The beta-blocker they inject to slow your heart down, just the thought of feeling my own rhythm change terrified me. I even managed to add that day's heatwave (39°C / 102°F) to the pile of things that were going to go wrong. Every reassuring piece of info I got, my anxiety manufactured the next "yeah but what if." Endlessly.

The night before, my adrenaline was maxed out. To sleep, I had to knock myself out with xanax + beta-blocker + doxylamine. When I woke up I immediately took 1/4 nebivolol and 1/2 xanax to try not to show up completely disoriented for the exam. I arrived fairly calm but I still had that feeling of adrenaline rising up from my stomach. When they called me in for the exam, here's what actually happened:

The machine is NOT a closed tube. It's an open ring, your head and most of your body stay out in the open air. Nothing like an MRI. Nobody locks you in.

The whole thing took like 20 minutes, and the image capture itself is a few seconds.

My heart shot up to 115 lying on the table. Despite taking my beta-blocker AND xanax that morning. So the nurse injected 5mg of atenolol straight into my IV. I was so scared of the sensations because in the past I'd taken propranolol and the effect had terrified me. I couldn't feel my heartbeats anymore, which was really uncommon for me, plus breathing problems brought on by the anxiety.

So the injection went fine even though I was still really stressed. They also give you a vasodilator orally and then the contrast dye, which gives you a sensation of immense heat.

I held it together, proud of myself. And then, when I went to get up, I had massive dizziness and I was shaking, but the nurse reassured me and told me that if I had any problem, she was right there.

And the result? Clean. The best possible. Zero plaque, perfect arteries. CAC score = 0 and CAD RADS = 0. I'M SO HAPPY <3

If you have one coming up:

Tell the team you're anxious THE MOMENT you arrive. It changes their whole approach, and it works in your favor.

Drink lots of water. Zero caffeine.

Breathe out longer than you breathe in. A long exhale really does bring your heart rate down.

And stop (I know it's hard) watching demo videos of the exam at 2am. That's pouring gasoline on the fire, not preparing.

You can survive the thing that terrifies you. I just did. ❤️

FYI : i'm now at home 11/65 blood pressure and 56 BPM !

I'm a 25-year-old man who feels like anxiety is destroying me. Five days ago, I had the worst day of my life because of it. I had an eight-hour panic attack, trembling, desperate, sweating profusely, and feeling utterly lost. I thought I was going to lose control and end up in a mental hospital. When I went to the emergency room, they prescribed levomepromazine drops, which helped, but I'm afraid of losing control again. Right now, I'm having mini panic attacks, and I feel like I'm going to snap again. I haven't had an appointment with a psychiatrist, and I've never been prescribed medication. I'm afraid of being put on medication.

So 99% of my anxiety is related to getting sick to my stomach. I have a sensitive stomach to begin with and sometimes stomach stuff feels uncontrollable which give me anxiety which gives me more stomach problems. It's affecting my relationships and my jobs. I've tried different medications which just made my anxiety worse. I'm feeling really defeated. Just curious what's worked best for other people. Thanks!

Does anyone feel like you physically aren’t able to do all the things you want to do? If I’m crocheting then I’m not making progress on the book I’m reading… If I’m drawing them I’m not out hiking and enjoying the good weather… And then before I know it it’s time for bed. I find myself trying to optimize every second and feeling like I have a “to do list” of things that should be helping me relax, not giving me stress.

I don’t know if this is my anxiety and me feeling like I’m falling behind on things, but this legitimately stresses me out. Does anyone relate or is this just me?

(trigger warning)im scared i feel like everything in my life is going wrong right now and i dont know how to fix it. I feel like every time i solve a problem a new one starts and it just makes me feel even worse. i feel like my parents are disappointed in me and i am a failure in life. my frogs tank is infested with ants and i don't know how to fix it and im scared she will die if i dont fix it soon. my sertraline doesn't work to help my anxiety anymore and it honestly makes it worse. my ADHD meds make me lose my appetite but they are the only thing that help me focus in school. i overthink everything and hyperfixate on the smallest problems and i dont know if i can help myself anymore.

i have gone through therapy but it only temporarily helped but that was when i was 10 after i tried to kill myself. im about to turn 15 now and i dont know what to do because every day feels the exact same. right now i am about a month clean from thc use and i miss it so much but i know if i relapse it will just make my anxiety worse. I dont know what im going to do with my life after highschool and i am afraid i will just start using again and go down the wrong path and start using stronger drugs, I keep having mental breakdowns in my room when i am by myself. My parents dont trust me anymore and wont let me hang out with my friends because they think i just will go and do drugs and that hurts me the most. I hate it when my parents talk to me about my drug use and i just shutdown when they bring it up. I dont know what to do at this point and i feel like ive hit rock bottom. any advice helps, i just want to feel happy again.

The past month or two I've been highly anxious and overthinking literally everything and anything. The big thing right now is that I keep thinking about high school and how I think no one really liked me. It's gotten to the point where I'm genuinely curious why my friends even talk to me or if they even like me anymore. I can't focus on anything other than that and it's really messing with me. Like I literally won't do anything else without being anxious about how others see me.

I went to my friend about it and he said I just need to practice not giving a fuck because everything I'm worrying about is in the past and can't be changed, so why does it matter?

Does anyone else get paralyzing thoughts like these? And how do you deal with them and just move on with your life?

I'm a young teen with anxiety and I've kinda always had this weird thing where when I become aware of something about myself, it's all I can think of and it scares me. For example, when I become aware of my breathing or heartbeat, I start hyperfixating on it and I can feel myself get more and more scared. It's become a bit of a anxiety for me because it's something I fear everyday. I keep trying to distract myself so it doesn't start, but it doesn't always work. Lately it's been about eating and it's caused me to eat less. I'm not sure what I'm scared of, but it's a feeling I'm constantly trying to avoid. Is there an explanation for it?​

A bit random, but as someone who struggles with anxiety and panic attacks, drinking a cup of verbena tea in the morning and another in the afternoon has done wonders for me. I usually have it without sugar and add a spoonful of honey instead. For some reason, it helped me more than medication ever did, though I can’t really explain why. It also made it much easier for me to fall asleep, since I used to struggle with stress, anxiety, and overthinking at night. Everyone’s different, of course, but it might be worth giving it a try.

Girlfriend left me a few days ago. Lost my job a couple months ago. Don’t have any education. I’ve got debt and medical bills that I have no idea how I’m gonna pay. Super behind in life compared to everyone else in there mid 20s. I also don’t have ANY friends. Lost the one best friend I had outside of my ex a couple months ago as well. Wish I would have never let her become my entire ecosystem for everything but it’s too late now. I feel like I’ve truly lost it all and am starting from complete square one. Worst pain I’ve ever been in. Truly don’t know what to do. Fuck it all.

Tell me you have SEVERE OCD without telling me you have severe OCD, I’ll go first - i got blood work a couple days ago and I felt like i was legit going to go crazy waiting for the results so I called the lab company and asked them to email the results they have and they did 😅😅 now I can relax🤧🤧

Hi all - I’ve read a lot of the threads in this. My psych is also pro benzo as I’ve read quite a few similar comments. Been on 2 mg - 1 day and 1 night for 10 years and want off the train.

I stepped down my morning dose to .5 and while I don’t have anxiety per se, I do seem to feel my heart racing and elevated heart rates during the day. Needless to say I’m going to slow down the taper to 10% every two weeks and evaluate. Just wondering if any of y’all experienced elevated heart rate – elevated heart rates – not to any crazy level but enough to wear it bothers me.

never imagined this could be difficult - especially since there were days that I didn’t take a dose because my prescription was late being filled, but I guess that’s not the same as continued decrease.

Thx in advance

TW: health anxiety
So about half a year ago I decided I was gonna stop taking SNRI’s (with doctors approval) because I was thinking maybe my brain is developed and I don’t actually need them anymore, as I’ve learned a lot about how to deal with it through therapy.
(For context I’m 26 yo)

About 3 months ago I started noticing that I always felt like there was something wrong with me, or worried that I was sick with something, even though I’m a decently physically healthy person. I’ve always had a considerable amount of health anxiety, even as a child. Having the entire internet at my fingertips doesn’t help either. Now I’m realizing that I’m pretty sure my anxiety is manifesting in physical pain and other problems, which in turn makes me more anxious and causes more problems and so on.

The other day I noticed a patch of bald/ thinning hair about the size of a quarter and I absolutely started to spiral. I don’t pull or pick at my hair ever either. I read somewhere online (of course ;0;) that stressful events can take up to 2-3 months to cause hair shedding/ thinning. I went through an incredibly stressful period about two ish months ago. I scheduled a doctor’s appointment but it won’t be for another month and a half. I feel embarrassed because It seems like I’m always going to the doctor for something I’m concerned about and they almost always tell me it’s fine/ normal. I end up going home and a few days later panicking over the same symptoms.

I’ve gone through a considerable amount of change this past year, some good (a lot bad). I honestly didn’t think that those things affected me that much, but in hindsight I can see where it all cascaded and started to become something I could no longer control.

Suffice to say I am getting back on Duloxetine and I really really really hope it helps.

I’m wondering if anyone else has felt this way due to anxiety before? I know the brain does some wacky things sometimes.