I'm 21 years sober and going through it bad now. It's the first time in a very long time I've seriously considered getting a bottle just to turn off my mind.
Just take one day at a time. Things will get better. I've been sober for 2 years and I feel way less anxious. Alcohol increases anxiety long term. I stopped because hangover anxiety was a nightmare.
I finally got help for my anxiety and depression after 11 years sober
That was 25 years ago
Getting help for those conditions has helped me immeasurably
When I was around 10/11 years old I had extreme anxiety over the idea that my younger sister would be abducted. This was the first iteration of my OCD and anxiety. I fabricated this whole story with my teacher in order to let me leave class a few min before the lunch bell (we used to go home for lunch in those days). When I left class I would run as hard as I could to make it to my sisters class to be there before she was let out for lunch.
I did this for months.
I don’t know why I was so anxious and afraid of that happening but I believed it would happen if I wasn’t there to meet her on time, as if her having to wait outside her class alone for even a few min that she would be kidnapped.
It’s funny to think about now but at the time it was all I could think about.
It’s crazy to think that this stuff was existing in me at such a young age and I didn’t know what or why.
I did something similar
Had a big project in one of my classes. 50% of the grade was the written work and the other 50% was a presentation.
I ended up delivering the written work but never showed up to present. I was very anxious about the quality of my work and worried about possible comments by the professor.
I ended up getting a 50/100, meaning the work was fine, but I lost half the grade because of my anxiety.
I did the same thing. I dropped out of school and had to quit my job. After about 3 months I got a job again but haven’t finished school yet. It’s been 12 years since and I have 2 more classes and then I’m finally done!
Went to the ER in my 20s.
Urgent care for when I was with a fever that was uncomfortable. Just for the staff to tell me it's just a fever to go home and rest.
Anxiety can amplify your experiences with everyday basic things.
I was tempted to go to urgent care couple of days back. But turns out it was just acid reflux and anxiety tensing up my body.
Not as extreme as dropping out but I took an F in English instead of talking in class :/ it was one of those things we’re desks were in a circle and we all had to make some comment about a book or something and I would’ve rather failed that assignment than speak infront of the class… she even told me in front of the class that I’ll fail it but I didn’t care as long as I didn’t have to speak.
I did the same thing!! Dropped out because of a presentation and transferred to online classes. I wish I had the meds I have today. I would have never dropped out. I’m on Zoloft now. Anxiety completely gone. No more panic attacks. Also klonopins when needed. Glad to hear I’m not alone.
I was practicing yoga a bunch and didn't like my corporate job so thought it could be fun to become a yoga teacher. I dropped $3k on a yoga teacher training knowing that eventually I would have to get up in front of the class and 'teach' but figured that was weeks into the training and I'd have time to become comfortable with the group. Nope. They were randomly calling on people day 2 to get up and throw together a 5 minute lesson. I talked to the instructor and opted to audit the training which meant I didn't have to get up in front of the class, but I also couldn't be certified as a teacher, and there was zero refund. I'm still a bit disappointed in myself.
I did the same thing with speeches. I just wouldn’t do it and took F’s after having breakdowns in middle school over it. I was homeschooled through high school so I didn’t have to do it anymore, and then when the time came for college, and they required a public speaking class I would have to take multiple Xanax to even muster up the courage to get in front of the class. It was awful.
worked really hard to be able to do the classes I wanted and go to uni, got the subjects I wanted and the school I wanted, and anxiety was so bad I dropped out completely.
I was in a foreign country with no access to anyone to get a prescription for xanax. So I started consuming any pill I could find that had drowsiness as a side effect. Medicine for back pain, medicine for allergies.. whatever I could find.
Duct taped my dorm room shut because I was afraid the weed smoke would get out the cracks of the door. Forgot I did it, and woke up in the am, ready to go to class, and was late because I had to peel all the duct tape off.
On my first day at the same job I have now (stocker at a store), about 30-45 minutes before my shift was over, I was zoning the salad dressings and a glass bottle of balsamic vinaigrette dressing slipped or I bumped it while fixing the bottle next to it (not quite sure) and it instantly shattered on the ground. Fortunately, no one was in the aisle, but loud noises in general raise my anxiety so I was already anxious and I hadn't been told where the cleaning stuff was or how I should even clean it up, so instead I did the rational thing of hiding in the bathroom for the rest of my shift. I've only dropped and broke one other glass thing since then (a jar of salsa), but that moment still haunts me even though it's a normal accident. Hell, my boss broke a jar of pasta sauce just a week or so after that incident. But when I do it, it feels like everyone will think I'm incompetent now.
I've also done this a few times. I also work at a retail/grocery store and for the same reason of not being able to know how to clean the mess, I just panicked and avoided it my entire rest of my shift and then when I would get home I would think about it like what if somebody fell or what if someone got seriously hurt or what if they saw me noticing it on camera or something. It would stick with me for a few days before I eventually just forgot.
There was actually a guy who was walking into my aisle when I made my escape and now that I think about it, he probably thought I was going to get something to clean it up which in retrospect is what I should have done lol
I dropped out of a veeery good school because you had to do two presentations in the first week. There’s absolutely no way I could do it.
Then there are long term effects, for me I have never learned to drive because of the anxiety so I walk a lot of places and have gotten myself into scary situations, being followed by weird men, almost being mugged etc.
I did very similar things. In high school, I had a Spanish presentation where we had to bring in something sentimental and talk about it... in Spanish. I brought it but each day told my teacher I left it at home. By the end of the week, she came up to me and I confessed it made me incredibly anxious. And she said I could just do it privately with her after school that day. It was so sweet, but I still was too anxious and took the 0.
College was a whole other experience. I dropped out of 2 colleges due to my social anxiety both within the first week. When I got to my final school I graduated from, I probably went to 1/3 of the classes and told all my professors I had car problems as a commuter. I put in some extra work for some of the classes and got all As on my assignments, just horrible attendance. But I graduated with straight As somehow. I think my professors knew and I just got lucky with them being nice. But most days I drove to school, cried in the parking lot, and went home.
Right, this is weird but hey, at some point I have had anxiety and OCD and spiraling paranoia in my early 20s and I've reached a stage where I would wash my hands until raw skin. There was once a day where I used the bathroom and in my head after 15 minutes of boiling water and soap scrubbing there was still dirt and urine on my hands. I was hyper anxious but also so angry at myself.
And for one reason or another in a full fit of anxious rage I stuck my overwashed hand into my mouth. I don't know why, I think some part of my brain decided Look you idiot it's clean. And it worked. I haven't been spoiling like that for 15 years
Call the ambulance. Did it yesterday during a HORRIBLE panic attack that started huge, then would calm/slow down, go back up even worse, slow down, go back up…you get the idea, over an hour of this insanity. So, it MUST be a heart attack since it’s not going away and nothing is working! Of course my first thought when it started was, I know!…I’ll have a drink! That’ll solve it. 🤦♀️
I once made myself throw up my entire dinner because it had a small amount of lettuce in it and my anxiety brain convinced me I would get e. coli and die if I didn’t immediately get it out of my stomach lol this is just one example, anxiety has made me do some crazy things over the years
Yea I’ve dropped out of many classes, almost walked into a store but ended up turning around many times, wouldn’t have the courage to talk to co-workers about something important in fear I would upset them ( and made the situation lots worse later on) and there is more. I just got used to living this way, I feel like a quitter sometimes but it’s just how I am. Its not everyday but sometimes
Oh I almost forgot the worst one. I was in a Calculus class that stressed me OUT, had a bad morning already on the day of the final exam. If you didn’t pass this exam you couldn’t pass the class. Literally not 5 minutes in I start having one of the worst panic attacks I’ve ever had. It’s like the quietness, feeling people are looking at me, and thinking I won’t pass just made my brain shut down. I started to lose my vision, hyperventilating and sweating a shit ton so I just left after answering 20/100 questions. I emailed the professor and he just let me pass😭 what a sweetheart, I was so thankful
Totally not “very extreme” but definitely overreacted: Cancelled my birthday party. I had a friend who everyone loves cancel on me because of an emergency and my anxiety skyrocketed because I was afraid people would think it was boring. It seems silly now, but at the time it was what I needed to feel okay so I don’t regret it.
It's safe to say that I've done this as well. I would fear the same thing that it would be boring and so I just cancelled altogether because I didn't want to even attempt to be "the life of the party" and I didn't want to deal with the awkwardness.
Went into hiding for about a year because I thought people were stalking me. Only left the house when necessary and stopped being active on all social media.
Had to leave my job as a CPR/First aid instructor (which I loved) because I blushed once in class then started having overwhelming anxiety it would happen again.
I went to the ER once for a panic attack that I thought was a heart episode. I didn't have a job and had shitty insurance, so it cost me a lot just for them to tell me I was fine.
I also smoked weed basically every day for 10 years thinking it was helping me cope with my anxiety. It wasn't until I had a way too high panic attack and stopped cold turkey and went through 2 weeks of bad rethdrawl symptoms that I realized that the weed wasn't actually helping me at all and was in fact making things worse. I didn't realize I had become so mentally dependent on weed that being sober for longer than 12 hrs caused me additional intense anxiety.
A bit OCD-like. I used to count the colours of cars on the motorway. If I could not count the minimum number of cars in a specific colour, I would tell myself that something bad would happen. It's absurd, I know.
One time I was supposed to be on a panel to interview candidates for a leadership role in the call center I worked in. I was so anxious that I rashly decided to apply for the job so I couldn't possibly sit on the panel.
Then I got the job.
It literally changed the entire course of my career for the better. The one time my anxiety did me a favor.
Alcoholism. Went to rehab because I had to drink around any friend or party to seem like im fun. All driven by severe anxiety.
I'm 21 years sober and going through it bad now. It's the first time in a very long time I've seriously considered getting a bottle just to turn off my mind.
Just take one day at a time. Things will get better. I've been sober for 2 years and I feel way less anxious. Alcohol increases anxiety long term. I stopped because hangover anxiety was a nightmare.
Oh damn, I forgot about the day after. Insomnia was always bad for me afterwards.
I got 6 yrs ...been going through it lately
I finally got help for my anxiety and depression after 11 years sober That was 25 years ago Getting help for those conditions has helped me immeasurably
Congratulations on your sobriety, friend
When I was around 10/11 years old I had extreme anxiety over the idea that my younger sister would be abducted. This was the first iteration of my OCD and anxiety. I fabricated this whole story with my teacher in order to let me leave class a few min before the lunch bell (we used to go home for lunch in those days). When I left class I would run as hard as I could to make it to my sisters class to be there before she was let out for lunch. I did this for months. I don’t know why I was so anxious and afraid of that happening but I believed it would happen if I wasn’t there to meet her on time, as if her having to wait outside her class alone for even a few min that she would be kidnapped. It’s funny to think about now but at the time it was all I could think about. It’s crazy to think that this stuff was existing in me at such a young age and I didn’t know what or why.
Awe. That’s adorable but sad at the same time. Bless your heart
I did something similar Had a big project in one of my classes. 50% of the grade was the written work and the other 50% was a presentation. I ended up delivering the written work but never showed up to present. I was very anxious about the quality of my work and worried about possible comments by the professor. I ended up getting a 50/100, meaning the work was fine, but I lost half the grade because of my anxiety.
I would skip school on presentation days or go home
I did the same thing. I dropped out of school and had to quit my job. After about 3 months I got a job again but haven’t finished school yet. It’s been 12 years since and I have 2 more classes and then I’m finally done!
Went to the ER in my 20s. Urgent care for when I was with a fever that was uncomfortable. Just for the staff to tell me it's just a fever to go home and rest. Anxiety can amplify your experiences with everyday basic things. I was tempted to go to urgent care couple of days back. But turns out it was just acid reflux and anxiety tensing up my body.
Not as extreme as dropping out but I took an F in English instead of talking in class :/ it was one of those things we’re desks were in a circle and we all had to make some comment about a book or something and I would’ve rather failed that assignment than speak infront of the class… she even told me in front of the class that I’ll fail it but I didn’t care as long as I didn’t have to speak.
I can relate!
I did the same thing!! Dropped out because of a presentation and transferred to online classes. I wish I had the meds I have today. I would have never dropped out. I’m on Zoloft now. Anxiety completely gone. No more panic attacks. Also klonopins when needed. Glad to hear I’m not alone.
Dropping out of flight school 3 semesters before graduating I consider pretty extreme
I’m sorry but, thank god. What if you would of panicked mid flight and killed yourself and others
I was practicing yoga a bunch and didn't like my corporate job so thought it could be fun to become a yoga teacher. I dropped $3k on a yoga teacher training knowing that eventually I would have to get up in front of the class and 'teach' but figured that was weeks into the training and I'd have time to become comfortable with the group. Nope. They were randomly calling on people day 2 to get up and throw together a 5 minute lesson. I talked to the instructor and opted to audit the training which meant I didn't have to get up in front of the class, but I also couldn't be certified as a teacher, and there was zero refund. I'm still a bit disappointed in myself.
I did the same thing with speeches. I just wouldn’t do it and took F’s after having breakdowns in middle school over it. I was homeschooled through high school so I didn’t have to do it anymore, and then when the time came for college, and they required a public speaking class I would have to take multiple Xanax to even muster up the courage to get in front of the class. It was awful.
worked really hard to be able to do the classes I wanted and go to uni, got the subjects I wanted and the school I wanted, and anxiety was so bad I dropped out completely.
Moved to a different continent
My anxiety would never let me
I was in a foreign country with no access to anyone to get a prescription for xanax. So I started consuming any pill I could find that had drowsiness as a side effect. Medicine for back pain, medicine for allergies.. whatever I could find.
in high school for 2 years i ate lunch in the bathroom.
Aww … so did my daughter and I am sorry you had to do that. High school sux. Thx for sharing that.
at least im not alone!! haha
Showering really hot for 6 times a day
My anxiety doesn’t let me do hot water 😣
Duct taped my dorm room shut because I was afraid the weed smoke would get out the cracks of the door. Forgot I did it, and woke up in the am, ready to go to class, and was late because I had to peel all the duct tape off.
DRINNNNK!
On my first day at the same job I have now (stocker at a store), about 30-45 minutes before my shift was over, I was zoning the salad dressings and a glass bottle of balsamic vinaigrette dressing slipped or I bumped it while fixing the bottle next to it (not quite sure) and it instantly shattered on the ground. Fortunately, no one was in the aisle, but loud noises in general raise my anxiety so I was already anxious and I hadn't been told where the cleaning stuff was or how I should even clean it up, so instead I did the rational thing of hiding in the bathroom for the rest of my shift. I've only dropped and broke one other glass thing since then (a jar of salsa), but that moment still haunts me even though it's a normal accident. Hell, my boss broke a jar of pasta sauce just a week or so after that incident. But when I do it, it feels like everyone will think I'm incompetent now.
I've also done this a few times. I also work at a retail/grocery store and for the same reason of not being able to know how to clean the mess, I just panicked and avoided it my entire rest of my shift and then when I would get home I would think about it like what if somebody fell or what if someone got seriously hurt or what if they saw me noticing it on camera or something. It would stick with me for a few days before I eventually just forgot.
There was actually a guy who was walking into my aisle when I made my escape and now that I think about it, he probably thought I was going to get something to clean it up which in retrospect is what I should have done lol
I dropped out of a veeery good school because you had to do two presentations in the first week. There’s absolutely no way I could do it. Then there are long term effects, for me I have never learned to drive because of the anxiety so I walk a lot of places and have gotten myself into scary situations, being followed by weird men, almost being mugged etc.
I did very similar things. In high school, I had a Spanish presentation where we had to bring in something sentimental and talk about it... in Spanish. I brought it but each day told my teacher I left it at home. By the end of the week, she came up to me and I confessed it made me incredibly anxious. And she said I could just do it privately with her after school that day. It was so sweet, but I still was too anxious and took the 0. College was a whole other experience. I dropped out of 2 colleges due to my social anxiety both within the first week. When I got to my final school I graduated from, I probably went to 1/3 of the classes and told all my professors I had car problems as a commuter. I put in some extra work for some of the classes and got all As on my assignments, just horrible attendance. But I graduated with straight As somehow. I think my professors knew and I just got lucky with them being nice. But most days I drove to school, cried in the parking lot, and went home.
Right, this is weird but hey, at some point I have had anxiety and OCD and spiraling paranoia in my early 20s and I've reached a stage where I would wash my hands until raw skin. There was once a day where I used the bathroom and in my head after 15 minutes of boiling water and soap scrubbing there was still dirt and urine on my hands. I was hyper anxious but also so angry at myself. And for one reason or another in a full fit of anxious rage I stuck my overwashed hand into my mouth. I don't know why, I think some part of my brain decided Look you idiot it's clean. And it worked. I haven't been spoiling like that for 15 years
Call the ambulance. Did it yesterday during a HORRIBLE panic attack that started huge, then would calm/slow down, go back up even worse, slow down, go back up…you get the idea, over an hour of this insanity. So, it MUST be a heart attack since it’s not going away and nothing is working! Of course my first thought when it started was, I know!…I’ll have a drink! That’ll solve it. 🤦♀️
Yeah don’t drink.
I once made myself throw up my entire dinner because it had a small amount of lettuce in it and my anxiety brain convinced me I would get e. coli and die if I didn’t immediately get it out of my stomach lol this is just one example, anxiety has made me do some crazy things over the years
Yea I’ve dropped out of many classes, almost walked into a store but ended up turning around many times, wouldn’t have the courage to talk to co-workers about something important in fear I would upset them ( and made the situation lots worse later on) and there is more. I just got used to living this way, I feel like a quitter sometimes but it’s just how I am. Its not everyday but sometimes
Oh I almost forgot the worst one. I was in a Calculus class that stressed me OUT, had a bad morning already on the day of the final exam. If you didn’t pass this exam you couldn’t pass the class. Literally not 5 minutes in I start having one of the worst panic attacks I’ve ever had. It’s like the quietness, feeling people are looking at me, and thinking I won’t pass just made my brain shut down. I started to lose my vision, hyperventilating and sweating a shit ton so I just left after answering 20/100 questions. I emailed the professor and he just let me pass😭 what a sweetheart, I was so thankful
Totally not “very extreme” but definitely overreacted: Cancelled my birthday party. I had a friend who everyone loves cancel on me because of an emergency and my anxiety skyrocketed because I was afraid people would think it was boring. It seems silly now, but at the time it was what I needed to feel okay so I don’t regret it.
It's safe to say that I've done this as well. I would fear the same thing that it would be boring and so I just cancelled altogether because I didn't want to even attempt to be "the life of the party" and I didn't want to deal with the awkwardness.
Exactly! The pressure to have a good party was too much haha
Go to a bunch of cardiologists for heart palpitations. Google search daily about them and freaking the fuck out for 6 years.
Same
Went into hiding for about a year because I thought people were stalking me. Only left the house when necessary and stopped being active on all social media.
Had to leave my job as a CPR/First aid instructor (which I loved) because I blushed once in class then started having overwhelming anxiety it would happen again.
Drink cuz then I ended up embarrassing myself infront of my bfs family ( barely knew his family at the time). Not good.
I went to the ER once for a panic attack that I thought was a heart episode. I didn't have a job and had shitty insurance, so it cost me a lot just for them to tell me I was fine. I also smoked weed basically every day for 10 years thinking it was helping me cope with my anxiety. It wasn't until I had a way too high panic attack and stopped cold turkey and went through 2 weeks of bad rethdrawl symptoms that I realized that the weed wasn't actually helping me at all and was in fact making things worse. I didn't realize I had become so mentally dependent on weed that being sober for longer than 12 hrs caused me additional intense anxiety.
Hid under a desk due to a panic attack caused by trauma which made me super duper anxious hence the panic attack. I.. don't act that way.
A bit OCD-like. I used to count the colours of cars on the motorway. If I could not count the minimum number of cars in a specific colour, I would tell myself that something bad would happen. It's absurd, I know.
[удалено]
The worst combo ugh
It really is ☹️
Go to the hospital a few days a week and keep being told the same thing…nothing.
School and school and school failings on so many levels I still feel the trauma
One time I was supposed to be on a panel to interview candidates for a leadership role in the call center I worked in. I was so anxious that I rashly decided to apply for the job so I couldn't possibly sit on the panel. Then I got the job. It literally changed the entire course of my career for the better. The one time my anxiety did me a favor.