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Hi, I’m so nervous. I cleaned out my garage a couple of days ago and there was mouse poop along the sides. I didn’t think anything of it but swept it along with all the other debris that collected around the edges of my garage. I swept it all out to the driveway. Not only that, but my toddlers were in there with me. I looked up cleaning mouse poop after and saw this is a terrible mistake. I’ve felt so sick with fear these last two days that I got myself and my children sick. I’m so worried and panicked. I live in Colorado where there’s been cases. Please ease my mind.

Hello people! Being someone who struggled with Anxiety and made considerable progress in recovery, I have decided to try and help other people dealing with the same(or similar) issue. My idea is to motivate people to consistently take action in the right direction. This might be: eating better food, exercising, practicing mindfulness, etc.. I would like to achieve that by hosting a couple of online meetings or simply by text. An important note is that I'm neither a psychologist nor a psychiatrist. However, i have dealt with Anxiety and I know the struggle.The prime focus during the online meetings will be on what were the things that truly helped me manage and gradually recover from it. With the hopes that these things will also help you. If you are interested, reply in this thread or just send me a DM:))

I have been battling off and on with my 3rd BT scare in 9 years. Headaches move around, seem worse when changing position (but better when laying down/sleeping), worse when lifting stuff, pupils different sizes, odd feeling one side of body etc..... I have had a lot of these symptoms before with my previous scares. I had two ct scans of my brain during previous scares and now I am concerned these scans actually caused me to get a brain tumor. i called my neurologist and he said it didn’t sound like a brain tumor but he wanted me to get an MRA bc it sounded blood vessel related. Of course I overanalyzed every portion of the phone conversation but was able to accept his expertise and felt better that it most likely wasn’t a brain tumor. Took my family to get snow cones and on the way home I smelled a burning smell like someone was burning something. I live in a rural area but asked my wife if she smelled it and she said no. My mind of course jumped to seizures. When I got home i could smell the bacon we had cooked before snow cones. I woke up smelling bacon all night (re-inforcing) the concern with seizure. Not doing great this morning as a result!

Hi all I have been a long time health anxiety ocd fighter. I have been on lexapro 30mg was my max and buspirone for at least 10 yrs. But last fall i was taken off and tried welbutrin. Well the wellbutrin didnt help with my ocd as well as we thought. So since the new yr i have just been taking my buspirone 40mg a day. Well thanks to the new pandemic of terror I have been restarted on 10 mg of lexapro as well as .5 mg of klonopin temporarily until the lexapro levels out. I have been on the 10mg for a little over 2 wks. On Tuesday my psychiatrist uped it to 20mg and it feels like my anxiety, jitters, and obsessive thoughts are flaring back up since i doubled up. Its been so long since i restarted this med I forgot what it can feel like. Any lexapro people out there who can offer advice ty

Hi all I am new here I have fought with anxiety mainly health anxiety and ocd for decades. I am on SSI because of it as well as outpatient. & needless to say this new current event that's freaking everyone out is waking up every fear that I have. Jumping out of my sleep and all. really would be great to meet people who can relate.

Why does my anxiety increase tenfold when I have to make decisions? Big or small. I feel incapacitated, shaking, aches and pains. I've been agonizing over taking a new job. My current job, I feel I cant stay because of a number of reasons; not enough support, difficult co-workers, and a long commute. I searched and found another job that is closer to my home. Less pay and little less of a drive. Not a job I really want but feel I should take to relieve the stress and anxiety I feel at my current job. I was offered the job but now I'm terrified to accept it. I keep thinking of all these things that can go wrong; what if I dont get along with the co-workers, what if I disappoint them and I'm not as good at my job as they think I am or I think I am... I dont know which way is up or down and I'm so tired of feeling this way. I need some kind of relief. I just feel like I'm making such a wrong decision or I'm not being patient or I'm making a decision in haste because of my mental health and not due to reality and facts. Deep in my brain I keep screaming, it's just a job take it or dont either way it will be ok but my anxiety keeps sending danger signals. Make it stop.

Hi all, my name is Dave and I am suffering from GAD and have been for a while and have had to very bad bouts of it in my 54 years. It always turns to Hypochondriasis. It's a shame that this occurs in folks like us and has the title reads..." The World Doesn't know We Exist ", oh they have heard the terms " anxiety " " Hypochondriac " and the latter term they would probably laugh at. We look in the mirror constantly, we look at our bodies constantly, we look at our urine and our excrement like never before. Did we really know our bodies and every square inch of them before we became anxiety sufferers, no ! Now we do and now we see every imperfection and we think " what the hell is that " technology allow us to go on Dr. Google, but even though it says these things that we believe are catastrophes waiting for the catastrophic diagnosis can many things or nothing at all. We pick the last one it says...the worst one, the one that will surely kill us. Are we doctors, no. Have we ran tests on ourselves, no., but do we make the diagnosis based on a web page, yes ! Why ? The average person would say to themselves " oh it's nothing " we are not the average folks. We will put ourselves through the mental hell of dying without cause. This is why I have always called anxiety " The Bastard " It wasn't the web page that told you that you have cancer it was you who told you. With a big helping hand of " The Bastard " Have you ever written down how many diseases you thought you have had over the course of any given time. I did and I filled a whole sheet of paper looked at it and I actually laughed and said " Nobody can have that many diseases, and would be walking this earth and have the time and energy to look these diseases up and to worry about them. Even though we say we are tired and weak. We are tired and weak because of looking up our symptoms and worrying in constant fear. There is no research for us, why ? Because it's not a terminal illness. Again the world doesn't know we exist, only in what their minds believe we are. " Just stop worrying " If it were only that easy, right ? I would love to say, " okay " on with life and it be over. No, it's not going to work. It breaks my heart and so many of the posts I read here and I am a sufferer right a long with you, but the only thing I can say is I will catch myself doing all the wrong things and realize it being a veteran of it, but I had many years in between bouts where I had no high anxiety worries. If you had told me in my 20's that it will come back later in life. I would have said " no f***ing way " well it did, I let my guard down with some close family passings. Not realizing it's life long management. We do exist and we are real and our symptoms are real and we break our own hearts day after day. What a shame and to see you young folks missing out and worrying and worrying wasting your youth. Just goes to show how debilitating this disorder can be. Put your seat belt on and do everything you can to get away from the " The Bastard " if you have to keep getting that reassurance, then do it. If you have to tell yourself constantly it's only anxiety it will not kill me, do it. Stay off the internet...it is not a replacement for a doctor, do it. If you have to get mad, do it. If you have to cry, do it. Recovery is little by little, it doesn't come quickly and we have to accept that and we have to believe that in order to get better, but you will. It starts with everything that is hard and everything that is avoided. Keep a journal of your symptoms so you know you have had them before. The anxious mind has no memory...everything is short term and when something you think you have never felt before happens well go back and look at your own symptoms and not the web symptoms. World we do exist and it is one big scary pain in the ass. David

About a month and a half ago I had probably the worst panic attack of my life. Was diagnosed at 13, now 39. The short story is I had travelled to Florida with my family and friends, and already hate flying. On the morning of the day we were leaving to head home, I lost it. I was in complete and utter turmoil. I was convinced I was dying. The fact that I was not home made it all the more worse for me. I contemplated going to the ER, but then all my friends would know and my family would miss their flights. I was so embarrassed, but so damn frightened. I typically take .5mg Xanax and feel better, but even after 2mg I was feeling no better. I have a 6 year old, 4 year old and 2 year old, and felt like a failure not being able to keep it together. It was utterly the worst day of my life and still feel traumatized by it. Needless to say, that next day back at home I had muscle twitches all over my body. I first assumed it was due to dehydration since I had just been in sunny Florida and not drinking enough water and drinking alcohol instead. But it’s now been a month and half and I still have the twitching on and off. Some days are better than others, but of course Google led me to ALS. It’s like I can’t catch a break and feel like I’m drowning in anxiety and depression. I just started CBT therapy, so hoping it helps some. Also hoping you guys can too!!! Has this happened to anyone?????? Thank you soooo much:)

About a month and a half ago I had probably the worst panic attack of my life. Was diagnosed at 13, now 39. The short story is I had travelled to Florida with my family and friends, and already hate flying. On the morning of the day we were leaving to head home, I lost it. I was in complete and utter turmoil. I was convinced I was dying. The fact that I was not home made it all the more worse for me. I contemplated going to the ER, but then all my friends would know and my family would miss their flights. I was so embarrassed, but so damn frightened. I typically take .5mg Xanax and feel better, but even after 2mg I was feeling no better. I have a 6 year old, 4 year old and 2 year old, and felt like a failure not being able to keep it together. It was utterly the worst day of my life and still feel traumatized by it. Needless to say, that next day back at home I had muscle twitches all over my body. I first assumed it was due to dehydration since I had just been in sunny Florida and not drinking enough water and drinking alcohol instead. But it’s now been a month and half and I still have the twitching on and off. Some days are better than others, but of course Google led me to ALS. It’s like I can’t catch a break and feel like I’m drowning in anxiety and depression. I just started CBT therapy, so hoping it helps some. Also hoping you guys can too!!! Has this happened to anyone?????? Thank you soooo much:)

I have developed a severe fear of strokes about 6 months ago. It started because one morning about an hour after waking up, my vision felt off. It is really hard to explain, and since time has passed my memory of the event isn't as clear. But it was kind of like I had just walked into a dark room after being in the sun, like I couldn't properly focus my eyes. Since I've always had health anxiety, I started googling and "stroke" came up. I panicked and my SO started to drive me to the ER. By the time I got in the car my vision was fine again but I was still nervous and had stroke on my mind. I sat on my left hand because it seemed to feel weird and I didnt want to think about it. A few minutes later, I pulled my hand out and it felt like it went numb/asleep. Only, I couldnt shake it away so I freaked out and we called an ambulance. My hand felt better in a few minutes but then I felt like my left side of my tongue and mouth were tingling...and then they seemed to go partially numb as well. That again resolved in a few minutes or less. The ambulance came, hospital ran a bunch of tests including an MRI and CT scan and everything was fine. So they diagnosed me with migraine with aura. I have a history of headaches related to stress/anxiety, but never with an aura as far as I know. So after that I became obsessed with the fear that I actually had a TIA and that I was going to have a stroke any moment. Every moment of every day I am worried about it. I constantly think parts of my tongue, mouth, face, hands, etc are going numb and constantly "check" to prove to myself theyre not. Ive had quite a few one eye visual auras since then as well which I had never noticed I had before. But theyre not correlated with migraines. Then lately, I have days where I feel these weird icy/wet/menthol feelings all throughout my body. It just travels around randomly for hours or even a whole day. I've also had this experience with prickling/pins and needles as well. Both come and go and are random. I do not have panic attacks so I know its not correlated with hyperventilating either. I often feel it in my tongue and face which scares me the most I think. But sometimes I wonder if I ever even had numbness the day I went to the ER, or if it was all psychosomatic. Does anyone else deal with this weird feelings? Could it truly just all be in my head and be caused from consistently high levels of stress? I really try to avoid going to the doctor, but I'm on the verge of going for the recent sensations I've been having.

Do you struggle with anxiety? The Teachman PACT lab at the University of Virginia is looking for adults (ages 18 and older) who struggle with anxiety symptoms to enroll in a new, free, online anxiety-reduction program. We are recruiting participants to help us learn how we can help individuals combat anxiety via online training. To determine your eligibility for the study, visit https://mindtrails.virginia.edu and click on "Get Started Now.” All training sessions and assessments can be completed on a computer, phone, or tablet. For more information, please visit https://mindtrails.virginia.edu or contact: PACT LAB Department of Psychology, University of Virginia Email: studyteam@mindtrails.org IRB: 2017-0234-00 PI: Bethany Teachman, Ph.D.

Hi, I'm a 22 year old female with high levels of anxiety about health, life, and pretty much everything. Recently I've been having anxiety over what appears to be red in my stool. I don't know if it's food or what, but it's causing me to panic every which way and Dr. Google isn't helping. It kind of looked like flecks and it only seemed to be really noticeable after wiping. I'm also experiencing some irritation with my anus, so it's led me to be a bit worried. Some background though, I experienced this today, and yesterday I had pizza and a taco with a few tomatoes in it, as well as being constipated and straining recently due to stress from a large assignment over the weekend, to which I even had a panic attack over at work which was embarrassing. I've also had stomach/bowel problems ever since I was a child, according to my mom, and pretty much everyone in my family is either A. Allergic to dairy, eggs, gluten, and B. Have some form of IBS (which I also probably have because I get stomach problems depending on what I eat,, not to mention anxiety causes issues.) I have no family history of cancer, save for my grandfather getting Leukemia in his late 70s. The females in my family also have a history of having some type of reproductive problems, my sister PCOS, my mom has a "fluffy uterus," a few of my cousins have endometriosis. Heck, I probably have some problems but I just haven't been formally diagnosed and it's usually solved with my BC pills. (Note: My dad also died from a weird heart mutation that gave him congestive heart failure, which I have been tested for and do not have, as well as most of my mom's side having diabetes. But that's a story for another day.) I could be panicking for no reason, but there's this underlying fear and it's causing problems with focusing in school, work, or other life activities, as well as causing depression which I'm prone to. I've seen this type of thing before, too, but I feel like I can always trace it back to something red I ate the day before. I'm also seeing a new doctor next week, and I feel like I should tell her about these problems to get some reassurance. But some talking sense to would be nice, as I feel like I'm driving myself up a wall with this worry. Thanks for reading this far!

UPDATE: So, the provider I visited has an online portal where you can login, view lab results etc. I went in to activate my account. Under problems being treated he listed HPV and rectal polyp as the issues being treated. He said NOTHING about a polyp and now I am freaking out!!!!! To me you associate a polyp with cancer. Is it normal for him to code an anal wart as a rectal polyp? Is it just an imprecision of medical coding? I'm embarassed to even bring this up with complete strangers but I've found that people on this forum are open to discussing things because we've been affected by anxiety. About 8 years ago I found I had anal warts. I discovered them because of itching around the anus. For a while I thought I was wiping too hard or too much but then I looked and well you can figure the rest. I was "dating" several people at the time and although I thought I was being safe I figured I probably caught something from them. Of course now I know you are never 100% safe. I had no idea that men could get HPV and that anal warts were even a thing but I learned the hard way. I guess I was just a dumb early 20 something. I was treated for them and then released with a regimen of imiquimod to prevent their reoccurence. A few months ago the same thing, feeling some itching but nothing initially visible. Later on I checked, saw something and went in again. I can't go to my regular GP because he's known my family forever and I've been going to him since I was 11 or 12. He's always encouraged me to do well in school and make my parents proud and if I go in there with something like that I feel I'd disappoint him. Deep down I know he'd be professional and probably not think anything of it. Maybe it's more for my sake. In any case, I went to a ARNP who has a reputation of working with sexual minorities last week and is the primary referral for primary care for people at high risk for HIV and STDs for a few social service organizations in my area. Although I don't identify as a sexual minority and haven't had sex in years I figured they would probably have experience in treating anal HPV. He took a look and clearly saw the warts around the anus. He took a tool with a light and looked inside and saw more warts along the lining inside of the anus. He said none in his experience looked like "bad news" but he was going to send them off anyway. Of course with my history of anxiety, I am really fearing anal cancer. I've said it on here before but I had a really bad experience with someone I was dating about 10 years ago and that set off a spiral I never quite came out from. Although I thought I was being safe in my dalliances I now realize I was looking to find the same connection I had with that person, spending hours with them and feeling as if only 30 minutes had passed. Feeling I could be myself and even a little goofy or awkward and it'd be ok. Feeling I could say whatever was on my mind and not only would be listened to but thought it was valid and interesting. I've not really enjoyed my life the last few years. A fear of ALS 2 years ago caused panic attacks, a trip to Emergency Room while I was between insurances, further fears of terrible diseases. I just feel like things have spiraled. The NP did say it could have been something like a bad flu or any external factor that caused my immune system to not be up to par and they reappeared. I am fearful though. I'm tired of this cycle. Anyone ever experienced or seem cases of men with HPV?

Has any one felt that eating anything eases some of the anxiety symptoms? Or being hungry triggers anxiety?

Just saying hi and introducing myself. I have been dealing with anxiety for about 18 years. Blah! My first episode lasted about 1 month where I could not do anything....take care of kids, house, myself etc. My Dr. prescribed Paxil for me and it seemed to keep things at bay. Fast forward 14 years later - another 2 weeks of constant anxiety and have had a yearly occurrence of these "episodes." In the middle of one right now and am exhausted trying to analyze evything. Will try to stop fitting it tomorrow and just "let it be" as Sailor said. What a fantastic post!

Hi, my name is Noah I'm 17 and I am really confused to say the least as to why this is happening. Hormonally I've been the most normal teenager you could ask for, no outbursts no emotional problems but for some reason as soon as this past year started I got a panic attack in the middle of class. At the time I didn't know what it was it just felt like my heart stopped and the room started getting blurry and I got dizzy, the normal symptoms. After the first one they would come once a day and then the next week they would come twice a day and then etc. 3 months later they're constant throughout the day they just come in waves and I've tried Xanax it doesn't help too much, CBD. I don't know my triggers. Public places and places I'm not familiar with make me anxious but they often happen for no reason. I haven't tried a lot of methods of coping. I was wondering if you guys could give me some insight as to why these started happening and what I can do to help them. Thanks

I think my health anxiety really started after I had my daughter in 2016. I ended up with high blood pressure from preeclampsia, which eventually went down over a period of about 3-4 months. I became OCD about taking my blood pressure, and started doing it several times a day. For a short time, I was also convincing myself that I might end up with heart failure due to the blood pressure spikes. For a good year or so, I felt like the anxiety had all but gone away, I felt great. I got sick with the flu last month, followed immediately by a stomach virus, and then a sinus infection. I was sick and had on off, fevers for 3 weeks. While I was sick, I went to the ER and got a blood panel that said I was slightly anemic. That ended setting me off onto a google search that eventually convinced me that I had a blood cancer. I had major anxiety over this for a week, until a follow up test showed that I was not anemic (it was an error or I hadn’t been eating properly). During that time, I ended up waking up a few times with a really fast pulse, more than likely because I read that anemia causes fast pulse (*eye roll*). Although I’m hoping it’s anxiety, I went to see the cardiologist just to be safe. He reviewed my chest X Ray from the ER, did a new EKG, and listened to everything and concluded everything looked completely normal and the fast pulse episodes were probably benign and suggested a Holter monitor. I mentioned that I had recently had the flu before the fast pulse episodes, and he suggested getting an echocardiogram. Apparently, its very rare but viruses can cause damage to the heart. Now I’m obsessing over heart failure because I had high blood pressure spikes for about 3 months after I had my baby-- so it has all come back to me! I’m incredibly anxious, depressed, and afraid to take my newly prescribed Lexapro because I know when I took it years ago, it made my heart race. I want to make sure nothing is seriously wrong with my heart before I start taking it. So I feel awful and have to wait 2 weeks for the scheduled echo. Could someone please talk some sense into me and reassure that if the cardiologist was concerned, he would have rush ordered this echo??

Ok so here goes alot lol I have had anxiety all my life but in the last ten years or so certain behaviors of mine have increased in frequency and consequence to the point that I really wonder if I'm not an undiagnosed OCD situation. For as long as I can remember I have had an obsession with tapping my fingers either to my thumb or other objects or body parts but ALWAYS in a very particular pattern ( thumb, pointer,, middle, ring, pinky, pinky ring middle pointer thumb, back and forth all day constantly.) It can get so intense and complicated with the patterns that it brings me to the point of panic when say I accidently hit the middle, bottom, then top of my pointer finger then the top, middle, then bottom of another finger to the point where my hand will be moving in these patterns on my pillow as I'm trying to fall asleep completely subconsciously but still causing major anxiety if I don't do it "right" this also extends to the way my tongue touches my teeth and the way my teeth touch each other. I've never told a doctor it therapist about this but the behaviors are absolutely constant and unceasing and cause like I said huge anxiety when I consciously try to stop doing them. It's become a huge part of my life and something people notice especially my constant finger movements. Is this anything normal or something other people have experienced? It just makes me feel so isolated and alone especially when other people notice it. I know it's nothing compared to alot of OCD type ticks or other things but I just wanted to put it out there for the first time and see what others with some knowledge on the subject had to say. Any response would be greatly appreciated. Thanks -Chase

Ok so here goes alot lol I have had anxiety all my life but in the last ten years or so certain behaviors of mine have increased in frequency and consequence to the point that I really wonder if I'm not an undiagnosed OCD situation. For as long as I can remember I have had an obsession with tapping my fingers either to my thumb or other objects or body parts but ALWAYS in a very particular pattern ( thumb, pointer,, middle, ring, pinky, pinky ring middle pointer thumb, back and forth all day constantly.) It can get so intense and complicated with the patterns that it brings me to the point of panic when say I accidently hit the middle, bottom, then top of my pointer finger then the top, middle, then bottom of another finger to the point where my hand will be moving in these patterns on my pillow as I'm trying to fall asleep completely subconsciously but still causing major anxiety if I don't do it "right" this also extends to the way my tongue touches my teeth and the way my teeth touch each other. I've never told a doctor it therapist about this but the behaviors are absolutely constant and unceasing and cause like I said huge anxiety when I consciously try to stop doing them. It's become a huge part of my life and something people notice especially my constant finger movements. Is this anything normal or something other people have experienced? It just makes me feel so isolated and alone especially when other people notice it. I know it's nothing compared to alot of OCD type ticks or other things but I just wanted to put it out there for the first time and see what others with some knowledge on the subject had to say. Any response would be greatly appreciated. Thanks -Chase

Hi, my name is Noah I'm 17 and I am really confused to say the least as to why this is happening. Hormonally I've been the most normal teenager you could ask for, no outbursts no emotional problems but for some reason as soon as this past year started I got a panic attack in the middle of class. At the time I didn't know what it was it just felt like my heart stopped and the room started getting blurry and I got dizzy, the normal symptoms. After the first one they would come once a day and then the next week they would come twice a day and then etc. 3 months later they're constant throughout the day they just come in waves and I've tried Xanax it doesn't help too much, CBD. I don't know my triggers. Public places and places I'm not familiar with make me anxious but they often happen for no reason. I haven't tried a lot of methods of coping. I was wondering if you guys could give me some insight as to why these started happening and what I can do to help them. Thanks :)

Hi So I came out about my story a while ago on another forum that I lost because I'm a big idiot. However, I do need advice. I'm 17 years old, and I have a lot of symptoms of anxiety. I had a therapist some time ago but she didn't believe in diagnosis. She gave me the "you likely have GAD/Depression" spew and then my guardian pulled me. I haven't been allowed to get help since. That was 2017 in December and my anxiety has been on the fastest moving slide downwards. My symptoms used to purely be mental, I'd ruminate for hours, I might get shaky and paranoid, I'd have panic attacks every so often. After I was pulled and a confrontation occurred, it's gotten worse. I shake day in and day out depending on how stressed I am, I get dizzy frequently, I disassociate often. Every day my body is constantly tense. It's to the point where if I sit still for too long my whole body hurts, and when I stretch my bones and joints pop (the same way it does when you crack your knuckles). Recently, it's gotten even worse with me getting the head zappy symptom. My school offers free professional counseling at this place nearby, but I need to be 18 to sign my papers. I don't know if I'll even last that long;;; it feels like a forever wait and it's 20 days away. Does anyone have any good coping techniques I can use to wait it out???? I can't stand these pains and symptoms.

Do you struggle with extreme anxiety? The Teachman PACT lab at the University of Virginia is looking for adults (age 18 and older) who struggle with anxiety symptoms to enroll in a new, online anxiety-reduction program. We are recruiting participants to help us learn how we can help individuals combat anxiety via online training. To determine your eligibility for the study, visit https://mindtrails.virginia.edu and click on "Get Started Now." The study involved 5 sessions over the course of 5 weeks, each lasting 20 minutes or less, as well as one 15 minute assessment 2 months later. All training sessions and assessments can be completed on a computer, phone, or tablet. For more information, please visit https://mindtrails.virginia.edu or contact: PACT LAB Department of Psychology, University of Virginia Email: studyteam@mindtrails.org IRB: 2017-0234-00 PI: Bethany Teachman

Do you struggle with extreme anxiety? The Teachman PACT lab at the University of Virginia is looking for adults (age 18 and older) who struggle with anxiety symptoms to enroll in a new, online anxiety-reduction program. We are recruiting participants to help us learn how we can help individuals combat anxiety via online training. To determine your eligibility for the study, visit https://mindtrails.virginia.edu/ and click on "Get Started Now." The study involved 5 sessions over the course of 5 weeks, each lasting 20 minutes or less, as well as one 15 minute assessment 2 months later. All training sessions and assessments can be completed on a computer, phone, or tablet. For more information, please visit https://mindtrails.virginia.edu or contact: PACT LAB Department of Psychology, University of Virginia Email: studyteam@mindtrails.org IRB: 2017-0234-00 PI: Bethany Teachman

Hey guys my name's Alberto and I been having alot of intrusive existential questions and it's been worrying me for the past few weeks at first it was giving me really bad anxiety but that's calmed down now , it all started when I had a panic attack a few months ago and I was feeling anxious and stressed for the next 2 months after that attack cause I was worrying alot about my health and suddenly one day I started feeling unreal and that really freaked me out then I started having those existential thoughts intrude my head I also look up alot of articles and opinions about this stuff cause it's been worrying me but like I said lately all it does is just worry me with a little anxiety I'm worried I might go crazy or get depressed about it or I won't be able to go back to how I was ,some of the thoughts I been having are as followed ( am I real, how I'm I real, what if life is meaningless, what happens after we die etc.)

Hi I am brand newbie here. On the good days, I guess you could say that I am a “high functioning” person who’s been clinically diagnosed with General Anxiety Disorder. I manage an office fairly well most days. However, I internalize a lot and it eats me up internally. I obsess that I am not good enough, but I play the part the best I can. During a bad period of time, I can get fairly dark and depressed. I don’t believe the victim mentality and I’d rather stand tall as best I can. I take medications for GED and depression. At the moment I’m doing reasonable well. I’m here to hopefully learn coping tips and methods. Questions: 1. What are some of your best coping tips? 2. When you see yourself slipping how do you break the pattern? 3. When your at your darkest how do you try to break it? 4. When are you at your best? Thanks a bunch! And strong mental health all!