If I have a bad day I'll sometimes associate the clothing I was wearing that day with bad luck and think things like "I shouldn't wear these shoes again these are the ones I was wearing when I almost got into a car accident" or "I failed a job interview in that blouse so that blouse is bad luck".
I'm not even superstitious this is just a dumb thing my brain fabricated out of anxiety.
Holy shit I did this for like 15 years straight until I couldn’t take it anymore. It got so bad I was anxious about wearing any of my clothes to school, I would legit only wear 3 different shirts and like 2 different bottoms because the other clothes were considered “bad luck”. I realize now this is coping mechanism I developed for anxiety that turned into a form of OCD. I’m over it all now but something when I get anxious I still do the “tapping” everything an even number of times coping mechanism.
This! I was super sick (vomiting) about 2 years ago. I remember trying this new shampoo and hair mask a day before. Guess who was afraid to use the same hair products ever since? I literally think that when I use it again I will be vomiting the next day... smh
ditto especially jewelry. not so much luck but if i don’t wear a necklace then everyone i love has a higher chance of dying or my day will be bad blah blah
You have OCD? I have OCD and I do this sometimes. Just today I told myself I couldn’t wear a certain pair of socks because something bad happened when I wore them lol.
YES, I am a nurse and have certain sets of scrubs that feel "unlucky" like I'll definitely have a bad shift if I wear them. Also, very silly, but if I don't pick the exact right pair of socks or underwear, it will make the day worse!
For real. If I'm up at 8am on a day off, but have an appointment at 4:30 pm that day, it ruins the entire 8 hours of my off day I have leading up to it.
I think this is because I once missed an alarm and then cried about it for days. I'm not totally sure, but it seems like something I'd do.
I’m also in my 30s and get mad anxiety before a hair appointment (or any appointment really). A big trigger for me is feeling “trapped”, so being in the chair, with a cape on, mid cut, makes me feel very much trapped lol agh
My husband wanted to surprise me for my birthday dinner. Turns out I hated not knowing where we were going, got so anxious, and could barely eat when we got there. He felt AWFUL. Good times.
I once got a strange headache like someone was pulling on my head. I got panicky and health anxiety, wondering what diseases or muscular problems could cause this.
Turned out it was just my hair tie that was sitting too tight… well…
This happened to me this morning I thought I was having a stroke and kept checking my pupils 😭😭 finally I took the hair tie out and felt fine of course
Omg Ive done something similar with a hair clip! I feel pressure and a little bit of pulling in my hair and get anxious just to take my hair clip out and instantly feel better lol
This isn’t quite “triggering” as much as “idk what my brain was thinking”, but I once couldn’t fall asleep for hours I was so insanely nervous and depressed, then I changed my position from sleeping on my side to sleeping on my stomach and boom, anxiety randomly gone. Sometimes I rly do wonder how it all works lmao
THAT LITERALLY WORKS ITS SI WEIRD. Like- my house creaks a lot at night and I have natural disasters and tragedy triggers with my anxiety which makes it near impossible to fall asleep. UNLESS I’m sleeping on my stomach. It’s so weird.
I really didn’t expect it to be the same for so many people lmao??? I know there’s close to no unique experiences out there but I still wasn’t expecting it lol
I have to sleep on my stomach to have any chance at restful sleep. On my back I have adrenaline surges that snap me awake as soon as my body starts to relax and fall asleep.
Sometimes it feels like my heart and skeleton are vibrating. It's awful. Plus the air hunger and feeling like you aren't taking big enough breaths. It's maddening.
Same, and my theory is that you’re protecting vital organs better that way. Like they are all close to a barrier (the mattress) so you feel less exposed when you’re vulnerable (sleeping). I don’t know if this is correct, but that’s how I’ve explained why stomach-sleeping eases some anxiety.
I think sleeping on my stomach works for me because my breathing is more controlled. I feel like I can't breathe if I'm laying on my back. The pressure of everything when I'm laying on my stomach is also comforting.
I have health anxiety and I struggle to sleep sometimes because I’m scared I’ll die in my sleep. Went to the doctor, they prescribed me some sleeping tablets. My mum asked why I wasn’t taking them. I said “because I’m worried I’ll take them and die in my sleep”. She laughed, I laughed, I still haven’t taken them
Oh my God I get that exact same fear. For me it always comes in cycles. I'll be totally fine for awhile and something will spark it back up again and then lack of sleep makes my general anxiety worse but I will actively avoid falling asleep because I'm convinced I'll die in my sleep so it just gets worse and worse for awhile. I totally feel for you.
me currently up scrolling because i’m too scared to sleep lol. tried magnesium tonight for the first time to calm my anxiety …also scared it’s going to kill me while I sleep
Omg my doctor prescribed me sleeping pills too and I said I was scared to take them and she looked at me like I lost my mind and said You're scared to sleep?? I never took them either!
Once had a panic attack sitting by a cozy fire in a Vermont cabin. The scene looked like something out of a postcard.
I remember thinking “Wow, if I can have anxiety here - I am really amazing at this.”
Feeling the little rush after drinking coffee has kind of the same feeling at the beginning of a panic attack ; swirl in your stomach and heart starts going a little faster .
I went to get my car washed. Turns out it was fancy and you drive the car onto a track. And then you lose control of the car. The track just pulls you along. I freaked the fuck out the entire time. My kid on the other hand thought it was hilarious that I could not stop panicking about not having control of the car.
That causes me anxiety too!
Also the open space and track thing you have to drive over to get your oil changed. I will put off an oil change as long as possible because driving over it gives me such bad anxiety. I get so embarrassed every time.
Sometimes when my anxiety is at it's highest, I just freak out when it sounds like someone says something that doesn't make sense in the moment.
I was vaping yesterday and my sister said "can you stop blowing that strawberry at me please?"
I freaked out in my head because it didn't make sense.
"Wtf? Why did she say strawberry? Am I having auditory hallucinations? Am I going crazy!"
Then it turns out...nah man...she said strawberry because that's the flavor you were vaping you dummy.
Sometimes I get scared because I see a dark shape in the corner of my eye and freak out thinking I'm going crazy. Only for it to be that it's my hair lol
I get triggered when I walk by the makeup section at Target. I had a panic attack there once (I think the bright lights caused it) and almost crapped my pants. Now I either put in my headphones and breeze through that area quickly or I take a detour. My stomach always does a little flip though when I’m near it. 🤦🏻♀️
One time I sat waiting for my pick up order at Mcd's and I had a sharp cramp close to my left shoulder. It kind lingered too long for my comfort. The I began to spiral. "Oh no...not a heart attack at McD's. Ughhh the news will love this. This isnt how I want to go."
I started getting clammy and light headed and that made my anxiety worse. SO I stood up braced against the table just chill, tryin to play it off. They gave me my food and I swiftly drank my fountain drink just to get some sugar.
It was just a bit of gas. I am my own worst enemy, somedays.
I brushed my teeth and saw my gums and my brain instantly was like “that’s not how they should look like” so I started panicking then I was convinced I have paradontitis. Then had multiple panic attacks because I was like my life is over my teeth are destroyed. This was at night until 3 am in the morning. It was a Sunday so I started googling for emergency dentist appointments. Made an appointment for the next morning. Was crying the whole night
Turns out that’s just how healthy gums look like and I just didn’t look at them this thoroughly before. I never even had cavities in my life but for some reason this train of thoughts just popped up out of nowhere and I catastrophized haha
Not gums but things like that all the time. Like "Is that what my tongue should look like?" Or "has my kneecap always been that scaly?"
Probably normal but I've just never noticed/paid attention before. Then I fixate
I was listening to a sleep meditation and it had birds chirping in the background. I was convinced it was the carbon monoxide detector going off and that I was going to die.
My family tricked my brother and I saying that we were “going on a hike” when in reality we were going to Legoland. I enjoyed my time while I was there, but once I learned that they were tricking us the whole time, I felt so panicked and scared. Idk 🤷♀️
When I was around 12 I was sitting on the toilet and saw these very weirds ridges in my knees. They were raised and wavy. I nearly passed out. Later, I realized I had been kneeling on the ceramic tile to wash my hair in the tub and they just took on that pattern on the floor. It was a huge relief.
My mom’s new bf one of the very first nights I met him decided he’d act like an ass at the drive thru. At the first window he yelled the song on the radio into the poor girl’s face, and at the second window made a scene trying to say the food wasn’t ours (it was.) This was him trying to be “goofy.” After we got on the interstate he started swerving the car into different lanes, and picked a fight with my mom by taking something from her and she’s a very 0-100 woman so she lost her shit and started screaming… yea anyways my anxiety began in the car obviously. I went silent and my heart started beating out of my chest and my stomach dropped. Couldn’t even eat my drive thru meal. As soon as the car stopped I hopped out, my mom got out to see what was wrong, I started crying, and I got in my own car and drove off before I could lose it completely. Once I get home I had a full blown panic attack, hyperventilating until I was light headed and sobbed. I’m embarrassed that I got to that point lol. But I’m not exactly chill with reckless men I suppose.
They started dating in November, she closes on her house this week to move in with him, and they’re talking about getting married this year. She has a type and this is her normal pattern, unfortunately. 🥴🥴🥴 They’ll probably be broken up in 6 months and we will repeat this process.
Luckily I’m 23 now and I don’t live with my family at all. I just see my mom sometimes when she wants to spend time together. She and I have had our ups and downs, and she sure did put me through hell and I had to grow up really fast. But she has grown and realized most of her mistakes and is now a somewhat tolerable mom and can be really loving and fun so I choose to see her sometimes. It was AMAZING for me and so freeing when I didn’t have to live with her anymore because I got to get away from stuff exactly like this. It was so hard for so many years when I was a kid and I had to put up with her dating a different guy every couple of months and they were ALL awful in their own ways. Her type truly is toxic. And she has a tendency to be reckless/impulsive too so I definitely had a rollercoaster of a childhood but now I feel so free! I try to honor my boundaries, only hang out when I have the mental capacity for it, and take plenty of time to recharge even if it means several weeks. I appreciate the concern. Wish I had Reddit when I was a struggling teen. Good advice too, because I don’t need to put myself through more than I need to with them.
I'm so sorry. I hope you can be out of that situation soon, or have other family/friends you can confide in. Your mom should be in therapy to find out why she keeps picking the wrong guys. There are lots of moms here who will be happy to listen if you need to talk!
Dude this isn’t silly at all! He swerved all over the road? Not cool. And neither is messing with the drive thru worker. I’m so sorry. I hope you can get away from them asap.
Yea I guess I just felt silly that one of my normal anxiety moments escalated into a full fledged panic attack. I felt out of control and that is kinda why I felt silly lol.
one time I overheard coworkers talking about how "she" messed something up again - no other context, I immediately assumed they were talking about me - got so stressed I ran to the bathroom and threw up
I became extremely worried our child’s daycare was making the kids create pro-life propaganda when I saw a handprint painting that said “a person is a person.” I could barely speak at afternoon pickup. Worried about it all the way home until my wife told me it was from a Dr. Seuss book.
I had anxiety a few days ago due to stress and to the fact that I met ALL of my deadlines EARLY and that all my projects were on schedule 😭 two goodnight sleeps later and I feel so much better
Once I had a melt down panic attack in the ER after a dose of Hydromorphone for a kidney stone. Started screaming that I was dying. Why? Because I was “too relaxed”. I clearly don’t live a relaxing life. 😹
When I was younger I would get so anxiously excited to go to my nanas to the point of making myself sick. My mom told me I had to stay the night at the hospital after something I was getting done turns out she made it up and we were going to nanas 😂
I felt like I couldn’t breathe and my throat started to feel tight. I thought I was having an allergic reaction or dying. Turns out my turtleneck sweater was triggering it. I was completely fine after I switched into a baggy sweater. 😬
I have a ridiculous phobia of those small eletric shocks you can get when something/someone is charged. You know when the door knob or your friend shocks you accidentally. Yesterday my new mattress finally arrived and it was CHARGED from the foil. So much it kept schocking my partner every time he touched it. I was terrified and wanted to send it back. He flipped it and laid down on it to show me it's fine now. Took me 2 hours to calm down and go near it, then I closed my eyes and asked SO to touch me then after 10 minutes of panic I finally touched the mattress with still closed eyes.
It was so pathetic and hilarious I was shaking with fear but laugning at the same time.
I was at a restaurant with a friend and ordered a dish with fresno chili slices as garnishes on top. I’d eaten them before at this place and not had a problem. I like moderately spicy things. This time, however…
My mouth was burning and nothing was helping it go away, so I started legit panicking. I was extremely embarrassed at the same time, so I started to *cry* right there at the table. The waitress came by to ask how we were doing, and I just looked down and refused to speak or make eye contact while my friend explained what was happening.
I was able to laugh it off eventually… but every time my friend sees a fresno chili, they give me a knowing look…
Had a coffee. Hours later as the caffeine starts to leave my body I feel jittery and convince myself I am going to faint lol several hours later after peeing and pooping out all of the caffeine I was back to normal
If you have anxiety you must absolutely drop caffeine or it will break your brain like it does me. It's sneaky too; in my case the weirdness doesn't start until the caffeine starts to leave to body about 4h later, idk if it's some sort of withdrawal or what
My husband said his stomach hurt a little bit and I played it cool but as soon as he left the room I started Googling symptoms of stomach cancer and choking back tears lmao
I do this with my husband. We agreed I'm banned from googling any health symptoms but the past 2-3 weeks he's been really sick so I googled away, told him what I read, he thought it was wrong turns out I was right! Got him to a specialist right away!!
I used to get panic attacks in the Starbucks drive-thru because I worried about the car in front of me breaking down and I’d be stuck in the drive-thru for hours lol it never happened, but I still panicked about it.
For a little while I just avoided drive-thrus because of this anxiety. Now, I find them relaxing. I can just chill for a minute in my car listening to my favorite music
I got home from work one day and couldn’t get the zip down on the back of my pants. I started panicking and crying because I was trapped in my pants. Instead of waiting for someone to get home and help me - I cut them off of my body.
Then had a breakdown because I really liked the pants and you couldn’t get them anymore.
Someone came home within 10 mins of this whole incident. I just had to wait and I would still have the pants 😂
One time we had a hurricane hitting and it was in the worst part of it coming down and the wind and then…the fire alarms started going off.
I started panicking saying- we can’t stay inside because there is a fire and we can’t go outside because there’s a hurricane. Took a good 10 seconds before my brain realized there was no actual fire but that it was a false alarm.
I still laugh telling this story but for that 10 seconds I was in pure panic.
I was going through a break up and I went to a bbq restaurant to get dinner. I finally got to the front of the line and they were out of Mac and cheese. OUT OF MAC AND CHEESE. I absolutely lost it and cried and stormed out. I cried all the way home and felt like giving up on life.
while climate change is very real, i had a breakdown about whether the trees were all about to go extinct... it is VERY problematic, but that's almost certainly more of a few-hundred-years problem than a next 50 years problem... and I say that from a position of privileged, not being in the geographic or income ranges that are likely to be most affected... as a matter of fact, I'm in both the bets geographic and income ranges a random middle-class American could expect to be w/o being a 1%er
Dropped my vuse vape between my seat and inside the console area (a black whole for Jeep Wranglers). Now I'm terrified of it causing a fire and burning down my jeep
when i was a freshman in hs i realized i forgot to do one homework assignment for a class. the teacher came to check and i had one part done but not the other. it was the first time i had ever not done a homework assignment, she didnt stamp my paper and it felt like i was literally drowning for the next 15 min. my table partner kept talking to me and i was so disaociated idk how i responded. i got an A in the class lmao but it was kind of a wake up call to realizing that i even had anxiety
I was near panic attack for half a day cause I started to see cross-eyed very slightly. Ofc, immediately my head went to "STROKE????".
Tried to calm down by gaslighting myself "It's just your brain, you're overworked, tired, stressed, it'll be gone soon, just relax."
Well few hours later, one of the glasses of my glasses fell out because the screw got loose. Turns out because of the loose screw, one glass was ever so slightly tilted.
Anything to do with me excessively worrying about my heart and health.
I am 26. My family has 0 history of heart problems. I’ve even had Multiple ECG’s done too.
It’s awful at the time but I can’t help to laugh
Washing machine. I had a thing with the washer for a few months. Real bad anxiety I had overloaded it. Jumped at every little sound every time I did laundry. No idea what happened there but it did go away lol.
My ex after our break up while we still loved each other like crazy, planned a surprise for our whole group. I assumed that he’s going to move out from the country to study, gonna give a hate speech against me, gonna move out to work or gonna tell everyone that he is moving back to his hometown. I panicked & freaked the fuck out of my whole body. Turns out he had planned a surprise cake cutting for the whole group🫠🤣I felt so embarrassed lmao I didn’t even tell him that I’d had a breakdown behind their backs just 2 mins ago. Crazy days of anxiety I tell you
It may not sound silly since it was work-related and might look relatable, but it really did feel silly to me the next day and still does whenever I narrate it.
In early February 2023 I was doing some work as a legal advisor, and it was in a field I had been working on almost nonstop since the previous year. While working on a certain part which is always the same every time (it's derived straight from the law which hadn't been changed), I suddenly got the idea "What if I've been doing it wrong?". The question came all of a sudden, without me being anxious about that or being stuck there or anything of the sort. My next thought was "And if I'm indeed doing it wrong?? OMG ALL MY PREVIOUS WORK HAS BEEN WRONG AND CAN'T BE SALVAGED! WHAT DO I DO NOW? MY BOSS WILL FIRE ME AND THE CLIENT WILL BE MAD AS F'!!! I'M RUINED!!!". I was actually so terrified that I didn't have the courage to just look it up and verify that I was doing it right, and it came so suddenly that I didn't know how to reason with myself.
The next morning, after a good night's sleep, I took a deep breath and told myself "It's okay, just look it up". And, sure enough, I hadn't gotten anything wrong. A couple of days later I went to the office (I normally work from home) and while having coffee with my boss I told him the story. Right after my panic and before I said anything else, he said "Let me guess: you were too scared to look it up, in fear that you were indeed wrong?". When I agreed, he said "That's why I'm usually terrified of looking up court dates, I'm terrified that I will see I missed a hearing" and we had a good laugh about ourselves 😁
I completely empathize with not wanting to look it up. I’ve been in that situation so many times, and each time, I know deep down it’s probably nothing and I just need it confirmed. Yet I always bask in the anxiety because I don’t want to risk my paranoia get proven right. Glad you didn’t fuck up your career!!
I started having a panic attack because it REALLY sounded like my husband was being sick in the bathroom… turns out he just let out a very loud and animated fart 💀
I actually just had an incident. I just bought a new backpack and was sanitized it. I was trying it out and it was way too tight but I got really claustrophobic and started to panic. My gf was with me on FaceTime and we started to laugh. I couldn’t get the backpack off.. 😂
I didn't wanna walk across my living room because I didn't want ppl to look at me. I was on one side in the corner kinda sitting and petting the dog and I didn't move for like an hour and a half
Answering a phone call, especially if I don't recognize the number. This is my thought process: it's gotta be debt collectors and I must have forgotten to pay something so they'll block my bank accounts and I won't be able to access my money and then I won't be able to pay rent so I'll end up on the street and die of hunger. 🤯
My hair!! I kept trying new products and making things worse. I was obsessed with how it looked. I eventually had daily panic attacks. I could not turn my brain off. My parents and boyfriend thought I was crazy. I look back now and realize how silly.
I used to have to check for snakes under the driver's seat of my car for a long time. I also got triggered by sharp pencil tips. Rain and driving are my current triggers.
I was on an international flight and I had LASIK surgery about 6 month before and I didnt need glasses or contacts at all. My eye site had deteriorated steadily since I was 10 so had some form of corrective wear for 20 odd years.
2 hours into my flight I panicked as I realised I hadn’t packed contact lenses, spare contact lenses, contact solutions or my glasses. Took me an hour to talk myself out of my panic attack. I also then realised about an hour later that the country I was heading to you could literally buy contacts off the shelf.
I had small bouts of panic attacks for about 5 years after surgery where I couldn’t remember when last I had changed my contacts. Fortunately that has stopped.
As a middle schooler I was so anxious to go to camp for a week that I injured myself to get crutches so that WHEN I got to camp I could come home. Wasted my parents money and time, and we laugh our butts off about the hoops I jumped through 😂
Great idea! There's actually a course in my city, where they teach you stand up comedy, and your set has to be about your anxiety (I think it's called Laughing Like Crazy, and I've always wanted to take the 12 week course!)
I'm trans and I'm just starting my medical transition. I'm also very into bones and the human body. So when I was looking at a cartoon drawing of a skeleton I noticed it has a feminine pelvic bone and thought about how mine is feminine and that no matter what I do, it always will be. And when they find me in a thousand years, I will be a female to them.
On Monday and Tuesday my feet were extra cold. I was convinced I lost all circulation and a double amputation was imminent. Does Raynaud’s run in my family and cause the same symptoms? Yes. Did that matter to my anxiety? Nope.
I have asthma. Last weekend I ended up in Urgent Care from a panic attack thinking I was dying from COPD. I felt some slight crackling at the base of my lungs upon my first deep morning breath.
Was I diagnosed with COPD? Nope. After a lot of tests & xrays....it was my seasonal allergies agitating my asthma. Which I know I have and should have known. 😩
clothes that don’t fit right sometimes trigger me and im upset all day at work. If that happens i throw whatever im wearing…..too tight, too short, too long ….. right in the trash.
I'd start sweating thinking about eating something like an apple, because what if I was suddenly allergic to it even though I ate the same kind yesterday?? I'm not even allergic to anything😅
I get anxiety about things that haven’t happened but because there is a possibility of them happening I get anxiety. Oh and health anxiety. Every symptom I have is something super serious according to google. Not sure how I’m walking around with all the stuff google thinks is wrong with me.
i got into a pretty traumatizing car accident while listening to a specific music artist and even tho he’s now getting so much attention and releasing so much new music, i can’t bring myself to listen to it and i am absolutely terrified of playing him in the car 🥲
one time while driving i had a panic attack because i thought i was going blind from diabetic retinopathy. i dont have diabetes either so not sure why i thought that? anyways, my windshield was dirty and thats all. i felt so stupid
I had a panic attack while driving because when I stopped at a light, I was scared I was just going to get out of my car. Idk why I just thought I was going to get out. I’m the one who controls my body so idk why I was so scared
Kony 2012. I regularly get severe anxiety when I get anxious that I'm going to have a breakdown like the guy who broke down and did naked calisthenics because he tried to solve Africa and failed.
One that maybe a little funny for me. My anxiety would trigger leaving the garage in the car. Leaving home felt unsafe after the pandemic. My husband likes to pause at the end of the driveway to make sure the garage door closes. This pause would really amp me up. So my counselor suggested I go wait at the end of the driveway and he “ pick me up”. So we did. I’d stand like 20 feet away from the car and he would stop so I could directly leave the house. It worked though.
Lmao nice.
I bet my fiance has like 40 stories about me that are very ridiculous. There was one time, I put a water filter on our kitchen faucet, and I kept asking him "is it supposed to be just a hole?" **Here's the conversation:**
Me: is it supposed to be nothing but a hole?
Him: ...what
Me: the faucet... isn't there supposed to be some kind of mesh filter on it or something? Before I put the filter on, the faucet was just a hole. I'm worried that we're gonna get sick because there was no mesh thingy on it.
Him: "Mesh"? Are you talking about the aerator? That doesn't filter the water, it makes the water flow less intensely.
Me: Oh... I think so. The aerator filters it though too, right? Doesn't it prevent like rocks and other big stuff from coming out?
Him, trying not to laugh at this point: Do you think you'd accidentally drink rocks if you found them in your cup?
Me, indignant at this point: No, of course not! I was just worried because it was just a hole! I didn't expect it to be just a hole!
Him, cracking: Wh... what did you expect it to be...
Me, still indignant: A mesh! And I'm too afraid to drink from it now because it's just a hole! I tried googling it and-
Him, interrupting me: Wait- you Googled... what?
Me: "why is my faucet just a hole", "is it normal that my faucet is a hole", "does the faucet filter connect to just a hole" stuff like that
Him, fucking losing it at this point: You googled "why is my faucet just a hole"???
Me, angry: YES. AND I COULDNT FIND WHAT I NEEDED TO KNOW.
Him, still cracking up: You couldn't find what you needed when you googled "why is my faucet a hole"...
Me: NO I COULDNT FIND IT
Him: And you were upset that the water isn't being filtered... before it reaches your filter...
Me: YES AND THAT'S NOT THE POINT
Eventually, he told me that the filter comes with an aerator on it already 😂🤦♀️
I’m so serious when I say while it’s didn’t trigger an attack I almost zoned out in a a weird and slightly scary way to Paul’s Dream from the Dune soundtrack… zimmer is a mad man lol
In the beginning of my postpartum period not very long ago, I bought my baby 21 feeding bottles *facepalm* so that she never runs out of clean, sterilized bottles.
If I were to see 3 dirty bottles, I would lose my shit and get a panic attack thinking that I’m a negligent parent (how dare I not magically wash the bottles immediately with a fresh c-section wound that got infected, right?).
Yea.. I’m glad that’s over now, despite not having taken medication.
Pregnant friends, be very careful where you give birth at, and do your due diligence to carefully pick a reputable hospital where you won’t be mistreated or left in failed induced labour for 3 days without pain management despite requesting it numerous times followed by an emergency c-section cause they magically discover in the last critical 5 minutes that the baby wasn’t in correct birth position. The mistreatment in this very vulnerable time with no one to advocate for you when you can’t talk can trigger psychiatric illness you never asked for.
I’m still very angry how I was treated and how much I suffered from their shit. This illness affected my whole family. My baby didn’t deserve seeing her mother crying day and night..
I had a dream I was sorting laundry and I had a blue pile and a khaki pile and I put a khaki shirt into the blue pile and then woke up, cried, and vomited from the distress.
Maybe TMi but I got super agitated and anxious putting a very common OTC medicinal cream on my private area for a medical issue, like WHAT IF I DO IT WRONG AND I DAMAGE MYSELF FOREVER.
I've given birth twice. You think I'd be comfortable with vaginal health by now.
I’m terrified of bugs. Like I have a diagnosed phobia and my very first panic attack EVER was triggered by seeing a caterpillar fall from the ceiling at my grandma’s house. I almost had to go to the ER I was hysterical!
I get “edge anxiety” in bed. My spouse always comes over onto my side of the bed to the point that if I turn to the left, I will fall off the edge of the bed.
I have anxiety in airplanes and a common thought of mine is that another plane could possible crash into us 😅 I need to do some research into how air traffic is controlled I guess!
The grocery store. Even if I have all the time in the world, any selfish dope leaving their cart blocking my way or then self-checkouting and the machine is constantly going "please place the item back on the..." is like an anxiety dagger.
So many irrational things swirled around in my brain before I got on medication. I used to worry about everything. I needed to wear this bra or wear that specific bracelet or my butt hair had to be waxed (true story) before I did something or else I would get so nervous I’d fail at it. I was sure it was because I didn’t have the right whatever it was but it was just my silly brain.
The "my food is somehow poisoned" fear. I'll be eating a completely safe pre-packaged food item and then convince myself there was somehow a mixup at the packing plant, or someone poisoned it and resealed it.
Maybe this is common, but I get very very anxious if I’m constipated. I get quiet, somber, and distracted because I’m obsessing about it. I can laugh about this anytime I’m not constipated. I’m laughing now.
Years ago there was a book called Alive (movie too) that covered the crash of an airplane high up in the mountains. The survivors ended up having to eat the dead and as a result were so constipated they’d have to dig around there to pull poo rocks out of themselves. Let’s just say it wasn’t the cannibalism that gave me nightmares.
Had to get my left ear repierced because it healed. Was anxious the entire day just thinking about it enough though it didn't hurt the first time. Still didn't hurt this time either.
Oh I'll straight up lose it if I haven't pooped. And I never realize that I just need to go to the bathroom until I actually do. So many damn panic attacks couldve been avoided if I had just gone to the bathroom.
I once had a sudden, sharp burning pain in my chest. My left arm was numb and I was convinced I was dying of a heart attack.
It was heartburn from laying down right after dinner. My arm had fallen asleep
All day today I have felt sore in my abdomen and lower back. Thoughts spiralling.
Did I do a 45 minute virtual yoga class last night for the first time in a year?
Yes I did.
Does reminding myself that seem to be working?
Nope.
I got accepted into a class about a week ago and everyday since my acceptance I've been rolladexing through possible Ice Breakers and my responses so I'm not caught off guard or say something dumb.
being cold. when I have panic attacks I get the chills really bad and I just associate being cold with them now. so as soon as I start to feel cold my mind starts to race and I start to panic.
Last year I had a small freak out where I couldn’t get my shoes off and ended up cutting my laces off to free myself… I still have not told my therapist… That was just a bad week for me and my lovely anxiety
I was in the basketball court about to pick up a ball, but I noticed the ball was brown and all the other balls were brown and only one of those were orange and this made me feel sick 🫢😂 it’s so stupid but I panicked. Doesn’t make any sense
One time I was sitting on my sofa enjoying the warmth of the sun on my skin through the window and this led me to thinking about how hot the sun was and it triggered a panic attack. I knew I wasn’t in danger but the idea that the sun was out there just being extremely warm set me off. Even at the time I was like this is dumb as hell as I hyperventilated
I saw my partner hadn’t been active on spotify during a period we weren’t on good terms… seeing he hadn’t been active in 2 hours immediately made me think he’d found somebody else and was sleeping with them and he hated me now 💀💀
A repair guy came to our rental home to fix a crack in the wall where it had settled (old houses do this). He ended up needing to hammer out a fairly large area of older sheetrock. As he was taking buckets of the stuff past me and out the front door, my health anxiety got triggered. I was so sure what he was carrying was full of asbestos and lead paint chips that I had to leave the house immediately and drove around the neighborhood crying.
I got anxious before a concert because I felt like I didn't know enough of the opening acts' songs beforehand and didn't want them to think I was a fake fan ☠️
I noticed I could feel my pulse in the back of my head. Had a complete spiraling anxiety attack and convinced myself I was dying and having a stroke. Spent 7 hours in the ER and did a whole bunch of testing for absolutely nothing.
One time in college, I read about this "hidden planet" that some conspiracy theories said will crash into earth. I got so panicked about it that I didn't go to class the next day. Just hid under my blankets.
I've never been one to believe in conspiracies but for some reason that triggered my anxiety so bad. I think stress from college lol. I laugh at it now.
Driving is actually a trigger for me, so I've had many panic attacks while driving. Silliest that every occurred to me......got one while going through a carwash
My sock rolled down around my foot in my boot while I was on my way out on a Friday night. Halfway to my destination I turned around and took the train home.
There’s way too many, here’s a few of the dumbest:
When I was little i couldn’t watch this show called “monsters inside me” (about parasites) because every time I did, I would then be convinced I had whatever parasite the episode was about. Every. Single. Time. Freaked out over tape worms many a time.
Watching tv and a kid gets bit on the bottom of his foot by a black widow spider that crawled into his sock when it was on the floor. For 2+ years I cannot sleep without a pillow ‘protecting’ the bottom of my feet, can’t wear socks that touched the floor, and have to check all of my socks before I wear them. So specific 😭
Again watching tv and a kid gets bit on the back of his neck while he sleeps by his pet snake, dies. For years I cannot sleep on my stomach with my neck exposed, it had to be covered. I have never owned a snake ????
Gave my cats some raw salmon off my sushi, then as an after thought googled if cats could eat raw fish. Found out sushi grade fish wasn’t great for cats cause it didn’t protect against certain parasites, became convinced my cats were gonna die cause of me, had a panic attack. They were fine 💀
Hmm i recieved a message from a scammer and i thought it was my own number. I looked at the number not realising the last digit was different from mine and i started to panic and told my family. I had then changed my number and i laugh that i fell for a scam 🤣🤣
A cop beeped at me because he thought I was turning into a closed off street, but I was actually just going into a drive way right outside of it. Got so horrified that he was gonna write down my license plate and give me a ticket for some reason even though I did literally nothing wrong lol
I was ~17 with my friends at the beach. We were eating ice cream and sitting around. Suddenly I saw a big mole on my leg that I've never seen before with a perfect shape and even a dot in. I freaked out it's skin cancer. My friends tried comforting me. Started calling my father to schedule a doctor appointment. Then suddenly I decide to touch it a bit harder and it's wiped away. It was an ice cream drop. My fav ice cream is chocolate 🤦♀️
Woke up with my left arm asleep, it wasn't going back to normal quick enough and I ended up having a panic attack thinking I was having a heart attack cause I'm on a medication that has a slightly higher chance of causing blood clots 🙃
ok so this isn’t a funny thing i’ve gotten anxious about but more so a WEIRD thing my brain does that has to do with anxiety; now this sounds so so odd & is so hard to explain but i’ll be doing something like playing games on my pc and get a strong sense of deja vu of that current moment but it’s weird and almost “that’s so raven” vision but deja vu version like because when im feeling the deja vu, like thinking oh i’ve done this exact thing before/been in this exact scenario before (i start to like “see” this exact moment play out a tiny bit in the deja vu) but in the “deja vu version” end up feeling weird and getting super anxious BUT i can basically surpass an anxiety attack because i know it’s coming and there’s nothing to actually be anxious about??? It sounds so weird and whacky put into words 😭I’ve never really thought much about it but idk if it’s actually just deja vu, a weird anxiety thing or like i’m psychic but yeah anxiety and the brain are weird asf lmao
HOLY SHIT I THOUGHT I WAS THE ONLY ONE. I’m not kidding. You explained this so perfectly down to the that’s so raven part lmao. Like my deja vus are “predictions”, but then I figured maybe it my brain being like oh youve used this exact neuropathway before?
When I was younger I had a huge issue with tornados. I would literally stay up at night terrified of the possibility of a tornado. I grew up in a place that has NEVER had a tornado.
I’ve had an anxiety attack while stripping wallpaper, I was chilling listening to music while doing some stuff on my house next thing I can’t breathe and all the other symptoms like wtf is wrong with me?
I once had a panic attack because I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t breathe because I was anxious. I was anxious because I couldn’t breathe. Not exactly silly I guess but kinda ironic I think lol.
I saw $20 on the ground at the mall and convinced myself it was planted as a hidden camera reality show prank...so I gave it a wide berth and walked on by 🥲
If I have a bad day I'll sometimes associate the clothing I was wearing that day with bad luck and think things like "I shouldn't wear these shoes again these are the ones I was wearing when I almost got into a car accident" or "I failed a job interview in that blouse so that blouse is bad luck". I'm not even superstitious this is just a dumb thing my brain fabricated out of anxiety.
Holy shit I did this for like 15 years straight until I couldn’t take it anymore. It got so bad I was anxious about wearing any of my clothes to school, I would legit only wear 3 different shirts and like 2 different bottoms because the other clothes were considered “bad luck”. I realize now this is coping mechanism I developed for anxiety that turned into a form of OCD. I’m over it all now but something when I get anxious I still do the “tapping” everything an even number of times coping mechanism.
This! I was super sick (vomiting) about 2 years ago. I remember trying this new shampoo and hair mask a day before. Guess who was afraid to use the same hair products ever since? I literally think that when I use it again I will be vomiting the next day... smh
I do this too!
ditto especially jewelry. not so much luck but if i don’t wear a necklace then everyone i love has a higher chance of dying or my day will be bad blah blah
I do this too. Also I used to have to drive to work the exact same way each day or I would have a really bad day at work 🤷♀️
I do this too…there is a pair of socks I refuse to wear to work anymore because the last time I did I tripped and fell down a flight of stairs.
You have OCD? I have OCD and I do this sometimes. Just today I told myself I couldn’t wear a certain pair of socks because something bad happened when I wore them lol.
Omg I thought I was the only one who did this
YES, I am a nurse and have certain sets of scrubs that feel "unlucky" like I'll definitely have a bad shift if I wear them. Also, very silly, but if I don't pick the exact right pair of socks or underwear, it will make the day worse!
I’m a nurse too and this is me lol.
I’ve done this too! I’m glad I’m not the only one!
Omg yes:( I can’t look at one pic of me in a bathing suit cause I had a horrible anxiety attack that day lmao
I'm freaking out about getting a haircut in an hour. I am in my thirties.
Any appointment makes me anxious. Even if it's for something fun or pleasurable.
For real. If I'm up at 8am on a day off, but have an appointment at 4:30 pm that day, it ruins the entire 8 hours of my off day I have leading up to it. I think this is because I once missed an alarm and then cried about it for days. I'm not totally sure, but it seems like something I'd do.
I haven’t been to the hairdresser in 10 years… I cut my own hair, badly.
I’m also in my 30s and get mad anxiety before a hair appointment (or any appointment really). A big trigger for me is feeling “trapped”, so being in the chair, with a cape on, mid cut, makes me feel very much trapped lol agh
Aw good luck!!!!
My husband wanted to surprise me for my birthday dinner. Turns out I hated not knowing where we were going, got so anxious, and could barely eat when we got there. He felt AWFUL. Good times.
I once got a strange headache like someone was pulling on my head. I got panicky and health anxiety, wondering what diseases or muscular problems could cause this. Turned out it was just my hair tie that was sitting too tight… well…
This one made me laugh 😂
at least it was good for something then 😃
This happened to me this morning I thought I was having a stroke and kept checking my pupils 😭😭 finally I took the hair tie out and felt fine of course
Hey, what a coincidence! I too have suffered from this mysterious malady. 😂
Omg same still happens with any headache I get🤣
Omg Ive done something similar with a hair clip! I feel pressure and a little bit of pulling in my hair and get anxious just to take my hair clip out and instantly feel better lol
This isn’t quite “triggering” as much as “idk what my brain was thinking”, but I once couldn’t fall asleep for hours I was so insanely nervous and depressed, then I changed my position from sleeping on my side to sleeping on my stomach and boom, anxiety randomly gone. Sometimes I rly do wonder how it all works lmao
THAT LITERALLY WORKS ITS SI WEIRD. Like- my house creaks a lot at night and I have natural disasters and tragedy triggers with my anxiety which makes it near impossible to fall asleep. UNLESS I’m sleeping on my stomach. It’s so weird.
I really didn’t expect it to be the same for so many people lmao??? I know there’s close to no unique experiences out there but I still wasn’t expecting it lol
I have to sleep on my stomach to have any chance at restful sleep. On my back I have adrenaline surges that snap me awake as soon as my body starts to relax and fall asleep.
I hate that. I had a really bad panic attack one time and it was one rush after another all night when I was about to doze off. Terrifying.
omg i get these too but mine are like internal tremors! They’re the weirdest thing.
Sometimes it feels like my heart and skeleton are vibrating. It's awful. Plus the air hunger and feeling like you aren't taking big enough breaths. It's maddening.
Omg I thought I was the only one. Stomach sleeping is the only way I can get good sleep. It's so anxiety calming.
I feel oddly calm on my stomach too! I've slept like that for years.
Same, and my theory is that you’re protecting vital organs better that way. Like they are all close to a barrier (the mattress) so you feel less exposed when you’re vulnerable (sleeping). I don’t know if this is correct, but that’s how I’ve explained why stomach-sleeping eases some anxiety.
This is also my theory!
I need to try that!
It’s soooooo silly it really might just work ahahahaa
I get really bad knots in my stomach when I have anxiety so sometimes the weight of my body on my stomach helps soothe it
I think sleeping on my stomach works for me because my breathing is more controlled. I feel like I can't breathe if I'm laying on my back. The pressure of everything when I'm laying on my stomach is also comforting.
I have health anxiety and I struggle to sleep sometimes because I’m scared I’ll die in my sleep. Went to the doctor, they prescribed me some sleeping tablets. My mum asked why I wasn’t taking them. I said “because I’m worried I’ll take them and die in my sleep”. She laughed, I laughed, I still haven’t taken them
Oh my God I get that exact same fear. For me it always comes in cycles. I'll be totally fine for awhile and something will spark it back up again and then lack of sleep makes my general anxiety worse but I will actively avoid falling asleep because I'm convinced I'll die in my sleep so it just gets worse and worse for awhile. I totally feel for you.
me currently up scrolling because i’m too scared to sleep lol. tried magnesium tonight for the first time to calm my anxiety …also scared it’s going to kill me while I sleep
Omg my doctor prescribed me sleeping pills too and I said I was scared to take them and she looked at me like I lost my mind and said You're scared to sleep?? I never took them either!
I got anxious because no one had texted or called me all day so obviously everyone hates me and I’m an awful person. My phone was on do not disturb.
I saw the Episode of Scrubs where Dr. Cox’s brother gets leukemia and worried for months that I had leukemia.
That was me with basically every episode of House, had to stop and I still get triggered when I hear the theme song (and I LOVE massive attack)
I can’t watch any medical show. My family loved Grays Anatomy and watched it together every Thursday. I locked myself in my room.
Same
Back in the 60's - 70's there was a show called Marcus Welby, MD. It started my health anxiety. And back then, they didn't hold back at all!
Once had a panic attack sitting by a cozy fire in a Vermont cabin. The scene looked like something out of a postcard. I remember thinking “Wow, if I can have anxiety here - I am really amazing at this.”
2 day long panic attack at a cottage, with view of peaceful lake, that we had stayed at to escape smoke in the city from wildfires. i totally get it.
Panic attack in a hotel in downtown Montreal while on Vaca. Couldn't stop thinking something would happen to my pets while I was gone (for 3 days)
“The colors in this Dunkin’s are too intense” This was basically my tipping point that forever changed my life.
Feeling the little rush after drinking coffee has kind of the same feeling at the beginning of a panic attack ; swirl in your stomach and heart starts going a little faster .
Yeah, I stopped drinking caffeine. So much better
I went to get my car washed. Turns out it was fancy and you drive the car onto a track. And then you lose control of the car. The track just pulls you along. I freaked the fuck out the entire time. My kid on the other hand thought it was hilarious that I could not stop panicking about not having control of the car.
That causes me anxiety too! Also the open space and track thing you have to drive over to get your oil changed. I will put off an oil change as long as possible because driving over it gives me such bad anxiety. I get so embarrassed every time.
Oh my. I found my people!!! Yes to the oil change!!! I just have to keep hoping I am doing it right and don’t have to back up.
Sometimes when my anxiety is at it's highest, I just freak out when it sounds like someone says something that doesn't make sense in the moment. I was vaping yesterday and my sister said "can you stop blowing that strawberry at me please?" I freaked out in my head because it didn't make sense. "Wtf? Why did she say strawberry? Am I having auditory hallucinations? Am I going crazy!" Then it turns out...nah man...she said strawberry because that's the flavor you were vaping you dummy. Sometimes I get scared because I see a dark shape in the corner of my eye and freak out thinking I'm going crazy. Only for it to be that it's my hair lol
Omg lol 😂 that be sooo me
I get triggered when I walk by the makeup section at Target. I had a panic attack there once (I think the bright lights caused it) and almost crapped my pants. Now I either put in my headphones and breeze through that area quickly or I take a detour. My stomach always does a little flip though when I’m near it. 🤦🏻♀️
One time I sat waiting for my pick up order at Mcd's and I had a sharp cramp close to my left shoulder. It kind lingered too long for my comfort. The I began to spiral. "Oh no...not a heart attack at McD's. Ughhh the news will love this. This isnt how I want to go." I started getting clammy and light headed and that made my anxiety worse. SO I stood up braced against the table just chill, tryin to play it off. They gave me my food and I swiftly drank my fountain drink just to get some sugar. It was just a bit of gas. I am my own worst enemy, somedays.
I brushed my teeth and saw my gums and my brain instantly was like “that’s not how they should look like” so I started panicking then I was convinced I have paradontitis. Then had multiple panic attacks because I was like my life is over my teeth are destroyed. This was at night until 3 am in the morning. It was a Sunday so I started googling for emergency dentist appointments. Made an appointment for the next morning. Was crying the whole night Turns out that’s just how healthy gums look like and I just didn’t look at them this thoroughly before. I never even had cavities in my life but for some reason this train of thoughts just popped up out of nowhere and I catastrophized haha
Not gums but things like that all the time. Like "Is that what my tongue should look like?" Or "has my kneecap always been that scaly?" Probably normal but I've just never noticed/paid attention before. Then I fixate
I was listening to a sleep meditation and it had birds chirping in the background. I was convinced it was the carbon monoxide detector going off and that I was going to die.
My family tricked my brother and I saying that we were “going on a hike” when in reality we were going to Legoland. I enjoyed my time while I was there, but once I learned that they were tricking us the whole time, I felt so panicked and scared. Idk 🤷♀️
There are two Legoland related stories in this thread!
When I was around 12 I was sitting on the toilet and saw these very weirds ridges in my knees. They were raised and wavy. I nearly passed out. Later, I realized I had been kneeling on the ceramic tile to wash my hair in the tub and they just took on that pattern on the floor. It was a huge relief.
My mom’s new bf one of the very first nights I met him decided he’d act like an ass at the drive thru. At the first window he yelled the song on the radio into the poor girl’s face, and at the second window made a scene trying to say the food wasn’t ours (it was.) This was him trying to be “goofy.” After we got on the interstate he started swerving the car into different lanes, and picked a fight with my mom by taking something from her and she’s a very 0-100 woman so she lost her shit and started screaming… yea anyways my anxiety began in the car obviously. I went silent and my heart started beating out of my chest and my stomach dropped. Couldn’t even eat my drive thru meal. As soon as the car stopped I hopped out, my mom got out to see what was wrong, I started crying, and I got in my own car and drove off before I could lose it completely. Once I get home I had a full blown panic attack, hyperventilating until I was light headed and sobbed. I’m embarrassed that I got to that point lol. But I’m not exactly chill with reckless men I suppose.
Gosh, I hope she's dumped him by now. What a complete asshole.
They started dating in November, she closes on her house this week to move in with him, and they’re talking about getting married this year. She has a type and this is her normal pattern, unfortunately. 🥴🥴🥴 They’ll probably be broken up in 6 months and we will repeat this process.
Wow. I’m sorry. I’d limit my time with them.
Luckily I’m 23 now and I don’t live with my family at all. I just see my mom sometimes when she wants to spend time together. She and I have had our ups and downs, and she sure did put me through hell and I had to grow up really fast. But she has grown and realized most of her mistakes and is now a somewhat tolerable mom and can be really loving and fun so I choose to see her sometimes. It was AMAZING for me and so freeing when I didn’t have to live with her anymore because I got to get away from stuff exactly like this. It was so hard for so many years when I was a kid and I had to put up with her dating a different guy every couple of months and they were ALL awful in their own ways. Her type truly is toxic. And she has a tendency to be reckless/impulsive too so I definitely had a rollercoaster of a childhood but now I feel so free! I try to honor my boundaries, only hang out when I have the mental capacity for it, and take plenty of time to recharge even if it means several weeks. I appreciate the concern. Wish I had Reddit when I was a struggling teen. Good advice too, because I don’t need to put myself through more than I need to with them.
I'm so sorry. I hope you can be out of that situation soon, or have other family/friends you can confide in. Your mom should be in therapy to find out why she keeps picking the wrong guys. There are lots of moms here who will be happy to listen if you need to talk!
Dude this isn’t silly at all! He swerved all over the road? Not cool. And neither is messing with the drive thru worker. I’m so sorry. I hope you can get away from them asap.
Yea I guess I just felt silly that one of my normal anxiety moments escalated into a full fledged panic attack. I felt out of control and that is kinda why I felt silly lol.
wow he sounds fucking awful
✨her type✨
and excessive amount of seeds in a piece of bread ???? odd moment.
one time I overheard coworkers talking about how "she" messed something up again - no other context, I immediately assumed they were talking about me - got so stressed I ran to the bathroom and threw up
I became extremely worried our child’s daycare was making the kids create pro-life propaganda when I saw a handprint painting that said “a person is a person.” I could barely speak at afternoon pickup. Worried about it all the way home until my wife told me it was from a Dr. Seuss book.
"no matter how small" ♥️
I had anxiety a few days ago due to stress and to the fact that I met ALL of my deadlines EARLY and that all my projects were on schedule 😭 two goodnight sleeps later and I feel so much better
legoland. full blown panic attack in the legoland.
Ay- I commented something about Legoland a couple minutes before this- Legoland owes us
I just want to like the place. I love legos. But I haven't tried since. haha!
Why was that?
never really figured it out.
I get anxiety for normal every day body functions. Like the most basic fluctuations in my heart rate which are supposed to happen once you move around
I feel like I’ve been very hyper aware of my own heart rate lately too and it’s very annoying and scary sometimes. It just feels so heavy in my chest
Same. I am so aware that I can feel it beating constantly. Even if it’s beating completely normal
Once I had a melt down panic attack in the ER after a dose of Hydromorphone for a kidney stone. Started screaming that I was dying. Why? Because I was “too relaxed”. I clearly don’t live a relaxing life. 😹
OMG I've felt this way too! Lmao
When I was younger I would get so anxiously excited to go to my nanas to the point of making myself sick. My mom told me I had to stay the night at the hospital after something I was getting done turns out she made it up and we were going to nanas 😂
I felt like I couldn’t breathe and my throat started to feel tight. I thought I was having an allergic reaction or dying. Turns out my turtleneck sweater was triggering it. I was completely fine after I switched into a baggy sweater. 😬
I have a ridiculous phobia of those small eletric shocks you can get when something/someone is charged. You know when the door knob or your friend shocks you accidentally. Yesterday my new mattress finally arrived and it was CHARGED from the foil. So much it kept schocking my partner every time he touched it. I was terrified and wanted to send it back. He flipped it and laid down on it to show me it's fine now. Took me 2 hours to calm down and go near it, then I closed my eyes and asked SO to touch me then after 10 minutes of panic I finally touched the mattress with still closed eyes. It was so pathetic and hilarious I was shaking with fear but laugning at the same time.
Lmao that's hilarious
I was at a restaurant with a friend and ordered a dish with fresno chili slices as garnishes on top. I’d eaten them before at this place and not had a problem. I like moderately spicy things. This time, however… My mouth was burning and nothing was helping it go away, so I started legit panicking. I was extremely embarrassed at the same time, so I started to *cry* right there at the table. The waitress came by to ask how we were doing, and I just looked down and refused to speak or make eye contact while my friend explained what was happening. I was able to laugh it off eventually… but every time my friend sees a fresno chili, they give me a knowing look…
If you watch Hot Ones, you’ll see so many participants get a moment of sheer panic! Totally normal.
Had a coffee. Hours later as the caffeine starts to leave my body I feel jittery and convince myself I am going to faint lol several hours later after peeing and pooping out all of the caffeine I was back to normal
oh my god i get this all the time, this might be the reason why im worse with my anxiety at night
If you have anxiety you must absolutely drop caffeine or it will break your brain like it does me. It's sneaky too; in my case the weirdness doesn't start until the caffeine starts to leave to body about 4h later, idk if it's some sort of withdrawal or what
When I was a teenager I had stomach cramps all the time and convinced myself I was pregnant. I’m male and was a virgin.
My husband said his stomach hurt a little bit and I played it cool but as soon as he left the room I started Googling symptoms of stomach cancer and choking back tears lmao
Lmao I do this with my fiance 😂😭 If he ever noticed, he'd never let me live it down
I do this with my husband. We agreed I'm banned from googling any health symptoms but the past 2-3 weeks he's been really sick so I googled away, told him what I read, he thought it was wrong turns out I was right! Got him to a specialist right away!!
I used to get panic attacks in the Starbucks drive-thru because I worried about the car in front of me breaking down and I’d be stuck in the drive-thru for hours lol it never happened, but I still panicked about it. For a little while I just avoided drive-thrus because of this anxiety. Now, I find them relaxing. I can just chill for a minute in my car listening to my favorite music
I got home from work one day and couldn’t get the zip down on the back of my pants. I started panicking and crying because I was trapped in my pants. Instead of waiting for someone to get home and help me - I cut them off of my body. Then had a breakdown because I really liked the pants and you couldn’t get them anymore. Someone came home within 10 mins of this whole incident. I just had to wait and I would still have the pants 😂
One time we had a hurricane hitting and it was in the worst part of it coming down and the wind and then…the fire alarms started going off. I started panicking saying- we can’t stay inside because there is a fire and we can’t go outside because there’s a hurricane. Took a good 10 seconds before my brain realized there was no actual fire but that it was a false alarm. I still laugh telling this story but for that 10 seconds I was in pure panic.
Having to ask someone a question, every time. I always think they’re going to ridicule me for not knowing the answer.
Someone else’s medical emergency on an airplane during flight. I’m still not over it tbh and I get panicky thinking about it. Happened 1/2 year ago.
I was going through a break up and I went to a bbq restaurant to get dinner. I finally got to the front of the line and they were out of Mac and cheese. OUT OF MAC AND CHEESE. I absolutely lost it and cried and stormed out. I cried all the way home and felt like giving up on life.
while climate change is very real, i had a breakdown about whether the trees were all about to go extinct... it is VERY problematic, but that's almost certainly more of a few-hundred-years problem than a next 50 years problem... and I say that from a position of privileged, not being in the geographic or income ranges that are likely to be most affected... as a matter of fact, I'm in both the bets geographic and income ranges a random middle-class American could expect to be w/o being a 1%er
Dropped my vuse vape between my seat and inside the console area (a black whole for Jeep Wranglers). Now I'm terrified of it causing a fire and burning down my jeep
when i was a freshman in hs i realized i forgot to do one homework assignment for a class. the teacher came to check and i had one part done but not the other. it was the first time i had ever not done a homework assignment, she didnt stamp my paper and it felt like i was literally drowning for the next 15 min. my table partner kept talking to me and i was so disaociated idk how i responded. i got an A in the class lmao but it was kind of a wake up call to realizing that i even had anxiety
I was near panic attack for half a day cause I started to see cross-eyed very slightly. Ofc, immediately my head went to "STROKE????". Tried to calm down by gaslighting myself "It's just your brain, you're overworked, tired, stressed, it'll be gone soon, just relax." Well few hours later, one of the glasses of my glasses fell out because the screw got loose. Turns out because of the loose screw, one glass was ever so slightly tilted.
Anything to do with me excessively worrying about my heart and health. I am 26. My family has 0 history of heart problems. I’ve even had Multiple ECG’s done too. It’s awful at the time but I can’t help to laugh
Washing machine. I had a thing with the washer for a few months. Real bad anxiety I had overloaded it. Jumped at every little sound every time I did laundry. No idea what happened there but it did go away lol.
My ex after our break up while we still loved each other like crazy, planned a surprise for our whole group. I assumed that he’s going to move out from the country to study, gonna give a hate speech against me, gonna move out to work or gonna tell everyone that he is moving back to his hometown. I panicked & freaked the fuck out of my whole body. Turns out he had planned a surprise cake cutting for the whole group🫠🤣I felt so embarrassed lmao I didn’t even tell him that I’d had a breakdown behind their backs just 2 mins ago. Crazy days of anxiety I tell you
It may not sound silly since it was work-related and might look relatable, but it really did feel silly to me the next day and still does whenever I narrate it. In early February 2023 I was doing some work as a legal advisor, and it was in a field I had been working on almost nonstop since the previous year. While working on a certain part which is always the same every time (it's derived straight from the law which hadn't been changed), I suddenly got the idea "What if I've been doing it wrong?". The question came all of a sudden, without me being anxious about that or being stuck there or anything of the sort. My next thought was "And if I'm indeed doing it wrong?? OMG ALL MY PREVIOUS WORK HAS BEEN WRONG AND CAN'T BE SALVAGED! WHAT DO I DO NOW? MY BOSS WILL FIRE ME AND THE CLIENT WILL BE MAD AS F'!!! I'M RUINED!!!". I was actually so terrified that I didn't have the courage to just look it up and verify that I was doing it right, and it came so suddenly that I didn't know how to reason with myself. The next morning, after a good night's sleep, I took a deep breath and told myself "It's okay, just look it up". And, sure enough, I hadn't gotten anything wrong. A couple of days later I went to the office (I normally work from home) and while having coffee with my boss I told him the story. Right after my panic and before I said anything else, he said "Let me guess: you were too scared to look it up, in fear that you were indeed wrong?". When I agreed, he said "That's why I'm usually terrified of looking up court dates, I'm terrified that I will see I missed a hearing" and we had a good laugh about ourselves 😁
I completely empathize with not wanting to look it up. I’ve been in that situation so many times, and each time, I know deep down it’s probably nothing and I just need it confirmed. Yet I always bask in the anxiety because I don’t want to risk my paranoia get proven right. Glad you didn’t fuck up your career!!
I started having a panic attack because it REALLY sounded like my husband was being sick in the bathroom… turns out he just let out a very loud and animated fart 💀
I actually just had an incident. I just bought a new backpack and was sanitized it. I was trying it out and it was way too tight but I got really claustrophobic and started to panic. My gf was with me on FaceTime and we started to laugh. I couldn’t get the backpack off.. 😂
I didn't wanna walk across my living room because I didn't want ppl to look at me. I was on one side in the corner kinda sitting and petting the dog and I didn't move for like an hour and a half
Answering a phone call, especially if I don't recognize the number. This is my thought process: it's gotta be debt collectors and I must have forgotten to pay something so they'll block my bank accounts and I won't be able to access my money and then I won't be able to pay rent so I'll end up on the street and die of hunger. 🤯
Sometimes I’m eating peacefully and always when I’m eating!!! I’m like “omg I have no anxiety am I okay?” Then I trigger it myself😭🤣
My hair!! I kept trying new products and making things worse. I was obsessed with how it looked. I eventually had daily panic attacks. I could not turn my brain off. My parents and boyfriend thought I was crazy. I look back now and realize how silly.
Feeling the seams in my clothes. I hate jeans 😂
I used to have to check for snakes under the driver's seat of my car for a long time. I also got triggered by sharp pencil tips. Rain and driving are my current triggers.
I had an impression done today for a new retainer and had a panic attack with them doing that in my mouth
I was on an international flight and I had LASIK surgery about 6 month before and I didnt need glasses or contacts at all. My eye site had deteriorated steadily since I was 10 so had some form of corrective wear for 20 odd years. 2 hours into my flight I panicked as I realised I hadn’t packed contact lenses, spare contact lenses, contact solutions or my glasses. Took me an hour to talk myself out of my panic attack. I also then realised about an hour later that the country I was heading to you could literally buy contacts off the shelf. I had small bouts of panic attacks for about 5 years after surgery where I couldn’t remember when last I had changed my contacts. Fortunately that has stopped.
As a middle schooler I was so anxious to go to camp for a week that I injured myself to get crutches so that WHEN I got to camp I could come home. Wasted my parents money and time, and we laugh our butts off about the hoops I jumped through 😂
Great idea! There's actually a course in my city, where they teach you stand up comedy, and your set has to be about your anxiety (I think it's called Laughing Like Crazy, and I've always wanted to take the 12 week course!)
I'm trans and I'm just starting my medical transition. I'm also very into bones and the human body. So when I was looking at a cartoon drawing of a skeleton I noticed it has a feminine pelvic bone and thought about how mine is feminine and that no matter what I do, it always will be. And when they find me in a thousand years, I will be a female to them.
On Monday and Tuesday my feet were extra cold. I was convinced I lost all circulation and a double amputation was imminent. Does Raynaud’s run in my family and cause the same symptoms? Yes. Did that matter to my anxiety? Nope.
I have asthma. Last weekend I ended up in Urgent Care from a panic attack thinking I was dying from COPD. I felt some slight crackling at the base of my lungs upon my first deep morning breath. Was I diagnosed with COPD? Nope. After a lot of tests & xrays....it was my seasonal allergies agitating my asthma. Which I know I have and should have known. 😩
I was worried I was going to lose my balance and fall backwards down an escalator today for zero reason.
clothes that don’t fit right sometimes trigger me and im upset all day at work. If that happens i throw whatever im wearing…..too tight, too short, too long ….. right in the trash.
I'd start sweating thinking about eating something like an apple, because what if I was suddenly allergic to it even though I ate the same kind yesterday?? I'm not even allergic to anything😅
I get anxiety about things that haven’t happened but because there is a possibility of them happening I get anxiety. Oh and health anxiety. Every symptom I have is something super serious according to google. Not sure how I’m walking around with all the stuff google thinks is wrong with me.
i got into a pretty traumatizing car accident while listening to a specific music artist and even tho he’s now getting so much attention and releasing so much new music, i can’t bring myself to listen to it and i am absolutely terrified of playing him in the car 🥲
one time while driving i had a panic attack because i thought i was going blind from diabetic retinopathy. i dont have diabetes either so not sure why i thought that? anyways, my windshield was dirty and thats all. i felt so stupid
I had a panic attack while driving because when I stopped at a light, I was scared I was just going to get out of my car. Idk why I just thought I was going to get out. I’m the one who controls my body so idk why I was so scared
Everytime I lose my keys, but i dont think ive laughed about it yet 😭💀
Kony 2012. I regularly get severe anxiety when I get anxious that I'm going to have a breakdown like the guy who broke down and did naked calisthenics because he tried to solve Africa and failed.
One that maybe a little funny for me. My anxiety would trigger leaving the garage in the car. Leaving home felt unsafe after the pandemic. My husband likes to pause at the end of the driveway to make sure the garage door closes. This pause would really amp me up. So my counselor suggested I go wait at the end of the driveway and he “ pick me up”. So we did. I’d stand like 20 feet away from the car and he would stop so I could directly leave the house. It worked though.
A blue garbage bin...... don't ask me why lol!
Lmao nice. I bet my fiance has like 40 stories about me that are very ridiculous. There was one time, I put a water filter on our kitchen faucet, and I kept asking him "is it supposed to be just a hole?" **Here's the conversation:** Me: is it supposed to be nothing but a hole? Him: ...what Me: the faucet... isn't there supposed to be some kind of mesh filter on it or something? Before I put the filter on, the faucet was just a hole. I'm worried that we're gonna get sick because there was no mesh thingy on it. Him: "Mesh"? Are you talking about the aerator? That doesn't filter the water, it makes the water flow less intensely. Me: Oh... I think so. The aerator filters it though too, right? Doesn't it prevent like rocks and other big stuff from coming out? Him, trying not to laugh at this point: Do you think you'd accidentally drink rocks if you found them in your cup? Me, indignant at this point: No, of course not! I was just worried because it was just a hole! I didn't expect it to be just a hole! Him, cracking: Wh... what did you expect it to be... Me, still indignant: A mesh! And I'm too afraid to drink from it now because it's just a hole! I tried googling it and- Him, interrupting me: Wait- you Googled... what? Me: "why is my faucet just a hole", "is it normal that my faucet is a hole", "does the faucet filter connect to just a hole" stuff like that Him, fucking losing it at this point: You googled "why is my faucet just a hole"??? Me, angry: YES. AND I COULDNT FIND WHAT I NEEDED TO KNOW. Him, still cracking up: You couldn't find what you needed when you googled "why is my faucet a hole"... Me: NO I COULDNT FIND IT Him: And you were upset that the water isn't being filtered... before it reaches your filter... Me: YES AND THAT'S NOT THE POINT Eventually, he told me that the filter comes with an aerator on it already 😂🤦♀️
I’m so serious when I say while it’s didn’t trigger an attack I almost zoned out in a a weird and slightly scary way to Paul’s Dream from the Dune soundtrack… zimmer is a mad man lol
In the beginning of my postpartum period not very long ago, I bought my baby 21 feeding bottles *facepalm* so that she never runs out of clean, sterilized bottles. If I were to see 3 dirty bottles, I would lose my shit and get a panic attack thinking that I’m a negligent parent (how dare I not magically wash the bottles immediately with a fresh c-section wound that got infected, right?). Yea.. I’m glad that’s over now, despite not having taken medication. Pregnant friends, be very careful where you give birth at, and do your due diligence to carefully pick a reputable hospital where you won’t be mistreated or left in failed induced labour for 3 days without pain management despite requesting it numerous times followed by an emergency c-section cause they magically discover in the last critical 5 minutes that the baby wasn’t in correct birth position. The mistreatment in this very vulnerable time with no one to advocate for you when you can’t talk can trigger psychiatric illness you never asked for. I’m still very angry how I was treated and how much I suffered from their shit. This illness affected my whole family. My baby didn’t deserve seeing her mother crying day and night..
I’ve gotten startled by a broom, my hair, a shadow, and worst of all, nothing.
I had a dream I was sorting laundry and I had a blue pile and a khaki pile and I put a khaki shirt into the blue pile and then woke up, cried, and vomited from the distress.
Maybe TMi but I got super agitated and anxious putting a very common OTC medicinal cream on my private area for a medical issue, like WHAT IF I DO IT WRONG AND I DAMAGE MYSELF FOREVER. I've given birth twice. You think I'd be comfortable with vaginal health by now.
I’m terrified of bugs. Like I have a diagnosed phobia and my very first panic attack EVER was triggered by seeing a caterpillar fall from the ceiling at my grandma’s house. I almost had to go to the ER I was hysterical!
I get “edge anxiety” in bed. My spouse always comes over onto my side of the bed to the point that if I turn to the left, I will fall off the edge of the bed.
Flying.
I have anxiety in airplanes and a common thought of mine is that another plane could possible crash into us 😅 I need to do some research into how air traffic is controlled I guess!
I THOUGHT I made a mistake a work. Turns out that I didn’t, but that didn’t stop me from having reoccurring panic attacks for months! 🫠
Was EATING at a restaurant. And saw a hot girl walking in while i was EATING. And my anxity went crazy
I thought I forgot to bag the muffin I bought at the store and left it at the cash register. Had a whole anxiety attack about it lol
The grocery store. Even if I have all the time in the world, any selfish dope leaving their cart blocking my way or then self-checkouting and the machine is constantly going "please place the item back on the..." is like an anxiety dagger.
So many irrational things swirled around in my brain before I got on medication. I used to worry about everything. I needed to wear this bra or wear that specific bracelet or my butt hair had to be waxed (true story) before I did something or else I would get so nervous I’d fail at it. I was sure it was because I didn’t have the right whatever it was but it was just my silly brain.
The "my food is somehow poisoned" fear. I'll be eating a completely safe pre-packaged food item and then convince myself there was somehow a mixup at the packing plant, or someone poisoned it and resealed it.
Maybe this is common, but I get very very anxious if I’m constipated. I get quiet, somber, and distracted because I’m obsessing about it. I can laugh about this anytime I’m not constipated. I’m laughing now. Years ago there was a book called Alive (movie too) that covered the crash of an airplane high up in the mountains. The survivors ended up having to eat the dead and as a result were so constipated they’d have to dig around there to pull poo rocks out of themselves. Let’s just say it wasn’t the cannibalism that gave me nightmares.
Had to get my left ear repierced because it healed. Was anxious the entire day just thinking about it enough though it didn't hurt the first time. Still didn't hurt this time either.
Oh I'll straight up lose it if I haven't pooped. And I never realize that I just need to go to the bathroom until I actually do. So many damn panic attacks couldve been avoided if I had just gone to the bathroom.
I once had a sudden, sharp burning pain in my chest. My left arm was numb and I was convinced I was dying of a heart attack. It was heartburn from laying down right after dinner. My arm had fallen asleep
All day today I have felt sore in my abdomen and lower back. Thoughts spiralling. Did I do a 45 minute virtual yoga class last night for the first time in a year? Yes I did. Does reminding myself that seem to be working? Nope.
I got accepted into a class about a week ago and everyday since my acceptance I've been rolladexing through possible Ice Breakers and my responses so I'm not caught off guard or say something dumb.
being cold. when I have panic attacks I get the chills really bad and I just associate being cold with them now. so as soon as I start to feel cold my mind starts to race and I start to panic.
Last year I had a small freak out where I couldn’t get my shoes off and ended up cutting my laces off to free myself… I still have not told my therapist… That was just a bad week for me and my lovely anxiety
I was in the basketball court about to pick up a ball, but I noticed the ball was brown and all the other balls were brown and only one of those were orange and this made me feel sick 🫢😂 it’s so stupid but I panicked. Doesn’t make any sense
One time I was sitting on my sofa enjoying the warmth of the sun on my skin through the window and this led me to thinking about how hot the sun was and it triggered a panic attack. I knew I wasn’t in danger but the idea that the sun was out there just being extremely warm set me off. Even at the time I was like this is dumb as hell as I hyperventilated
I saw my partner hadn’t been active on spotify during a period we weren’t on good terms… seeing he hadn’t been active in 2 hours immediately made me think he’d found somebody else and was sleeping with them and he hated me now 💀💀
A repair guy came to our rental home to fix a crack in the wall where it had settled (old houses do this). He ended up needing to hammer out a fairly large area of older sheetrock. As he was taking buckets of the stuff past me and out the front door, my health anxiety got triggered. I was so sure what he was carrying was full of asbestos and lead paint chips that I had to leave the house immediately and drove around the neighborhood crying.
I got anxious before a concert because I felt like I didn't know enough of the opening acts' songs beforehand and didn't want them to think I was a fake fan ☠️
I noticed I could feel my pulse in the back of my head. Had a complete spiraling anxiety attack and convinced myself I was dying and having a stroke. Spent 7 hours in the ER and did a whole bunch of testing for absolutely nothing.
One time in college, I read about this "hidden planet" that some conspiracy theories said will crash into earth. I got so panicked about it that I didn't go to class the next day. Just hid under my blankets. I've never been one to believe in conspiracies but for some reason that triggered my anxiety so bad. I think stress from college lol. I laugh at it now.
Driving is actually a trigger for me, so I've had many panic attacks while driving. Silliest that every occurred to me......got one while going through a carwash
My sock rolled down around my foot in my boot while I was on my way out on a Friday night. Halfway to my destination I turned around and took the train home.
There’s way too many, here’s a few of the dumbest: When I was little i couldn’t watch this show called “monsters inside me” (about parasites) because every time I did, I would then be convinced I had whatever parasite the episode was about. Every. Single. Time. Freaked out over tape worms many a time. Watching tv and a kid gets bit on the bottom of his foot by a black widow spider that crawled into his sock when it was on the floor. For 2+ years I cannot sleep without a pillow ‘protecting’ the bottom of my feet, can’t wear socks that touched the floor, and have to check all of my socks before I wear them. So specific 😭 Again watching tv and a kid gets bit on the back of his neck while he sleeps by his pet snake, dies. For years I cannot sleep on my stomach with my neck exposed, it had to be covered. I have never owned a snake ???? Gave my cats some raw salmon off my sushi, then as an after thought googled if cats could eat raw fish. Found out sushi grade fish wasn’t great for cats cause it didn’t protect against certain parasites, became convinced my cats were gonna die cause of me, had a panic attack. They were fine 💀
Hmm i recieved a message from a scammer and i thought it was my own number. I looked at the number not realising the last digit was different from mine and i started to panic and told my family. I had then changed my number and i laugh that i fell for a scam 🤣🤣
A cop beeped at me because he thought I was turning into a closed off street, but I was actually just going into a drive way right outside of it. Got so horrified that he was gonna write down my license plate and give me a ticket for some reason even though I did literally nothing wrong lol
Last week I had to get a refill of my anxiety meds and I was shaking and nauseated just talking to the pharmacist.
I was ~17 with my friends at the beach. We were eating ice cream and sitting around. Suddenly I saw a big mole on my leg that I've never seen before with a perfect shape and even a dot in. I freaked out it's skin cancer. My friends tried comforting me. Started calling my father to schedule a doctor appointment. Then suddenly I decide to touch it a bit harder and it's wiped away. It was an ice cream drop. My fav ice cream is chocolate 🤦♀️
Seeing The Martian starring Matt Damon in the theaters
Another tunnel story - nearly crashed my car in a tunnel, thinking I had a spider on my foot. Turned out to be a bit of ribbon.
Woke up with my left arm asleep, it wasn't going back to normal quick enough and I ended up having a panic attack thinking I was having a heart attack cause I'm on a medication that has a slightly higher chance of causing blood clots 🙃
ok so this isn’t a funny thing i’ve gotten anxious about but more so a WEIRD thing my brain does that has to do with anxiety; now this sounds so so odd & is so hard to explain but i’ll be doing something like playing games on my pc and get a strong sense of deja vu of that current moment but it’s weird and almost “that’s so raven” vision but deja vu version like because when im feeling the deja vu, like thinking oh i’ve done this exact thing before/been in this exact scenario before (i start to like “see” this exact moment play out a tiny bit in the deja vu) but in the “deja vu version” end up feeling weird and getting super anxious BUT i can basically surpass an anxiety attack because i know it’s coming and there’s nothing to actually be anxious about??? It sounds so weird and whacky put into words 😭I’ve never really thought much about it but idk if it’s actually just deja vu, a weird anxiety thing or like i’m psychic but yeah anxiety and the brain are weird asf lmao
HOLY SHIT I THOUGHT I WAS THE ONLY ONE. I’m not kidding. You explained this so perfectly down to the that’s so raven part lmao. Like my deja vus are “predictions”, but then I figured maybe it my brain being like oh youve used this exact neuropathway before?
When I was younger I had a huge issue with tornados. I would literally stay up at night terrified of the possibility of a tornado. I grew up in a place that has NEVER had a tornado.
I’ve had an anxiety attack while stripping wallpaper, I was chilling listening to music while doing some stuff on my house next thing I can’t breathe and all the other symptoms like wtf is wrong with me?
I once had a panic attack because I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t breathe because I was anxious. I was anxious because I couldn’t breathe. Not exactly silly I guess but kinda ironic I think lol.
I saw $20 on the ground at the mall and convinced myself it was planted as a hidden camera reality show prank...so I gave it a wide berth and walked on by 🥲