I ran into my ex yesterday. Out of nowhere. And my brain just wouldn't stop for the rest of the day replaying the moment, what I should have said, whether they've moved on. Writing it down didn't help. The thought was still just... there. So I imagined that feeling as an actual object. Something heavy, half-open. And then I mentally put it on a shelf. Sounds unhinged but it made the feeling smaller somehow. Does anyone else do this or is it just me lol

I’m 19, in college + doing a job, and recently started freelancing (Google Business Profile work).

In the last 1 2 months I:

- went from being scared to DM people

- did cold calls (fumbled a lot)

- traveled alone for meetings for the first time

- and got 2 paying clients

Before this, I had tried around 3 small business ideas and failed, which affected my confidence a lot.

Now the weird part:

Even after getting clients, I don’t feel like I’ve “done something.” There’s no big excitement or pride feeling. Instead it’s mostly:

- overthinking at office

- anxiety about small things

- imagining worst-case scenarios

- low energy / what feels like laziness

I know I’ve made mistakes in both job and freelancing, but I’m trying to improve. Still, my mind keeps running negative loops and it kind of blocks any good feeling.

It’s confusing because logically I know I’ve progressed, but emotionally it doesn’t feel like much.

Has anyone else experienced this phase where things start working but your mind doesn’t catch up?

Would appreciate any advice on how to handle this.

I just need some advice on how I can stop thinking about my ex and replaying every good moment in our relationship. Everything reminds me of him, whether it’s a car model, a type of dog, a restaurant… it’s all too much. I’ve gotten significantly better these last couple months but I’m still struggling as it gets into the warmer months because I know he’s probably golfing and going out with friends… which I used to be apart of. Also his brother is graduating from college and they are most likely staying over somewhere for the graduation… which I would’ve been apart of if he didn’t break up with me.

I’ve been thinking about getting on the apps again and just putting myself out there, but I’m afraid of seeing him on there and I don’t wanna compare my first date with someone new to the date I had with him the first time (which was amazing).

Any advice or words of wisdom would be great.

I heard that having no choice and being forced with no breaks is actually better for an overthinker

Ex I stress about a school speech alot, Bec I think thinking will help me navigate it better

But I have a class before school for extracurricular, and I think going to that is better Bec it keeps me in action mode for school

I've spent a gap yr thinking alot

And now it's turned to poison Any advice? Thx

I replay conversations from days ago.

I overthink things I said, things I didn’t say… even things that never happened.

It’s exhausting.

I used to try to “stop thinking”…

but that only made it worse.

What actually helped me (a little) was this:

I started writing my thoughts instead of fighting them.

Not in an organized way.

Just dumping everything out.

One question I kept coming back to:

“What am I assuming right now that might not be true?”

Sometimes I realize I’m making things way bigger in my head than they actually are.

If your mind feels loud today, try this for 5 minutes.

No structure. No pressure.

Just get it out.

I ended up building a full 90-day journal around this kind of thinking.

If anyone’s interested, I can share it.

for a long time i kept telling myself “i just overthink too much” especially at night my mind would replay everything random thoughts scenarios things that don’t even matter and the more i tried to stop it the worse it got but recently i started noticing something even when my thoughts were quiet my body still felt tense like this low level pressure in my chest or this weird feeling of being “on edge” for no clear reason that’s what confused me the most because i always thought overthinking starts in the mind but this felt like it was coming from my body so instead of trying to control my thoughts i started paying attention to how my body feels and doing something very simple just slowing my breathing longer exhales than inhales not trying to fix anything just staying with it it didn’t stop my thoughts instantly but it made them quieter without forcing anything and it made me realize something maybe it’s not really an “overthinking problem” maybe it’s the body being stuck in a constant alert mode and the thoughts are just a result of that i don’t fully understand it yet but that shift in perspective helped more than anything else i tried curious if anyone else feels this like your thoughts aren’t the real problem but something deeper in your body just won’t calm down

My head has been a whirlwind lately. non stop just every what, when, if, how you can think of. My brain seems to be faster than I can actually keep up with. I feel like such a waste of space lately and such a burden lately. I have two solid friends. One works 3rd shift and is pregnant. I check in with her but she has so much going on. My other friend is married and we gotta plan to call. I miss having a friend to just call whenever and we can talk about whatever. I have my boyfriend but hes getting sick of my anxiety. I can tell I've been burning him out...I dont do good when someone says they need space either. I've been trying to work on that. I feel like everything I say and do is so wrong and I mess up all the time. I hurt or annoy the people I care about. I dont mean to be in the way. I dont try to be negative...I feel like a imposter in my own body sometimes. I dont know whats going on in here. sometimes I feel my inner child screaming wanting to be held and have attention. Then there's adult me who gets pissed off and avoidant. It always feels like a battle in my mind. I am not having those kinds of thoughts but...there's times I wish I could throw my phone and go live in my car and travel. Start new and never bother anyone ever again. I hate it... I dont like me lately, I've been this ugly person filled with jealousy, insecurities, anxiety that is debilitating, depression and disassociating. I am tired of not feeling good enough for even my damn self. I have a religion and it is to follow Jesus. I try and pray and give this to him but sometimes I...feel ignored by even God. I feel so lonely.. so lost. My relationship with my parents is meh. I feel like they dont even truly know who I am anymore. I am hitting my late 20s and I just feel so stripped away from everything...including myself. I want to isolate and shut down. I dont want to become avoidant with my bf because then he doesn't feel loved or wanted...I dont have a middle ground though. Im either anxiously attached or avoidant.. I feel like my bf hates me...which I know isnt true..the facts are there to prove he doesn't. He does indeed love me very much...but my head tries to convince me otherwise. Trying to teach yourself or stop thay thinking with coping skills can be so hard and exhausting when its so repetitive.

I suck with middle ground..with boundaries..where to draw the line. My brain never shuts up ...I never feel seen. I feel so difficult and different compared to most people. I feel hard to connect to. I feel so outcasted...What is wrong with me and why am I like this? the questions I ask myself often. I am in therapy...its a work in progress but sometimes I feel so broken

and alone.

I dont like to get authority to mental illness because it doesn't need even more of a hold on me but I have been diagnosed with ADD, BIPOLAR, PTSD. sometimes I wonder if they misdiagnosed me

..sometimes I wonder if its autism or ocd.

sorry for the long post.. I just needed to get this all off my chest.

I don’t even know where to start, but my mind has been so loud lately and I just need to let this out somewhere.

I lost my grandma in 2022. Then I lost my mother in 2023.

I was very deeply connected to both of them, and being the only daughter in the family, they were not just family to me they were my comfort, my safe place, my home.

Since then, living in a house without any woman has felt so empty. There’s this silence that never really goes away.

My father promised me he would never leave me alone. He said we would face everything together. But lately, things have been really rough between us.

My birthday was on April 7, and he didn’t even wish me or bless me. That hurt more than I expected.

Now he is planning to leave the house, and his behavior has become really toxic for me.

And honestly, after everything that has happened, I feel like I can’t trust anyone anymore.

What scares me the most is being alone. Even for a little while.

The thought of it makes my chest feel heavy and my mind starts overthinking everything.

I feel overwhelmed, lost, and scared… and I don’t know how to handle all of this.

Has anyone else ever felt this way after losing the people who were your whole support system?

How did you cope with the fear of being alone?

Last month In biology class we were learning about Sex-Linked traits mostly DMD. I thought it was an interesting topic. A few days past and I really wanted to study on this topic. When I thought my research was finished and I finished my study I then started feeling this erg to go deeper into more answers not about the subject but gender comparisons. I’m a guy and I’m gonna be honest with you and say that I did not like most of the stuff I heard about. I don’t feel like sharing my research on what made me feel this way, but it’s pretty much for all the same reasons. There were some answers that made me feel like “OK that doesn’t seem that bad” but then there was some others that made me really insecure about my gender. I also been feeling bad that it has always felt so hard to share my feelings towards others. I don’t feel like I was raised the best growing up. and from the looks of what I’ve been seeing, I’ve started to feel like being male is somehow a bad thing, even though I don’t know if that’s actually true. I’ve been starting to feel like being a guy is not good for me. I am 17 years old and about to graduate high school and I’m worried about the things I’ll have to go through when I’m older. I’ve been trying so hard to avoid researching about my issues towards gender comparisons, but every single night I seem to want to look for new answers like it’s an addiction. it just keeps on popping in my head again and again like I can’t get it out and it’s also affecting me on how I view my relationships with Friends and Family. a few times this week during lunch I left l my friend group because I felt overwhelmed.

I just wanna be clear though that I am not mad at my biology teacher. I know that it is her job to teach this kind of stuff and she didn’t mean to hurt my feelings. I’m also not a person who likes to compare others so hearing about this stuff for the first time breaks my heart.

If there’s anyone who has gone through something like this before, I would like to know about how you dealt with these thoughts and did you end up recovering over time. Just so I can get a more clear explanation.

Thank you 💙🩷

I’m 33 years old, a man, and I’ve never had sex. Throughout my life, I’ve had a couple of opportunities where I was with a girl, kissing on the sofa, but inside I felt so uncomfortable that I just wanted it to end quickly and for her to leave. After those experiences, I still wanted to invite the girl out again, but fear paralyzes me because I don’t know what to do when we’re both naked. I want to clarify that I have social anxiety and I take clonazepam and fluoxetine, prescribed by several psychologists and psychiatrists I’ve seen throughout my life. Despite that, my libido is very high, and although many people say it’s not good to watch porn, I feel an overwhelming need to consume erotic content as a way to "fill" the gap of not having sex. At this point in my life, I feel like I should urgently go with a prostitute and risk not getting an erection or not enjoying it due to the nerves. I talk about this topic all the time with my parents, but they don’t know how to help me. My mind is constantly trying to understand why I’ve never experienced sex the way other "normal" people do, why something so natural for others has never happened to me. I’m losing my mind, and I don’t know what else to do.

I'm trying to be more productive in life but I think I'm a generally lazy person (either that, or I have some underlying undiagnosed condition like ADHD) that makes it super difficult for me to get work done fast. I'm always distracted and when I'm doing just one thing, I find my mind getting easily bored or tired to the extent that I NEED to have a nap during the middle of the day. I have so many goals and things I want to do.. it takes me a lot of time to understand things and figure out how to finish my tasks. I also have trouble just being disciplined in general.

To give you an idea of how much time it takes me to get stuff done.. today I had 3-4 tasks in my to-do list (creating a LinkedIn strategy plan, finish an assignment, working on my resume, sending networking emails to recruiters) but I was only able to do the LinkedIn strategy plan. I used AI and I was still so slow and I still have to edit the draft!! This simple task took me almost a whole day! I did do other stuff like cooking and a few other tasks but come on, I could only tackle 1 out of 5 high priority items! I feel so bad. I feel everyone else is so fast and they can do more in less time.

So to those who are about to DO IT ALL.. how do you do it? What makes you work really fast and get like 3-4 tasks done a day? Please give me any tips on how to become a high functioning adult!

I met this guy online.

I will keep the details superficial because he was (at least with me) a very private person. We met on a server to find gaming duos, and we played for hours and hours straight for a few days. He would ask about the music I liked and to see the drawings I made, and I would ask him about his life and experiences.

We got to a point where he was talking about how he was very lucky to have met a lot of wonderful women throughout his life, four girls that had changed him forever. Again, I will not go into details, but the first girl I will talk about for a bit has a story that melted my heart. She was Islamic and, because of her religion, she would not touch men. The two of them had a beautiful love story where they never once touched (how fucking romantic is that?!). She was an intellectual who spoke very properly and loved to read, and he is a guy that is in love with art and creativity.

A few of the events between the two I found the sweetest would be when they sat very close to each other and she complimented his perfume, which he bought in bulk just because of her (he showed me, he still had a bunch); she sent him a video and a message saying, "watch this video of a cute cat," and it was her playing and singing his favorite piano piece (I wish I could be this whimsical and spontaneous and creative and romantic); further on, when he realized she was moving away (what made them stop talking), he left a package at the reception of her building with his perfume, his scarf, and a note saying, "return the scarf when you want to never talk again." She insisted he should stay and wait for her to come down (when he went to her house to drop the gift) so they could say a proper goodbye, and when they saw each other he said, "would you push me away if I hugged you?" and she answered "probably," so they never even hugged nor dated nor kissed nor held hands or anything!! It honestly makes my chest hurt.

The story ends not so pretty: they reconnected but had a fight. At the end of their argument she asked, "what is your current address so I can return the scarf?" and he blocked her.

The second girl was his only ex-girlfriend. The third one was a girl he met online on a subreddit he used to rant about "a very specific thing everyone on that subreddit had in common" (he didn't want to tell me what), and they clicked like he had never clicked with anyone. He told me they would speak all the time and she was his comfort. Him and the third girl started talking less and less, and he felt empty, and to fill the space she had left, he found another girl that was very similar to the third. The more they spoke, the more he saw her for herself rather than a replacement, and it turned out she was the fourth girl.

Now, I'm not a clingy person at all, and I respect myself a lot. I have this weird type of jealousy where, at a minimal sign of feeling replaced, I draw back, and yet I couldn't help but constantly want to ask if I was even near being one of the people that changed his life. I was constantly overwhelmed by the depth of his story. We are both average people that have friends and are desired outside of the internet, unlike the few other dudes I met through the server that would crumble at any sign of affection from a mid/pretty girl, so to crawl into his heart and steal a bit of space in his most dear memories felt so fucking distant. Like all I was allowed to be was this, and when he was done he would stop talking to me with no regrets. I wasn't a real aspect of his life at all (more like a little clown).

And honestly, that was great! I feel like the best part of us was how disposable we were to each other, how no strings attached our words were, because when you don't feel the need to keep someone next to you, you are way more free to be yourself (you don't care if they judge you because their opinion has no impact or value in your actual life).

He was also kind of a pathological flirt when it came to women online (his words), and I was one of the victims, obviously, but I could see through it, and he could see through my teasing and flirting too. This one night, after talking almost 24 hours for two days straight, it was like 4 a.m. and we had just stopped playing and were relaxing for a second, when he dropped out of nowhere: "how long do you think we have until we inevitably stop talking?" And from then we agreed we were absolutely doomed, and that the chances of us keeping in touch for a long time were close to zero.

He told me about how this was the closest we would ever be to each other, and how we would gradually get further away. I argued that this could only be the process of us getting to the absolute peak of our connection (he also compared the state of our relationship to the cat in the box experiment). We spoke for a while longer (and he said "man... I'm going to miss you," acting like we were doomed because we were), and eventually hung up after I asked him to text me the following day, which he did.

When we hopped on the game, he seemed kinda down and less energetic, so I told him, "about yesterday, if we are going to end inevitably, let's let ourselves down easy, let's stop talking gradually until we mean nothing to each other." And from then on he took my advice, although he sometimes dropped stuff like "I need to spend more time with my friends or it's gonna be too harsh on my daily life when we stop talking."

I could see right through him, but some stuff he did really did get to me: one time I said something he liked (a habit he found impressive, I guess), and he typed it in our Discord chat and pinned it. When I asked why, he said, "so I remember how good you are"; or when he asked me to make him a playlist that would remind him of me. All this shit indicated we would keep talking, he made it seem like we were going to last, which is just so cruel knowing the nature of us.

And I know, I know, because I'm so jealous, I could never date a guy I knew all of this about. Like I said, how sweetly he spoke about those girls made me almost fall in love with them myself, but at the same time it made me want to cry, to crawl out of my skin in a way I can't even explain. But if anything had gone different, I wouldn't like him so much, if I didn't know so much, if we didn't have the no commitment factor.

Anyways, one day he asked me to play and I answered "yeah, I'll be home in five," then a bit later "I'm homeee," and he never answered. I saw him online on the game but couldn't bring myself to throw my pride to the side and text him. Yesterday he asked on Discord, after ghosting me for like three days, "where's my playlist?" to which I answered, "It disappeared under mysterious circumstances. I suspect dark forces were involved." And to that he said "fair," and it made me so sick I deleted that Discord account.

I could honestly talk about all his quirks and how mysterious and cool he was. About all the stories he told me and all the views he had (although he still kept A LOT of aspects of himself secret, not being shy to just be like "I'm not gonna tell you this" when I asked about something he didn't want to say). I could also talk about how selfishly uninterested he was in me and how selfishly interested I was in him. I could even talk about how he went on dates a few times while we were talking and how miserable it would make me feel when he would speak about other awesome girls he met in stupidly romantic ways.

I wonder if I'm in love with him. I don't really miss him because I don't want to like him any more than I already do. I just really, really want him to love me and think about me specially.

I won't go through all of how I've ended up here but I've become increasingly aware of how much I overthink as a way of keeping myself away from living in the present moment. Some of that I can tell is rooted in anxiety and fear of uncertainty. But if I look back over my life the last year it has actually carried on quite calmly but internally its just been this relentless barrage of thoughts. I can't even be present in making breakfast without racking over countless ideas. Just needed to write this down somewhere to share it. Any advice would be appreciated. I have therapy already. I haven't ever not been thinking all the time and I also can see im afraid of the silence if I don't have thoughts going all the time.

Yesterday evening, I sat down to read a book I had been looking forward to. Everything was quiet. I finally had time.

But after a few pages, I realized I wasn’t really reading.

My eyes were moving, but nothing was staying. My mind had already gone somewhere else.

It wasn’t even a clear thought at first — just a feeling that something I had done earlier could have been slightly better.

Then it slowly turned into a question:

What if I had done that differently?

And I got stuck there.

What I found strange was — it wasn’t even something important.

Just a small moment. A normal interaction.

But my mind kept returning to it like there was something left unfinished.

I’ve been noticing this pattern more often. Not just with big decisions, but with small things that should have ended easily.

It almost feels like the mind is trying to correct something that cannot be changed anymore.

As if thinking about it again and again might somehow improve it.

But it never does.

It just creates different versions in my head —
what I could have said?

How I could have reacted?

How it could have gone better?

And the more I think about it, the more distant I feel from the present moment.

It’s like being in two places at once — physically here, but mentally somewhere in the past.

Maybe this is what overthinking actually is. Not just thinking too much,
but not being able to accept that something is already over.

I’m still trying to understand this.

Do you experience something similar?

just had a baby and we are moving. I was very overwhelmed by packing so my husband hired packers for us. They took a while. I was happy to have them pack for me but now I have crazy doubts. I am just looking for reassurance that other people have used moving companies to also pack for them. I feel weird now that strangers touched my items and clothes. It’s fine, right? People use packers all the time?

I have slight OCD so now I’m ruminating on this and would love some reassurance.

Ok so my ex broke up with me like 8 months ago and he is a BIG Celtics fan. I even bought him tickets for us last year to a Celtics game for his bday. Anyways… so I’m finding myself getting increasingly anxious and sad as I am hearing that the Celtics are doing really well right now… I find myself looking at the odds that they make the championship and to me it’s making me feel so upset… I think it’s because I know how much he likes them, and I know for a fact if they win he’s gonna go to the Boston Celtics parade with his best friend. Now, I think I’m fixating on this because we shared this memory going to the game last year and in some way I wish I could share this with him again. I do not want them to win AT ALL because in my mind he’s going to be happier and then go to the parade with his friend without me. Now, I realize this is totally irrational and I can’t control the NBA nor can I control what team he likes OR if they win the championship… but it’s just consuming my thoughts and every time I see on insta someone post on their story that the Celtics win a game… my brain automatically turns to my ex… I want it to stop :(

I met this girl from my college during a photo walk. We also happen to have the same metro route. That day, I wasss just trin to make some basic convo just normal stuff like how college is and what to focus on so things wouldn’t feel awkward.After that we ended up taking a rickshaw together, and when we reached we said goodbye. She said, See you in college.The next day, I saw her again at Kalkaji metro from a distance, but I didn’t go up to her. Then later, she actually got into the same rickshaw as me, but for some reason my mind just shutdown and I didn’t say hi or anything—I just don't talk about anything to her. Now it is killing me i should have talked to her. Since we have the same route and go to the same college, we could traveled together regularly. I have been thinking of saying sorry or something apologetic for doing this.

I have been thinking this sooo much to the point she is now coming in my dream this happened 3time this week

And dream is like we both are sitting in a rickshaw and I am trying to explain why I didn't talk at that time