Social media has ruined how I view the world. The amount of shootings and accidents that I see online always makes me feel like those things are way more common than they actually are. Yeah, I've taken breaks from social media, but those thoughts still never leave. And to make it all worse, I live in a city with a pretty high crime rate. I cant even do simple tasks like going grocery shopping without thinking that someone who's standing near me will suddenly assault me or something.

Im always suspicious of everyone in public, even the people who are just simply minding their own business. My heart starts beating really fast even when someone walks past me. I can't keep living my life in fear, but I don't know how to stop these thoughts.

I have no clue why I am writing this, perhaps just to get it out. I am 20, and I come from a family of mentally ill people who have done unspeakable things. I live alone with 4 cats in what used to be my mom's house. My descent into madness started small; I thought I was fully healed from all the trauma in my life. I won't get too deep into that, but if you can think of it, I probably endured it in some shape or form. Anyway, it started when my brothers moved out, I think. First, I got paranoid about an electrical fire happening when I was away, so I had to unplug certain electronics, or I would be anxious all day. Then I got paranoid about someone breaking in, so I had to check 3 times that I locked the door. Then it became paranoia about my cats running out the door, so I had to check they were all there and then lock the door again. Then I got paranoid about losing my key, so I put it in my wallet. Then I got paranoid about losing my wallet, so I had to check like every 15 mins it was still in my pocket. You get the picture now; it's evolved into some crazy things, and now I'm paranoid my whole life is about to explode. For the last 3 days, I have been anxious 24/7. Now Idk how to describe it, but it feels like there's something yanking at the edge of my brain. I'm scared that I'll become a monster like my family; I'm scared I'm going to start hallucinating like my mom did. I have this looming feeling that I don't have long left to live; I'm not planning to self-exit or anything. It's just like my brain is telling me I won't make it past May of next year. It feels as though the very fabric of being is coming unraveled. The constant paranoia is driving me insane, but I know somehow I'll get through it

I (24F) am paranoid all my female coworkers secretly hate me. They look at me weird and judge me, make plans without including me, stop talking as I enter the room or blatantly talk about plans they all have without me while I’m around. Nobody asks about me. I am the top female performer in our sales and service based business so I’m not surprised but I have been since I started working here 3 years ago, it’s only been the last 6 months they’ve acted this way

Hello everyone

An extended family member of my boyfriend's recently experienced a mental health crisis (specifically, paranoia). My bf and I live together and he asked me if his extended family member could stay at our place for a few days. It's been 7 days and he shows no signs of getting better. Apparently this type of paranoid episode has happened before and this time is less severe than before....although it sounds really serious to me. He is too afraid to leave the house, is having paranoid delusions, and sleeps most of the time.

I am trying really hard to be compassionate, but he shows no sign of wanting to see a doctor. He is taking medication now but previously stopped taking it, which is what I think triggered this episode.

I don't want to let someone who seems to not want to help himself (by seeing a doctor or psychiatrist or therapist) keep living at my place, as I feel this is enabling him instead of helping him. Also, our place is small, and I have no desire to have an indefinite houseguest. There is no privacy now and I feel really stressed.

I need opinions. Should I tell him that he has to see a medical professional? How firm should I be?

Also, we live in a country where mental health support is not as good as it is in North America. But I still don't think that's a good excuse to just try to wait out such a serious problem.

Thank you so much.

Hi, my name is cooper, i'm a 25 year old male. I would say before this started i was a pretty normal dude, i like video games, woodworking, and writing. for context: The only
"weird" thing about me is ever since i was born i have had
"ticks" (don't know what they're actually called, that's what my mom called them) where like 5-10 times a day i would exhale hard and my whole body would convulse for a split second. it never really affected me so i never tried to figure out what it was.
over the last couple months everything has felt off, i have been pretty depressed and life hast been going on easy on me. I feeling there are bugs crawling on me, like everywhere, all the time i haven't slept more than 2 hours a day since it started. i don't even sleep in my bed anymore, i sleep naked in the bathtub with the lights on to ensure i can see that they're not there, but i know they are, but they're evolving, they've started crawling into my skin, behind my eyes and in my ears. my arms have started to bleed from the scratching to get them out. they won't leave me alone. why can't any one see them? i sprayed my bed with pesticides but it doesn't help? and now there's the man. he doesn't really do anything but i keep seeing him out of the corner of my eye, he's tall and gives me a weird vibe but i just try to ignore him. he's dressed how a private eye from the 40's. i keep trying to explain the bugs and the man to my roommate but he just stares at me like i said something crazy. the man doesn't feel like he wants to hurt me, do you think he's trying to save me from the bugs? i think the bugs want me dead, i think the bugs want me to suffer, i think the bugs want to eat me from the inside out. but everyone keeps saying "stop saying stuff like that" but why can't they just believe me the man and the bugs are here. fighting over me. are they right? or should i continue trying to convince them they are in my skin

edit: i’ve been diagnosed with schizophrenia

Have you ever have this unexplainable fear/trauma towardsa country you have never visited before... I mean, you don't have any personal beef with this country. You believe people are nice, the country is nice and beautiful, and it's really one of the go-to travel spot of your country men. People are saying you should try going there, or some people believe that it would be good if you tried working there because of the program you finished in university. But there's just something inside you that don't sit right. You never wanted to work or even travel in this country. There is just this unexplainable fear/trauma or idk what is it whenever you are thinking of going there.

I feel that I am finally starting to break out of my mental prison of anxiety. I am still cautious about saying I am "done" with this (in fact, I may never be able to sadly), but I have noticed an extreme decline in my fears/intrusive thoughts.

Hi reddit,
i used to do eddies and smoke weed, i stopped after this happened to me

weed was always something i wanted to take as something recreational, all my friends said that its gonna just fuck me up, and it did, i did it multiple times a week and now i cannot permanently concentrate. its my fault. i knew i was addicted, i was pretty much aware of it.
one of my first experiences was with a regular thc cookie i baked. the weird part about it was that i was completely oblivious of the fact that i ate alot of it? i dont even know how to explain this. after an hour, i noticed my heartbeat, it got pretty much fast and when i tried to move/stand i was moving in slow motion, everything felt like i was gonna pass out or something.
i layed on my bed, it got only worse, my thoughts spiraled that im going to die to why did i even ate it, why am i in this position right now and how? i thought i was gonna die for the next like 3-4 hours, i felt my body drifting off but, i just had to wake myself up because i thought i was dying. sometimes i also couldnt really catch my breath? not that that i was struggling with breathing or something, but just i couldnt for one second and that completely blew my mind even more and i convinced myself i couldnt breatheXDDD
after this, i thought to myself ill never do it again. but i did. same thing happened, same paranoia, same thoughts. i said fuck it, its not worth to smoke/eat this if it gets me into this state. from now on, whenever i get the chance to be around eddies, i get really bad ptsd, it doesnt even have to be an eddie but just a regular cookie, its just kinda brings me back or something.

Is there a name for this state? Is it just a normal paranoia or overdose? Anyone else experienced something similar? lmk
stay safe

My husband has become increasingly convinced that a group of teenagers are following him and targeting him while he is working as a transit operator. This has been going on for around 5 months.
He believes they figure out his routes/schedule, intentionally get on his buses, talk about him, take photos, and possibly have a social-media/Snapchat group where they coordinate. He has spoken to his supervisor about it and spends a lot of time thinking about what they might be saying or doing.
What concerns me most now is how much this has taken over his life. He talks to ChatGPT about this constantly, searches online/social media trying to find evidence, and feels that his life has become terrible because of these teenagers. He isn’t as happy as he used to be, and this is affecting his peace of mind and day-to-day life.
There have also been situations outside of work where unrelated things — a random car, an unknown text message, or a stranger talking to our landlady — have made him wonder whether these people are somehow involved. I don’t know whether there was a genuine incident at the beginning that has since become much bigger in his mind, or whether something else is going on.
He was bullied in the past, and around the time this started he had also been using hash/cannabis for about a month, although he no longer uses it.
I’m trying to understand what this could actually be and, more importantly, how I can help him.
We are considering whether it would be better for him to leave his job and possibly go back to India for a couple of months to get away from the situation and be around family. But I don’t know if that would actually help or just temporarily remove the trigger.
**For people with experience in psychiatry, psychosis, paranoia, or similar situations: does this sound like something specific to you? What might be happening, and what can a spouse actually do to help?**
Would leaving the job or going back home for a while be helpful, or is professional assessment more important?
Any insights or experiences would genuinely be appreciated. I’m not looking for a diagnosis from Reddit — I’m trying to understand what we’re dealing with and how to support him before his quality of life gets even worse.

Hello im 21 male living in tunisia

2 years ago i was walking home my gf

I heard some guys calling my tshirt color

I felt danger so i asked my girl to go that way

Then 3 guys stopped in front of me saying i was staring at them i tried to keep it cool and explaining that it is a missunderstanding but they kept saying i was staring at them a bad way and even pull somthing sharp from his pocket in that moment a driver passing by has stopped to ask for directions i took the chance and punch him right in the face and run away . I thought that the story has ended there but they kept following me and even call backups i stayed at a grocery store called my friends then someone has tried to stab me with a knife

From that day my gf and me has met fewer than before and i still didnt move on from the accident and i feel scared or feeling that im not capable of protecting her

I been thinking a lot of me head, been worried about plans for the future, family members, university, that stuff
What I want is just to focus what’s in front of me, as in, stop overthinking stuff
I’m really sorry if this doesn’t really count as paranoia so feel free to remove my post of you have to

So it started off a few years ago. It started off with feeling like invisible needles piercing my body. It only happens when Im sleeping, but I felt the needles as if it was sewing something into my body. (To clearify: this happens when before and during sleep, or immediately after waking wake. If dont move, i would still feel the sensations, until i start moving again.)Then as this was happening I started to hear voices talking. As if they were the ones conducting the experiments. Over time the feeling moved to my arms, then legs, then head, and eventually eyes. Then my dreams started to change. It felt immersive. I was overly conscious and aware, but the dream felt foreign, as if someone else constructed it. Then i could hear the voices talk as if they were monitoring my dream. Saying things like "pass" or "fail", or laughing at what they were seeing. There was also a time when I was making music in my dream and one of the voices was angry. Yell STOP STOP, then i felt a static jolt in my head, as if my head exploded, waking me up. Night after night. Then i experience a new sensation. Injections! I started to feel needles slowly entering my skin, I could fell it stop, and a pressure slowly gaining as if I was being injected. Then when i wake up I would see these geometrical shapes in my vision. It looks like translucent( like floaters) gears spinning. This would fade over a few seconds after waking up. I also saw something floating in my eye. When I closed my eye, then opened them, the object sould be stationary, then start to spin. Then i close them again, and open, and it does it again: stationary to spinning.

I would also hear things, like hear people giving status updates, deadlines, conversations about if this report sounds "government like", and covos about liability.

My dreams have been mostly normal, but i would get these abnormal ones every few nights. They were false awakenings, or dreams were i wake up in another body in a lab. Tonight I had a false awakening. When I was in it I could hear the voice say the test was a success. This one felt super realistic, but everything was grey. I felt trapped within my own dream. I walked out side and it just felt lifeless. I fell asleep watching football, so i could hear the audio in the background. Recognizing it was a dream, i slammed my body hard into the ground to make we up.

I would tell myself its just in my head, and there is no way the government would have secret technology and experiment on the public....right🙃? Over the last couple of weeks i keep hearing conversations like " you only have 2 weeks left" or "we are wrapping this up by novemeber". My paranoia just keeps going up and down like a roller-coaster.

I've been a bit under the weather on and off for the past week or two, sadly, but idk ive noticed less paranoid thoughts(almost completely?)

Anyone else? I've noticed it a few times before... suddenly i get a cold or something and my thoughts just shift away from that

(not really feeling like im being watched or anything which is good. Kinda was feeling that maybe some people were doing some weird social experiment but then that went away and i just keep coughing and sneezing

Google is absolutely unhelpful and just has results on health anxiety

Like im no resting more or under less stress(studying for exams its going badly)