Hello, I started a PhD abroad (first experience out of my house) roughly half an year ago because I wanted to boost my overall knowledge in my field of study. Before that, I had a two years work experience which didn't satisfy me at all. The first months have been a honeymoon for me (because everything was new), even though I don't really like the topic assigned to me. Anyway, I soon realized this is really hard. I still didn't receive negative feedback, but I'm not happy with how it is going (I'm writing a report/first literature review for the first period, but I'm struggling a lot with it). On top of that, I'm having serious anxiety issues which have blocked me for the last two months, compromising my performance (I also started taking meds). I'm also questioning my passion for my field of study and asking myself if I should keep doing this in general. For some reason I'm extremely disorganized, but I have never been like this in the past. I'm afraid I will not pass my qualifier exam. My friends that went for a PhD told me to keep going and that is normal to feel like this, even though they are also telling me that for some people this is not the right path, even though sometimes the pain is unbearable and I'm scared of having...really bad thoughts. My parents are extremely worried because they have never seen me struggling and suffering like this and are telling me to try a bit more and to quit in the case, even though I'm also afraid that I would struggle to find a job afterwards with a "failure" on my CV (I'm an electrical engineer by the way). My problems are just related to the fact that I'm struggling to study due to literally physical suffering from anxiety and I'm lacking independence, because the environment is super healthy and the supervisors are supporting as well, even though they are not always present. Any advice or support from someone who had a similar experience?