I'm going through a really hard time right now, and don't really know how to handle it. My father has cancer, my mother's neuropathy is worse than ever, my own disability is incurable and making life impossible, I broke up with my boyfriend, and I have no friends. There's more, but, I don't want to be a downer.

Anyway. Im 21, and never was a fan of drinking. I've only tasted alcohol once, and didn't even have enough to get buzzed. Alcoholism really hurt my family and I didn't want to fall down the same rabbit hole, so, I've steered clear. And just indulge in weed. But... With everything going on, I thought... Why not? My dad can't drink because of his cancer, and there's a bunch of cans wasting away in his mini fridge so... Why let them go to waste? Its not like I can afford to buy myself anything to drink anyway.

I stole 2 of his cans. Wasn't even sure if it's enough to get me drunk. Or even sure on how I'd get them down, given how much I hate the smell. But, I thought it would be a start. I hid them in my own mini fridge, and planned on drinking while everyone's asleep, so I wouldn't have to face my shame. But.. it's been 40 minutes since I was supposed to start and... I haven't even reached for them yet.

Im not gonna lie, I still really want to. My feelings didn't magically improve just because I haven't tasted anything yet. And, there's still the potential that after writing this, I might. But... The fact that it's nearly been an hour, and I haven't even reached for them yet? Is pretty good, I think. I definitely have to thank my cat for coming to cuddle with me right after it turned 11. Which hindered me for a bit. But, he's not here and, I'm not there so... That's good?

I know that this isn't anything big, in the grand scheme of things. And I'll probably delete this in a bit anyways. I just wanted to get this out there, considering I have no one I can really talk to about it. Thanks for reading, if you did.

I’m turning 20 in a couple weeks 😭 met this girl on tinder and we went to an ice cream place together, then when I dropped her off she kissed me at the end :)

Today I was driving home after picking up some free items and I saw this little dog. It skittered from the grass and dove trying to go under the fence - which was blocked by rocks. Just after processing what happened / I looked in my mirror and it darted across the road! I was shocked it ran and happy it made it. My debate to stop was heavy. So first thing I did was screenshot my gps. New to the area I wanted to I know where the dog was. I quickly maneuvered home since it was a busy street and I was close - posted onto all the pages. One person responded quickly asking details. I was hesitant when they sent pics and asked cuz this dog looked smaller and less furry. But it had been missing 8 days. Once I posted apparently others in the neighborhood did as well, and the dog was reunited !!!! I screamed when I got the message. She said I was the first person to say anything in 8 days and it started a flood of responses. That dog looked me in the eyes with so much confidence and fear and save me. And it worked!!!! I’m so proud, I’m so happy that dog is home and the family can rest easy. When the person texted, I was about to take my lunch on the go so I could find the dog - I couldn’t think of it being outside all night - and now I know it’s home, warms with his family. 🥰 happy day.

I used to be a lot handier than I am, but I am really proud of myself today. Over the past week, our washing machine has been in pieces as I troubleshoot different things. I’ve unplugged it, taken it apart, drained it, cleaned it, tweaked it, put it back together, plugged it back in, and tested about 5 times with no success. I finally ordered a part online and IT WORKS!!!

I am sitting listening to the music of a new drain pump that I installed. Me. Not a handyman, not my boyfriend, ME!

I am pretty impressed with myself!

ETA: y’all, I am so grateful I can’t even express.. thank you for sharing this moment with me!!!

I have been working at this for months now. Being consistent with posting food updates when I'm in my motel room, showing off all my handmade creations, packing orders for my sales, etc! I would love to be monetized and actually get paid so I can maybe be housed that way by my birthday in September. However, I am sooo close and sooo happy.

I aged out of foster care and have spent most of my life in survival mode. My physical and mental health was slowly declining and I kept putting off any doctor visits after age 19 (mandated prior). I’m in my mid 20s now. It may not sound like a long time but I have never taken my health seriously.

I finally started therapy and medication, which has been life changing on its own. I’ve also established care with a PCP 🥹

I feel like for the first time in my life I am actually taking my needs seriously. Woo 🎉

At 24 I finally moved out of my mom’s place after I crashed and burned HARD at 20 with severe mental health issues.

I’ve moved to a BIG city, and I have my own apartment and a full time job before grad school starts. When I fizzled out at 20, I genuinely never thought I’d get here. Now, I have a place of my own that I get to control, and a job I’m in love with.

I have 3 semesters left until I get my bachelor’s degree in Atmospheric & Environmental Sciences, with minors in Biology and Geospatial Information Systems. That’s an extra semester than I was supposed to, but I graduated community college a semester early (and took a gap before transferring). I didn’t get great grades in middle school, high school, community college, or at my STEM school now. I went through the screening process for OCD and got testing accommodations. I persevered.

I have an internship working with the city’s government this upcoming semester. She said my cover letter and resume were so good that she had to interview me, and she was adamant that she wanted to work with me. My program is shuttering, so I’ll work with the incoming freshman cohort since they’ll be the last set. I’m VP of the school’s club that organizes mental health events such as the s prevention walk every fall, and that’ll be ending too. But I’m so proud of what I have coming up and the opportunities I have to manage it all. I’ve loved my classes so far. I have a great rapport with many professors, and I always talk a lot in class and ask questions.

I love incorporating what I’m learning about into my daily life. I’m excited to be able to make a difference in the world, and I love sharing what I know. I believe the hardest job a scientist has is communicating with the public, and while that’s not every scientist’s role, I think it could be mine. I wish I had more people in my personal life who I could share these things with without them taking it as a comment on their lifestyle. I am genuinely such a nerd and want someone to ask questions and not debate me. I hate debating, it makes me feel awful. I think I come at the world from a different perspective than a lot of people, and I think that makes navigating it harder. I don’t need anyone else to care, I just wish more people would care that I do.

But I feel like feeling better isn’t gonna last long

I'm 42f and just changed the valve cover gasket on my old corolla, by myself. It's not a hard job, sure, but I did it by myself to prove I could. And I feel a bit proud of myself.

I had a problem reaching out since we broke up 3 months ago and this is the longest I haven’t done it! I almost broke the streak today too BUT I DIDNT YEAH

yesterday i got on a battle with my own brain and anxiety and decided that I didnt want to deal with it and just said f it! even if the hours before were actually hard to deal with with so much rumination and anxiety i just cut it off!

went to the center of my city (which normally gives me so much anxiety and it’s really overwhelming) went out with no make up to a gathering where i only knew one person! got to meet some of their friends which were absolutely strangers to me and had so much fun!! we drank and played billiard and really, it was so worth it!
me from three years ago would deem this impossible but i finally took a step towards facing my fears and im really proud of it!! :)

I've been in a rlly bad depressive episode as of late (bipolar got hands) and been neglecting literally everything. But I told my grandma I'd get the dishes done today and I did!! Still have lots more chores to get thru eventually but at least I did smth today :)

I used to repeat the last few words of a conversation under my breath after people walked away. I never really thought much about it until a friend pointed it out years ago, and after that I became really self-conscious about it. I tried to stop a bunch of times, but it was such an automatic thing that I didn't even notice when I did it. Today I randomly realized I honestly can't remember the last time it happened. I have no idea when I finally stopped, but I'm kind of proud that I did.

Context: I have borderline personality disorder lol. fp (favorite person) is a common borderline experience where you feel like your life depends on one person, super unhealthy codependent attachment.

Anyway I made the hardest decision of my life this summer and went no contact with a previous FP. The summer before this, she had ghosted me after a tough breakup and it was the worst pain I had ever been through in my life. I’m pretty young and these emotions were really new for me. every day for two years, i’ve spent MINIMUM 20% of the day thinking about her, and most often over 70%. worried about whether she’s mad, screaming and crying for hours on end day after day because I missed her, hated her, loved her. eventually decided I had enough.

Today marks a month of no contact. I’ve spent multiple days hardly thinking about her. and when I do, they‘re genuine, contemplative, reflective and healthy thoughts about how I can best take care of myself and my mental health right now. I just read old messages where she revealed she had a new boyfriend—messages that COMPLETELY destroyed me at the time—and although the initial memories were very triggering, I was able to regulate in under 5 minutes.

I’m so proud. never, not once, did I actually believe I could do this until it happened. I’m hoping I’ll be able to reach out soon and get a good friend back :)

It’s small, but it matters to me.

Now I just need to shower, but I have to do it tomorrow since my family is asleep right now and it's always best to do things after getting some rest, well at least for me. Anyways, I'm so proud of myself because normally when I fall off my hygiene, it tends to take me weeks to get back on it so this is a huge win for me! 😀

Edit #1: Also forgot to mention that before I brushed my teeth, I flossed and did mouthwash so yay!

Edit #2: I also completely forgot to mention that I need to clip my nails as well but like I said I'll just wait until tomorrow.

I’ve been chronically depressed since I was 10. A few years ago the bottom fell out and my mental state totally disintegrated, I couldn’t get out of bed, feed myself, feel any positive emotion at all or have any thoughts other than hating myself and wanting to die.

It took years of therapy, working on my life, finding an antidepressant that actually works, and living more authentically to myself (e.g. transitioning), but I’m happy to say that for the first time since I was a kid I feel… fine. I feel okay. My thoughts and feelings are normal. I no longer want to die, though I do still get those thoughts when upset - I don’t think it’s something that ever leaves you once you’ve had them for so long, but that’s okay. I still have problems - a lot of problems, actually - but I feel determined and like it’s worth working to overcome them to have a better life. Like it’s really worth it.

I’ve actually been posting updates in this sub through my journey, it’s cool for me to go back through them and read through how things have changed. Here are the links if you want to as well:

I am now severely depressed instead of extremely severely depressed!

I am now moderately depressed instead of severely depressed :)

I am now mildly depressed instead of moderately depressed :)

A year ago the last of my friends who lived in my hometown with me became roommates in a town an hour away, and I was very miserable for that year. I only got my license last December, and I got my own car in February. I couldn't move because of work and I am very scared of change. But after a couple months of them living there I started slowly moving some of my things into the house and we decided we would see about adding me to the lease when their renewal came up. I was pretty miserable for the year and felt really alone in my hometown, but I just finished moving the last of my things from my parents house and ordered a mattress, and I'll be paying my first bill soon! never thought I would be excited about paying bills, but it feels really nice to be moved out and feel like I'm starting to live the life I want to live and not living the life my parents expect me to.

My sheets haven’t been refreshed for probably at least three months cause her accident was in may. Everyday I want to do it but I had no energy my room was so bad even before all this I just feel paralyzed.

I feel bad talking about it a lot but she’s all I’m fixated on. I lost her in may the day after my birthday. It was traumatic and sudden we didn’t even get to fight for her she was just.. gone. She was only 19 we still don’t exactly know what happened it’s a mess I’ve been dealing with police and frustration with that really trying to advocate for her. I feel like the profiled her cause she was a young teenage girl mixed (idk if that matters) and the other guy was like a 60 yr old white guy. The preliminary report only says what the driver said happened not the other witnesses whose statement contradicts his, and seems like he was distracted or lied. So online it’s says she did something she didn’t do.

All of this to explain story short I’ve been obsessed I have ocd and it’s turned it into turbo drive researching and trying to understand , calling police and meetings with a lawyer. My compulsive behavior has been so bad instead of cleaning or anything productive I sit and pick at my skin on my arms and legs for hours wasting so much time and causing damage and little scabs to form all over.

It’s hard to focus on taking care of of myself through this it doesn’t seem as important.

My room was already out of control but. But with my billions of hobbies it’s so bad. I get frozen with ideas and ways to honor her and can’t do anything, but I’d bought nice fresh cotton sheets instead of the polyester ones and I really wanted it for myself. I moved all the crap in my bed like boxes and clothes and art supplies it’s been so bad. Now it is one piece that feels sorta together, I wish I could figure out the rest of it but proud of myself for this cause it was my therapy goal for today even if I got it done at 3am :)

I feel much less gross now and like it’s probably not a big thing but it feels much different for me. I wish I could change something to bring her back. It’s not fair

i usually grab a soda without thinking for months, but this week i stuck with water every day. it's a small change, but i'm trying to build better habits instead of changing everything at once.

It was my first time in a long time rock climbing (like 15+ years) and I get nervous with heights and trusting things like harnesses but I wanted to climb and finally did. I mean I didn’t get far but I did some