Hi all,
I know it can be very hard to be a human (you wouldn’t believe it, but I am one) and things can get incredibly tough. Life is definitely a roller coaster. It took me for one hell of a ride last year. I was anxious all the time. Could barely do things I enjoyed. Had no motivation to take care of myself. And I was failing my classes too.
Quite a knuckle sandwich. Probably with those brass knuckles or something. It really felt like I was not myself. I was another person. Change takes time. I was eventually able to rebuild myself.
It’s okay to ask for help— it can be quite relieving.
I don’t think that there’s a certain formula to feeling better. It just happened, but I definitely put forth some effort. I deleted distraction from my phone and stopped leading people on. I started working out, for my own personal enjoyment. And I learned how to properly manage my anxiety and stress.
If you guys would like to try, here are some things that lessen my anxiety:
1. Deep breaths (cliche, I know)
2. Taking a nap
3. Assessing the situation (and shortly after realizing that it’s not the end of the world)
4. Listening to my favorite music
5. Squeezing something, such as a fidget
6. Finishing work before it can pile up
7. Dressing in a comfy outfit (specifically before a test or an overstimulating activity)
8. Wearing perfume that smells calming (think soft vanilla, or basically anything with ambroxan)
9. Writing my feelings down in my journal
10. Stating my feelings to someone I trust
I hope this can help someone. (also a good very calming show is Orangutan Jungle School) :p
It gets better!
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We ask that users looking for general, ongoing emotional support post in this area of the boards, and that you use this space to both ask for, give and receive that support primarily from each other, rather than from our staff and volunteers. As a staff, we simply are often too overextended with all we need to do in running the organization and its services to do that for extended periods of time, and one of our main aims of our community at the boards has always been to facilitate peers to better be there for each other.
Users often report that they have no in-person peers they can talk to or seek support from: we want this to be a space for online peer support and somewhere everyone can get some practice asking for, getting and giving support so that doing it with people in your lives feels more doable.
Please remember that neither staff, volunteers nor your fellow users can provide or replace mental healthcare when that is something you need. Users struggling with issues like anxiety, depression, abuse or physical health issues are strongly encouraged to seek out qualified, in-person help with those issues in addition to peer or staff support.
We ask that users looking for general, ongoing emotional support post in this area of the boards, and that you use this space to both ask for, give and receive that support primarily from each other, rather than from our staff and volunteers. As a staff, we simply are often too overextended with all we need to do in running the organization and its services to do that for extended periods of time, and one of our main aims of our community at the boards has always been to facilitate peers to better be there for each other.
Users often report that they have no in-person peers they can talk to or seek support from: we want this to be a space for online peer support and somewhere everyone can get some practice asking for, getting and giving support so that doing it with people in your lives feels more doable.
Please remember that neither staff, volunteers nor your fellow users can provide or replace mental healthcare when that is something you need. Users struggling with issues like anxiety, depression, abuse or physical health issues are strongly encouraged to seek out qualified, in-person help with those issues in addition to peer or staff support.
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aliengirl
- not a newbie
- Posts: 42
- Joined: Sun Jan 18, 2026 1:00 am
- Age: 17
- Awesomeness Quotient: I like orangutans
- Primary language: English
- Pronouns: she/her
- Sexual identity: Lesbian
- Location: USA
It gets better!
"If you are not personally free to be yourself in that most important of all human activities... the expression of love... then life itself loses its meaning.” - Harvey Milk