Posts by ruggedowl0

Donna White50, thanks for sharing this. 🙂

I’d add that those bouts of feeling crappy never really last that long—they just hit you, and then they pass. Because of that, I don't think I need a psychiatrist, though maybe a therapist could help a bit.

That point about forcing things is spot on. While pushing through works for some stuff, like grinding at college, it can actually backfire in other areas, like dating. So, we'll see. I used to think staying constantly busy was the way to go, that being tied down to obligations made life better or more meaningful. Now, I'm going to try to carve out some actual free time and focus on things I actually enjoy doing. And, honestly, probably stop people-pleasing quite so much. I suspect that constant sense of responsibility and all those "what if" anxieties come from that.

Thanks again. 🙂

Hey everyone. I’ll try to keep this brief and get straight to the point regarding what's been bothering me. Hopefully, someone here can offer a bit of wisdom or at least some direction.

So, here’s the deal... Lately, I’ve been hitting these waves of feeling totally helpless, lonely, and just generally miserable. Being a 20-year-old college student, I figured this was just part of the territory—especially given how much pressure there is on individuals to perform in today's society. It seemed like a logical consequence of being young and uncertain.

But I just can't wrap my head around why I feel this way. By any objective standard, I'm doing fine. I'm killing it at school—honestly, it’s barely even stressful. I’ve managed to become financially independent, too, so I'm holding my own there. The real issue is my social life. I have plenty of friends, but I wouldn't say I'm particularly close to any of them. And while I've been seeing different women lately, I haven't been able to build anything meaningful or sustain a real relationship. I should also mention that I’m actually quite introverted and shy, even if people don't see me that way. Even the women I've been intimate with have mentioned that I seem to have some kind of mental block. I don't get it; nothing traumatic has happened recently, and my family life is perfectly normal. On paper, I'm living a pretty good life.

I just can't figure out where these moods are coming from, especially since they're becoming more frequent and intense. I wouldn't call it clinical depression, but it's this incredibly dull, heavy sensation. This feeling that I'm running out of time, or that I won't succeed, and everything is just sliding downhill. It’s starting to mess with my ability to connect with people normally. As a student, who can I actually talk to about this, and where do I even go?
I really want to understand myself better because my reactions don't seem to make sense. I've always been interested in psychology, and I just want to find out what the catch is.

Sorry for the wall of text; I'm typing this on my phone, so it might be a bit rambling or disorganized. You'll probably figure it out. 😁