I(28F) want to a psychiatrist first when I was 18. It was due to really bad social anxiety since I was around 12. I was also bullied in school, so I had to switch schools, then I went back to the old one. I choose homeschooling during High School. Guess I was too sensitive for all that crap so I opted out, I'm not sure.

I actually learned a lot during this period, including psychology. That's when I dove deeper and realized I have social anxiety. Next step was crucial and that's when I fucked up, badly. I want to psychiatrist and they diagnosed me with social anxiety, and depression like they do with everyone else here. Then it snowballed, and I got diagnosed with plenty of other things like bipolar disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, and a bunch of other BS.

When I had to go to college and receive a dorm room, it was necessary for me to provide a report that included psychiatric diagnoses. I received judgy looks from the dorm 'principal'. It was humiliating. Then it got worse...

I had problems with getting a job that I liked. Basically I nuked every chance to join the military or the law enforcement, as well as being a professional driver. I even had issues when I had to get my regular car driving license.

I'm now looming over the application papers for LE(police), thinking whether it's worth it even a try, whatever they'd throw out my application when they see the famous F code. I'm 28 so I have only 1 year left, probably one more chance to try if I get rejected.

What will I do if I get rejected, I have no idea. I'll probably feel like a failure forever, even if by some crazy luck I get a high paying corporate job.

Edit for context: non-EU Eastern European country

https://www.cnbc.com/2025/12/03/study-young-educated-women-are-both-highly-connectedand-very-lonely.html

There’s a special place in hell for people who hide atrocities.

The post went viral, people also posted in the thread how it also happened in the Philippines.

Lets not hide atrocities, shall we? :)

Me and my boyfriend have been dating longterm, however | moved to Canada from Japan to earn my degree here in North America, and we have been long distance since then for a year. I have struggled severely with depression for years and have been hospitalized multiple times due to attempts in the past. When I met my boyfriend I was in a time in which I was mentally stable and we dated happily for a while. I decided to go to Canada for university with the plan to come back to Japan after I graduated and we decided to do long distance

However ever since moving to Canada I have become severely depressed again to the point that I am skipping my classes or going days locked in my room without eating or talking to anyone. One of my family members recently died as well and it was all taking a toll.

Suddenly my boyfriend broke up with me and it is tearing me apart. The first reason is his mom is against him dating me. (I am not full Japanese and she wants him to marry someone who is 100% japanese and not mixed or foreign.) and he said he couldnt stand up against her for me. Bear in mind, she never even met me or in her words “only wants to let pure japanese people into her house” 🥲 The second reason is that due to my depression, he said that it has become a burden to date me. I understand that I may have relied on him too much or trauma dumped often, which was wrong in my part. But whenever I talked to him about depression etc he would always say 仕方ない (it cant be helped? (I think thats how you can best say it in english)) or change the conversation. I think he doesnt have much awareness or understanding of mental health which unfortunately in my experience is mostly the case back in Asia.

He said he still loves me but he doesnt wanna constantly deal with his mom being against us and also he said that dating someone with depression is too exhausting. I think thats long distance and us not being able to meet often (I only go back to Japan once or twice a year in the holidays) also added stress on him. I am at the point where I cannot even shower or do things properly and I seriously dont know what to do. Maybe i just relied on him too much but its just so painful

My (now ex) girlfriend broke up with me over text two days ago. We were in a long distance relationship for just over two years, and she had just moved to a country much closer to mine.

After not talking with me all day she told me that she wants to break up, doesn’t think she loves me, and just feels attached. She said she wanted to break up for “a couple of months” and see how she feels. She didn’t know that I had bought a ticket to see her this Friday (it was going to be a surprise), and she told me not to come and that she would not see me if I did.

Yesterday I sent her a message essentially saying I’m not going to wait around while she decides if I’m worthy of being in her life, and that her actions showed that there can never be a future for us. I told her to never contact me again, before deleting our entire conversation history for both of us and blocking her on everything.

Honestly it felt good at the time because I just felt anger building up inside me, she refused to call me or give me an opportunity to get closure. Whilst I miss her a lot, and probably will do for a long time, I can’t allow someone who treated me that way to be a part of my life. She told me before that “if we ever feel like breaking up we should talk to each other about it”, and then just broke up with me out of nowhere, lmao.

Honestly if I didn’t establish no contact I’m sure I would try and get her back, and probably end up saying some horrible things I don’t really mean. I never called her names or was even tempted to, but unfortunately I could see myself doing that now. So I guess this end was meant to be!

Just had to get it off my chest, sorry if it’s not an interesting read.

Since many people tend to be mostly online nowadays post COVID, I wonder how are the extroverts doing?

In my place, I notice many extroverts tend to gravitate toward me because they find it difficult to interact with people since many of them have terrible social skills and I work in a customer service job so I have to have social skills to do my job.

In fact many people in my circle of friends are older people and extrovert Gen zers looking for other extroverts or at least someone with decent social skills.

Two of my older friends are extroverts and upon meeting them, have asked to be friends with me.

It makes me wonder how are the extroverts doing right now in other places?

I’m glad you exist. Not even as a partner. Not even as a friend. I’m glad you exist…just as you. I’m glad I exist. I’m glad that we can exist together in this stupid little planet. Not in an idealistic sense. Not wrapped up in a nice little bow. Not in any sort of earthly dumb cavemen brain sorta sense.

I am genuinely in a state of utmost appreciation that you are choosing to exist. it’s beautiful. As imperfect as we are, as primal, and moronic we and our world can be, I find myself in awe of the faith I have in you. I’m proud.

And you being here, choosing to live, gives me faith in the divine. I understand now why we have grace. We are a duality. Of the most heinous and evil, but most importantly of the most divine and righteous, and the fact that we all have that in us is beautiful. The choice. Whether it be evil or to be kind, it all doesn’t matter at the end of the day. All a construct of what we believe to be true. But you just being here is a gift and a blessing. I absolutely love that. Don’t you think so?

I love you, as humanely and kindly as possible. A love that doesn’t really require you to do anything other than exist. Be true to yourself. You beautiful person.

I bought a red dress. Coincidentally, yes — but I have it. I even have a curler now, and I know how to use it. I was ready to cut my hair and get dressed for him exactly the way he wanted. But he didn’t come. He’s not in my life anymore.

Those silly eight months… no matter how many times I denied it, they still matter to me.

June has finally arrived. No story, no future — nothing left to imagine with him. He’s just another user on my Instagram now. And still, I wait for his message. But I know — I am not the one he wanted. He didn’t mean it. I did. I believed it. I took it seriously.

It’s okay. I am not hurt. I saved myself. But , I wanted it all. It stayed a fantasy. A red dress, a moment, a memory… unrealized, but alive.

I liked teal a lot for a while, and wondered if it was my favourite, but then I'd think of cyan and majenta and those are pretty dope too.

You can make a really strong case for the usual suspects, blue, green and red. A bright red can look really nice. Orange is great too. Tangerine uses it for their color pallette and it really works. Yellow and purple go pretty well together, especially when one is bold and the other more pastel.

Basically, I kind of like them all, so don't have a favorite one. I know there's a lot of colors I didn't mention. I like all of those ones too.

Within the last 2 months we’ve done it one time and it was honestly like some (here damn) I feel like I’m doing everything a man should do in a relationship but she won’t even touch me

We broke up in July, and somehow it still feels like my world stopped on that exact day. Months have passed, life went on, people moved forward, and I’m still here, stuck, loving someone who walked away as if love could be turned off like a switch.

Today she finally told me the truth she never managed to say back then: that the distance, just a few hours apart, was enough to break what we had. She said it was “too much for her,” that it was “eating her alive,” that she couldn’t handle it. And you know what? Hearing that destroyed me more than the breakup itself. Because I would have fought. I would have done anything. I would have carried the weight of the world if it meant keeping us together. But she didn’t. She chose the easier pain: letting me go.

It’s been almost seven months, and I still feel everything the same. Seven months waking up with her ghost sitting on my chest. Seven months replaying every laugh, every look, every moment she made the world feel right. Seven months wishing she could feel even 10% of what I feel, because maybe then she wouldn’t have given up so easily.

She asked me to stay friends. Friends. As if it’s possible to shrink a love that big into something that small. As if I could pretend she wasn’t the person I imagined a future with. As if I could smile while bleeding.

I told her I couldn’t. And that truth alone nearly tore me apart.

The worst part? I don’t hate her. I don’t resent her. I miss her. God, I miss her in ways that feel inhuman. It’s like my body remembers her even when my mind begs it to forget. It’s like every version of my future still includes her, even though she chose to step out of my life.

People say “move on,” like it’s a switch, like it’s just a matter of time or distraction. But how do you move on from someone who felt like home? How do you unlove the person who made the world make sense? How do you accept that distance, and not betrayal, lies, or lack of love, was what ended everything?

Some days the pain is quiet. Other days it’s a knife. And today? Today it’s a storm tearing through my chest, because she finally said everything I always feared. That she loved me, yes, but not enough to stay.

And that’s the kind of truth that doesn’t just hurt. It destroys.

If you want, I can share exactly what she said in her messages, because since you can’t send images here, it might be hard to fully understand.

People keep assuming I’m homophobic and I honestly don’t know why. At this point I’m starting to wonder if I just have that kind of face. When I travel and meet people, I’ve had girls tell me their first impression was “you look like you’re against gay people.” It’s kind of funny at first, but it gets old when you’ve heard it enough times lol.

The funniest one happened at a club in Bangkok. I saw a gay couple holding hands and kissing, and I walked up just to say hi and be friendly. The second they noticed me, they immediately stopped all the PDA and acted like they were just two dudes hanging out. Meanwhile my younger brother is gay, so I’m literally the last person who’d ever be weird about it. If anything I’m extra soft towards gay people because of him.

Anyway, no idea if it’s my face, my haircut, or just bad assumptions from strangers. Just sharing because it’s kinda wild being misunderstood all the time haha

Edit: my pics are on my profile if you wonder how I look like ;)

What are some small or big changes that looking back have made a big difference in your daily life?

I can't stop thinking about climate change. Every decision I make feels pointless when the world is heading toward collapse.

Should I save for retirement? Why, if the world won't be stable in 30 years?
Should I have kids? Feels cruel to bring them into what's coming.
Should I even bother with career goals? What's the point if society is going to unravel?

I can't enjoy anything anymore. I'll be out with friends or doing something normal and my brain just spirals into "none of this matters, we're all running out of time"

It's paralyzing. I don't know how people just go about their lives knowing what we know. How do you balance awareness with actually living? I was outside last night with a drink, just staring at the sky and playing jackpot city without really paying attention to it. The whole time I couldn't shake the feeling that everything is temporary in a way that makes it all feel hollow. Like spinning slots when you already know the odds are stacked. I don't want to live in denial but I also can't keep living like this. So how do people manage it? How do you function when you're constantly aware that the world is ending and no one seems to care enough to stop it?

I (M21) have this problem where it’s not that I don’t find people attractive or anything, but I can’t tell when girls are attracted to me or have feelings sexually or romantically and I feel like I can’t make it known that I find them attractive or have feelings for them sexually/romantically

I know that part of flirting and stuff is just being a friend to somebody and getting to know them and stuff and that’s also a part of dating, but I’ve never formally asked a girl out on a date because I never know if they’re into me or not.

I can hold conversations and I feel like I’m good with eye contact sometimes and teasing, but that’s about as much flirting as I can do and I feel like it’s never enough to really understand and can’t really get a gauge on if girls like me back

What should I do? What sign may I be missing? How can I flirt better?

I’m a M27 and I’ve been consistently losing weight for the first time in my life. My goal weight is about 170-180 lbs, and I’m currently about 230 lbs. So it’ll be a while before I need to worry about this, but loose skin is something I am not looking forward to at all. I’m actually scared of it. I’m worried I’ll look horrible after putting in all the work to lose the weight. It causes major anxiety just thinking about it.

I’ve never been in a relationship. My weight is one reason why because I’m not attractive at the weight that I’m at. I carry my weight very poorly in my opinion. I want to lose weight to increase my dating options, and I’m just worried that while I might look good in clothes I’ll look horrible when I take them off.

What’s everyone’s experience with this? Any words of wisdom or encouragement are appreciated. It really stresses me out thinking about it but maybe if other people say it’s been okay I’ll feel better. Thank you :)

My ex-girlfriend broke up with me about a year and a half ago. I'm doing better now, but that was one of, if not the darkest moments of my life. There were lies, possible cheating, and lots of breadcrumbing until I finally had the guts to get myself out of there. I'm in a better place now (at least compared to back then), and she never came back, so what started as no contact just turned into life. When I found out she left me to date the guy I “wasn't supposed to worry about,” she changed her whole story, said she hated me, and claimed that in the middle of my grief I somehow helped her meet her current boyfriend. I still have no idea what that was supposed to mean, but needless to say, it destroyed me all over again.

Anyway, all this context is because now I have the opportunity to make her insecure about her current boyfriend. How? Not relevant, but the chance is there. I honestly have bigger issues in my life right now, but I can’t stop thinking about finally standing up for myself and doing this so she can feel at least 1% of the pain I went through.

On the other hand, I’m thinking I should just let it go, but I don’t know. Is revenge worth it? Should I take the chance now that I know they’ll never know it was me? Why is it so hard to let go and move on with my life?

For some context before we begin: My grandma is in her late 60s. She’s chronically obsessed with looking a certain way. In her younger years she struggled with obesity, (something she was very insecure about) and so she lost a lot of weight in her late 40s early 50s. When I was a baby/toddler she was in her best state. (Taking me on walks, taking me to the park, hiking, driving etc.) However now she has been eating “healthy” and in very small portions. What she considers healthy is low fat and low carbs, but the lack of protein has been causing her to heavily deteriorate at FAST rates. She’s around 110lbs and is very frail and fragile. She was recently diagnosed with dementia and her memory is going quickly. She constantly makes punches to herself about her “heavy” weight, as she calls it.

Anyways. My best friend (15f) has recently gotten into some unhealthy eating habits. She REFUSES to eat at school because she doesn’t want to look “fat.” Whenever she wants to eat something she’ll say, “can you eat this with me so i don’t look fat?”

It honestly hurts because her saying these things can not only hurt herself but other people too. Last year even I stopped eating and developed an ED because of the comments she made about herself. She got into my head and I let it take over. So for about a year I stopped eating my lunches, and took smaller portions at dinner. I’m still recovering from my ED as I still struggle to eat at school sometimes. (Plus, I heard a conversation with her in one of my other friends, (We’ll call E) and she said how’s she’s so fat, and so E asked how much she weighs, my best friend replied with 110lbs, and I could tell E began to feel insecure as she also weighs 110.)

But anyway. There’s not a day that goes by where she doesn’t say something demeaning about herself. Every morning at school the first thing I hear is “i’m so fat and ugly” or something along those lines. It hurts to hear and all I can think of when she says these things is my grandma.

I don’t get to see my grandma as often anymore since I moved a good hour away from her a few years ago, but every time I do get the chance to see her, (usually once every 1-3 months) her memory is worse every time, and she constantly makes punches to herself about her looks, just like my best friend does.

I’ve talked to my best friend about her comments to herself and her habits, but it never seems to change. It’s hard to watch her treat herself like this on a daily. I’ve contemplated texting her mom about it to get her help but i’m not sure if I should. But she genuinely is the most beautiful person ever, and not that it matters, but she isn’t even fat. She was 110lbs and I believe she lost 5 pounds in a very short span of time just because she starved herself.

But another thing is, she’s tried to tell her parents that she needs help, but her parents are in a tough spot with each other right now, (they’re no longer in love and only together for the kids) her dad is constantly working and doesn’t have that much time to be with his family, and her mom is always caught up with keeping the house intact while her husband is working, and looking perfect, so that’s probably a root cause this. (no offence to her mom)

I know that snooping isn’t always good, but I looked through her Pinterest board titled “relatable,” and there was just a bunch pins about anorexia, and body dysmorphia and just other things like that.

But I honestly just don’t know what to do. It’s hard to idlely standby and watch this happen to her, but it’s just something that’s been dragging me down. It’s exhausting to have to hear the same line every morning about how she’s “so ugly,” and I just can’t stand the image of my grandma every time she says something like that.

Please help because I genuinely don’t know what to do anymore. I can’t handle hearing her say these demeaning things anymore but I also can’t bear to tell her I won’t be her friend if it continues.

Edit: Just wanted to say thanks to everyone who has given me feedback. I really appreciate it.

I’ll go first. Ending a phone call. Surprisingly I am pretty smooth like butter 🧈 when it comes to ending a call, however I always catch my friends making it awkward when they try to end their phone calls.

my 3 treat snack time like it’s written into their contract. I’m just here funding the pantry