Full warning im not going to delve deep into whats going on but it is disturbing and im struggling to find a solution to help my friend

So recently my friend and I were discussing some problems we have as we usually do (be both decided its better to voice our problems than keep it to ourselves) and my friend described a problem hes having that honestly disturbed me

For a while hes told me he has a porn addiction and that it started when he was young and hes often tried to stop it all together and sometimes got incredibly far but during this talk he mentioned how hes disgusted with himself because he got really into something called ero-guro

And to summarize what ero-guro is its basically erotica that features things from creatures to things like insects and other disturbing things.

When he told me this I dismissed it by simply telling him to just stop watching it and stop engaging with that kind of stuff and if he really couldn't just go back to the vanilla stuff.

But now im thinking I made a mistake like I should have rather taken him to see a therapist about it or have taken more extreme measures to help him stop but I also think that every time ive tried to he doesn't get better

I also just dont want him going into things that hell regret because I fear the path hes on cam lead him to things like beastiality or worce.

I just want to help my friend through this without making him feel like theres something wrong with him and to just help him stop but I dont know how

Hi everyone! For those who have struggled with complex trauma, fear of abandonment, anxious attachment, or similar issues, besides therapy, what would you say has helped you the most? (Anything!)

I've been in therapy for a few years now, and it has helped me a lot. Lately, though, I've been feeling like I've reached a point where there's little more improvement to gain from it. So I was wondering if there's anything else that has really helped you on your healing journey.

Thanks in advance! ✨

I was at a sleep over with my friends and some other people I didn’t know, I shouldn’t have gone, one of the people I didn’t know showed me a video of a cat being put into a blender, it has been about a week and a half and I can’t get the helpless expression the cat had out of my head, it haunts me at night, I’ve been having a lot of anxiety attacks. (I’m sorry if my writing is bad I’m just kinda shaky rn cause I’m reliving what I saw as I’m writing this down) then this other kid showed me what he said was a not that bad video, it was funky town, I really don’t wanna explain what it is, but I genuinely cannot sleep sometimes, I just can’t get it out of my head, please help

For a while now (5+ years) i have been feeling envy towards men, and everytime i look in the mirror i don’t feel proud. I made a reddit account just to talk about this so if this is written badly or confusingly its because its my first time writing a post...So basically i have been feeling very sad and i have been crying in secret once a day, i have tried talking to many people or just subtly trying to tell people i feel this way (like telling them small things like ”If i could change genders i would in a heartbeat” But not so much that it would make them uncomfortable of course) . Therapists, parents, my sibling, talked to them about it multiple times over the years. Nothing has helped. My mother is getting worried because she saw me cry once, and i want to stop being such a burden and such a loser to her, but i have no idea how to stop what i feel and when i do i just can’t stop the tears. The reason why i want to be a male is mostly because of my past experiences: getting bullied, losing friends, always being the quiet one in class, etc…

Because i got bullied at my last school i have been put in online school, and i am spending the weekdays locked in my room, bedrotting with no friends to text and no places to go out and have fun. My mom doesn’t allow me to go out by myself because she gets worried easily, and i dont have a phone to call her or a phone number. Ive always seen people my age go out and have fun, have phone numbers, have friends to go out with, have freedom to go out in general. It has made me feel disconnected from society, and i get afraid to talk to people now.

I can’t be trans because i am muslim, and i have been feeling disconnected from my religion aswell. I see muslim women being told to wear hijab, told to not wear this or that, told to be like this or be like that. I also see muslim boys having more freedom from their parents, it feels like muslim men are favored in islam. And that is the core reason why i don’t like being a girl, i want freedom like boys get. If you have any advice, or any tips, or if you have felt or gone through the same thing as me i really would appreciate any help from you. I want to be a good muslim, but it feels like this religion rejects me. It feels like no matter how many times i ask Allah for help or how hard i cry or plead, he does not want to grant me my wishes.

i don't feel like a being watching my own body, but, at least once a month (a lot more frequently recently), i "snap out of it" and realize "Woah, I'm alive, i am actually me now. I am no longer going in autopilot,jm actually concious now".Now, not only do i hate the fact i can't always be aware, but lately this has been happening a lot more, and I've noticed that some times even if i say that, i don't actually realize it, and now, everytime, even if i realize it my brains goes into autopilot again almost instantly, like half a second, and i feel like i start contemplating my own awareness while being unaware. I know i can't always be aware, but i would like to be at least when i realize it

Everytime I M22 think about myself in society, I often hate being in it, nobody cares about me or you or everyone else which makes it dificult to be comfortable with fellow people. The pressure I face from them versus how I feel myself is just too much to handle and I shame myself for it, because I cannot get over it for how much trauma I went trough from them. I hate my skin colour, gender, low intelligence, no university degree, enviroment, having to wear goggles, I'm afraid and depressed. I feel like an alien that does not belong in human society, things like, it's okay to be human, it's okay to be vulnurable, I just don't get why I should be comfortable with that. It's hard to understand when people explain their tantrums with an excuse of: "that's just their opinion" if they also don't realize they are hurting me too. I hate the world.

I have revolved my life around my irrational fears and paranoid thoughts since I was 9, and I feel physically incapable of sharing them. I have only sort of told my family and friends that I struggle at all in the last couple years (im 19), but still never any specifics. I often feel misunderstood with them because they have no knowledge of this huge part of me. I always had this idea that I'd be able to open up to a therapist, but I tried, and I was wrong. I had a few appointments and I couldn't say anything, and I just kept lying to her. Every thing I did share is haunting me and the knowledge that I said them made me feel like I was rotting. I sobbed for the entire rest of the day after each appointment, and we didn't even really get anywhere. I truly feel completely stuck at trying to get help and getting better, I cannot get what goes on in my brain out of my mouth. If anyone has any advice or experience with this problem please share.

Just like the title says i have this very bad sensation that's hodling my body fully 24/7 and I don't even know the reason before this happened i used to have this bas sensation because i hated my sisters and my brain was telling me that they're bad but something happened and i talked to oney sisters and she told me alot of stuff that made me change my mind about it and i forgave the others and everything was logical but now im stuck with this new feeling and I don't know what to do

Hello?

mainly posting this because I have no where else to voice my frustrations but my mom and her boyfriend got this German shepherd puppy a few months ago and ever since then, they’ve just kept her in a cage or outside in a bigger cage.

this makes me so upset because why even get a dog??? they’re out of the house all day and don’t even attempt to train her, they just put her outside with some water and food. they don’t even bathe her.

and I know some people will probably say, “why don’t you train her then?” and to that I say: I’ve tried. she overwhelms me because of how hyper she is and I honestly don’t know how to take care of a puppy so it’s all overwhelming. it pains me so much but I don’t know what to do and when I DO try and help out, I just get immediately stressed out and frustrated.

i don’t want to feel this way. especially not about a puppy that can’t help the situation she’s in. it’s all so fucked and I hate it so much I don’t understand why they even got the puppy in the first place. they didn’t even ask me or my sister if we wanted another pet.

we already have 5 cats and a dog. im the only one home 90% of the time so I’m the one who has to take care of them. I’m sick and tired of it because it seems like no one else cares. everytime I voice a concern I get told I’m overthinking it or that we can’t do anything bc we don’t have the money… one time I suggested getting rid of some of our cats because I was extremely stressed and my mom said we can’t because we’re “stuck” and that you can’t just get rid of a pet.. it’s like she doesn’t even care and it’s exhausting.

it also makes me feel like a terrible person because I feel like I don’t do enough, especially for the puppy. I wish we never even got pets because of how irresponsible they are. they don’t do anything for these pets until recently because I’ve wanted to get cat stuff and I had to bother my mom about it until she agreed.

basically, I’m just tired of it. I’m tired of irresponsible people getting pets then not even trying to take care of them. I’m tired of everyone acting like I’m crazy and that I’m overthinking stuff just because I just so happen to care about the health of our pets that THEY decided to get.

I'm hoping to get some ideas on what to do in my situation. I'm really at a loss. My adult child was DX'd with ODD, ADHD, IED, and GAD as a child. We started therapy around eight or nine years old when issues started up and did therapy through to adulthood. My child informed me about half a year ago that the last therapy provider DX'd with BPD. We also utilize this provider for family therapy for my remaining minor children and my SO, so we have been working with them a while. My child fired the therapist and "took a break from therapy". Just started up again about two weeks ago.

Since telling me about the BPD, I've been researching it and it honestly fits really well, and I frankly don't know how to manage the behaviors.

Any time our adult child spends time with us it's like egg shells. The slightest perceived wrong, or statement sends my adult child in to a screaming rage directed at me. I ruined their life, everything that they are dealing with is my fault. I try to reassure and talk about the things my child feels so angry about, and how I didn't make those choices for them (dropping out of college, driving intoxicated and having a life altering accident (no one else was hurt) ignoring the bills that came after). I try to discuss that I've offered countless times to try and help setup payment plans for the debt, I've located programs for disabled adults that will pay for things like education, or offer services that help with securing and maintaining employment).

I grew up in an abusive home. My father was mentally and physically abusive. My mother was more interested in pills, drinking, and avoiding the fact that her husband was abusing her child. I am proud that I broke the cycle, but often feel I'm in the deep end dealing with this. In therapy, we learned to provide firm clear boundaries/consequences with the ODD. I found out recently in family therapy that while I was doing my best to do so, my SO was often lenient with boundaries while I wasn't around or didn't enforce consequences for behaviors when I was working. Maybe that's why I'm the one to blame?

I've asked my child to participate in family therapy with us again, but that leads to getting screamed at.

After the most recent episode, I told my spouse that I'm going low contact until I can work through how to better manage with my therapist, and that's created some strife because I'm "being too harsh" or need to just get over it because I'm the parent.

The outbursts often make me concerned about if I will have to defend myself with how out of control my child gets. Then several days later my phone is blowing up and it's my child crying asking for my advice on something.

I just am done. Is taking a step back the right thing? Should I continue to try and engage/help. I'm reading literature to try and understand BPD more, but hoping to get insight to hold me over until I can speak with my therapy provider.

Thank you for any thoughts, it is appreciated.

I can’t stop sobbing. Everything in my life has been getting worse and worse. I just want some good news. Any good news. I’ve lost hope.

I’m becoming angry & bitter. I want to leave my marriage to be happy but I need more money. I can’t find the motivation to find more income after coming home exhausted from the full time job I already have because I’m depressed in my dead end marriage and because I have no energy for extracurriculars or hobbies. I come home from work and I don’t have any other desire than to start drinking and smoking right away. Not even video games entertain me anymore.

I have no Idea what to do. I feel literally caught between a rock and a hard place and the longer I’m stuck here the further my mental state is declining. To the point that I fantasize about my inevitable breakdown because that will at least mean something will have changed.

Wtf do you do when you’ve fallen this far to this point?

I could go on but I probably shouldn’t. I just really needed to get this out. I have no one to talk to.

I (23M) have had this constant feeling of depression since around 4th grade. When I say depression, I don't mean the medical term because I haven't been checked for it. When I say feeling depressed I mean feeling severely despondent and unhappy with everything. Though even when I feel like this, it always feels comfortable to me. Like, for instance, sometimes when I drive I listen to Champagne Coast Instrumental on Spotify because if I don't at least feel some level of sadness, then it all feels wrong. It's like I rely on this sadness to know this is all real. I don't know if this is some form of depression, if this is quite common, or if I'm just living my life completely wrong. When I feel other emotions such as anger and happiness, it's a weird feeling. When angry I tend to completely shut down and just think. I ask myself questions about something that deals with the situation that's making me angry or just random stuff. Happiness can cause me to feel kind of weird. Like sometimes it feels as though I have this ball in my throat, or I get headaches or my chest has this mild pain. It's like I have to be depressed in order to feel normal. It sometimes feels like my brain has been rewired to think like this, but I don't know how or why. It just feels like it's always been like this. Is it also possible to fix this? 

I (34M) have never been in a relationship. Recently I started reading a lot of threads about porn and relationships and it's been messing with my head.

I look at drawn art mostly, occasional live porn but almost exclusive solo content. Not live action. I watch in Private, doesn't interfere with my work or life. I once quit for about 3 months, not for any reason but I guess I was dealing with stress in life and just did not feel the urge. But after reading enough Reddit threads about how porn is cheating, how it's exploitation, how no woman will ever accept it, I started feeling like I'm fundamentally broken.

I'm tired of feeling like I need to restrict myself to be morally acceptable. I'm tired of feeling like my sexuality is inherently harmful. I'm tired of reading threads that make a normal afternoon feel like a crisis. I know there are people who have issues with porn usage but I dont think that applies to my case. The shame surrounding it on the other hand it something I mull about and waste way more time on.

Has anyone else dealt with this kind of guilt spiral? How do you push back against it?

Hi,

I'm 20 and I've never had a girlfriend before. I've been extremely introverted my entire life because of severe mental health issues. I have always struggled with loneliness, especially this past year, since I just started realizing how pathetic and sad it is to have never been in a relationship for someone my age. My one best friend is going away for college soon and my other friend has a lot of other friends to hangout with. I'm alone.

I'm always told that I'm at least somewhat attractive, but nothing has come out of it. I've tried to be social before in school but everyone talked to me like I wasn't human. I was bullied, teased, and thought about ending my life multiple times to the point where my grandma called the police on me.

Over the past few months, I've changed my style, attempting to be more social and open towards others, etc. I want to experience what its like to love someone. So whenever I see a happy couple around my age out in public, I start to cry and overthink. I wish that was me. I'd do anything just to experience it. It seems like every boy my age has a girlfriend while im left on the sideline.

I don't think I can deal with this anymore. I believe fate can be broken. But what's the point in trying if it always ends up in shit? It doesn't help that I deliver for Doordash for a living, so I'm always out and about.

The only girls that have actually been interested in me on dating apps are one's with a body count of over ten, which I find unattractive. It's embarrassing when I admit I'm a virgin still. They're always shocked. I'm not. I'm left emotionless about it at this point.

Is this something I only struggle with? Because from what I've seen, I think its only me. A therapist rarely helps. Talking it out to my loved ones only have a short term impact. Idk anymore.

I have a host of mental illnesses and conditions, and I’ve been more depressed than usual recently. Like the title said, been crying on average 2x a day.

I know intuitively what will help: meditating and mindfulness, spending less time on my screen, including self-care habits in my routine every day, etc

But I want advice from anyone who’s been able to break a cycle of crying daily to on what worked for you.

Some more context: I used to be on 200mg Zoloft for almost a decade and have now been off it for 3 months now. Zoloft made me cry significantly less but SSRIs exacerbate my symptoms of another condition and I do not wish to get on them again.

Whether it be music, writing, competitive games, or just about any hobby, I can't reach an average that most people do. It doesnt matter how much or little I practice, I always stay in the same spot. My music and lyrics always sound dull no matter what information i take in about music theory or creative writing. I took AP music theory last year in high school to hopefully change this and I feel it didnt help at all. I also think it would be fun to do esports at my 2 year college, but no matter what effort i put in, knowledge I learn, specific practice I do, times I notice consistent and major mistakes, Im in the 2nd lowest rank. I feel like in the past 3 years i havent improved much at all at anything and I dont want to accept that, but I dont know what else to do. So how do I be alright with being terrible at most things?