Pretty often, I find myself needing to rest, but I’m too afraid of missing out on something to do it. Questions race through my mind, like, What if my friends are getting together without me? What if I miss a text from my crush? If I leave early from a party, will my loved ones think I don’t care about them? I get so stressed by this Fear Of Missing Out, or FOMO, that rest itself becomes unmanageable.

At the same time, I want to start feeling better mentally and physically, and for me personally, that means getting more rest and being more selective about what I do. Has anyone here experienced FOMO? If you’re still going through it, what’s it like? And if you’ve moved past it, what happened?

Share questions:

• Do you experience Fear Of Missing Out (FOMO)?  
• Where does FOMO come from for you? Does it have a root in your pre-identification years? Something else?  
• What kinds of things do you tend to be most afraid of missing out on? 
• What are some worst-case scenarios you’ve imagined when you think of missing out on something? 
• Does masking have anything to do with FOMO? For example, do you fear that others might see you in a bad light if you don’t show up? Describe.  
• If you used to experience FOMO more and now experience it less, what changed?
• Any tools, resources, or strategies that helped you?
• Anything else to add?