Everyone important in my life has left or is leaving and I feel overwhelmed.
I'm 35M, life has poured on the problems lately. My long term relationship broke down 6 months ago, we have a 2 year old daughter, I'm still living in her house but moving out in a couple of weeks. We still get along well, but my ex will be moving away eventually in 12-24 months, and I'm scared my daughter will grow apart from me when she leaves with her. My ex is currently the preferred parent, my daughter is going through a stage where she wants nothing to do with me, I know she's a toddler and it shouldn't last but it still hurts a great deal. I would like my daughter to stay and live with me but I just don't have the network around me to help out, my mum died years ago, dad is recently diagnosed and going through myeloma, and my brother and his wife are leaving in a couple of months also.
I live in a rural area, childcare isn't open nearby or in good hours, and cost of living makes it almost impossible to live closer to childcare as I'd then have to travel a long way for work which ends up costing too much. I just got a new job which gives me my weekends back and I thought that would help, but it's a 12 month contract which feels so uncertain.
I also hit it off with a close friend but we put up boundaries as we both were recently out of relationships. She also left for work and despite us saying we'd keep in contact she ghosted me. This one hurts quite a lot, I thought we really hit it off but now I'm just wondering why and wanting closure that I won't get.
I'm an anxiously attached person, and all these people that have left or that are leaving makes me feel absolutely awful. Even down to the rejection from my daughter. The feeling of being alone is absolutely awful, and I'm not sure how to deal with it.
I'm trying to catch myself out when I project my emotions onto other people or onto situations so that I don't make myself feel even worse, and also trying to catch myself when I think terribly about myself (awful self esteem). I'm also journalling and trying to work through and process my emotions, along with exercise and eating really well to keep myself physically healthy. Honestly even with all these tools I'm so completely overwhelmed some days, it feels like if there were half of these things I could cope but all of these things in such a short timeframe? I am getting to my wits end and feeling incredibly depressed some days. What else can I do?
I don't do things like write out my problems on reddit, so if you've stayed and read that whole thing, you have my thanks.
Posted Jun 3, 2026, 11:50 PM UTC