Sick Of Feeling Stressed

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I'm venting about this here because I don't want to dump this on my friends, and I don't really trust my family enough to vent to them.

Due to health issues with my dog, vet bills, having interpersonal problems, and a few other things such as COVID-19 I've been basically consistently stressed out for months at this point. Every time I feel like I'm able to cope with the stress better something else happens to make it ten times more intense. On top of this I've felt like I've been either on the verge of a burnout or in one already, which hasn't made dealing with any of these things easier, especially the interpersonal issues. The other day after finding out my dog might in fact have kidney cancer I woke up and even had what I would assume is a panic attack, which despite the fact I have an anxiety disorder I don't have panic attacks very often at all.

At this point I don't get any actual enjoyment out of things, even my special interests, which was happening for awhile before this but has just gotten worse. I'm just constantly exhausted(? I don't even know the proper way to describe it) now and essentially want to just sleep most of the time, so I don't have to experience being stressed and exhausted anymore. I'm basically just awake so I can take care of my dog, and inadvertently neglecting my own hygiene and health, since I don't really care about it anymore and can't justify doing anything for myself while my dog is suffering and dying.

When my dog eventually does die I also honestly don't really know what I'm going to do. We've had her for over a decade and I grew up with her. She is old, so all the issues she's having aren't a surprise, but having to stress this tiny dog out while she's already sick by administering many pills, and having to do other treatments she hates, has been a horrendous experience for her and I can't shake the intense guilt I constantly feel.

Doing this for months and having her just die feels like I've prolonged her suffering for no reason, even though I know all the things we've done have reduced the intensity of her issues and helped her overall be more comfortable, and that she's also not really at the point where she needs to be put down or anything yet. My parents also haven't let me live down how much all of this has cost despite the fact I'm not the one who decided everything, which has made me feel worse.

This is long enough, but I'm just so tired of being stressed and would like to be able to focus on other things than besides all these issues. I honestly feel stupid for struggling with this since I know people have been through much, much worse, but the stuff with my dog happening right now, during COVID-19 of all the times it could happen, has made this unbearable. When we eventually have to put her down if it's during this we can't even go in and be with her, and while I'd still do that if she was suffering badly enough I can't imagine my dog dying without any of us.

I have been through something similar. With hindsight, I feel the top priority is the comfort of your pet. My cat had kidney disease and the vet constantly wanted tests of all kinds done. I regret most of the testing as she hated all that. I wish I would have just gone with palliative care. Just make her life as pleasant as possible.

Our dog took his last visit to the vet just over two years ago: spinal meningitis, poor little fellow.
My sympathy there: it’s terrible to watch a creature that can’t comprehend what’s happening in pain

Our vet prescribed some very strong painkillers, can’t remember what because Mrs K dealt with that, it did allow him to be active and have his tail up... but had diarrhoea as a side effect: confused him because he couldn’t feel it happening.

I’ve been there with the continual and prolonged exhaustion with frequent panic attacks and loss of interest in formerly passionate activities. I didn’t pay much, if any, attention to my hygiene either in that state.*
(Been there twice in fact!)
Recovered both times: but each time the duration I can keep energy going has decreased, and my interests have revived, but in a slightly different form.
Totally different reasons why I got into that state, but, yeah... awful.
Have you tried getting any help/support with regards to mental health?
I didn’t either time and looking back I probably should have.
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* I had a weeping sore across the top of my head, teeth that needed £650 of work doing, yellow-tinged skin and bones showing before I started recovery.

After my dogs last vet visit we now have to give her fluids via a needle under her skin, just to help dilute the things built up in her body and reduce stress on her kidneys. She actually tolerates the needle better than she tolerates us giving her pills, but it still leaves her very distressed afterwards. It sucks because you're right with the fact that they don't really comprehend what's going on, and there's just no way to explain it to her that we're not being cruel to her.



I've tried to get help in the past since I've had some recurrent issues with my mental health, but I feel like whenever I see someone such as a therapist it ends up a waste of time. Not in the sense that it overall is, but just that people don't really take me seriously.

One of the times I tried to get help I did get diagnosed with an anxiety disorder, which is the thing that has made dealing with all of this so hard, but it seems like when I've gone to therapy for it they usually want to just immediately tell me what they think I should do, instead of actually working with me on my issues. Maybe it's due to my age that I'm not exactly listened to? I also know not everyone's like that, but it has definitely made me wary to seek out professional help again.