People Describe The Absolute Worst Year Of Their Lives

Childhood Trauma

"1987. I was 13."

My dad was killed when he was hit by a car. Total accident."

"I think about the driver sometimes. I hope he forgave himself."

"I honestly don't recall ever feeling anything toward that guy. I think I was more upset with the neighbor who came to our door to tell us he thought my dad was in an accident."

"My mom piled us in the car and we drove down the street to the scene. My dad's body was under a sheet.

"That night I was numb until my mom hugged me and I bawled in her arms. After that I pretty much shut down emotionally for a couple decades."

"Took me a long time to get help for my own PTSD."

~ surfingonmars

Losses

"2011 - Lost my job, girlfriend, friends, had to move back in with my folks where I fell into a deep depression."

"That went on on until 2014 when I was able to turn the ship around."

~ max-peck

"People underestimate how horrible those 2-3 yrs of depression feel."

"I was in rock bottom depression for 2 yrs and it felt like a decade passing by."

~ secondhand_bra

Future Derailed

"2012. The year started out great. I met and befriended an adult film actress on my birthday and had an active sex life for the first time ever."

"I was finally off the night shift at my job. I applied for grad school. I was accepted into a program for veterans at the Writer's Guild of America."

"I had finally arrived."

"But by September it was all over. My relationship with 'Nadia' had turned toxic and ended in a huge fight."

"I was rejected from grad school. The WGA program didn't pan out for me."

"Worst of all, I was fired from my good job. I nearly became homeless and had to go back to working the night shift guarding a gated community in Beverly Hills."

"By the year's end, I was alone and broke (I would declare bankruptcy early the next year) with no hope for the future."

~ SgtSharki

Economic Downturn

"2014. My business suffered a 4 million dollar loss."

"Then my fiancée who I was with for 6 years left me for her boss just 3 months before our wedding."

"I wasn't able to find another partner but I did recover from the absolute shambles I was in."

"Just the fact that I'm able to function normally and interact with people again without breaking down is a big win for me."

~ S_MZ

Post College Struggles

"2014—the year I graduated college and was looking for work and had bad acne and unrelenting pressure from my parents and a poor social life and I worked Uber while studying for the Chartered Financial Analyst exam that I ended up failing."

~ Damerman

Friends Lost

"2017. I lost my best friend that year.. we met during our first year of university and immediately hit it off and became close."

"We were inseparable for 7 years. I’ve never been the same since then.. I died with him."

"I wish I could’ve helped him.. I wish I could just take one last drive and smoke one last cigarette with him ,and tell him how much I love him and how much he means to me."

"Please tell your friends that you love them whenever you get the chance.. you never know when will be the last time you hang out together."

~ Syouf

Seeing the Light

"2018. Realized I was part of a cult."

"It was called the Great Commission Churches when I attended though they’ve changed their name multiple times over the years when they’ve been accused of abusive practices."

~ Consistent-Way-2018

Long Road to Recovery

"2019. Last straw at my job, where the management team turned on me, resulting in me putting in my 2 weeks after my complaint against a lying supervisor was dismissed."

"Had no more income, so I couldn't pay rent, and thus had to move out of the shared house I had with a friend and his fiancée (wasn't on lease, had no obligation to stay, and the fiancée even told me "you know, you don't have to live here" during an argument)."

"Said fiancée convinced him to turn on me and drop me as a friend, which resulted in him going off and convincing the only other friend I had to do the same."

"Covid hit."

"My cat developed a genetic illness that paralyzed her and my step-father put her down behind my back. My childhood dog developed cancer and was suffering so she was also put down, but I was able to hold her while she passed."

"Great aunt died of cancer, great uncle (other side of family) died of cancer."

"That was the lowest I've ever been, and I haven't even recovered 20% yet."

~ Whatsa-Throwaway

Pandemic Pandemonium

"2021 was the year when my mental health was worse than ever."

"Looking back I'm proud of myself that I just survived."

~ Master-Mood1816

"Well done on that and also, same."

"2021 can go straight in the bin."

~ sicklything

Aftermath

"On the flip side 2021 was probably one of the best years of mine as an adult."

"My girlfriend and I were able to spend so much time together because she was only working maybe 1 day a week and I worked at an empty warehouse from 7 to 3 Monday to Friday."

"When everything went back to normal we both were working so much we ended up splitting up, so I guess 2022 sucked pretty bad."

~ ofTHEbattle

Piling It On

For some, their worst year isn't done with them yet.

"2023. By far the worst year of my life.

"Got laid off, took forever to find a new job, fiancée got pregnant then lost it then she got cancer, hated my new job, went heavily into debt to survive, fiancée beats cancer, she gets a life insurance payout from her father's passing, she gets pregnant again."

"Then I find out after she up and vanishes suddenly that every single thing was a lie. She faked it all from top to bottom for two years and pulled the rug out from under me, suddenly running off with our dogs."

"Since then I guess she needs some sick gratification that she’s not getting from just all that and continues to stalk me on social media/Reddit as well as spoof her phone number to text me sh*t with purely the intent of trying to hurt me."

"Losing the dogs hurt and still hurts, won’t lie, but being rid of her has been nothing short of a blessing."

~ Ok_Outside_4650

"This year—2023."

"My dog died in June."

"My wife died in July."

"My cat died in August."

"I have 5 kids."

~ MichaelHoncho

Dear whatever doesn't kill me, I'm strong enough now.

"Every year seems to beat the previous."

~ BenChodABQ

Oof, that's a lot to take.

While some are still going through it, many have already come out on the other side.

Here's hoping better days are ahead soon for everyone.