What is your biggest fear?

“My mom is cheating on someone. I can only talk with my friends but I can’t tell my dad…because if I do tell my dad, I would feel like I’m the person who broke up my family.” – 20, female

“Show [that] I’m weak. Sometimes I cry. [My biggest fear is] letting other people know I have feelings, because as [a] single mom, you need to keep strong…keep strong for your children so they don’t see you cry.” – 40, female

“Not doing enough. Sometimes I feel like I don’t do enough. I feel like I’m never doing enough. I feel like I could always do something more.” – 39, female

“My mom would always be disappointed in me because she would always criticize me for everything. Even though I got straight As, it wasn’t enough. I wasn’t doing everything she wanted me to do. I got a job, went to school…when I took my gap year, everything that went wrong in her life was my fault, it seemed like. And when I went through my depression, that’s when my family lost respect for me.” – 19F

“Death. Losing people. Losing friends, family.” – 22, female

“Not having the people I love around me. Being by myself. I like being surrounded by others; it makes me feel secure.” – 18, female

“Being a disappointment to my parents. Because they did a lot for me, coming to America, and I want to be able to make them happy as they grow older.” – 18, female

“Being alone.” – 18, female

“Disease. Covid-19, Monkeypox…It’s uncontrollable and hard to handle, because health is really important and you cannot really know your condition right now. Maybe I’m fine right now, but tomorrow I’ll be sick, so that’s my fear.” – 19, female

“Failing at being a mom.” – 32, female

“My biggest fear is waking up, working a 9-5. Living a typical boring life. I want to get out there, live an exciting life, and look back and have no regrets. Live in other countries, meet new people.” – 19, male

“My biggest fear, what keeps me up at night, is not realizing my true self worth.” – 25, male

“The death of my parents. I am dependent on them, I have known them all my life. I’m an only child. I’ve developed a substantial attraction to them, such that I can in no way imagine my life without them…That [answer] seems sufficient.” – 26, male

“Expecting so much from myself that I never get to my standards and goals and end up disappointing myself.” – 23, male

“Losing my mom. I actually take care of my mother…She got sick, I was the one who was there to get the ambulance…she had a brain injury, and now I’m taking care of her.” – 29, female

“Heights. It’s honestly more the walking up, the thoughts that flood my mind like, ‘Oh my god, I could fall over this railing.’” – 30, male

“Being alone. I don’t want to be alone.” – 61, female