25 TV Show Moments That Were So Anxiety-Inducing, People Can Hardly Stand To Watch Them Again

    I'm stressed out just reading these.

    Hannah Marder
    by Hannah Marder

    BuzzFeed Staff

    Recently, we asked the BuzzFeed Community what the most anxiety-inducing TV moment is. Here are some of the most stressful!

    Warning: SPOILERS AHEAD!

    1. On Game of Thrones when Jon is suffocating during the Battle of the Bastards:

    HBO

    "There’s no scene in TV history that accurately expresses what a panic attack feels like more than the moment in 'The Battle of the Bastards' episode of Game of Thrones when Jon Snow is being crushed under the weight and chaos of men and must fight his way through so he can finally breathe again. If you want to know what someone with anxiety deals with, watch that scene."

    —sabrinabecnel08

    2. On The Vampire Diaries when the Other Side is collapsing while a bunch of the main characters are there:

    The CW

    "When the Other Side is collapsing and they're racing against the clock to get everyone to cross over, while Liv Parker is barely holding on and Bonnie (as the anchor) knows her time is up."

    —strangely literal

    3. On Grey's Anatomy when Cristina is forced to operate on Derek with a gun to her head during the hospital shooting:

    ABC

    "I know he survives, but it still gives me anxiety rewatching."

    —fadedmusicalartist74

    4. On Sherlock when Moriarty tells Sherlock that he has to jump off the hospital roof or John, Mrs. Hudson, and Lestrade will die:

    Sherlock looks down at the ground from the top of the building, and Moriarty says he told him how this ends, and that Sherlock's death is the only thing that will call off the killers
    BBC

    "There was so much suspense, and I was literally on the edge of my seat."

    —kermitzefrog

    5. On Lost when Jin tries to save Sun while she's stuck in the submarine:

    ABC

    —shellezbellez

    6. On The X-Files when Mulder and Scully find the mother of the inbred boys under the bed:

    Scully sees the mother under the bed. She tells her maybe one day she'll learn the pride and love when you know your boy will do anything for you
    Fox

    "There's this one scene in The X-Files episode 'Home' where Mulder and Scully are in a creepy farmhouse looking for these creepy boys. There are gory booby traps and everything...then they find a quadruple-amputee mother hidden under a bed in a severe jump scare. It is horrific and gets me every single time. The tension in this scene is unbearable, even after you've seen the episode several times."

    —The Mighty Neb

    7. On Big Little Lies when Perry attacks Celeste on the stairs:

    Celeste and her friends fight Perry as he tries to attack her until Bonnie pushes him down the stairs
    HBO

    "That whole scene...just...not good for my RACING heart lol."

    —NikkiLad23

    8. On New Girl when Jess thinks she has meth and enlists the roommates in trying to hide it during Winston's background check:

    Jess tries to put the meth down the sink drain and Winston walks in and sees it
    Fox

    —Who Is This?

    9. On The Good Doctor when Shawn is trying to save a patient in the basement as it fills with water:

    in the basement, Shawn says "I am okay...except for the water. Please hurry!"
    ABC

    "Being from the same region of California as it took place, plus my fear of drowning and being trapped with no escape, that was quite an anxiety-inducing episode for me."

    —AJPanda

    10. On Black Sails when John Silver has to swim through a sunken ship to find an air pocket:

    John underwater looking up and seeing bodies and debris
    Starz

    "I don't know if anybody here has seen this, but in the Season 4 premiere of Black Sails, when John Silver is underwater and can't surface because too many bullets and cannonballs are flying, so he has to swim through a sunken ship trying to find an air pocket, and you can hear his heartbeat getting faster the longer it takes him to find one. Horrible."

    —lucky87_87

    11. On Hannibal when Hannibal stabs Will after killing Jack:

    NBC

    "Every single second of that scene had me ON EDGE, IN TEARS, and IN ABSOLUTE AWE. I mean, seriously, holy shit. Holy shit."

    —williamthebloody

    "You knew something bad was going to happen (to Jack at the very least). Watching all three of our 'heroes' get gutted (literally) was horrifying and heartbreaking enough, but the actual anticipation sent chills down my spine."

    —bennbennmw

    12. On Chernobyl when each person is given 90 seconds to run out onto the roof and try to clear as much debris as possible:

    the workers are told this will be the most important 90 seconds of their lives then are sent onto the roof
    HBO

    "And then someone stumbled. I was on the edge of my seat."

    —shanelise

    "Watching the scene from the POV of the 'biorobot' had me squeezing my poor dog so hard."

    —melissan40168c557

    13. On Grey's Anatomy when Meredith has to keep her hand on a bomb inside a patient’s chest:

    ABC

    "The tension in that episode was through the ROOF."

    —maddiethefangirl

    14. On Bones when Brennan and Hodgins are buried alive:

    Brennan tells Hodgins the've been buried alive
    Fox

    "I had to keep walking away from the TV because I felt like I wasn’t getting enough air. I hate buried-alive stories."

    —benevolentspirit

    15. On Game of Thrones when Cersei is about to blow up the sept and Margaery realizes that something is up and tries to evacuate it:

    Margaery says they need to leave and yells to be let through as below, a man tries to stop the sept from blowing up
    HBO

    "That whole scene was a cinematic masterpiece — the music, the tension. It had me on the edge of my seat."

    —Kaityantoine

    16. On CSI when Nick is buried alive and the coffin fills with ants:

    CBS

    "Nick's kidnapper buried him alive and livestreamed his struggle to his frantic coworkers who were desperately trying to find him. Just when you thought it couldn't get any worse, the coffin filled with ants...crawling in his nose, ears, mouth...I'm still shuddering 15 years later."

    —marybashara

    17. On Lost when Charlie is drowning and tries to tell Desmond that it's not Penny's boat:

    ABC

    —dizzytooth81

    18. On Breaking Bad when Hank finds the book from Gale in Walter's bathroom:

    Hank sees an inscription from GB in the book and flashes back to talking with Walt about the W.W. inscription, guessing that it stood for Walter White
    HBO

    "Everything in Breaking Bad, but in a good, captivating way. The one that sticks out the most is when Hank uses the bathroom at Walt's house and finds the W.W. book and comes to the realization that Walt is W.W. That scene (and the scene that follows) always gives me massive anxiety."

    —Jennerrsss

    19. On Crazy Ex-Girlfriend when Rebecca gets caught breaking into Josh's apartment to delete the text she sent him, so she makes up a lie about someone breaking her window, then has to get Paula to break the window in order to cover up her lie:

    Rebecca is trying to guess Josh's passcode, but Josh comes in and asks how she got in there
    The CW

    "I know this seems trivial, but the whole lead-up is so well done, all up to the final moment when he picks up the rock and realizes that it came from inside her house."

    —Jen

    20. On The Mandalorian when they're about to reveal who the Jedi that answered the Child's call was:

    SPOILER ALERT Tap to reveal Click to reveal
    Luke saying he'll give his life to protect the child
    Disney+

    "I was yelling, 'Who are you??' at my TV. Of course there were clues, but I was waiting for the final reveal."

    —melonette000

    21. On NCIS when Jimmy Palmer talks a victim's son out of jumping off the ledge:

    The son says Palmer doesn't have an answer for his dad, and Palmer says he doesn't but has seen far too many people die already
    CBS

    "Jimmy being on that ledge gave me so much anxiety!! I was on the edge of my seat the entire episode!"

    —megana459810788

    22. On Julie and the Phantoms when the Phantoms get caught up at the Hollywood Ghost Club while Julie is waiting for them to show up at the dance so they can perform:

    Flynn tells Julie she can't stall much longer and tells her to perform without the holograms. Julie says she can't and that they'll be there
    Netflix

    "I was so anxious for her because Julie was nervous enough as it was, but then her band not showing up made it worse. I was so mad at them when they showed up after the dance was over."

    —lenevries143

    23. On Mr. Robot when Elliot has to fight Mr. Robot for control of his body while trying to stop the cyber-bombings:

    To himself, Elliot says as he's trying to use the kill command to stop the attack, Mr. Robot is trying to use it on him. He gets up and says he needs to keep going
    USA

    "Elliot is racing through the E-Corp building to prevent the cyber-bombings, but as soon as he gets close to stopping them, his alter ego, Mr. Robot, takes control of him and runs away from the building. This results in Elliot fighting with HIMSELF for control of his body. It’s an incredibly frustrating scene to watch as it flickers between Elliot in control/Mr. Robot in control, and it feels like it could go either way. Brilliant TV, though."

    —Lozzanizza

    24. On Sherlock when John is trapped under the bonfire:

    BBC

    "The way Mary and Sherlock rush over there to get him, and you see John trying to get out from all the wood and branches in time before the bonfire is lit and he is burned alive. The first time I watched it, I had to turn it off because it was so intense, I had difficulty breathing."

    —nellieeng_

    25. And finally, on Supernatural when Castiel finally admits his feelings for Dean as he's about to die:

    Dean asks why it sounds like he's saying goodybe, and Castiel says it is, and says he loves Dean before getting dragged to hell
    The CW

    "Cas’s confession and death scene had my heart pounding in my chest. I knew something was going to happen, and Cas saying 'I love you' literally had me doubling over, and then him dying right after nearly knocked me out cold, I swear."

    —miadeline

    Note: Some submissions have been edited for length and/or clarity.

    CORRECTION

    An earlier version of this post referred to Jimmy and Palmer as separate characters instead of as Jimmy Palmer on #21.