They think if they only had more money or more time or better sex or a better job, things would be wonderful. The tendency to focus only on the immediate crisis or sore spot. Under stress, things look worse or more complex than they really are. Ask if it will matter in 6 months. The anxiety or terror that things will go badly, that we will fail or be embarrassed.
Modern life has very few saber-tooth tigers.
The situation is rarely life or death. The sense of being lost or unclear about our direction. The sense that we don't know our own priorities anymore. Choose your values and priorities and set your own path. Your life is yours.