"I am constantly worried, because I have the feeling that I am missing something important, and at the same time it seems to me that everyone knows how to spend their time except me," says Milica Petrović, a student of economics.
Many hours of scrolling through photos on social networks where people were smiling happily in different tourist locations caused her anxiety and bad mood.
She also felt guilty - because she is not living "to the fullest".
That's why she went out to the city even when she was tired, and she traveled even when she didn't have enough money.
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The emergence of the Internet and social networks led to the development of new psychological states and fears, explains psychologist Darija Petrović Lubanska.
One of them is the fear of missing the present (Fear of missing out) or abbreviated - FOMO.
"It's about the anxiety we feel when we think that others live more fulfilling and interesting lives than us, as well as that they experience something that is inaccessible to us.
"When we look at someone's pictures, we don't just look at where he is, but also what he looks like, which gives us a feeling of inadequacy and a desire to be in his place," Lubanska Petrović says.
"I have to do everything and I have to now"
22-year-old Mina Čeperković, a law student, has a similar problem.
"I can't come to terms with the fact that I can't get to everything and that's why I'm constantly piling up obligations or planning events that I'll go to," he explains.
This is why, as he says, he is "in a vicious circle".
"No matter how I organize my time, there will always be something I'll have to avoid, and paradoxically, I'm under stress when I go somewhere, because even then I think about what I'm missing out on somewhere else," she adds.
Advertisements for events, concerts and exhibitions also pose a problem for her.
"There are more and more interesting things, and I feel like I have to do everything I want to do right away, because otherwise I never will," says Mina.
FOMO is more characteristic of young people, because they often believe that at a certain age we have to live as well and more as possible, explains Petrović Lubanska.
He adds that it is made up of two processes: the awareness that we are missing something and the compulsive behavior with which we want to maintain social ties.
"We feel we have to quickly make up for everything we missed," he says.
Fear of missing out is like the fear of death
At the base of the feeling that we are missing out on life are basic human fears - of transience and death, points out Milan Milić, psychiatrist.
"We don't realize on a daily basis that we are mortal, but there is a deep, intuitive feeling in us that time is passing and that we should take advantage of life," he adds.
However, if "we have enough real content that we need, the feeling that life is passing us by will be less".
All this has to do with the beliefs we acquired in childhood.
"The first type of belief is related to the existential fear of loneliness, and the second to the perfectionist voice inside us.
"That voice tells us that we have to make the most of life and if we don't do that, our life is not worth it," emphasized psychologist Petrović Lubanska.
What are others doing, if not posting?
Although Milica Petrović thought it would be easier for her if she didn't know where her virtual friends were and what they were doing, it wasn't like that.
"When they didn't post pictures and videos, I wondered what they were doing.
"It made me even more upset, because I assumed that everyone was having so much fun and doing such interesting things that they were too busy to even think about recording their own experiences," she says.
This state is called the Mystery of Missing the Present (Mystery of missing out), and is characterized by anxiety caused by a lack of content on social networks.
"Many people who suffer from the fear of missing out are also affected by this condition.
"Then they become paranoid, because they think that something is happening without their participation that they actually know nothing about," Lubanska Petrović believes.
Why social networks are important to us?
Social networks have a mechanism of social pressure, explains Dušan Ristić, sociologist and professor at the Faculty of Philosophy in Novi Sad.
"Having accounts on platforms and social media, following certain content, being informed is no longer a matter of individual taste and interest, but the needs and obligations of everyone involved in that world," he adds.
There are also psychological factors.
The Internet is part of the "new human reality", and social networks "satisfy a large number of our psychological needs", according to Milić.
"We have always strived to be among people, but now it is a more comfortable variant that allows us to remain somewhat anonymous," he points out.
Joy in missing opportunities
The feeling of missing out on beautiful moments tormented Anđela Tomić for a long time.
"I was running from one event to another, thinking about how to fill the day as best as possible, and then it all made me tired.
"I realized that because of the desire to be in every possible place, I haven't actually been anywhere," this 25-year-old told the BBC in Serbian.
She started turning down invitations for coffee with her college friends, avoided buying concert tickets, and forgot about going out on the weekends and simply enjoyed her free time.
"It was so liberating, without redundant information, without pressure, crowds and expectations that every second of free time must be filled with events.
"I just existed and did what I wanted at that moment," Anđela shares her impressions.
She believes that spending less time on social networks also helped her.
"I don't have to try new food when I go out to eat, go on a trip at any cost, or follow every possible trend on the Internet," he says.
People often "burn out" from the desire to experience and experience everything that seems important to them, points out psychologist Petrović Lubanska.
"Only when they feel tired, exhausted and unable to concentrate, they begin to slow down the pace of life," he adds.
In recent years, more and more users on social networks have been talking about the enjoyment of missing out on life's opportunities (Joy of missing out) or abbreviated - JOMO.
It was created as the opposite of FOMO, and it is also connected with the idea of gratitude and a simple life in which there are not too many daily obligations.
"All I need is a warm bath, a face mask, sheets and a good movie," she wrote one TikTok user.
Joy in missing events requires clear priorities, to know what is important to us and how we want to spend the day, explains Lubanska Petrović.
"All this goes with being aware of the present moment and practicing how to be with ourselves, that is, to find fun within ourselves, not outside of us," she concludes.
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