[thalia_]

I've been diagnosed with all sorts of stuff: depression, social anxiety, bipolar maybe - with hints that I might have avoidant and/or borderline personality disorder. I also have occasional panic attacks and I'm a total hypochondriac. Basically a full-fledged neurotic with lots of anxiety and depression. Pick your diagnosis, it'll probably work, and I won't argue.

But one diagnosis did kind of mystify me: generalized anxiety disorder. Not that I'm surprised to have generalized anxiety. But because of why. When asked if I worry a lot, I said: all the time. About what? Everything. For how long? Always.

I was surprised when the doctor said that's a disorder. And I should have followed up, but I didn't so I'm asking here. Doesn't everyone worry all the time about tons of different things? I'd assumed that was completely normal. I still think it's normal. I mean, I understand that I'm abnormally pessimistic, anxious and moody. But worrying is human nature, isn't it? Are there periods where you're NOT worrying about something?

[multipixie9]

Thalia,

Yes, there are times when I feel very relaxed and not worried about anything.

The level of anxiety you describe is too much. That makes it a disorder.

I've had depression with anxiety before and it is totally different from now. I practially twitched all over and my thoughts raced and my mouth was dry and i could not settle down and relax. I felt really afraid 24/7 . It was a nightmare in my life that I remember like an extended terrible dream. Shiver..

We were never meant to worry all the time - it keeps your body pumping out fight or flight chemicals because your body thinks you are in danger. That can exhaust you and make life unbearable.

I do think you need to get your doctor to confirm what he REALLY meant by the GAD diagnosis - then you will know better what you are really dealing with.

Leslieann

[momto2]

I thought so too (Doesn't everyone worry all the time?) I had been treated for depression in the past but about two years ago I knew something was wrong with me but it didn't quite feel like depression but not sure what. I had always worried alot but it got to the point it was consuming me. After much reading and reasearching I found GAD. I made an appointment with my PCP and told him I thought GAD was what I had. He asked me alot of questions and he agreed with me. He started me on lexapro and a small dose of xanax to use till the lexapro started working. I am so much better, I still worry but now I feel like it is a normal amount. I'm 42 years old and when I think back to even when I was a teen, I've been affected by this. Please do follow up with your doctor.

[Schatje]

I asked that question of my husband after I was dx GAD. He told me that no, not everyone worries all the time or is paranoid or comes out with a whole scenario that ends with a death in the family if I don't triple check that the car door isn't locked at night before I go to bed (I live in an area where you don't really have to lock your car). Odd how I thought that it was normal even though I knew in the back of my mind it wasn't. So the answer is only people with GAD or other types of anxiety disorder worry like you or I do, but yes worrying in general is human nature. It is the excessiveness of the anxiety that makes it a disorder.

[JimWriter]

Years ago , I worried all the time and was eventually diagnosed with generalized anxiety disorder. Eventually I learned the difference between worrying and being concerned about something. once you figure out how to be concerned about something--this takes a bit of time, but it's worth it -- you can usually put worries to rest for the most part.

[thalia_]

Thanks for the replies - I really appreciate the input here.

Well it's not always "anxiety." I mean I know that feeling anxious a lot is not good. But worry to me is about thinking. I'm not always anxious but I do always worry. And I guess I don't get the distinction between being concerned and worrying - but it sounds interesting.

I want to say that I worry all the time, but I can't, because there are times that I don't worry about things for long periods. Usually the periods where I DO start worrying begin with a spontaneous Anger Attack with no cause, then I go downhill from there until a few weeks later, maybe months, where I go back to my normal hyper make-people-laugh mood.

Same as you, before a friend told me that it wasn't normal to worry a lot and to have huge shifts in mood and personality, I thought it was normal and that everyone had those periods of time... Then I started reading and learning, and now I've educated myself on what might be going on in my body.

My advice: Follow through. You must probably hate yourself for having so many disorders, but like me and my friend tell each other:

"At the end of every hardship there is something to be grateful for, be it a reward or the experience."

Maybe not THOSE exact words, but the exact message is still there.

[ECHOES]

No not everyone worries all the timei like us

At work, I sit and work and also worry and stew about things. I notice others seem to be relaxed and doing their work. I don't think their head is full of worries like mine is. Could be, but it doesn't appear that way.

[skeeweeaka]

I worry all of the time and can't seem to turn it off... Can't seem to stop it and it freaks me out constantly... It is quite depressioning....

TJ

[Perna]

No, some people are as mystified at our worrying as we are that not all people are like this :-) My husband is one of those, doesn't worry at all.

Therapy helped me a great deal so I don't worry as much. I can approach what "comes up" in life the way one does a math problem, you look at it and figure it out and solve it, no "worry" about whether you can solve it or what will happen in you don't solve it or whether other people are solving it faster than you are

[thalia_]

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Perna said:
Therapy helped me a great deal so I don't worry as much. I can approach what "comes up" in life the way one does a math problem, you look at it and figure it out and solve it, no "worry" about whether you can solve it or what will happen in you don't solve it or whether other people are solving it faster than you are

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Are you serious???? What therapy did that - because honestly? I would give everything I had to live like that. It sounds like heaven.

Sounds very nice, Perna, but I don't think it would work on me... Even if I worry about every problem I have, I can't approach it like a mathematical problem. It's just too different from me, especially since I'm studying to become an astrophysicist (which requires lots of math... I can't mix math with anxiety, sadly, no matter how much I try).