Do I have GAD?

Mental health
1

Hello,

I am a soon-to-be university student and is about to leave my family. Ever since I was small, I've always had irrational worries that have been plaguing my head and my parents often tell me my imagination is too big (not mockingly). There worries often appears when:

- My parents are invited somewhere for the evening and have to come back late by car, I am scared that they are going to crash and I will end up parentless in the morning

- my father (who is the only one working in my family) having a big accident at his work place

- my parents divorcing or one of my parents cheating on the other one. My mother who doesn't work would not be able to raise me and my siblings alone.

- my studies being too expensive and ruining my entire family because of my own selfishness and not being able to live comfortably

These are the main worries I've had however depending on the situation, my head always seems to create new hypotheses that I know are most likely not going to happen. Despite all of this, I can't shake off this feeling and I am worried that it is going to take me somewhere worse mentally...

Can any of you let me know if you think I have GAD or if anyone of you is in the same situation as me?

Thanks a lot!

2

Sounds vary much like GAD, from your explanation. My anxiety/ GAD/ OCD starter young. Glad your asking advice. I hid mine for years , thought people would think me strange. Know now it is very common. You need to tell doctor they can helpbtreat this alongside maybe therapy or I find posting like this and talking to people who actually know how this feels is great help. My head always racing with irrational worries then I get so anxious , just want it to stop. See doc soon as , can improve. I can have really good patches but always aware it could pop back up. Great tips here on how to cope and peopl to reassure . Not alone. See doc , explain, and stress you don't want this to go ignored and become more anxious and depressed. Good luck.❤️

3

 Yes, what you are doing can definitely be part of anxiety.  What you are doing and what I did is called rumination. That means you go over things in your head over and over and over causing great fear and anxiety.

I was a worrier since first grade. Worried my mother would die, and she ended up living to be 89! Then when I got to college I was worried something would happen to  Family members back home none of which happened. Then when I got married and had kids I worried about the kids going to friends houses in case something bad happened. I worried about the kids driving with other people  in case there was an accident and on and on and on. It basically tortured my mind over and over all for nothing!  My kids are all grown now and doing very well. 

 i'm trying to make a point that what we need to do is live in the present, live today none in the past and not in the future. Once today is gone we will never get it back. The past is memories in the future is unknown.  Worrying is not going to add a day to your life so it is useless! I got to the point where if something happens in the future then I'll deal with it at that time because absolutely none of what I worried about actually happened! 

 worry is based on fear. When fear takes a hold of us it reeks havoc on our lives! We have to be in control 

FEAR  stands for false evidence appearing real. So when we worry about something happening to a loved one, that worry is based on nothing, on a non-reality that we are making up in our mind! 

 Believe me, the what if thinking can make you really sick. It did it to me and now I have terrible generalized anxiety that pops up whenever it wants to. Please don't do this to yourself. you are young, you have a future, And I'm sure your family would want you to go to college and focus on yourself at this time so that you can have a great future. The odds of our worries coming  true are practically zero. 

 there is a great audio meditation found on YouTube that I think could really help you! It's called Detachment from Overthinking.   Another one is called clearing subconscious negativity. Put in some earbuds, lay down and listen. It teaches you how to separate negative thoughts from yourself. 

 also there are some other great audios on anxiety, depression, etc. many to choose from. I listen a couple times a day. 

 you're a fighter for yourself. Be determined to stay focused in school because you need to do this for yourself! Don't let fear take you over. 

 when you get a negative thought such as worry about family, don't try to fight it off because that will make your anxiety worse. What you do is simply calmly acknowledge that you have the thought. Then Imaginate it floating off on some dark clouds and dissolving in the sky. Do this every time you get a negative or anxious thoughts and eventually your mind will automatically get rid of that thought.

 if your having a real difficult time, speaking with a counselor who specializes in anxiety can really help! It helped me a lot. They can help you get to the bottom of why you're feeling so anxious and give you tools to help you. 

 your studies are very important for your future! Doing this for yourself does not mean that you don't love your family. 

 if you can ever pick up a book called mindfulness it's an excellent read and shows us how to get rid of unwanted thoughts and develop a life with peace of mind. 

 I wish you the best and remember,  our thoughts are not a part of us, they are separate because the mind very often will go to the negative if we let it. You don't have to let it. Thoughts come and go all day long but you can control them  by acknowledging it, then watching it disappear. I do wish you the best at college you will be fine! 😁

4

I suffer from GAD...and for me it can be debilitating. Crippling even. Not a pin pointed topic of worry or stress that is easily defined...but random...uncontrollable attacks of anxiety that effect my daily life. From my abilty to go to a grocery store..to me even being uncomfortable at was use to be fun and normal family events.

It's not regular anxiety by far...its chronic.

Not sure if me sharing my situation helps...but I hope it does. At present I am doing much better. With Therapy and meds I manage to perk out the rabbit hole to make it through the day. Still baby steps and a lot of faking like I'm better than I am...but a work in progress.

Good luck to you in finding out what is troubling you.. See a Dr. It could change your life.

5

Check your messages. Youll see the box upper right corner of the page. Use the guide i sent you to help dissmantle these thoughts. Write it all out so you can review it any time needed. gAD is a severe bully a very negative, insecure bully but there are ways to manage it too. Takes time and a lot of patience.

im older so no im not in your sitauation but i have GAD and oh boy does the mind wander to scenarios that sabatage postive thinking,

6

Thank you guys for your replies!

I'm not sure but I think that all of this was caused by the fact that my father is a very nervous individual who gets mad quite easily and when he does, he tends to let his anger out with slamming his fist down the table or letting one or two curse words to shock us (we never curse when we discuss with each other usually). And so from a very young age I think I developed a fear of adults scolding me, even now when a teacher or an adult is dissatisfied, my eyes start to tear up and it is very hard for me not to cry even though it is not because of sadness but because I cannot control my emotions. Last year I had some sort of panic attack when my father was mad.

To add to this, during this school year, at some point I felt like I would never get out of the grades' pressure (and I have grades that are respectable). For almost one month and a half I felt always down, very irritable, only having negative thoughts. For a short while I had even considered suicide, even though I knew I would never do it. However this idea of ending my life was always present even since I was in middle school whenever things got a little tough.

I am not from a dysfunctional family and have a very happy life with all I could ask for and telling all of this to parents would feel like taking all of this for granted. I have considered looking for a doctor/therapist once I go to college and without telling my parents.