Greetings from Anxietyville

[chasingdogma]

I just wanted to introduce myself. I'm a diagnosed GAD. I've had episodes since my early 20's but only over the last few years did I really accept that I suffered from an Anxiety Disorder. I've always had to deal with social anxiety, but not to the point where it was a burden. Generally speaking, I do well in small groups and try to avoid large crowds. My biggest anxiety issue though is Health Anxiety or Hypochondria. I have HA flares every few years that can be very scary. I'm going through one at the moment, but I know what it is and that I'll come out okay on the other side.

[lalouba_jane]

Welcome :) and I'm glad to hear you can accept it nowadays. Think it takes everyone a while - sadly doesn't make the road any smoother though!

[str8trippin]

Welcome to the forum...a lot of us have major health anxiety, myself included. It gets really old. It's good to hear that others go through it and do come out okay on the other side! I definitely go through periods myself...I was feeling downright great for about a week and a half and then last night everything hit me full force again. I've had GAD my whole life, I think, but only really started having severe anxiety, especially health anxiety, a few months ago...still unsure of what triggered it at such a severe level, but trying my best to work through it and get back to normal. I think some changes need to be made in my environment.