Kuma
09-21-2014, 05:09 PM
At first, I had no noticeable anxiety. That lasted for many years. Then, a few years ago I found that I had some situational anxiety. Something would happen in my life and I would become anxious about that -- sometimes extremely anxious. For example, my father died of a particular illness and I found that I had a substantially elevated risk of the same illness -- and that caused me a lot of anxiety. Or I made an error of judgment and I became anxious about the consequences that might ensue. (This happened more often than I would have liked -- in part because I have tended to hold myself to a pretty high standard). Or issues in my marriage and family relationships would lead to anxiety about those things. The anxiety was very troubling and quite difficult to deal with. But at least I could tie it to specific issues or events.
Increasingly, I am feeling more of a generalized anxiety. When I read the symptoms of GAD, I have many of them. I feel anxious even when there is no particular event or risk or concern that my anxiety seems tied to. There are entire days -- sometimes -- when I feel a general sense of stress or tension. And I often awake anxious and really have to put in effort to drag myself out of bed and start the day.
My anxiety is not disabling. I meet my family obligations, engage in some recreational activities (nice dinners out, vacations, etc.), and hold down a demanding senior-level professional/managerial job. But the anxiety certainly impacts on my quality of life. And the apparent transformation of my anxiety from situational to more generalized is quite troubling. I feel like when it is tied to specific risks or events, I can deal with that more easily than when I am "just anxious."
I am not sure why I am writing this. I guess I am interested in whether others here have seen this transformation from situational anxiety to more generalized anxiety, and how you have dealt with that.
Best wishes.
Increasingly, I am feeling more of a generalized anxiety. When I read the symptoms of GAD, I have many of them. I feel anxious even when there is no particular event or risk or concern that my anxiety seems tied to. There are entire days -- sometimes -- when I feel a general sense of stress or tension. And I often awake anxious and really have to put in effort to drag myself out of bed and start the day.
My anxiety is not disabling. I meet my family obligations, engage in some recreational activities (nice dinners out, vacations, etc.), and hold down a demanding senior-level professional/managerial job. But the anxiety certainly impacts on my quality of life. And the apparent transformation of my anxiety from situational to more generalized is quite troubling. I feel like when it is tied to specific risks or events, I can deal with that more easily than when I am "just anxious."
I am not sure why I am writing this. I guess I am interested in whether others here have seen this transformation from situational anxiety to more generalized anxiety, and how you have dealt with that.
Best wishes.