New Member

[jaymie]

Hi :)

My name is Jaymie, and I suffer from GAD. I have been seeing a therapist for about 9 months now. She diagnosed me with moderate GAD. I still function every day pretty normally but I worry about things way too much.

I knew that I was beginning to become more worried that usual, about completely unimportant things, especially as I started my fist few years of university--I'd say about 3 years ago.

I worry pretty much about everything: money, friends, (lack of) love life, school...the works. I spend what seems like hours in a grocery store because I cannot decide what to buy.

It gradually become worse, but I tried to deny it. About a year and a half ago, I began to pick my scalp as a stress reliever. This spiraled out of the control to the point of thinking about shaving my whole head. With the advice of my mom, she thought it would be a good idea to see a therapist for help. I finally gave in and I was terrified. Within about a month or so, my picking began to go away as I gained the willpower to stop. I still do it time to time, very rarely, in the case that I feel overwhelmed and stressed over a situation.

I have thought about stopping my therapy, but I recently had a revelation. As much as it is hard to go to my weekly appointments, it is a safe place where I can share my feelings. It feels so good to let go of negative thoughts. I wish I could go every single day.

I recently started doing yoga which has been helping quite a bit.

My goal in life is to try to control my anxiety and to enjoy life. I cannot allow anxiety to control me. I feel as if life is slipping away from me every day. I feel as if I cannot live the life I want. It feels too late. :(

I hope I can meet some others suffering from GAD. Sometimes you feel like you're the only one...

[Schatmeisje]

Hello and wellcome Jaymie :-) You are definitely not the only one and there will be loads of people here willing to help and support you . Congratulations on the steps you have taken to win over the anxiety, i know how hard this is. Its not too late, and you are taking all the right steps by going to therapy etc. xx

[jaymie]

Thank you, Schatmeisje :)

[infear]

i feel the same way about my therapy. it feels good to be able to say anything and everything that's on my mind and it's SAFE and OKAY to do that. the therapist is there to help me figure out these thoughts and that feels good. i'm also doing yoga and have noticed that helps calm me too.
one thing i recently realized is that when i have my panic attacks, i do not feel like myself. i've even looked in the mirror during these attacks and hardly recognized myself. that's actually something that helped me realize these are just thoughts, just panic attacks and not ACTUALLY what i'm feeling/thinking/am. it's...like an illness. it's not who i am.

[jaymie]

i feel the same way about my therapy. it feels good to be able to say anything and everything that's on my mind and it's SAFE and OKAY to do that. the therapist is there to help me figure out these thoughts and that feels good. i'm also doing yoga and have noticed that helps calm me too.
one thing i recently realized is that when i have my panic attacks, i do not feel like myself. i've even looked in the mirror during these attacks and hardly recognized myself. that's actually something that helped me realize these are just thoughts, just panic attacks and not ACTUALLY what i'm feeling/thinking/am. it's...like an illness. it's not who i am.

Yes, I completely agree with you. I said to my therapist the other day, with tears in my eyes, that I wanted to revert back to a time where I did not even think I would end up with anxiety or rather not even know about anxiety at all...be complete ignorant about the disease. Anxiety is like this ugly monster that takes over you. And it keeps growing and growing. It's so hard to fight it off but I think with time it will get better.

Yoga definitely helps so much! I relate it to therapy. It's a space where you think and worry about nothing and you just focus on yourself. You just let go of all your fears and worries. The one thing I hate about yoga is once you leave the studio, you are immediately drifted back into the real world. I honestly wish life was a yoga studio.

How often do you get panic attacks?

[Anxiety1412]

Yes, I completely agree with you. I said to my therapist the other day, with tears in my eyes, that I wanted to revert back to a time where I did not even think I would end up with anxiety or rather not even know about anxiety at all...be complete ignorant about the disease. Anxiety is like this ugly monster that takes over you. And it keeps growing and growing. It's so hard to fight it off but I think with time it will get better.

Yoga definitely helps so much! I relate it to therapy. It's a space where you think and worry about nothing and you just focus on yourself. You just let go of all your fears and worries. The one thing I hate about yoga is once you leave the studio, you are immediately drifted back into the real world. I honestly wish life was a yoga studio.

How often do you get panic attacks?

You're right , yoga helped me so much also :) . Simply if we can master our mindset , then we can master anything in our life
Wish you best health
Regards

[Lola]

Hey Jaymie! How did you actually find out you've got GAD? I mean how did you even come to think that you might be suffering from it? I am really new to this and I'm not even sure that I have GAD or something related to it. I just read the article with the symptoms and noticed I have experienced almost each and every single one of them. I'm just looking for advice from people who have more experience than I do. I wish you best of luck in overcoming this. :)

[victor.gatto]

your not the only one jaimie :) i bite my nails! i have no nails left! LOL