Is there a name for this?

[uru]

I had worries and anxieties for a most of my life but they came and went.

Recently I've had a few episodes (about 1 per year since 2013) in which I focus on an issue and obsess about it to the point where it's all I think about from more to night. It is literally the ONLY thing I think about every free minute. I lose my appetite, I lose my libido, and I become very anxious and quiet.

I'm going through one such period right now.

1) Is there a name for this?
2) Do these things tend to get worse with age?

[MyNameIsTerry]

If it's about the past it would be Rumination or Worry if the future.

I know what you mean, I've had a fair bit of this but because my OCD was so varied I only had it for hours at a time so my other issues would split it up. Some people have now specific elements to their anxiety disorders and spend much more time on them. I know if people on here with Pure O forms of OCD that are like this.

Mindfulness can be a great helper as you learn to focus properly, still your mind and control your thoughts better. This helped me more than CBT did.

I don't think age really matters but it might be more that different stages in life can bring different worries. These disorders are also "learnt behaviour" so you can train yourself to be more obsessive, I've done this to myself between my breakdown and later relapse with added complications of my med, but you can retrain your brain. Neuroplasticity works both ways so don't lose hope.

[uru]

How did you train yourself to be more obsessive?

[MyNameIsTerry]

There is probably more to this than I realise but certainly it came from environmental factors (work), my role in work and lack of support available as well as the overload of projects that never ended, etc. I was fine with it all and loved the stress but I went in work one morning and a switch went in my head and then came GAD.

When I finally returned to work I was promised I wouldn't be immersed in so much but 6 months later that had all changed again. Since back then I relied solely on my GP, who told me very little and just opted for meds, I hadn't learnt about anxiety and how it builds new core beliefs, makes associations, strengthens itself in the subconscious, etc so I ploughed into my work and without realising used it as avoidance. This seemed to be ok for a few years but then came some of the depression and negative thinking and my views were changing.

So, the continued pressure of far too much work and far too much constantly on my mind made me mroe & more obsessive. The current med exploded it out of alll proportion though and was never expected.

I used to sit hit the refresh button constantly at work and not getting the things done that were already in my email or on my desk. I did the same when I went off if I was on forums.