Is this GAD?

[up a ladder]

I have never considered my issue to be GAD but now not sure.
I have a general fear of having a panic attack and these are usually driven by events or upcoming events. This relapse has me felling anxious most of the day. I sweat in torrents and my hair is always wet through. Constant feeling of just wanting to burst into tears. Hopeless feelings most of the day.
It is made worse when I think about upcoming events but is present all the time.

[IrishLondon]

I know too well the feeling of wanting to burst into tears and trying to hold it all together. But this feeling will pass for both of us.

[up a ladder]

Hi.
Not a great one is it. I posted earlier about me looking in a mirror at 17st 6ft hairy bloke crying like a baby. I know it is not anything like fearing a heart attack or stroke, but for me it just seems to be such an issue if it happened at work.

---------- Post added at 21:42 ---------- Previous post was at 21:40 ----------

Just to add. My appetite is awful. I find I can not eat until the evenings. Eve drinking is hard, but eating is just impossible.

[IrishLondon]

15st 6ft bloke here! So I totally understand :)

[izziex]

As Newt Schamander says in Fantastic Beasts: 'Worrying means you suffer twice'
I think this is a quote to live by. But totally understand where you are coming from, I have panic attacks about upcoming events to. I hate that dreading feeling.
Whenever I have a panic attack I sit crossed legs and put my hands on my knees and just breath while thinking about something else, like counting or something.
It sounds like GAD but could just be normal anxiety and panic attacks.
Maybe see a doctor?

[Bill]

Fear of feeling fear which is what panic is. This is So common. It doesn't matter what age, weight or anything else we are, it can affect anyone.

The tears are simply the release mechanism when we feel too much stress. That's why they say it should do us good to cry even for us men. It's just we feel it's not manly when really it should be accepted for everyone.

As for the panic, imagine you're on safari and your vehicle breaks down. You have no means of contact because your radio is broken. You're alone and outside you can hear lions roaring all around you. You feel trapped and yes, terrified. You not only fear that if you step outside you'll be eaten but even where you're sitting you feel there's no escape. You can't breathe, you're sweating like crazy and you think you're going to pass out. You fear you're going to panic.

Then all of a sudden another vehicle turns up as they knew your route and had got concerned when you didn't return so they sent a search party. You're safe and you relax.

Now imagine you wanted to go into town but you were now afraid that your car will break down and you'll feel alone with no means of getting home. The worry makes you feel panic just thinking about it because of your previous bad experience on safari, even though you know no lions will exist in town, unless that is, you now feel that everyone around you in town will feel like lions all making your feel trapped.

A bad experience will trigger a panic attack which leaves a fear of it happening again (fear of fear) when we find ourselves faced with a situation that makes us feel stressed which will make us want to fight or flee but when we feel we have no choice other than to be in that situation, we feel trapped leading to that fear of panic resurfacing.

The ways you can cope with it is practise, building confidence, learning how to keep relaxed, keep focused on the job at hand and remind yourself they're just natural symptoms of feeling stressed just as you would feel if confronted by a lion.