Hi, I've just been diagnosed with Generalised Anxiety Disorder after practically a whole lifetime (so far) of mental health problems. I saw my GP and a Psychiatric Nurse, who agreed there was a serious problem but didn't know what condition it could be. Then the Psychiatrist I was referred to quickly decided I had GAD, mainly because my mother has it.
I wondered if anyone here could comment on whether my diagnosis seems okay? I've read up quite a bit on the condition and my case doesn't seem to match up that much to most of the generic descriptions.
Specifically, I have the following symptoms which do seem to fit in with GAD: derealisation / depersonalisation; extreme feelings of anxiety / impending doom / negative emotions; 'fight or flight' sensations; restlessness; flight of ideas and inability to concentrate or communicate effectively; visual disturbances; occasional obsessive thoughts.
However: I don't have panic attacks; I don't worry about specific things any more than the next person; rather than feeling 'constantly' anxious I have episodes that come on over a day or so and can last for about a week where I have major symptoms throughout; there usually isn't an obvious trigger for these episodes; I occasionally get delusional; I often have vivid dreams and find my senses are heightened when I'm going into an episode (not sure if this is usual for GAD sufferers?)
Are there any others on this forum with this pattern of symptoms? When I read articles on GAD they often seem to be about how to stop worrying about things and manage stress and I just think, 'this doesn't sound like my condition'.
I'm also struggling with trying to decide whether to go on long term treatment with SSRIs or keep managing it myself, but I'll spend some more time looking at previous posts on that subject before bugging you all with questions.
Thanks in advance for any comments!