I've been thinking for a while now that I have a general anxiety disorder. I am mentioning it to my dr. at my next check up.

yep...troubled sleep, muscle tension, feelings of fear and panic during ceratin things..not all things though..that would be me....my meds have helped calm it down a bit though..thankfully

Unfortunately, I think that anxiety and depression are WAY overdiagnosed. Seems like anytime someone is feeling down, they are put on anti-depressants...or anytime someone is anxious, they are put on anti-anxiety. Everyone has there ups and downs, but with this stuff, you are always up or always down. But I guess its easier sometimes to subscribe meds than not.

My husband has panic attacks and it's mostly a physical disorder with him, although I've read that panic attacks can be brought on my mental issues as well.
The meds really help to reduce the frequency of his attacks.

I have been suffering very badly these last few weeks. Since my granddad was diagnosed with stomach cancer and taken into hospital I just haven't been able to cope.

@Sarah100682 True that medical professionals may be over diagnosing but don't discount the true need for medication by some people. My life was miserable before anti-anxiety meds...not it is livable. I waited nearly 1.5 years before starting meds, after I failed to adequately control it myself. My doc stressed to me that meds are not a long term solution and suggested therapy.

I'm sorry about your granddad fluffyhelen.

I in no way suggested that meds aren't needed in some situations...I agree they are...I'm only saying I think that they are sometimes handed out like candy without actually looking deeper into the situation and trying to treat it otherwise.

From Panic to Power by Lucinda Bassett really helped me!

I used to have depression and anxiety issues after my mom died, but it hasn't been a big problem for me in the last 4-5 years. However, last night I started feeling so nauseous and anxious, so I couldn't fall asleep. I was panicked because I had to wake up early for a dermatologist appointment and I have a tendency to sleep through my alarm clock (so I set three of them!) and that the bump on my head might be cancer (but it's not...i'm 99.9% sure). Then I was worried I would be late for my first day back at college after a looong summer, and I was nervous enough about that. But everything turned out fine, but now I feel SO much better that it's all over with. Usually these "anxious episodes" of mine are very rare, though, I think I'm just a worrywart by nature.

I've been diagnosed with anxiety, but I don't believe it. It's not because of denial, only because the doctor said, "Anxiety runs in your family, so you have it too." He said this without an evaluation. Yeah, go figure.

Oh, and I agree with Sarah. Though a lot of people benefit from anti depressants, a lot of doctors do hand it out a bit too freely. For example, a lot of kids in this area acts their doctors for drugs like Xanax and they actually get the prescription. Of course they don't suffer from any illness that requires the help of Xanax

Therapy helped me quite a bit; I suffer from anixiety and mild depression and talking to a therapist was the best decision.

californiagirlx7, I so fear that happening to me when my mother passes away. I am trying to prepare myself ahead of time for this one day. Good to know I'm not worried for no reason at all.. that it could actually happen.

g1amourpuss - Yeah, obviously it's a very difficult thing to go through, but it gets better over time. I took Zoloft for 4 months after I finally got diagnosed because group counseling was making me feel more depressed (other people in the group had situations much worse than mine and a lot of them had lost two parents, so I was partly depressed because I was afraid of losing my dad too). I only had one "relapse" after I went off Zoloft, but I was fine after one week and I haven't been in a state of depression since then. I just found ways to distract myself by doing things I love, and by talking to my friends & family if I was feeling upset. I think counseling can be a great tool for some people, but it feels impersonal to me so I just talk to people who actually knew my mom and can relate to what I'm going through.

soapbox, that exact same situation is what started to get me to think its overdiagnosed. My doctor said, "you have a strong family history of depression, therefore you are depressed here are some meds..."

I never took them and a few weeks later I was fine, I was just having a rough few months. After that misdiagnoses, I started researching it alot and found many different resources that said that its overdiagnosed cause its easier to just give someone meds.

I think sometimes people need to try and find out why they are depressed or anxious and see if they can fix it that way...and if you can great, if not, its more serious and you may need medication to help, and there is nothing wrong with that.

I overcome anxiety by turning my negative thoughts into positives ones eventually I only thought positive stuff for the most part, I suggest you or your partners try it, it's hard to do at first but eventually you'll overcome it as it becomes a habit. Anxiety is the habit of constant negative thoughts. Here's a good site for anxiety help http://www.anxietypanicattacks.com.au

Very nice site!