Anxiety: A Lifelong Struggle

I've only developed anxiety (or GAD) recently. I've always been a terrible over thinker, but only recently did it get to the point where I started having breakdowns and couldn't ignore the building pressure. I actually downloaded an app called "Finch" to help keep me on track now with goals and calm me during I guess "attacks"? Maybe? I'm still unsure of what to call what happens. I'm not sure if panic attack fits to be honest. But even though I don't know much yet about what's happening, I'm glad I'm not alone and there are others experiencing this as well whom can share their coping mechanisms!

Also have had it my whole life, just didn’t realize it was a thing until adulthood since it’s so stigmatized in our society

Oh yeah. As a 3 year old when they would take me to restaurants I would just cry the entire time. Full blown panic

* In clarification of my previous comment, when I requested to be un-diagnosed, they said that I still had generalized anxiety disorder, even if I couldn’t quite understand why my worries were abnormal.

I’m not sure when my generalized anxiety developed. I have a hard time telling which of my worries are rational or normal, and which ones are not. To me, they all seem rational, and to me, I feel that I worry a reasonable amount. I was surprised when I was diagnosed with generalized anxiety. I even requested to be un-diagnosed, a few years afterward. People tell me that I worry too much about things that are not rational, including therapists/doctors/psychiatrists/etc., but since I’ve been this way for a long time (maybe all my life, as well?), my level of worrying seems normal to me. So, it’s hard to say!

I've made peace with the fact that my family will never really be able to understand the way my anxiety makes me think and feel. My Mom's given me a soft place to land and the support she can, I just have to remember to be grateful for that.

I actually just moved out and no my family wasnt a big help with my condition they never believed me

My mom causes me anxiety. I moved out in 2018 but had to move back in and am about to move again. I can't take anymore. Check the people around you. Do they contribute to your anxiety?