do i have an anxiety disorder?

Bare with me, my story is kind of a long read. I have always been a little more anxious than most people i guess you would say, but never really got too bad, no panic attacks or anything. One night, about 2 months ago, i was laying in bed worried about a test at school the next day and couldnt sleep because i was worried about it. The next night i thought, "what if i cant sleep tonight" then i got worried about it too, and didnt sleep. After that i started worrying all day about not being able to sleep which actually led to me not sleeping because i was scared i wouldnt be able to sleep. Since then my sleeping has gotten a bit better, but now i am anxious almost all day everyday and have been for about 2 months now. Its not really a physical anxiety, it just that i keep getting these negative thoughts in my head and i feel like i cant enjoy anything. Im constantly aware of things, which doesnt sound like a problem but like when i watch tv, i think about watching tv so i cant watch it because i keep thinking too hard about trying to watch it...its wierd. Today even i read an article about someone not being able to take thier mind off of thier breathing and starting thinking, hey what if i couldnt get breathing off my mind....and i have been counting breaths all day. My doctor prescribed me 20mg of celexa i have been taking for 3 weeks but i dont really notice much of a difference if any. Am i develpoing an anxiety disorder or am i just thinking into it too much. i feel like i cant shut my mind off...its starting to affect my life a lot.

rob,


Hello and welcome to HealingWell. It feels to me like you have anxiety and if your physician has started you on Celexa it would appear that he thinks you have an anxiety issue also.



You may have anticipatory anxiety or the "what if?" type of anxiety that many members here also have.


Anticipatory anxiety is where a person experiences increased levels of anxiety by thinking about an event or situation in the future. The worries you experience specifically focus on what you think might happen, often with catastrophic predictions about the event.

To begin treating anticipatory anxiety, we must be able to admit that we cannot predict the future. Any scenario we are able to imagine is nothing more than speculation and fabrication.

The medication you are on may take 4-6 weeks before you notice the full therpeutic effect. Please do check in with your physician re your concerns.

Take care and again welcome,

Kitt

Totally agree bout the anticipatory anxiety it really is a hard card to deal with..i would go back to the doc and explain in detail exactly what is going on..the doc needs to listen and hear what you are saying ...cbt is good for this imho there is a thread about it on here as well..know you are not alone n have come to a great place for support n understanding..keep us posted...lyn

Oh wait, I just read you've only been on Celexa for 3 weeks and Kitt is right.... it usually takes up to 4-6 weeks to really notice a change. My doctor told me when I was on an SSRI, to give it a good full 6 weeks.