Do I have anxiety?

[Wandmaker]

I have been reading lot;s of the forum posts and finally feel like I can register and post this question.

I don't feel like an anxious person. I just feel tired, so very tired. I toss and turn till the wee hours of the morning, thinking about every little thing, which becomes every big thing. The thing is none of it is real. I lay there trying to lull myself off and my mind wanders to a nice beach, our next coast holiday, which turns into a ludicrous shark attack scene, and all other possible things that could go wrong and I panic. Then I get up and have a drink of water, toilet and try again and it happens again, new thing, new ludicrous scene, new unfounded
panic over something that hasn’t happened, and isn’t likely to happen. Until eventually I fall asleep.

Apart from being tired daily life doesn't make me feel anxious is anyway.

Is this what anxiety is or do I just have an over active imagination? And how do I shut it off? Do I actually need help and who do I talk to about it? I know I need sleep...

[Zeal]

Hi Wandmaker,

Seeing as your anxious and catastrophic thinking is only at night when you're trying to fall asleep and not during daily life, I highly doubt you'd have Generalised Anxiety Disorder (GAD). I am not a doctor though, so it's important you go to your GP for advice. You could have Insomnia. My friend had chronic Insomnia, and she would imagine scary things in her room at night, but didn't have anxiety in other areas of her life.

Good luck with finding a solution.

Best wishes,

SM