Which type of anxiety is this... ?

Hi. Just wondered if anyone could help me identify which form of anxiety disorder I have?

I'd say the relevant features of my anxiety disorder are:

- It came about as a result of a bad experience (a stressor) which seems to rule out many of the anxiety disorders
- From what I've read about PTSD the bad experience doesn't seem bad enough for my anxiety disorder to be PTSD
- I've had my anxiety disorder for several years, which seems to rule out adjustment disorder

From what I've read I can't see how my anxiety disorder fits any of the types except Anxiety Disorder NOS, but if anyone with good knowledge of anxiety disorders could reply with anything they think might help, I'd be very grateful.

Regards,

morph

morph, there are no experts here, but I will attempt to answer your general question anyway. Your second point seems a little strange to me. If the anxiety is serious enough to you - and you alone - then that should be all that matters. If the basic symptoms that you have match those of PTSD, then that must surely be what you have? What is the actual event that triggers the anxiety though? You must be aware too that anxiety - in general - features in most mental illnesses. It's just something that we are all familiar with to some degree. It's important to figure out the exact cause of it, which is what you seem to know already?

Kevin

Hi Kevin. Thanks for your reply.

Re the 2nd point - I see. Just that I read that the bad experience had to be something like risk of serious injury or death for it to be PTSD. When I read that a traumatic event can be anything that traumatises you, regardless of what other people think of the event, I thought maybe it was adjustment disorder. But then I read more and apparently adjustment disorder lasts maximum 6 months (is this correct?)

I feel so embarrassed and ashamed about the event that I'm not sure I want to say what it is here and now (which I think might be why it's caused me so much trouble ever since). But basically, I was halfway through a degree, then the event happened, and ever since then I've been a completely different person (though with hindsight I see I had problems before the event, they were nothing like the ones I've had since). I dropped out shortly after, and over the years since I've got gradually worse. These days my anxiety around familiar people is so bad that I've had to stop working and move somewhere where nobody knows me.

Yeah, there's absolutely no doubt in my mind what caused it, I'm just not sure what "it" is!

Regards,

morph

Hey, upon hearing about what happened to you, I can relate to you more now. I was in the final year of a degree, but then dropped out. Things that happened to me just threw me off course completely, and I was not capable of finishing the course. Tio this day, I still don't officially have the degree, but I put it on my CV / resumé anyway and explain what happened. In my mind, I virtually have the degree as I was a good student. Anyway, after that, I eventually completed an entirely different degree and am now a postgrad.

I don't know the literature regarding adjustment disorder, and so cannot comment. However, don't spend too much time figuring out what exactly is wrong with yourself. There are countless mental illnesses listed in the big diagnostics and statistics manual (DSM) IV, and some overlap with each other. If PTSD describes you best, then go with that. Learn how the illness manifests itself in you, and how you can get control over it.

Kevin