first post and help please

Hi, dont really want to give my name etc so will just use my username, which is Salfordnurse.
I have a question that you may be able to help me with.
Can you have generalised anxiety disorder and still be OK talking in small groups, about work subjects and things you are knowledgeable about.
I'm a critical care nurse and am fine chatting about my knowledge and experience of this in small groups of about 10 people. But i find parties and social situations very difficult, i make excuses about attending nights out and meeting groups or friends in bars ( meeting my best friend for a coffee is OK). i hate going out in large crowds, i walk down the street if crowds start forming i will try and cross roads to avoid them. I purposely go out shopping early morning to avoid crowds and will walk out of a shop if too many people are there as i feel very uneasy and unsafe. I find it difficult asking for help in shops, and prefer to use self service checkouts than going to a server person. Its the same driving i hate driving places i dont know and hate busy traffic. (Ive been driving for 5 years and have been on a motorway (highway) twice and one of those was when i took the wrong turning at a junction.
I get anxious and scared i wont be able to get home or something will happen to me. I worry about many little
things daily, I worry if Ive upset people, I worry if something bad is going to happen to me. If i ask people to do something, which i stutter through i spend my time worrying if i was right to do it. I do manage to go out on my own, though was in my early 20's before i went into the city centre alone, but find myself constantly checking my
safety. Sorry for rambling but would really like advice.

Hi Salfordnurse,
I would say that it sounds as though you have some sort of anxiety disorder. I read up more on it at the Cleveland clinic. Here in America, it is tops in medicine. To me it seems that the anxiety disorders being on a spectrum as they are would mean that patients would vary wildly in presentation. Honestly, you could present symptoms in hundreds of different ways.
I will put a link below to the site that I checked for you.

Cat

http://my.clevelandclinic.org/disorders/Anxiety_Disorder/hic_An_Overview_of_Anxiety_Disorders.aspx

http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/anxiety-disorders/generalized-anxiety-disorder-gad.shtml