Is my behaviour a type of anxiety or something else?

[magpie25]

I have felt for sometime that I possibly have some form of anxiety. A friend of mine recently spoke with a counsellor after a period of work related stress/burnout and I totally identified with the reasons surrounding their situation and how they react to things which has got me thinking about it more.

I am by nature a worrier, overthinker and also end up in "waiting mode" alot (generally end up being early to things due to this.) It has got worse as I've got older and a situation today has made me think that my reaction just isn't normal for this type of situation but am unsure if this would be classed as anxiety or just being strange!

Last week I was requested to leave samples into my doctors surgery by our local hospital, which I did today - all labelled with my details. Today I have received lab forms from the hospital, so I panic as I've already left them in to doctors. No problem I think, I'll ring GP to see - they'll probably say it's fine. Receptionist v helpful said oh you would need to bring form and see if a nurse can lift out sample and put it in the bag. She said to come in this afternoon after lunch.

For some reason my mind is now worrying they won't be able to retrieve it so what will happen and also I am stuck in this stupid waiting mode until I can go there and see what happens. Like I can't concentrate on anything else and I'm just waiting to get in the car. The issue is the rational part of my mind is saying to chill out, it's no big deal and I am totally overreacting but I can't change the other part that's shouting louder.

Everything is anticipatory as once I get there I'll be fine. Like another example i.e if I made a mistake in work I'd be in meltdown that evening but then the next day it is all totally fine.

Yes, I can completely relate to this. Once I’ve spotted a potential issue, I find it incredibly hard to stop my mind racing about it. It’s like a desperate urge to face the situation - regardless of whether the outcome will be good or bad. I too jump from situation after situation - some small, some bigger - so it’s exhausting because I feel never really switch off because my mind feels like it’s on high alert to spot potential issues.
I have no solutions I’m afraid! I’ve tried writing issues down which helps a little bit because it gives me a record of occasions where I can look back and know everything was ok. So maybe try that?

@magpie25 I have successfully overcome my tendency for catastrophic thinking or anxiety. I was diagnosed with depression and this was in part due to anxiety, burn out. Life. Once I had realised that I was stuck in thought patterns, which were making me worse. I can recognise them and realise that somethings are out of my control and the bad thing may not happen Medication helps!

You could think about getting help.

This is the result of a google swoop. I normally use the MIND website.
https://www.priorygroup.com/blog/catastrophising

That's anxiety kinda doing it's job – drawing your attention to the stuff that's too important to ignore. If it subsides once the issue is resolved then it's not something to be overly concerned about. One tip is to acknowledge that part of you that's shouting and let it know that it's all in hand and that shouting isn't helpful. (Try picturing it as a small worried child rather than some sort of ogre).

I found this really helpful - thank you.

For some reason I can't quote or tag in replies today without doing it multiple times.

Money - you've summarised it perfectly, thanks for the writing down tip. I will try this, maybe it will help me see patterns of at least how trivial some things are.

Not in my name - also thank you, I am glad you were able to overcome things, I will take a look at that link, if anything it may be able to give some clarity.

Eyes - that's exactly it, nothing is ever that bad when resolved. It's the built up to the outcome/resolution! The picturing the voice might be helpful and I'll try and give that a go.