Posted by Eddie Sylvano on August 21, 2002, at 8:47:55
Since my GP has no psychiatric training, and I can't talk to a real psychiatrist, I've been on my own trying to figure out the origin of my problems. Most of my symptoms fall neatly into "generalized anxiety disorder," and quite possibly somatization disorder (years of sporadic digestive problems that a dozen tests cannot define. Finally labeled IBS.).
According to the literature, those diagnoses fit my symptoms very well. The one sticking point is that I really, really don't *feel* anxious. If anything, I'm typically sedated. Concerns don't race though my head. I also feel that I'm relatively rational about the possibility of my physical symptoms being somatiform, which is inconsistant with desciptions of those with the disorder, who typically express the symptoms in overly theatrical ways and insist on tests and evaluations (I didn't ask for any of my tests. They're all barbaric).
I have had a depressive episode, which medication alleviated.
So anyway, what I'm wondering is:
(1) has anyone else been diagnosed with somatization disorder, and if so, what was the process leading to that diagnoses? What helped it?
(2) Is it possible to have GAD (particularly the physical symptoms), but have no awareness of being anxious?
poster:Eddie Sylvano
thread:117220
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20020821/msgs/117220.html