- Date posted
- 2y
Anxiety vs OCD
Basically I was diagnosed with GAD about 9-10 years ago so I know at the very least I have anxiety. However how do I tell the difference between anxiety and OCD, I know the compulsive behaviour isn’t really part of anxiety. But can people with anxiety get fixated on one specific fear for a significant portion of time? I think I do compulsions (googling, seeking reassurance, hand washing and others) but I’m not diagnosed so I don’t really know I just feel like guilty sometimes having this app and posting because I don’t have a diagnosis and I kind of just suspect it’s OCD - because it feels a lot more intense and immediate and scary and I don’t remember GAD ever feeling this constant and overwhelming and I also find myself needing answers to the situations my brain gives me a lot more then I used to, and even if I’m 99.99% sure of something the 0.01% is all I can focus on. I have a GP appointment in a week and a bit and hopefully I’ll be referred to a specialist but I really don’t want to bring up OCD to the GP because I’ve had a GP and a councillor tell me because I don’t do the generic compulsions (checking locks and at the time I wasn’t washing my hands excessively) that it was just anxiety. Anyways the point to my overly long post is; how does someone know whether they need to be seen for OCD, I’ve already been diagnosed with GAD, so should I just leave it at that?