wow...think there's a connection between old 911s and anxiety/substance abuse? Must be the addictive/obsessive personalities...
GAD sucks (although you might have a variation...you can get a feel for your symptoms at
http://www.nimh.nih.gov/publicat/anxiety.cfm). And the tendency, especially if you come from certain backgrounds (including substance abuse) is to just "be strong". That is total BS. Great comments in the posts above...all spoken from people who have been there. I've had very good luck doing more regular exercise...martial arts twice a week that includes qui gong and tai chi (moving meditation). I'm now med-free, but it has been a lot of work and will continue to be.
But being insane has its benefits...