The individual suffering from anxiety may fail to fulfill the needs of his/her social life and may falter during normal course of daily routine. Both the fear and anxiety are different phenomenal emotional patterns connected to specific scientific disorders. These two words can hence be used interchangeably. A phobia for instance, which is a state of mental anxiety, stands to be defined as a persistent or irrational fear.
Anxiety is a common occurrence of a body's reaction to a perceived or imagined danger. But when the worry becomes excessive and persistent, it inhibits a person's daily activities. It then leads to a disorder called generalized anxiety disorder (GAD). It occurs when a normal level of anxiety becomes severe and persists over more than few months.
Symptoms: Generalized Anxiety Disorder symptoms are lined into three categories which include psychological, physical and behavioral aspects.
Psychological aspects.In this aspect of GAD, a person finds it difficult to stop his/her anxious thoughts. They constantly experience the chronic worry about events that are unlikely to occur. Often, they have trouble in sleeping and stay awake for long times. Due to these, they are always restless and finds difficult to relax. Any kind of psychological disturbance or problem can lead to GAD.
Physical aspects- lack of energy, muscular tension, stomach problems and chest pains could be the frequent problems experienced by the patient. Other minor physical problems include twitching or trembling, headaches, grinding of teeth, sweating and dizziness. This makes the patient inactive in their day to day activities.
Behavioral aspects- A patient with GAD finds it troublesome to concentrate on important things. They are incapable and cannot complete their daily tasks. This reflects in the productivity and lead to irritability. The patients are prone to procrastination and easy startle.
Treatments: Generalized anxiety disorder can be treated by psychotherapy and medication.Psychotherapy known as cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is the effective method of treating GAD patients. Medication is considered as the temporary measure to relieve symptoms at the beginning of the treatment. If the medication is suggested along with psychotherapy, it becomes a longterm tool for overcoming the disorder. Good care and a happy state of mind can avoid the Generalized Anxiety Disorder.
Generalized anxiety disorder affects around 3% to 4% of the population. It keeps you in a worried state and makes a persons depressed about life. It does not stop a person from living their lives normally, or is it a panic attack. It affects they way you think. It stops a person from deciding on things and thus making them depressed.
It makes the person believe that they have no interest in life. There are no real triggers for generalized anxiety disorder. Sometimes it can affect a person without them knowing. For example, you are waiting for a loved one and they are late. You start to think about the ?what if? they had an accident, what if something bad has happened to them? The feeling of worry and anxiety will start to creep into their head and the cycle repeats itself in a variety of situation.
Some people will experience this problem in their everyday lives and it could prevent them from relaxing, being calm and enjoy time alone.
Generalized Anxiety disorder (GAD) can take up to 6 months or more of severe anxiety to take affect. People who experience GAD usually expect the worse case scenario. It prevents them from relaxing and can cause insomnia, fatigue, headaches, irritability and trembling.
GAD affects approximately 2.8% of all Americans (4 million people) each year and often hits people in their childhood, adolescence and even in adult hood. It affects women more than men.
GAD is just one of the six different anxiety disorders and can be categorized in the following groups. 1. Generalized Anxiety Disorder 2. Panic Disorder 3. Social Anxiety Disorder 4. Post Traumatic Anxiety Disorder 5. Obsessive Anxiety Disorder 6. Phobia Related Anxiety Disorder
GAD along with the other 5 disorders is treatable and should be looked at by a professional therapist as soon as possible. There are two main types of recommended therapy, cognitive and behavioural therapy. Many patience usually find it easier to copy with disorders when they receive treatment.
Cognitive therapy is focused on changing ones mental state by helping the brain relearn its thinking process. It can help with long term treatment because changing the way a person thinks can affect their out come tremendously for example helping them cope with anxiety and realising that all their problems can be solved.
Behavioural therapy is a more in your face type of treatment. It involves confrontation a persons fears. The purpose to this is to help a person talk about their problems until desensitize from the fear or anxiety by describing in detail how they feel.