Generalized Anxiety Disorder Symptoms
Chronic Anxiety Disorder, also called Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD), is characterized by excessive Worry and tension (anxiety) over events or life in general – or maybe nothing – over an extended period and occurring on more days than not. The person suffering with this condition is unable to stop the thoughts and feelings and will experience three of more of the following symptoms:
- Muscle tension
- Irritability
- A restless feeling or the feeling of being on edge
- Fatigue
- Difficulty sleeping, or not sleeping well
- A hard time concentrating, with the mind simply going blank at times
He or she might also experience physical symptoms like chronic stomach aches, nausea, gagging, vomiting or bowel problems such as spastic colon or irritable bowel syndrome.
How Common Is Chronic Anxiety Disorder?
According to Wikipedia, about 3.1% of Americans over the age of 18 are diagnosed with this condition every year. Canada and some Western European countries report similar findings. (These figures do not, of course, include those who are diagnosed with what is actually a secondary condition caused by anxiety: Depression.)
Considering that many of those diagnosed continue to suffer from it, either because they didn’t follow up, became disenchanted with the medical or other treatment they received or just didn’t do anything about it at all, the numbers add up. In fact, the actual percentage of adults suffering from chronic Anxiety Problems could conceivably reach 20% or more. Who knows? Either way, it’s extremely common, with people experiencing it to varying degrees.
How Do People Treat Their Chronic Anxiety?
Most people who suffer with this problem will find if they visit a medical doctor, they will be given a prescription for antidepressants or anti-anxiety medicines. While these may relieve symptoms somewhat, they will not cure anything and they may carry a high price tag in side effects. And if the doctor prescribes anti-anxiety meds like benzodiazepines, the price could be higher: addiction, and eventually serious withdrawal problems. Withdrawal from “benzos” can last for months, even if it was taken only as prescribed.
Another significant number of sufferers will turn to self-medication, usually with alcohol. They may or may not have been to a doctor and tried prescription medicines, which often only work for a short period and need to be increased or replaced with another prescription. Either way, this is not a good long-term strategy. It may also result in dependency or addiction and eventually destroy a person’s life.
Medication, whether prescription or self-medicating, will never cure any form of anxiety disorder, it will only control symptoms. Chronic anxiety disorder – or any anxiety disorder – is not a medical issue that can be eliminated with any chemical at this time. It’s a psychological and emotional issue.
The tendency toward developing an anxiety disorder or a low threshold for stress may be genetic – the jury’s still out on that question – but the ultimate cause of these disorders is an inadvertent training of the brain and the emotional response to stress that brings about a misguided fight or flight response. This then triggers the release of adrenaline into the system, causing the symptoms.
Those who have successfully treated their chronic anxiety disorder have done so by re-training their brains and their responses to stressors. They’ve changed their outlook on life to rid themselves of the anxiety, not the other way around.
The method of doing this that seems to bring the best results is called Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. Some sufferers seek out professional practitioners for help with this therapy – counselors or psychologists. Others find guidance through programs or books found on the Internet or in book stores that can help them make these behavioral changes in the privacy of their homes. An advantage of these products is that most are written by former anxiety sufferers who have actually used the techniques they teach.
There is help available for chronic anxiety disorder and it’s not that difficult to cure, so a person doesn’t have to continue through life with the frustrating feelings, thoughts and symptoms, wishing it would just go away.
Owen Johnson is an expert on Anxiety Disorders and is a survivor of Chronic Anxiety. If you or someone you love suffers from Chronic Anxiety Disorder or any other form of anxiety visit http://helpwithanxietydisorder.com and be sure to sign up for the informative mini-course.
What is Generalized Anxiety Disorder?
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Physical Education Class and Social Anxiety Film: They Grow Up So Fast DVD (1950s) $4.99 This 1950s film, sponsored by the American Association of Health, Physical Education and Recreation, uses the individual story of a worried mother and her son Paul to advocate schools hiring certified gym teachers. Paul has social anxiety and is picked on in his high school gym class, which is taught by his regular classroom teacher. There are scenes of kids playing poorly supervised games or play… |
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The Worried Child: Recognizing Anxiety in Children and Helping Them Heal $10.78 This resource book covers the importance of recognizing anxiety in children and helping them heal by raising their self confidence, increasing social and self control skills, and teaching them how to play, relax and communicate their feelings and needs. Included are detail lists, skill exercises, sample dialogues, and case studies and it also presents information on the various types and symptoms … |
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Acceptance and Commitment Therapy for Anxiety Disorders: A Practitioner’s Treatment Guide to Using Mindfulness, Acceptance, and Values-Based Behavior Change Strategies $34.50 Acceptance and commitment therapy, or ACT (pronounced as a word rather than letters), is an emerging psychotherapeutic technique first developed into a complete system in the book Acceptance and Commitment Therapy by Steven Hayes, Kirk Strosahl, and Kelly Wilson.ACT marks what some call a third wave in behavior therapy. To understand what this means, it helps to know that the first wave refers to … |
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Treatment Plans and Interventions for Depression and Anxiety Disorders $70.00 Includes CD-ROM with Reproducible Forms!This one-of-a-kind resource provides the busy practitioner with empirically supported treatments for seven frequently encountered disorders: major depression, generalized anxiety, panic and agoraphobia, PTSD, social phobia, specific phobia, and obsessive-compulsive disorder. Serving as ready-to-use treatment packages, chapters describe basic cognitive-behavi… |