Do You Have An Generalized Anxiety Disorder?.
What is GAD?
If you are prone to worry about every day events, you could be suffering from a condition called Generalized Anxiety Disorder or GAD as it is more commonly known. People suffering from this kind of disorder always feel that something disastrous is going to happen, and they cannot stop themselves from worrying about money, health, work, family, college or friends. The worrying becomes almost compulsive and it begins to take over the life of the sufferer affecting their relationships and social activities. It comes to dominate their ability to function by causing fear and dread. Click here for more information on Anxiety.
Symptoms of GAD
Anxiety affects the thinking process of a person, and it can lead to various physical symptoms including irritability, sweating, headaches, restlessness, nausea, difficulty in concentrating, tiredness, trembling, trouble falling asleep, frequent urination and getting easily startled.
Causes of anxiety are not known fully, but there are various factors that contribute to its development, and these factors are brain chemistry, genetics and environmental stress. If you have a family history of anxiety or depression you may be more likely to suffer from it and GAD has been linked to abnormal levels of neurotransmitters in the brain. These are chemical couriers ferrying messages between brain cells and if they get interrupted it the information is not delivered properly. This alters the brain’s reaction to certain situations, causing anxiety.
Certain unpleasant events, like trauma, divorce, death of a loved one, or job stress may cause anxiety, and it becomes worse if there is high level of stress. Click here for more information on Anxiety Treatments.
Treatment of Anxiety
Anxiety is treated by psychologist, psychiatrist, or a mental health professionals. These professional are trained to diagnose and treat any kind of mental illnesses. Anxiety treatment includes the combination of cognitive-behavioral anxiety therapy and medications. If GAD has started to interfere with everyday functioning, medications can be very useful. These may include tranquillizers to relax and calm the patient.
Cognitive-behavioral therapy helps people by recognizing the factors that cause the troubled feelings, and then change the thought and behavior patterns to deal with them. It helps by giving people an understanding of their worries and how it distorts their thinking and so limiting their effect.
GAD cannot be prevented, but there are some things that can be done to lessen or control the symptoms. This includes reducing the consumption of caffeine containing products such as tea, coffee, chocolate and cola. It is a good idea to talk with your pharmacist to see if there are any herbal remedies to ease the symptoms. As ever, it is important to exercise and eat a healthy balanced diet regularly. If you have suffered a traumatic experience you may need to seek the support of a counelor.
For more information visit our Anxiety and Panic Attacks Homepage.
