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Recent Posts Hi all Anxiety DisorderBackground on Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) Living in the United States and looking at everything we try and put on our shoulders, it is normal to expect that anyone can be stressed out or feel a little worried every now and then. In fact, some stress is normal and probably good for you in a way as it helps you get done what you need to get done (finishing your paper for school or getting your taxes in on time). However, people with a disease call Generalized Anxiety Disorder feel this way almost all day and everyday, even if they really don’t have much to worry about. Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) is a condition that causes people to worry about almost everything. People have a lot of trouble controlling this stress and worry and it causes them trouble in their daily lives (interferes with work, social functions, etc). Anxiety or Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) as doctors like to call it, is a relatively common mental disorder that affects around 4% of all people at some point in their life. In 1998 alone around 12 million Americans were diagnosed with this disease. Like most mental disorders, many people suffering from depression are not diagnosed with this disease and do not get help from their doctor. Generalized Anxiety Disorder can be a devastating disease and can interfere with peoples’ lives to a great extent. It is important to note that Generalized Anxiety Disorder, like all mental illness, should be thought of as a disease and not something that should not happen to “normal people.” Anyone could develop GAD, just as they could cancer, heart disease or diabetes. You should not feel ashamed and avoid getting treatment, but rather should look at GAD as a medical illness and something you can get help for. What causes Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) It has been found that patients suffering from Generalized Anxiety Disorder have abnormal levels of chemicals in their brains called neurotransmitters. Neurotransmitters are simply the signals your brain cells use to communicate with each other. In Generalized Anxiety Disorder, it has been found that patients have abnormal levels of several of these signals including serotonin, nor-epinephrine and glutamate to name a few. The names of these signals do not really matter for your understanding of what causes Generalized Anxiety Disorder. Just understand that for a reason that is not known, your brain does not have the normal levels of some of these signals and this leads to people worrying much more then usual. With all of these high levels of anxiety, it can contribute to weight loss for many. For a reason that is not known, women outnumber men 2 to 1 when it comes to being diagnosed with Generalized Anxiety Disorder. What are some things people with Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) experience Excessive Worry (this is the big problem with this disease)- people worry about anything and everything including family, job, the future, relationships, money, etc. Often this worry is way out of proportion to what it should be. For example someone may worry all the time about their kids being safe, even when they are in the house playing with their friends. Most people with Generalized Anxiety Disorder suffer from what doctors call co morbid psychiatric disease. This means that many people with Generalized Anxiety Disorder have one or even two other mental illnesses that they are dealing with as well. These are listed below: Social Phobia- Around 25% of people (one out of every four) with Generalized Anxiety Disorder also have social phobia. Phobia means “fear of.” In this instance, these people have a fear of people in a situation or around others and especially worry about being embarrassed. Specific Phobia- Again, around 25% of people (one out of every four) have a specific phobia along with their GAD. This is a worry about something specific. A very common fear is of snakes. However people can be afraid of almost anything including cars, the number thirteen, planes, boats, etc. Now everyone can be afraid of something, but to have s specific phobia, you need to be deathly afraid of something and when you are exposed to it (see it or have to deal with it) you will do anything to get away). Panic Disorder- Around 25% of people (one out of every four) with GAD can also have Panic Disorder. In this disease people have repeated episodes of panic attacks where they feel as if their life is going to end ( common to think they are having a heart attack), they hyperventilate (breath way too much), and are very anxious (nervous and stressed out). They also worry between these panic attacks about having more in the future. Major Depression- Somewhere around 50% of people (five out of ten) with GAD also suffer from Major Depression. To read about Depression click here now. Substance Abuse- This means people with GAD are much more common to abuse drugs and or alcohol. This is most likely because people suffering from GAD are trying to find a way to deal with all of their stress and things they are worrying about. How is Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) diagnosed? In order to be diagnosed with Generalized Anxiety Disorder you have to have “excessive worry” about many different things for at least six months time. In terms of what actually counts as “excessive,” you can just take that to mean that you worry much more then you should given the situation (out of proportion stress and worry as we talked about). On top of this, your excessive worry has to be difficult for you to control. Doctors can also diagnose you if you have 3 or more (one or more in kids) of the following: 1. Feeling tense or restless 2. Fatigue or always feeling worn out 3. Trouble concentrating or focusing 4. Feeling on edge or irritable 5. Muscle tension 6. Trouble with sleep 7. Weight Loss The symptoms have to be present nearly every day and nearly all day during this time period and they have to cause you significant distress and interfere in your social life, occupational life or other areas of functioning. This is the criteria that was agreed upon by all of the psychiatrists (doctors who specialize in mental health) in the country and is what all doctors use to determine if someone has Generalized Anxiety Disorder. Some of the questions your doctor will ask will be to make sure these symptoms are not really from another cause such as drug or alcohol use or another medical condition. How is Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) treated In order to treat GAD, your doctor may recommend medications, therapy or even both if your GAD is severe. If you are someone who does not like to take medications or if your GAD is not severe, therapy may be a good first choice for you. In general, therapy for GAD is focused on helping you relax and helping you think about things in your life differently (then always worrying). This re-thinking of how to let events in your life affect you is called Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT). Patients who are given medications to treat their GAD are usually started on a single drug. The drug of choice depends on the patient, doctor, side effects of the medication, type of insurance, etc. However you should rest easy as most of the medications for GAD work the same and are equally effective. Many people are surprised to hear that the main treatment for Anxiety is actually an anti-depressant (a medication used for depression). This is because in Generalized Anxiety Disorder, some of the same chemicals in the brain are out of balance as they are in Depression. This is the most likely reason almost half of people with Anxiety also have Depression. It is important to take your medication every day (or exactly as your doctor or pharmacist prescribed it) and also it is equally important to understand that it may take up to 2-4 weeks before you feel any better on the medication. It takes some time for these medications to normalized those signals in your brain and to get your brain cells working and communicating like they are supposed to. If you are interested in reading about your specific Anxiety medication, please see our medications link. | |
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