Understanding Generalized Anxiety Disorder

Everyone has or experiences emotional and stressful situations from time to time in their life. However, while most people are able to immediately adjust and almost automatically cast off the effects of stressful situations, there are some people whose reaction is both extreme and unavoidable. Individuals who suffer from the following characteristics may have a Generalized Anxiety Disorder.   1) Constantly tense, on edge or worried about even minor events or potential problems; 2) An anxiety level which interferes with your work or family life; 3) Sudden physical symptoms, including shortness of breath, muscle fatigue, sleeplessness, irritability; 4) plagued by fears that you know are unrealistic or illogical; 5) Avoidance of contact with strangers and social settings – even family gatherings; 6) Sudden, unexpected panic attacks of heart-pounding panic.  Regardless of the causes and severity, all patients with GAD share one common characteristic – the inability to cope with life-altering affects of worry and fears that are easily and automatically dealt with by most people. That is why they are referred to as a panic attack.

Because everyone has variations in their mental makeup, there may wide variations in the causes and severity of an anxiety disorder from individual to individual.  Therefore you should consult a psychologist or psychiatrist as soon as possible if you experience this disorder on a regular basis. When a healthcare professional has diagnosed the degree of psychosis, treatment regimens may begin.

Recognizing emotional symptoms:

In addition to the obvious symptoms of intense anxiety panic and excessive or irrational fears of minor problems, there are also a number of other emotional symptoms that may appear:  1) Irritability or bad moods; 2) Restlessness; 3) Difficulty concentrating; 4) Easily startled; 5) Constantly expecting the worst; 6) Feeling jumpy/tense/afraid.   Most people with this ailment know that there fears are unfounded, but are unable to self-correct.  The overall effect in many people is one of hopelessness – that things simply cannot be corrected and that the future is probably going to be similar to their present level of unhappiness.

Physical symptoms of an anxiety attack or GAD:

Most patients who suffer from anxiety panic also report more than one of the following, physical symptoms: 1) Difficulty breathing or tightness in the chest; 2) “Adrenalin surge” or the rapid heart-rate combined with panic and a feeling of the need to escape the situation; 3) Sweating in normal atmospheric conditions; 4) Shortness of breath; 5) Headaches; 6) Insomnia.  In rare cases, some patients even report stomach upset, dizziness, even diarrhea. 

Understanding root causes and patient-specific sources of anxiety:

Many patients share multiple similarities in regard to their basic, emotional and mental makeup.  Often they are right-brained, emotional, sensitive and feel all feelings more deeply than their left-brained counterparts.  Often they have a history of being loners with long histories of social withdrawal and an overall unease in social settings.  They also share other characteristics, including lack of self-confidence and, especially in men, were bed-wetters, experienced hyperactivity and even learning disorders.  With an emotional sensitivity as a backdrop in adolescence, it is certainly no wonder that such individuals experience a radical reaction to stressful situations and often, therefore experience GAD.