subject: Generalization of Anxiety Disorder [print this page] Author: seyf drmsogl Author: seyf drmsogl
People with GENERALIZED ANXIETY DISORDER (GAD) have high levels of persistent, unrealistic anxiety, and the anxiety is not limited to any specific kind of situation. Rather, it is all-pervasive. People with GAD frequently describe themselves as chronically worried, uneasy, edgy, or irritable, and for no good reason. They can easily be rattled by everyday occurrences and, as a result, many begin to avoid even mildly stressful situations. Often people with GAD have mild phobias and obsessions. Because people with GAD are chronically tense and anxious, a good deal of wear and tear is placed on some of the body's systems. Therefore, the most obvious symptoms of GAD are often physical. They include involuntary trembling, headaches, muscular aches and pains, fatigue (all of which can result from chronic muscle tension); shortness of breath, restlessness, fatigue, and tingling sensations (signs of stress on the respiratory system); palpitations, headaches, high blood pressure, and hot flashes and chills (stress on the cardiovascular system); nausea, diarrhea, pains in the sphincter muscle or in the upper stomach, gas, constipation, dry mouth, and trouble swallowing (stress on the gastrointestinal system); and frequent urination and sexual problems (stress in the genitourinary system). Excessive sweating and insomnia are also common in people with GAD. IT IS EVIDENT that these five basic disorders -- panic disorder, phobia, obsessive compulsive disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, and generalized anxiety disorder -- are each unique in very significant ways. Most mental health professionals have found it helpful to group them together, however, because anxiety is a principal -- and usually the predominant -- symptom in each of the disorders. Because anxiety is key, people with these disorders usually avoid situations that they fear or dread. Another symptom common to many people with one of these five anxiety disorders is a tendency to abuse alcohol and sedative drugs in an effort to counteract their anxiety. These attempts to self-medicate can exacerbate the stress that anxiety is already placing on the body. Ironically, actual dependence on alcohol or sedative drugs can also create an intense "rebound" anxiety as the level of sedative drug or alcohol in the bloodstream begins to diminish. The question of what causes any one of these all of the anxiety disorders except post-traumatic stress disorder remains unanswered. Although most anxiety disorders seem to run in families, there is much debate about whether anxiety disorders are inherited genetically or whether people who ultimately develop them do so because, as children, they were constantly exposed to one or more anxious family members. Many scientists and clinicians now concur that genetics and psychological factors probably both play a role in the development of an anxiety disorder. Even though scientists don't yet know what causes anxiety disorders, they have been successful in developing therapies that are very effective in helping people control the disorders' symptoms. These therapies fall into two categories: (1) psychological therapies that deal directly with anxiety and avoidance and
(2) biological or drug therapies. These booklets give an overview of the psychological and drug therapies that have proven to be the most effective against extreme anxiety. About the Author:
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