What Is Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD)?

Generalized anxiety disorder affects around 3% to 4% of the population. It keeps you in a worried state and makes a persons depressed about life. It does not stop a person from living their lives normally, or is it a panic attack. It affects they way you think. It stops a person from deciding on things and thus making them depressed. It makes the person believe that they have no interest in life. There are no real triggers for generalized anxiety disorder. Sometimes it can affect a person without them knowing. For example, you are waiting for a loved one and they are late. You start to think about the "what if' they had an accident, what if something bad has happened to them? The feeling of worry and anxiety will start to creep into their head and the cycle repeats itself in a variety of situation. Some people will experience this problem in their everyday lives and it could prevent them from relaxing, being calm and enjoy time alone. Generalized Anxiety disorder (GAD) can take up to 6 months or more of severe anxiety to take affect. People who experience GAD usually expect the worse case scenario. It prevents them from relaxing and can cause insomnia, fatigue, headaches, irritability and trembling. GAD affects approximately 2.8% of all Americans (4 million people) each year and often hits people in their childhood, adolescence and even in adult hood. It affects women more than men. GAD is just one of the six different anxiety disorders and can be categorized in the following groups. 1. Generalized Anxiety Disorder 2. Panic Disorder 3. Social Anxiety Disorder 4. Post Traumatic Anxiety Disorder 5. Obsessive Anxiety Disorder 6. Phobia Related Anxiety Disorder GAD along with the other 5 disorders is treatable and should be looked at by a professional therapist as soon as possible. There are two main types of recommended therapy, cognitive and behavioural therapy. Many patience usually find it easier to copy with disorders when they receive treatment. Cognitive therapy is focused on changing ones mental state by helping the brain relearn its thinking process. It can help with long term treatment because changing the way a person thinks can affect their out come tremendously for example helping them cope with anxiety and realising that all their problems can be solved. Behavioural therapy is a more in your face type of treatment. It involves confrontation a persons fears. The purpose to this is to help a person talk about their problems until desensitize from the fear or anxiety by describing in detail how they feel.