How can Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) affect your life?

Anxiety disorders are not life threatening diseases, but medical conditions that can severely impact normal day to day functioning of individuals. Anxiety disorders are common in people of all ages. The severity of the condition can range from mild to debilitating.  The good news is that there is enough and more help available for those suffering from this medical condition. Treatment for anxiety disorder can range from medications to alternative therapies depending upon the severity of the disease.

What is Anxiety Disorder?

Anxiety disorder is a constant feeling of fear and uncertainty that clouds the patient’s mind most of the time. According to the National Institute of Mental Health, the fear and anxiety resulting out of an anxiety disorder are different than the feelings of anxiety related to normal events, such as nervousness before taking a test or speaking before an audience. In most cases, if a person has an anxiety disorder, the symptoms are longer persisting for over six months. There are several different types of anxiety disorders, namely:

·         Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD)

·         Panic Disorder (Panic Attacks)

·         Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD)

·         Phobias

Learning about Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD)

Generalized anxiety disorder is a medical condition that is characterized by persistent, excessive, and unrealistic worry about day to day routine things. 

People suffering from Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD), experience excessive anxiety and worry.  Their fears are often about the worst even when there is no significant reason for worry and concern. They anticipate disaster almost all the time and are often overly concerned about issues like money matters, health, work, family and other issues. GAD is diagnosed when a person experience long term worry symptoms which he has no control over.  These bouts can last up to six months. 

How does a GAD patient feel?

A person with GAD has no control over worry and the simplest of things can be a cause of stress and anxiety.  Sometimes even doing the routine can produces anxiety. They don’t know how to stop the worry and unnecessary thoughts that are going on in their mind as they feel they are beyond their control.  Such patients are aware that most of their worries are beyond what the situation calls for, yet are unable to deal with the same.  When the anxiety levels are mild, the patient’s function almost normally carrying out their everyday tasks, but sudden spurs can make them completely shaky and stressed.

What triggers GAD?

Like many other mental health conditions, causes and risk factors for GAD remain unknown.  However there are a few reasons that are the possible triggers for GAD:

• GAD may be a genetic disorder and is often found in patients having a family history of anxiety
• prolonged exposure to stressful situations such as dealing with long term personal or family illness
• Use of caffeine or tobacco excessively can worsen anxiety symptoms
• Experiencing stressful conditions such as abuse, accident, rape etc.

Diagnosing GAD

GAD is diagnosed with a mental health screening that is conducted by a medical practitioner.  The patient is asked question about his symptoms and how long he has been experiencing them.  The doctor depending upon his inference can refer the patient to a mental health specialist, such as a psychologist or psychiatrist.

In the next step, several medical tests may be performed to determine the causes that are resulting in the GAD symptoms such as an underlying illness or substance abuse problem.  Researchers have linked anxiety symptoms to health conditions like gastro esophageal reflux disease (GERD), thyroid disorders, heart disease, and menopause.

If the medical practitioner suspects a medical condition or substance abuse problem to be the cause of the anxiety, they may perform more tests such as:

• blood tests — To check on hormone imbalances and disorders in the body
• urine tests — to check for traces that are indicative of a substance abuse
• gastric reflux tests (X-ray of the digestive system or an endoscopy procedure to look the esophagus) — to diagnose GERD
• X-rays and stress tests that monitor the heart function while performing a certain activity -  to check for the heart functioning

Treating GAD

The treatment plan for GAD consists of both Therapy and Medicinal approach.  While the medication works on improving the clinical factors affecting the patients, therapy helps the individuals to cope better with the disorder and its symptoms.  Here is the treatment recommended for GAD:

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy

This therapy requires the patient to meet and talk to the mental health professional on a regular basis. The objective of this therapy is to understand the thinking and behavioral pattern of the patient thereby enabling him deal with the condition better. This approach has a high success record in bringing about a positive change in many individuals suffering from GAD symptoms. In fact this treatment is considered first-line treatment for alleviating symptoms of the disorder in pregnant women. Cognitive behavioral therapy is known to benefit patients in the long term relieving them from the anxiety symptoms.

 In therapy sessions patients are counseled to enable them to recognize and control anxiety related thoughts. Therapists also guide the patients how to manage and relax in situation when upsetting thoughts arise.

In a number of cases, medication is prescribed to compliment the therapy and help patients deal with GAD better.

Medication Prescribed

The treating doctor creates a medication plan which is divided into short term and long term to help patient cope with GAD. Short-term medications help in relieving some of the physical symptoms of anxiety like stomach cramping and tensed muscles. These medications are called anti-anxiety medicines. Some of the commonly prescribed anti-anxiety medicines are:

• alprazolam (Xanax)
• clonazepam (Klonopin)
• lorazepam (Ativan)
• buspirone (Buspar)

Anti-anxiety medicines have a high risk of dependence and abuse and are hence meant for short term treatment only.  In some cases doctors may prescribe antidepressants also along with the medication to help patients deal with depressing thoughts during the course of the treatment.