As mentioned in an earlier article, General Anxiety Disorder or GAD as it is known is another type of anxiety disorder. It affects roughly 4 - 5 million people of the American population alone. If you suffer from (or are concerned that you may suffer from) General Anxiety Disorder, symptoms can include but are not limited to, those also suffered by panic disorder victims. It has also been found that General Anxiety Disorder affects women proportionally more that it does men.
General Anxiety Disorder symptoms are many and can even vary from person to person. There are however a few symptoms that are common across the board for most people and which generally characterize sufferers’ lives and lifestyles.
One such symptom of General Anxiety Disorder is chronic and incessant worrying. Although worry is a natural emotion and most of us experience it from time to time in our daily lives, if you suffer from General Anxiety Disorder your worry is chronic and most times pathological. Often the chronic worrier will let their worries overtake their world and inevitably this will sometimes go so far as to incapacitate them in their daily lives.
Make no mistake here, this does not mean that General Anxiety Disorder sufferers have a choice over whether or not they worry ceaselessly, on the contrary the person suffering from this condition might be aware that they’re worrying needlessly but be unable to stop it or to help themselves.
General Anxiety Disorder symptoms can lead to insomnia, panic attacks and depression. Intense anxiety and fear are also quite common General Anxiety Disorder symptoms.
Physical manifestations of General Anxiety Disorder symptoms include headaches, diarrhoea and nausea, light-headedness, trembling or twitching. A palpitating or pounding heart, shortness of breath and difficulty with concentrating are also fairly common General Anxiety Disorder symptoms.
Irritability and mood swings, constant tension coupled with the inability to relax are all General Anxiety Disorder symptoms, and here we can see how these symptoms tend to impact on each other and create a vicious cycle.
This vicious cycle can sometimes take its toll not only on the General Anxiety Disorder sufferer but also on their family. The pressures of living with a person who suffers from General Anxiety Disorder, dealing with the impact of their inability to cope with the persistent and sometimes inconsequential worrying, the constant depression and mood swings can all take their toll on even the most patient of spouses and grown children. Most families don’t survive too well as a unit if a family member suffers from General Anxiety Disorder symptoms for a prolonged time.
That’s why medical attention should be sought as soon as possible to alleviate your symptoms. General Anxiety Disorder can be cured and you need to know this. Various treatment methods are readily available to you and it’s merely a matter of finding the courage to go to your doctor to discuss this. Rest assured that once diagnosed your doctor or therapist can help you in alleviating your General Anxiety Disorder symptoms properly. It will only take time, patience and will power on your part to cure yourself with their help.