We now know that there are any number of mental disorders in the world. No matter how you look at it these disorders can make life for the sufferer miserable. Anxiety disorders are just as painful and can be just as debilitating as other disorders and Generalized Anxiety Disorder or GAD is a severe form of anxiety disorder.
While anxiety is generally viewed as a normal reaction towards dangerous, uncertain, important or threatening situations GAD puts a frightening twist on this. The reaction in Generalized Anxiety Disorder is one of pathological anxiety. Here the anxiety that occurs is excessive and chronic and not relative to the apparent cause. Generalized Anxiety Disorder can severely interfere with and restrict a person’s daily life and their activities.
Generalized or “free-floating” anxiety as it may also be called does not have to be triggered by a specific object or even a situation. Unlike panic attacks or anxiety attacks a person does not need a memory (known or otherwise), to trigger this disorder. GAD is known to affect 4 million to 5 million adults in America alone.
Generalized Anxiety Disorder can affect both men and women, although women are more likely to be affected than men.
Generalized anxiety disorder is associated with an individual experiencing irregular levels of neurotransmitters in the brain. Neurotransmitters are chemical messengers that carry messages to the nerve endings in the brain. There are three types of neurotransmitters that are connected with anxiety. They are Norepinephrine, Gamma-aminobutyric acid or GABA, and Serotonin. During a heightened anxiety attack all three of these neurotransmitters interact with each other and it is known that a decrease in the levels of serotonin and GABA has the ability to reduce anxiety.
People who suffer from GAD are at risk from certain factors like environmental stresses. Examples of this are school, work, travel and others. Sleep disorders are another potential problem that Generalized Anxiety Disorder can lead to.
Stressful situations like financial concerns, health, relationships, school problems, work problems are all likely to contribute towards Generalized Anxiety Disorder in a sufferer.
While GAD in itself is a problem, there is often a correlation between Generalized Anxiety Disorders and other psychiatric disorders. Depression, phobic disorders and panic disorders are also sometimes linked with Generalized Anxiety Disorder.
The symptoms of Generalized Anxiety Disorder include the inability to shake off persistent worries, tendency to feel constantly tired, experience difficulty concentrating, feelings of depression, experiencing constant tension, light-headedness, nausea, noticeably erratic mood swings, and an inability to control your self amongst others.
Should you find yourself afflicted with any or all of these symptoms then it’s best that you go to your doctor to take their advice and to receive treatment for Generalized Anxiety Disorder as soon as you can. Otherwise your condition will deteriorate to the point that you will be unable to lead a fulfilling life. So seek medical attention as possible – remember that Generalized Anxiety Disorder is treatable it doesn’t have to have such a big impact on your daily life.