General Anxiety Disorder

What is general anxiety disorder?

General anxiety disorder also knows as Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) is a type of anxiety disorder characterized with general anxiety symptoms hence the name GAD.

Generalized Anxiety Disorder Symptoms

• Consistent negative thinking: An individual always finds something to worry about or to be afraid of. A person has general believe that people are mean and are trying to harm him or her. Even when someone does something clearly positive an individual suffering from General Anxiety Disorder will have doubts and be suspicious about the motivation of that person.

• Tendency to predict the worst: This is called living in fear, and what is more debilitating than being constantly strained and distressed about something. To these people life is not fulfilled with hope but with fear of what may tomorrow bring.

• Difficulty concentrating: Because they always have something going on in their minds which is making them worry it is very difficult for them to concentrate on something else. This you can easily understand just by remembering the last time you had a lot on your mind while trying to concentrate and do something else.

• Feeling agitated: Individuals suffering from generalized anxiety disorder have very low resistance to frustration. This is because they live in frustration constantly and their coping mechanisms are not sufficient enough for that amount of stress and frustration.

• Lack of patience: To have patience means to have stability in one’s life however people with GAD have nothing but constant instability and frustrations.

• Dramatic change in eating pattern: It is very common for people that are afflicted with generalized anxiety disorder to change their diet and the amount of food they consume. Some individuals start eating much more and others much less than they used to before becoming ill.

• Dramatic mood swings: This is another very common general anxiety disorder symptom. During a couple of hours an individual’s mood can change from being depressed to being hyperactive and then back to being depressed.

As one can see it can be very difficult to be around an individual that suffers from this disorder however one should always keep in mind that person suffering from GAD needs help and understanding more than ever, and that she or he should not be left alone.

The important thing to know is that in order to help someone with GAD the first thing you need to learn is how to help an individual that suffers from this disorder. Don’t be one of many that try their best to help their loved one and despite their good intentions they end up making their loved one feel even worse. Good intentions are not enough!

You can learn what the appropriate way to behave around an ill individual is in our on line counseling program or in counseling in person as well as in psychotherapy. Reading a book on this subject can be very helpful but it is usually not enough. This is because a book will provide you with general guidelines where in counseling you are provided with both general and specific guidelines and advice for your situation.

Appropriate social support is essential for successful general anxiety disorder treatment. This is why family members and friends are encouraged to participate and be a part of their loved one’s treatment.

If an individual with GAD has no family members around or even friends that would want to help him or her than there are support groups that are also very effective. What is important is that an afflicted individual is not alone when fighting with an illness such as general anxiety disorder.

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