What is Generalized Anxiety Disorder
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Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) is the label used to describe persistent, pervasive feelings of anxiety which give rise to what seems like constant bodily and mental discomfort.
Those suffering from GAD explain… ‘I never seem to be free of worry’ or ‘I can never relax, something is always troubling me. I am constantly on edge.’ They will often describe periods of intensification of anxiety and often state that these occur ‘out of the blue’. Such chronic worry is both physically and emotionally draining.
It is generally thought that GAD is underpinned by many worries or the misinterpretation of a wide range of situations as threatening. This collection of fears needs to be teased out in treatment and each tackled individually.
‘I always worry and I never relax nowadays. There is never a moment when I am free of aches and tension and my mind is almost always focused on worries. It makes me so tired and irritable and I have not been able to sleep or work properly and have not felt well in months.
‘It seems to have crept up on me over the last year or two. Others have always said that I was highly strung but this was never a problem -1 Just seemed to have more “nervous energy” than most and I used this to my advantage. If anything, I should be more relaxed now that the children have gone to university, the recession seems to be coming to an end and my husband and I have more time to spend together. Instead, I’m even more edgy than usual - perhaps I haven’t got enough to occupy my mind, I don’t know.
‘I saw my doctor who said that I should join a yoga class and learn to unwind -1 tried but I found it impossible to concentrate and I ended up getting more and more irritable! Now I try to cope by keeping busy in the shop, but this isn’t easy because I am so tired that I can’t seem to concentrate so I make silly mistakes and that stresses me and winds me up even more. I feel so hopeless that I just can’t imagine when this is going to end.’
Dealing with social anxiety disorders and the varied symptoms can be extremely difficult and at times seem like it's impossible. And the ever increasing range of anxiety medications isn't really helping us to solve the problem - they're simply masking the symptoms. I hope to offer help and support on my blog, by sharing my experiences in suffering from and dealing with panic and anxiety attack symptoms.
