Causes Of Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD)

Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) is an anxiety disorder that is characterized by excessive, uncontrollable and often irrational worry about everyday things that is disproportionate to the actual source of worry. This excessive worry often interferes with daily functioning, as individuals suffering GAD typically anticipate disaster, and are overly concerned about everyday matters such as health issues, money, death, family problems, friend problems, relationship problems or work difficulties.[1] They often exhibit a variety of physical symptoms, including fatigue, fidgeting, headaches, nausea, numbness in hands and feet, muscle tension, muscle aches, difficulty swallowing, bouts of difficulty breathing, trembling, twitching, irritability,

Those with GAD experience lavish amounts of worry, usually anticipating the worst even when there is no reason to. Unlike phobias, the anxiety isn't connected directly to something, it just a worry that is always present. These worries that these individuals experience are what normal people experience, such as reaching to work safely, but taken to the extreme. The difference between normal worrying and GAD is that, is that the worrying involved in GAD is excessive and often unnecessary. For example, after watching a news report about a school shooting, the average person might feel a temporary sense of worry for their kids. If you have GAD, however, the individual might be up all night after it and continue worrying for days about a worst case scenario that could happen, maybe even keeping your kids from going to school. To deal with GAD, individuals are given suggestions such as to practice deep breathing, meditation. In terms of treatment, presciprdtions are often given to them. One of the drugs prescribed to patients is buspirone. This is an anti-anxiety drug and takes the edge off but does not completely eliminate the anxious feeling. Benzodiazepine is also a drug prescribed which calms the body (“Generalized Anxiety Disorder

Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) is characterized by excessive anxiety and worry that is not limited to one subject, situation or activity (Nevid, Rathus & Greene, 2017). People with GAD are known to worry about many things in their lives; their health, their finances, their well-being and that of their children. It is a worry that can be describe as excess and one that impairs one from functioning (Nevid, Rathus & Greene, 2017).

GAD’s potentially interwoven origin marks significant challenges for diagnosis and treatment. Patients often leave the opportunity for diagnosis of GAD to the primary caregiver (Roberge et al., 2015). Primary care professionals must be able to attribute physiological symptoms to psychological conditions in many of these cases to prevent missed or misdiagnosis, as well as correctly evaluate potential psychological disorders akin to GAD. The Roberge et al. (2015) research article indicates the need for increased efforts in preparing primary care professionals to properly screen and diagnose patients with GAD.

Anxiety disorders are the most common psychiatric disorder in the United States. Between 15 - 19% of the population suffers from this disorder, which impairs the quality of life and functioning (Stuart 218). What is anxiety? Abnormal Psychology describes anxiety as “an adaptive emotion that helps us plan and prepare for a possible theat.” The text book further states, “worrying about many different aspects of life becomes chronic, excessive, and unreasonable.” This is also known as generalized anxiety disorder or GAD (Butcher 201). DSM IV-TR specifies that GAD is a worry that occurs more days then not for at least 6 months, and that it must be experienced as difficult to control (Butcher 201). 25% of those that suffer from this

GAD is diagnosed when a person worries excessively about a variety of everyday problems for at least 6 months. Physical symptoms include tension, fatigue, insomnia, irritability, gastrointestinal problems, restlessness and edginess (Aikins & Craske, 2001). Excessive worry becomes a typical way of thinking and everyday problems result in a series of ''what-if'' thoughts, which eventually leads to a disastrous prediction. Because individuals with GAD are highly sensitive to threat in general, particularly when it has personal significance, they frequently observe possible threats (Barlow, 2002). In response to these anticipated dangers, fight-or-flight reactions are activated. In most anxiety disorders, it is generally clear what needs to be escaped or avoided (e.g., spiders or public speaking), but in GAD there is

Approximately two percent of the population will suffer from GAD (Burton, Westen, Kowalski, 2015). GAD is more common among females (Wittchen, 2002). People with GAD may find it difficult to participate regularly in the workforce and maintaining ongoing work due to high levels of absenteeism. The level of impairment that is felt by people with GAD can be likened to someone with severe depression (Wittchen, 2002), with some people incapacitated during severe episodes. People with GAD have difficulties with interpersonal relationship.

The main feature of (GAD) is characterized by “excessive anxiety and worry (apprehensive expectation) about a number of events or activities” (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). Individuals, who are diagnosed with GAD, often have worrisome thoughts that are hard to control which inhibits them from concentrating on everyday tasks. To distinguish GAD from nonpathological anxiety, it is important to keep in mind several features. The worries associated with GAD are excessive and problematic for psychical functioning, more pervasive, pronounced and distressing, and are accompanied by physical symptoms (e.g., restlessness) (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). It is important to note that symptoms of GAD can be misunderstood for different reasons. Risk and prognostic factors can be temperamental, environmental, and genetic and physiological, additionally, cultural factors in the expression of GAD also need to be considered. Given the information above about GAD, it can be concluded that it is important to have treatment for such disorder in order to help individuals have

People who suffer from GAD always anticipate the worst. They frequently worry about family, money, work or their health. Just getting through each day provokes

Throughout the teenage years, normal levels of anxiety naturally increase due to all of the pressures of growing up and fitting in. Because of the constant worries and fears that teens experience, many start to self-diagnose General Anxiety Disorder (GAD). GAD disrupts one’s daily life by greatly magnifying normal worries and fears, typically about the future (26). Some researchers suggest that GAD runs in family members (28). This theory considers not only genetics, but also environment. Some children learn anxious behavior from their elders (28). However, in some cases, the reason for the development of GAD cannot be determined. Typically, when a teen claims to have GAD without showing any typical symptoms of the illness, that the teen may have self-diagnosed. Self-diagnosis of GAD can create many emotional and medical problems in adolescents.

Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) is when somebody has persistent, unrealistic and excessive worry about everyday tasks/things. People with GAD will experience anxiety and worry; they’ll usually expect the worst of things to happen. People with GAD don’t know how to stop the worry and they feel as if things are out of control and beyond their control. This disorder is diagnosed when the feelings of worry and anxiety persist for several months. GAD affects 6.8 million adults, which is about 3.1 % of the US population. The Illness can occur at any age, it is most commonly found in Women, and about 50 % - 90 % of people with GAD have at least one other mental problem (Such as depression, a phobia, panic disorder, alcoholism or other drug abuse).

According to the Mayo Clinic, genetics may play a role as well as other factors, but is not fully known. Some of the risk factors for GAD is personality, genetics, and sex. With personality, a person who is shy, have negative thoughts, or who avoids dangerous situations may be more prone to generalized anxiety disorder than others are. GAD may run in the family, thus being a genetic factor. Also, women are more prone to have GAD than men. The common two treatments for GAD include medication and psychotherapy. Psychotherapy

Americans suffer from GAD every year. Usually, it starts in adolescence, but it can also

The New York Times did an article over generalized anxiety disorder and said that anxiety disorders are determined by the severity, as well as the duration of an individual’s symptoms and their specific behavioral traits. Those who suffer from GAD experience many different types of symptoms ranging from both mental to physical. Some symptoms one may experience could include difficulty sleeping, fatigue, muscle tension, gastrointestinal problems like IBS (irritable bowel syndrome), and difficulty concentrating. To be diagnosed with GAD, a patient would have to be experiencing the excessive worry for no less than 6 months consecutively.

At the first place of literature review, I was planning to look into how to overcome GAD (Generalized Anxiety Disorder) as individual. As the research continued, I found 5%-6% of the population suffer from GAD as well as 60%-70% of the general population suffer from insomnia (Belleville et al., 2016). This information remind me that the treatments of GAD need further research in order to enhance the current methods and explore for more new technology and therapy (Gutierrez & Camarena, 2015). In this literature review, I will analyse three research paper in order to introduce different types of treatment and the reliability of these treatments based on the research descriptions.