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,

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

Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) is characterized by persistent, excessive, and unrealistic worry about everyday things. People with the disorder often experience exaggerated fear and expect the worst, even when there is no apparent reason for concern. They anticipate disaster and are overly concerned about money, health, family, work, or other issues. This disorder affects 6.8 million adults, or 3.1% of the U.S. population, in any given year (Van der Heiden, 2011). GAD comes on gradually and can endure across the life cycle, though the risk is highest between childhood and middle age. Women are twice as likely to be affected.

Generalized anxiety disorder(GAD) is much more than the normal anxiety people experience everyday. It is a chronic condition that is chracterized by excessive worry and anxiety, even though there aren't any reasonable explanations for the cause. It is diagnosed when a person spends a least 6 months worrying excessively about numerous everyday problems.

Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) is a chronic and often disabling condition that is associated with uncontrollable worry and tension. The vicious cycle of anxiety and worry interferes with relationships, careers, and education, and often leads to depression. This disorder is much more than the normal anxiety that everyone experiences from time to time, and can be crippling in its severity. GAD is unlikely to disappear without proper treatment, and often worsens over time.

Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) is characterised by exaggerated and excessive anxiety and worry concerning everyday life events (Roemer, Orsillo, & Barlow, 2002, as cited in Treanor, Erisman, Salter-Pedneault, Roemer, & Orsillo, 2010). This can include; work, family, money and many other factors. Approximately 2% of the population is affected by GAD (Stapinski, Abbott, & Rapee, 2010, as cited in Burton, Westen & Kowalski, 2015). GAD majorly affects the way people think, which can also result in physical symptoms. Patients can exhibit a broad range of symptoms, including; insomnia, fatigue, headaches, nausea, sweating, irritability and so on (Sansgiry & Sail, 2006). There are many different methods employed for the treatment of GAD.

In today's society it's not uncommon for most to feel some signs of stress and anxiety, from the busy Executive juggling his schedule to the stay at home Mom rushing to get the kids to school we all experience it to some degree but for people with Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) it's different because unlike the occasional stress, individuals with Generalized Anxiety Disorder feel some anxiety constantly.

Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) is a disorder in which an individual may feel persistent, excessive, and worry about everyday things that may not even happen. Individuals with this disorder may feel worry, excessive anxiety, and have thoughts of the worst even when there is no need for concern. A person experiencing GAD may expect a disaster. They may worry about their finances, money, health, family, work, or any issue that may come to mind. This disorder may be present when a person worrying increases on more days than one for at least six months. GAD can interfere with work, school, family, and even social activities. GAD can be diagnosed in adults when they experience at least three of the symptoms. These symptoms include restlessness or feeling on the edge, fatigue, difficulty focusing or mind going blank, irritability, muscle tension, pain in back or headaches, and sleep disturbance (ADAA, n.d.).

A type of psychotherapy called cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is especially useful for treating GAD. CBT teaches a person different ways of thinking, behaving, and reacting to situations that help him or her feel less anxious and worried.

This data implies that GAD definitely has a biological factor to it, however it is also clear that onset of the disorder can be contributed to stressful life experiences, relationships, and poverty. For example, a recent Princeton study revealed that mothers in poverty have a greater risk of developing GAD (Tucker, 2012). While GAD does have biological and environmental factors and the exact cause of the disorder is unknown, it still revolves around a common factor (anxiety) and, with the proper treatment, anxiety can be managed.

GAD can greatly reduce one’s quality of life. GAD has theorized and went through sweeping changes since 1980 when it first appeared in the DSM. As a college student, I already experience anxiety caused by my academics. I worry about whether or not I will be accepted into graduate school at the right time, or what my future will turn out to be. There are everyday activities such as studying for tests, writing papers, and even life at work that affects me emotionally. It’s always the “what if’s” that cause me to worry. Studies have shown that numerous antidepressants, as well as Buspirone and Benzodiazepines can be used to treat this disorder, as well as cognitive-behavioral therapy. During treatment, clinicians try to discover what events trigger certain types of anxiety (Cognitive-behavioral treatment for generalized anxiety disorder: from science to

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

Patients and families should be educated about their options for treatment of GAD. Patients should be informed of medications available as well as different types of therapies such as CBT. Medication overuse, dependency, and side effects should be discussed at length before prescribing new medications. The patient and family need to be informed that medication alone only will not resolve anxiety and some amount of self-help and action of the patient are required (Dunphy et al., 2015).

This study has several limitations. The sample was predominantly White, and in each treatment group, subjects decided to not continue to participate in the study. The common reported reason was feeling overwhelmed, unmotivated, and the inability to keep up with the assignments. In this study, we conducted the ADIS-5. The interview involved the use of an audiotaped recording and a psychologist in order to establish a diagnosis. The results of the ADIS-IV could have been influenced by demand characteristics. The interviewer can provide some biases because their expectations regarding the diagnosis of subjects can create a demand. A better approach should have been to have each assessor administer separate interviews. GAD is a highly comorbid disorder; therefore this study’s main strength is that we investigated subjects with no comorbidities. We recruited a large sample size which helps identify whether the treatments are beneficial for those with GAD. Also, we