Generalized Anxiety Disorders: A Psychological Analysis

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,

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

“Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) is characterized by excessive worry about a variety of topics.”(Craighead, 2008) At first I found it hard to believe that Generalized Anxiety Disorder was a real debilitating

In the study conducted by Borkovec and Roemmer, entitled “Perceived Functions of Worry Among Generalized Anxiety Disorder Subjects: Distraction from More Emotionally Distressing Topics?”, the researchers used a rating scale of six reasons for worry commonly reported by individuals with generalized anxiety disorder (GAD). The study explored the participants beliefs as to the purpose of their worry. The six reasons often shared by the study’s participants were motivation to complete tasks, problem solving, preparation for the worst, planning to avoid negative events, distraction from more emotional thoughts and superstitious concerns. Data from the participants was collected by using a self-reporting questionnaire. The questionnaire asked the subjects to rate each item by the level or degree to which they experienced each specific reason. The responses that received the highest ratings included, motivation, preparation and avoidance

About three percent of men and women in the U.S. suffer from Generalized anxiety disorder (APAA). It is one of the most common forms of anxiety and seems to be the most left untreated because people don’t know that it can be treated. GAD, although it affects many, is a disorder that can be detrimental to the quality of life of an individual. With the regard to the quality of life, the level of severity that a person experiences is a great factor in determining more information. The accumulated information is a defining feature in figuring the dissimilarity of the normal fight or flight response and the diagnoses of GAD. The disorder itself is that of excessive worry (AnxietyBC) about everyday things like, financial situations, school, family, or health (APAA). Having three or more symptoms such as nausea, shaking, sweating, hot flashes, headaches, and many others, is what contributes to the diagnosis (Patel).

Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) is an ailment that affects relatively 5% of the general population (Neurobiology and Genetics, 2011). GAD is a mental illness that can be difficult to understand or to describe. It is also very hard to diagnose because most people who are experiencing it believe that it is normal to worry about issues at that level. People with Generalized Anxiety Disorder have extreme fear and concern about even the littlest issues in their lives. They believe that something will always go wrong (NIH). There are times when these fears can keep these people from completing every day activities. There are also many symptoms that come along with this disorder. For instance, people with Generalized Anxiety Disorder have problems sleeping, headaches, fatigue, trembling, lightheadedness, and many other problems (NIH). GAD can make a big impact on a person’s life so it is important for them to get all the information they can about it in order to improve their quality

Generalized anxiety disorder is characterized by a continuous state of excessive, uncontrollable, and pointless worry and apprehension. People with generalized anxiety disorder often worry about routine, everyday things, even though their concerns are unjustified.

Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) is diagnosed when a person stresses or worries excessively about their everyday problems for 6 months or more. This excessive worrying can cause many concerning physical symptoms. GAD affects about 40 million adults in America. GAD effects twice as many women as it does men. The disorder typically develops gradually, and can begin stage of life. The years of highest risk for GAD development, however, are between childhood and middle aged adults. Although experts are still studying about what causes GAD , and how to cure it, there are several treatments and therapies out there for GAD sufferers. GAD often coincides with other disorders, such as PTSD and depression. Generalized Anxiety Disorder is a growing problem in the United States, and it is our responsibility to be aware of what it is, and in pursuit of a solution.

Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) is a mental disorder marked by extreme anxiety and worry (apprehensive expectation) over a period of at least 6 months. It is accompanied by at least three of these six somatic or psychological symptoms: feeling on edge, fatigue, problems with concentration, feeling irritable, physical tension, and problems with sleep.

Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) is a DSM-V anxiety disorder characterized by excessive worry and apprehensiveness about a variety of present and future activities and events. 48

Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), is a condition characterized by pervasive worry. It takes the form of undue distress about a variety of everyday things beyond the scope of more specific anxieties and phobias (Goldberg, 2017). Anxious adult hoarder is someone who can live in an unhealthy and dangerous environment, collecting stuffs that aren’t valuable or important, and living with broken appliances instead of getting them fixed (Mayoclinic, 2017). General anxiety disorder in a pediatric patient and anxiety associated with an adult hoarder are different in many ways such as hoarding, adult hoarders would rather cope with malfunctioning systems instead of being in a safe environment like everyone else and continue to collect and keeping everything

Treatments for generalized anxiety disorder are psychotherapy and medications. People may benefit most from a combination of the two. It

According to Norman Doidge, in his book “The Brain That Changes Itself,” mental illnesses are not a matter of intelligence, but rather a physiological phenomenon, in which the orbital frontal cortex, cingulate gyrus and caudate nucleus are hyperactive, which Doidge describes as a “brain lock,” because “the caudate doesn’t “shift the gear” automatically,” but rather “[continuously] fire off their signals, increasing the mistake feeling and anxiety” (120-121). Because of this “brain lock” and misfiring, the automatic gearshift that sequesters the transition of thoughts and ideas is inhibited, which eventually develops into obsessions, as the mistake feeling and anxiety become more intense (120). In “The Brain that Changes Itself, Doidge mentions about Jeffrey M. Schwartz and his theory that the OCD circuits can be unlocking by rewiring the neural networks between the orbital cortex and cingulate in order to normalize the function of the caudate (121). Similar to Schwartz’s treatment, which emphasizes the importance of “shift[ing] the caudate manually” and “distinguishing between the universal form of OCD . . . and the content of an obsession” (121), in order to change and overcome my anxiety issues and OCD symptoms, I plan on relabeling my anxiety triggers, understand the cause of the panic attack and then reflect in order to understand and distinguish between the OCD thoughts and the content of the obsession. By doing so, I can learn how to refocus my attention and do something else, in order to manually “shift the caudate gear”

In the article T.D Borkovec and Lizabeth Roemer state that “Informal questioning of generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) clients during a therapy outcome investigation revealed six commonly offered reasons for why they worried, and these included both potentially adaptive and maladaptive functions: (a) motivation to get tasks done, (b) general problem-solving, (c) preparation for the worst, (d) planning ways to avoid negative events, (e) distraction from more emotional thoughts, and (f) superstitious effects on the perceived likelihood of future events.” When I think about this, I think about how these individuals are trying to function normally in their everyday lives, but they cannot because of constant worrying. Some worrying is normal, but when it affects every day functioning it becomes a problem. It does not only become a problem for the person living with it,