Anxiety Mental Health - Generalised

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Most people experience feelings of anxiety before an important event such as a job interview, examinations, business meetings, social events such as dates. Anxiety disorders, however, are illnesses that cause people to feel frightened, distressed and uneasy for no real reason. Left untreated, these disorders can dramatically reduce productivity and significantly diminish quality of life.

Generalised Anxiety Disorder (GAD) is characterised by six months or more of chronic, exaggerated worry and tension that is unfounded or much more severe than what a typical sufferer of anxiety will experience. People with this disorder generally expect the worst and are often unable to relax and often suffer from insomnia. Many people with GAD also have physical symptoms, such as fatigue, trembling, muscle tension, headaches, irritability or hot flashes.

Children and adolescents with general anxiety disorder typically engage in extreme, unrealistic worry about everyday life situations and activities. They will typically worry about such things as performance academically, socially, sporting activities or even about being on time. Feelings of self consciousness are commonplace as well as feeling tense and have a strong need for others around them to provide reassurance. It is common for sufferes to complain about stomachaches or other discomforts that do not appear to have any physical cause.

Anxiety disorders are very common; the most common mental, emotional, and behavioural problems occuring during childhood and adolescence. App. 13 of every 100 children and adolescents ages 9 to 17 experience some kind of anxiety disorder; girls are affected more than boys. Additionally, approximately half of children and adolescents with anxiety disorders have a secondary anxiety disorder, other mental illness or behavioural disorder, such as depression. In addition, anxiety disorders may coexist with physical health conditions requiring medical interventions.

The five major anxiety disorders are Panic Disorder, Social Anxiety (sometimes referred to as Social Phobia), Generalised Anxiety Disorder, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD). Other types of disorders are Specific Phobia and Separation Anxiety.

Causes of Anxiety

Some research suggests that Generalised Anxiety Disorder may run in families, and that it may grow worse during periods of stress. GAD usually begins at an earlier age and symptoms may manifest themselves more slowly than in most other anxiety disorders.

Treatments

Treatments for GAD include medication, behavioural or cognitive-behavioural therapy.

Medication: Successful treatment may include antianxiety medications, such as buspirone and the benzodiazepines or antidepressants.

Behavioural therapy: Behavioural therapy focuses on using specific techniques to relax the person and change anxiety triggering behaviour. A common technique trains patients in a special breathing exercise involving slow, deep breaths to reduce anxiety. This is necessary because people who are anxious often hyperventilate, taking rapid, shallow breaths that can trigger rapid heartbeat, dizziness and other symptoms. Another technique is known as exposure therapy, which gradually exposes patients to what frightens them and helps them cope with their fears.

* Cognitive-behavioral therapy: Like behavioural therapy, cognitive-behavioural therapy teaches patients to react differently to the situations and bodily situations that trigger anxiety symptoms. However, patients also learn to understand how their thinking patterns contribute to their symptoms and how to change their thoughts so that symptoms are less likely to occur. This awareness of thinking patterns is combined with behavioural techniques to help people confront fearful situations.

Do you or someone you know suffer from Anxiety or a related mental helath disorder? Help is at hand, click here for more information.