How Do You Get Generalized Anxiety Disorder

What Are The Symptoms Of Gad

If you have GAD, you likely know that your anxiety is more intense than the situation calls for, but still you can’t stop these unfounded concerns. While each person may experience symptoms differently, the following are the most common symptoms:

• Trouble falling or staying asleep
• Trembling
• Being easily startled
• Unable to relax

The symptoms of GAD may look like other mental health conditions. Always see your healthcare provider for a diagnosis.

GAD begins gradually, usually in childhood or adolescence, but can begin in adulthood, too. It is more common in women. It often runs in families.

Anxiety Treatment In San Antonio

An anxiety diagnosis doesnt have to be disheartening. Recovery from anxiety disorders is possible, and there is a healthy and fulfilling life waiting for you even after receiving an anxiety diagnosis.

If youre in the San Antonio area and are looking for an initial anxiety diagnosis, reach out to our office to learn how we can help you. As a mental health center, we offer a comprehensive mental health approach to treating your anxiety. Well walk alongside you on your journey every step of the way, from the initial diagnosis to recovery.

Reach out to our Intake Department today to learn how we can support you as you learn to manage your anxiety:

Phone: 210-404-9696

How Is Generalized Anxiety Disorder Diagnosed

GAD is diagnosed with a mental health screening that your doctor can perform. They will ask you questions about your symptoms and how long youve had them. They can also refer you to a mental health specialist, such as a psychologist or psychiatrist.

Your doctor may also do medical tests to determine whether there is an underlying illness or substance abuse problem causing your symptoms. Anxiety has been

• pheochromocytoma
• the use of caffeine, decongestants, or albuterol

If your primary care professional suspects that a medical condition or substance abuse problem is causing anxiety, they may perform more tests. These may include:

• blood tests, to check hormone levels that may indicate a thyroid disorder
• urine tests, to check for substance abuse
• gastric reflux tests, such as an X-ray of your digestive system or an endoscopy procedure to look at your esophagus to check for GERD
• X-rays and stress tests, to check for heart conditions

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What Are The Symptoms Of Generalized Anxiety Disorder

Generalized anxiety disorder can cause numerous psychological symptoms, including:

• Excessive worry about everyday things
• Restlessness and inability to relax
• Difficulty concentrating
• Feeling that everything will turn out badly

These issues may be accompanied by a number of physical symptoms, such as:

• Muscle tension and muscle aches
• Fatigue

The kinds of worries differed as well: older patients worried about their health and their family, while younger patients worried about their future and the health of others.

What Else Should I Ask My Healthcare Provider

If you have an anxiety disorder, ask your provider:

• Whats the best treatment for me?
• Do I need medication? What type?
• How long should I take medication?
• What type of psychotherapy will work best?
• What else can I do to manage my symptoms?
• What other conditions am I at risk for?

A note from Cleveland Clinic

An anxiety disorder can make it difficult to get through your day. Anxiety disorder symptoms include feelings of nervousness, panic and fear. You may also have physical symptoms such as sweating and a rapid heartbeat. But you dont need to live like this. Several effective anxiety disorder treatments are available. Talk to your healthcare provider to figure out your diagnosis and the best treatment plan. Often, treatment combines medications and therapy. Anti-anxiety medications and antidepressants, together with CBT, can help you feel your best.

Last reviewed by a Cleveland Clinic medical professional on 12/17/2020.

References

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Treatment For Generalized Anxiety Disorder

If youve given self-help a fair shot, but still cant seem to shake your worries and fears, it may be time to see a mental health professional. But remember that professional treatment doesnt replace self-help. In order to control your GAD symptoms, youll still want to make lifestyle changes and look at the ways you think about worrying

Cognitive-behavioral therapy is one type of therapy that is particularly helpful in the treatment of GAD. CBT examines distortions in our ways of looking at the world and ourselves. Your therapist will help you identify automatic negative thoughts that contribute to your anxiety. For example, if you catastrophizealways imagining the worst possible outcome in any given situationyou might challenge this tendency through questions such as, What is the likelihood that this worst-case scenario will actually come true? and What are some positive outcomes that are more likely to happen?.

The five components of CBT for anxiety are:

Education. CBT involves learning about generalized anxiety disorder. It also teaches you how to distinguish between helpful and unhelpful worry. An increased understanding of your anxiety encourages a more accepting and proactive response to it.

Monitoring. You learn to monitor your anxiety, including what triggers it, the specific things you worry about, and the severity and length of a particular episode. This helps you get perspective, as well as track your progress.

How Can I Prevent Gad

Anxiety disorders like GAD canât always be prevented. But there are some things that you can do to control or lessen symptoms, including:

• Seek counseling and support after a traumatic or disturbing experience, or if youâve noticed that youâre feeling more anxious than usual. Itâs better to address a problem, not avoid it.
• Lead a healthy, active lifestyle.
• Stay connected to others. Donât get isolated.
• Take breaks when you start to worry. Try to let go of concerns about the past.
• If you have an anxiety treatment plan, stick with it.
• Ask your doctor or pharmacist before taking any over-the-counter drugs or herbal remedies. Many contain chemicals that can increase anxiety symptoms.
• Consider joining a support group for people dealing with anxiety.

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How Are Anxiety Disorders Diagnosed

If you have symptoms of an anxiety disorder, talk to your healthcare provider. Theyll start with a complete medical history and physical examination.

There are no lab tests or scans that can diagnose anxiety disorders. But your provider may run some of these tests to rule out physical conditions that may be causing symptoms.

How Else Can I Know If I Might Have Gad

1. A common feature of GAD is that the worries often have a chainingeffect, that is, one worry will lead to many others.

For example, you might start off by thinking,

• I have a report to write for work what if I dont do it well?This could lead to other worries, such as,
• What if my boss fires me? What if I cant find another job?If this led to additional worries, like the ones below, we would call it chaining.
• What if I dont have enough money to pay the bills?
• What if I cant pay the mortgage for the house? Where would we live?
• What if I cant afford to send the kids off to university?

Its easy to see how one worry, in this case about a work report, can lead to a chain of other worries that can last for hours.

TIP: GAD worry can also be described as scenario building. That is, worry is often an attempt to try to think about every possible scenario in the future, and then trying to plan for it. For example: What if I dont have enough money to pay the bills? Well, I could probably borrow money from family or from the bank but what if no one lends me the money? I might get another job but what if I dont find another job that pays more, etc.

2. Another way to recognize whether GAD may be a problem for you is to think about how long you have been worrying excessively. GAD is considered a chronic problem. That is, people with GAD have been feeling anxious and worrying excessively almost every day for at least 6 months.

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How Can I Prevent Anxiety

If you have an anxiety disorder, you may need professional help. Talk to your doctor. If needed, they can refer you to a mental health specialist.

Though not a treatment for anxiety disorders, these tips may help you reduce symptoms of anxiety:

• Take care of your body by eating a well-balanced diet. Include a multivitamin when you can’t always eat right.
• Limit alcohol, caffeine, and sugar consumption.
• Take time out for yourself every day. Even 20 minutes of relaxation or doing something pleasurable for yourself can be restorative and decrease your overall anxiety level.
• Trim a hectic schedule to its most essential items, and do your best to avoid activities you don’t find relaxing.
• Keep an anxiety journal. Rank your anxiety on a 1-to-10 scale. Note the events during which you felt anxious and the thoughts going through your mind before and during the anxiety. Keep track of things that make you more anxious or less anxious.

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The Mainstay Of Treatment For Gad Is Talking Therapy Such As Cognitive

Psychotherapy can be an effective therapist-based treatment to reduce symptoms of generalized anxiety. It is also referred to as talk therapy or psychological counseling.

Cognitive-behavioral therapy is a short-term treatment where the individual is taught skills on how to ease back into activities currently avoided because of anxiety. Symptoms ease when these skills become habitual and the individual continues to reclaim their life.

Medications often prescribed for general anxiety include:

• Antidepressants
• Serotonin norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor
• Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor
• Benzodiazepines

Lifestyle changes In addition to help you can get from a professional, certain lifestyle changes may also contribute to significant improvements in GAD symptoms, including:

• Modifying ones lifestyle, such as cutting down or eliminating alcohol, smoking, and caffeine consumption
• Learning coping strategies
• Getting the necessary amount of sleep
• Adopting a healthy diet with less processed food and more fruit and vegetables

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Generalized Anxiety Disorder With Impairment Among Adults

• Of adults with generalized anxiety disorder in the past year, degree of impairment ranged from mild to serious, as shown in Figure 2. Impairment was determined by scores on the Sheehan Disability Scale.3
• Impairment was distributed evenly among adults with generalized anxiety disorder. An estimated 32.3% had serious impairment, 44.6% had moderate impairment, and 23.1% had mild impairment.

Figure 2

Suffering From Severe Anxiety

Anxiety is an incredibly stressful, but arguably manageable disorder. Many people still work, spend time with friends, and hold onto relationships while living with anxiety. But others are more affected by it, and some even struggle to complete the tasks of everyday life.

The best way to characterize a severe anxiety disorder is one that is disabling or significantly impairs someone from managing their activities or responsibilities. For example:

• Panic Disorder with Agoraphobia Agoraphobia is a fear of being outdoors or in unfamiliar places. Panic disorder is generally characterized as with or without agoraphobia. Panic attacks can be disabling on their own, and so severe that hospitalization is required. However, the addition of agoraphobia worsens their symptoms and experiences, because it makes it difficult to go outside or enjoy any type of social life and the anxiety a person does experience while outdoors is significant.
• Severe Obsessive Compulsive Disorder Some individuals suffer from severe OCD, which consists of being so engrossed in repetitive thoughts and the need to perform acts/compulsions in order to ease the anxiety caused by the thoughts. The degree of compulsions can make people unable to actually live their lives because they are forced to spend so much time acting out their compulsions.

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What Are The Signs And Symptoms Of Gad

GAD develops slowly. It often starts during the teen years or young adulthood. People with GAD may:

• Worry very much about everyday things
• Have trouble controlling their worries or feelings of nervousness
• Know that they worry much more than they should
• Feel restless and have trouble relaxing
• Have a hard time concentrating
• Be easily startled

• The health and well-being of their children
• Being late
• Completing household chores and other responsibilities

Both children and adults with GAD may experience physical symptoms that make it hard to function and that interfere with daily life.

Symptoms may get better or worse at different times, and they are often worse during times of stress, such as with a physical illness, during exams at school, or during a family or relationship conflict.

Ways Ive Learned To Manage My Anxiety

When I was a kid I had seizures. I developed a fear of lights and sounds. Im lucky to not have seizures anymore, but I still have some of those fears. Lights and sounds and different environments will make me anxious all by themselves without anything to actually be afraid of.

Most people who meet me in real life assume Im slow. Some people are shocked that I talk. Im clumsy enough that I get scolded in public. I commonly get belittled. This developed into social anxiety.

Especially concerning employment. I was worried in interviews. The fact that I was shaking would cost me the interview. As I worked my way up the chain I only got more anxious and more anxious about losing jobs.

Besides employment, it was costing me dates out. I was too scared to call my friends. It got to the point I was nervous in front of everybody.

Eventually it all generalized. After I had a major breakdown, there it was all on paper in front of me. I had generalized anxiety disorder.

It took me about five years, but I eventually got rid of the diagnosis of generalized anxiety disorder. Thats not to say that I dont have anxiety. That is to say that it doesnt control my life. That it doesnt ruin my day, every day. Its not enough of a problem that it causes me bigger problems in my life. Therefore, it is not a diagnosis now.

I had some good doctors and great friends in a 12-step group. Here are some of the things they taught me.

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What Are The Causes And Risk Factors For Gad

Experts donât know the exact causes of generalized anxiety disorder. Several things — including genetics, brain chemistry, and environmental stresses — appear to contribute to its development.

• Genetics. Some research suggests that family history plays a part in making it more likely that a person will have GAD. This means that the tendency to develop GAD may be passed on in families. But no anxiety genes have been identified, and families may also pass down the tendency through lifestyle or environment.
• Brain chemistry. This is complex. GAD has been linked to problems with certain nerve cell pathways that connect particular brain regions involved in thinking and emotion. These nerve cell connections depend on chemicals called neurotransmitters that send information from one nerve cell to the next. If the pathways that connect particular brain regions donât work well, problems related to mood or anxiety may result. Medicines, psychotherapies, or other treatments that are thought to work on these neurotransmitters may improve the signaling between circuits and help to improve symptoms related to anxiety or depression.
• Environmental factors. Trauma and stressful events such as abuse, the death of a loved one, divorce, and changing jobs or schools may contribute to GAD. The condition can also worsen when stress feels out of hand. The use of and withdrawal from addictive substances can also worsen anxiety.