The main symptom is anxiety, which is persistent over time (longer than 6 months) and widespread, a wide range of events or activities (such as work or school performance), not being restricted to a particular situation as phobias or occurring solely in the form of crisis, as in the case of panic.
The state of anxiety is almost constant, oscillating slightly during the course of the day and affecting sleep quality.
Anxiety is frequently associated with excessive worry (apprehensive expectation call). For example: fear that a close relative or the person who suffers from this disorder may have an accident, illness or death. The person finds it difficult to control this state of constant concern.
Anxiety and worry are associated with three or more of the following symptoms:
*Nervousness, restlessness or impatience
*Fatigue (tiredness) easy
*Difficulty concentrating or making the mind blank
*Irritability
*Muscle tension, tremor, headache (headache), leg movement and inability to relax
*Sleep disturbance: difficulty falling asleep, staying asleep or waking up not feeling rested well (restless sleep)
*Sweating, palpitations or tachycardia, gastrointestinal problems, dry mouth, dizziness, hyperventilation (increase in the number of breaths per minute).
The anxiety, worry or physical symptoms cause significant distress or impairment in family relations, social, occupational or other important areas of activity of the person.
Symptoms of anxiety in the GAD are consistent unlike what happens in Panic Disorder where anxiety-panic appears as paroxysmal taking the form of a panic attack. The panic usually lasts no more than 30 minutes but leaves the sufferer with some hesitation to make a new crisis. This “fear of fear” is called “anticipatory anxiety” and can be confused with Generalized Anxiety Disorder.
It is also important to rule out anxiety symptoms are not due to the ingestion of any substance causes anxiety: caffeine, amphetamines or a medical condition (eg hyperthyroidism.). There are many causes for anxiety in a secondary, more information will be available in High Anxiety page. Depressive disorders also frequently associated with anxiety. It is very important to make a right “Differential Diagnosis” to arrive at an accurate diagnosis of what happens to those who are suffering a picture of anxiety. The main cause of treatment failure is the lack of diagnosis or misdiagnosis.
Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) is much more than what a normal person experiences anxiety in their daily lives. They are chronic worry and tension even when nothing seems to provoke. Having suffered from this disorder means always anticipating disaster, often worrying excessively about health, money, family or work. However, sometimes the root of the worry is hard to locate. Simply thinking about the day ahead can cause anxiety.
Tags: Anxiety, GAD, Generalized Anxiety Disorder,
