Generalized Anxiety Disorder

Generalized anxiety disorder (or GAD) is mentioned by excessive, hyperbole anxiety and worry about regular life events with no clear reasons for worry. People with signs of generalized anxiety disorder have a propensity to always expect disaster and can't stop worrying about health, money, family, work, or school. In people with GAD, the worry often is impracticable or out of proportion for the circumstances. Daily life becomes a constant state of worry, fear, and melancholies. Ultimately, the anxiety so dominates the person's thinking that it interferes with daily functioning.

The Symptoms of GAD

GAD affects the way a person thinks, but the anxiety can lead to physical symptoms, as well. Symptoms of GAD can consist:

• Excessive, ongoing worry and tension
• An impracticable view of problems
• Restlessness or a feeling of being "edgy"
• Touchiness
• Muscle stress
• Headaches
• Sweating
• Difficulty concentrating
• Vomiting
• The need to go to the bathroom frequently
• Tiredness
• Trouble falling or staying asleep
• Trembling
• Being easily startled

Additionally, people with GAD often have other anxiety disorders (such as panic disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and phobias); suffer from depression, and/or abuse drugs or alcohol.

Causes of GAD

The apt cause of GAD is not still clearly known, but a number of factors -- consisting genetics, brain chemistry, and environmental stresses -- appear to contribute to its development.

• Genetics: Some research suggests that family history plays a part in increasing the likelihood that a person will develop GAD. This means that the propensity to develop GAD may be passed on in families.
• Brain chemistry: GAD has been associated with abnormal levels of certain neurotransmitters in the brain. Neurotransmitters are special chemical messengers that help move information from nerve cell to nerve cell. If the neurotransmitters are out of balance, messages cannot get through the brain properly. This can change the way the brain reacts in certain situations, leading to anxiety.
• Environmental factors: Trauma and stressful events, such as misuse, the death of a loved one, divorce, changing jobs or schools, may lead to GAD. GAD also may become worse during periods of stress. The use of and withdrawal from addictive substances, including alcohol, caffeine, and nicotine can also worsen anxiety.

How Common Is GAD?

A shocking number of people suffer from GAD throughout the whole world. It most often begins in childhood or adolescence, but can begin in adulthood. It is more common in women than in men.

GAD diagnosing system

If signs of GAD are found, the doctor will begin an evaluation by asking questions about your medical history and performing a physical examination. Although there are no laboratory tests to specifically diagnose anxiety disorders, the doctor may use various tests to look for physical illness as the cause of the symptoms.

The doctor bases his or her diagnosis of GAD on reports of the intensity and duration of symptoms -- including any problems with functioning caused by the symptoms. The doctor then determines if the symptoms and degree of dysfunction indicate a specific anxiety disorder. GAD is diagnosed if symptoms are present for more days than not during a period of at least six months. The symptoms also must interfere with daily living, such as causing you to miss work or school.

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