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Generalized Anxiety Disorder - A Growing Concern
February 20th, 2010 | 
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It is a matter of grave concern that over 40 million Americans suffer from mental illness of one kind or the other. Mental Health profession is in great demand here, with more and more people becoming victims of anxiety related disorders. These disorders cripple the people affected by them emotionally, physically and financially. So many lives are turned Topsy Turvy because of these anxiety disorders.
People affected by generalized anxiety disorder suffer with a variety of concerns. In any other type of anxiety disorder, one can find a very specific root cause for which treatment can be given. But patients of this generalized anxiety disorder suffer from a hugely exaggerated state of fear and worry about everyday activities and normal events. For these patients, everything from upcoming tests to family health can cause great mental agitation. They are obsessed with apprehensions about every small and big problem and tend to create a great fuss about nothing. They get into a greatly disturbed mental state and display physical symptoms of the mental agitation too.
In rather severe generalized anxiety disorder, the patients are completely sidetracked from their normal life. They work up such fears about health, wealth, work, etc. that their fear overshadows everything else and in no time at all, they become incapable of carrying on everyday activities.
The generalized anxiety disorder symptoms have a wide range from restlessness, headaches, crankiness, and irritability, lack of sleep, excessive worry and tension, blown up fears about small problems, and so on. They vary according to the personalities of the people suffering from it.
Science has not yet completely understood the precise things that cause this generalized anxiety disorder. Some common factors have been documented which have a major role in this disorder. They are: brain chemistry, genetic predisposition and outside traumatic stimuli such as death of a loved one causing natural anxiety. When normal tensions and fears grow to such an extent that they dominate the life and render a person unable to function normally, the person is said to be affected by generalized anxiety disorder.
Numerous treatment options are available depending on the root cause of the anxiety disorder. If it is the result of some outside source, therapy is the most advisable course to locate the exact source. Anxiety medications are also used to alleviate the symptoms that obstruct everyday functioning due to lack of concentration, in addition to therapy.
Over 6 million Americans suffer from generalized anxiety disorder. This disorder can be a minor deterrent, or a severe one which completely changes the course of life of a person. If the symptoms are acute and are causing great distress to the person, help must be sought at the earliest.
Abhishek Agarwal
http://www.articlesbase.com/mental-health-articles/generalized-anxiety-disorder-a-growing-concern-709343.html
Posted in Topsy Turvy
February 20th, 2010 2:53 am
Please help me out here?
My issues are very complex. How else could the answers I seek have evaded me for so long? I have done this so many times, but here I will try to list the problems that plague me. I have been diagnosed with social anxiety disorder (SAD), generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). These three coexisting anxiety disorders are enough to deal with, but now one of my doctors thinks I may also have a mood disorder. He insists that finding the correct label for my condition isn’t necessary, but I feel like it is. I obsess over what disorder(s) I actually have. I think the only reason it’s necessary to find out which disorder(s) I have is to be put on the right medication and receive overall proper treatment, but also so I can say “this is what I have” and so I can research it and talk to other people who have it.
My most obvious symptoms are as follows: first of all, I feel distant from my surroundings, as if they are unreal, most of the time but especially when in social situations. I do not necessarily feel nervous, but I would guess that my anxiety is so extreme that it manifests itself in numbness. When I used to discuss anxiety, I would use the terms “numb” and “anxious” almost interchangeably. I have since learned to try and keep them separate, so I can more appropriately evaluate my condition. When I was younger, I used to obsessively wash my hands, brush my teeth, make sure doors were locked, and flip light switches on and off. To this day, I suffer from “reading obsessions”, where I have to keep rereading things until I feel I comprehend them and have mentally or audibly pronounced every word and syllable correctly. I also obsess about my weight and limit my caloric intake to somewhere between 1,500 and 2,000 calories a day. I feel that if I stop doing this, I will inevitably become fat and everything will fall apart. I’m also starting to obsess about getting all my schoolwork done, though not as intensely as the other two.
I feel that I have to be successful in life, that I have to be someone important and powerful otherwise my life is pointless. I have to contribute, in some grand way, to society. I want to be a senator when I grow up, so this reinforces the schoolwork obsession.
When I was younger I thought I was the Antichrist, and was happy about it. From birth my mother kept telling me that I had some great purpose in life, a religious (Christian) purpose, and I basically got the idea that I was destined for greatness.
I don’t know whether these are bipolar symptoms or what. If I do have bipolar, it’s not really something that causes me trouble. I don’t have noticeable episodes of mania where I run out and buy things or have unprotected sex or try to speak in Congress. I’m definitely an emotional person, however, and sometimes have taken things to the extreme. For example, I threatened to kill a girl who didn’t like me and was very mean to me back in seventh grade. She and her friends were all hypocritical Christians, so that fueled hatred towards Christians that I still have to this day. I used to talk about killing them all (of course I never did anything). I did not resent having these thoughts. I felt that they deserved it.
Anyway, I took a lot of antidepressants which didn’t relieve my anxiety very much. I also took two atypical antipsychotics which did nothing for me (of course, they were in very low doses). I took anxiolytics as well (Klonopin and Xanax), which didn’t help (in low doses, anyway).
What concerns me is that maybe I do have bipolar disorder and my anxiety is connected to it. In other words, they are one in the same disorder; the neurobiology is the same and they are being caused by the same imbalance. In that case, I should try mood stabilizers. I don’t know, what do you guys think?
February 20th, 2010 7:55 am
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February 20th, 2010 7:57 am
I think you need to first realize that you are not your disorder or disorders. The first mistake people make is to label themselves OCD or bipolar or something else stupid. You are not what disorder you have.
That said all anxiety are similar and treated with the same meds. There are a lot of different meds and not all work with all people. Do a google search of ssri’s or snri’s and see how many different meds there are. Only one of those may work for you and the only way you will know is by trial and error. Each med takes 2 to 3 weeks before you know whether it works or not.
When you get the OCD and anxiety under control you may find everything else works out or not but it will be easier for the counselor to accurately diagnosis you after some of the OCD and anxiety is under control.
The key is to stay with treatment and realize it takes time. Dr’s do not have magic wands and cannot fix things in a flash.
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Mental Health Professional
February 20th, 2010 7:59 am
Oh hunny you are so young to be worrying about all of this, and I know its hard to try to do but be a kid!!
You are only a kid once, and all of your anxiety/and obsessiveness may also have to do with your age. You are still growing up and learning.
I personally am not a fan of pshych meds (i’ve been on them) and I noticed once I was weened off them I functioned more normally that I did when I was on them. Meds can put you in a fog and make things worse.
I would print this and pose this question to your doctors really. They are the dr’s for a reason.
Its ultimately up to you, how you want to deal with the problems and what will work for you.
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