Generalized Anxiety Disorder is a major mental health disorder that affects many people around the world. It often manifests itself in the form of anxiety attacks. These anxiety attacks can be triggered by specific situations or events. These anxiety attacks then get worse over time.
Causes
There are many varied causes of generalized anxiety disorder. These include hereditary reasons. In many cases, anxiety disorder in a person is inherited from one or both parents. The disorder starts showing itself at a very young age and then gets worse with age.
Another reason is substance abuse. Long term use of drugs or tobacco can lead to generalized anxiety disorder. In many tests, this has been proved conclusively by scientists. Therefore it is generally advised to completely avoid the use of drugs or tobacco.
Neurological reasons can also cause generalized anxiety disorder. If the brain functioning around the amygdale changes for any reason, it can be a trigger for generalized anxiety disorder. A decrease in the amount of gray matter in the brain can often lead to generalized anxiety disorder.
Symptoms
The key symptoms of generalized anxiety disorder are muscle tension, restlessness, a feeling of having a lump in the throat, problems in concentrating on tasks, and being startled by minor surprises.
The physical symptoms are sweating, trembling and dry mouth. Other symptoms are dizziness, hot flashes and numbness.
Other attributes
Generalized anxiety disorder is different from normal worrying in many ways. Normal worrying doesn’t affect the day to day activities of the person in any way. Normal worrying is controllable and does not cause distress in any way. Normal worrying is rarely long lasting, it gets over pretty quickly. Normal worrying is limited to specific things.
Dealing with anxiety
There are several recommended ways to deal with generalized anxiety disorder. It is suggested that affected people practice meditation. This helps to calm down the worrying. They should also do some deep breathing. This helps with rest and relaxation.
Another way to deal with anxiety is self help. It helps to look at worrying from a new perspective. This can be done by talking to other people, by going out and looking at the sights.
It is also suggested that the sufferers should limit the amount of caffeine and sugar that they consume. They should completely avoid the consumption of alcohol and nicotine. They should get enough exercise and regular sleep.
On a concluding note
It is best to identify and deal with generalized anxiety disorder as early as possible. If left untreated it can spiral out of control and become a major health problem. Already many people have become the victims of this problem. Many more are vulnerable to it.
In recent years, there has been an upswing in the number of diagnosed cases of generalized anxiety disorder. This is thought to be because of increased migration to cities, rapid economic growth and breakdown of traditional family and social systems. It is imperative to watch out for symptoms of this problem and get it treated as soon as possible.