ARTICLE

Do You Have Generalized Anxiety Disorder?

In my outpatient psychology practice, I see eight things every day--they show up again and again, presenting in one form or another. One of the bigger and more negative experiences clients have is anxiety. In addition, the first thing clients want to know is whether they have an anxiety disorder, in this case Generalized Anxiety Disorder. Here is a rather clinical description of what anxiety is, according to an older but very accurate source, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Third Edition:

"...An apprehension, tension, or uneasiness that stems from the anticipation of danger, which may be internal or external. Some definitions of anxiety distinguish it from fear by limiting it to anticipation of a danger whose source is largely unknown whereas fear is the response to a consciously recognized and usually external threat or danger. The manifestations of anxiety and fear are the same and include motor tension, autonomic hyperactivity, apprehensive expectation, vigilance and scanning. Anxiety may be focused on an object, situation, or activity, which is avoided (phobia), or may be not focused (free-floating anxiety). It may be experienced in discrete periods of sudden onset and be accompanied by physical symptoms. When anxiety is focused on physical signs or symptoms and causes preoccupation with the fear or belief of having a disease, it is termed hypochondriasis."

And, here is how anxiety typically manifests (symptoms): ...Trembling, twitching, or feeling shaky, muscle tension and aches or soreness (including chest pains), restlessness, easy fatiguing...or... shortness of breath or smothering sensations, palpitations or accelerated heart rate, sweating or cold clammy hands, dry mouth, dizziness or lightheadedness, nausea, diarrhea, or other abdominal distress, flushing, hot flashes, chills, frequent urinations, trouble swallowing, or... feeling keyed up and on edge, exaggerated startle response, difficulty concentrating or having your mind 'going blank,' trouble falling or staying asleep, or being excessively irritable."

Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) is one of many kinds or categories of anxiety. I have written specifically about this and other versions of anxiety in my ebook on How To Diagnose and Treat Your Anxiety. This is a publication that shows you how to think about any anxiety, disorder or not, how to assess your symptoms and more importantly, what to do about it. Here is what I wrote about GAD:

"This category is characterized by an unrealistic or excessive worry about two or more life circumstances (money problems, school grades, etc.). Usually such worrying is chronic, not acute (as with panic attacks, phobias or Post Traumatic Stress Disorders), and involves six or more of the anxiety symptoms listed above and usually lasts at least six months. Again, the individual symptoms need not be intense, although most people probably would think the worry still is excessive. This category is distinguished from the Worrisome Personality, which is my label for a non-clinical category.. Generally, there are more symptoms and fewer areas of concern.

Anxiety pervades almost all of our experiences in every venue. Most of the time, it is in the background. It turns out we need some very basic "tension" to exist and a little more to be motivated to do things. We psychologists call this ergic tension. You could not sit up or read this article if you had no ergic tension. It is normal. However, many people have more anxiety than this, which still could be good in some circumstances, like in sports or just before an important speech or even right before a major test in school. This keeps us focused and helps us appropriately utilize the extra adrenaline that accompanies such events. We are still in the normal range of anxiety if we understand and can manage it during and then after the specific event, presumably when our anxiety drops back to lower levels. Some people have more anxiety than this, and it does not go back to "mark headings." These are the folks who probably have an anxiety disorder.

Chronic worrying is in the second category. There are seven major categories of anxiety disorders, depending upon the cluster of symptoms and their manifestations. I also have written about these in the same ebook referenced above. Here's the categories: Worrisome Personality (non-clincical description), then the more progressive and I think more serious clinical categories follow: Generalized Anxiety Disorder, Adjustment Disorder with Anxiety, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, Panic Attacks, Phobia Disorder and Obsessive Compulsive Disorder.

I made up the first category because I see this a lot in my practice, so it is not in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition (the latest version of this manuscript, which is the Bible of mental health professionals). The last six categories are clinical categories and are found in the DSM IV. GAD sufferers have a relatively minor version of anxiety disorder, but one that can still cause some discomfort. You have to think about your symptoms in a very specific and different way to diagnose whether or not you have ANY anxiety disorder, GAD included. I show you how, step by step, in my ebook.

-Dr. Griggs

This article and each article associated to this and the other webpages on this website is available on the Internet at various article directories, blog sites, RSS feeds and other websites linked to http://www.psychologyproductsandservices.com.   Each article is written for public consumption, to provide information related to but not necessarily covered in the author’s ebooks.    This article is not meant to be a substitute for psychotherapy or mental health treatment of any kind.   This article can be reproduced, as long as credit is given to the author.   Steven T. Griggs, Ph.D., A PSYCHOLOGICAL CORPORATION is solely responsible for its content.