Generalized Anxiety Disorder

GENERALIZED ANXIETY DISORDER

In this day and age life can become very busy and extremely stressful, and from time to time it’s actually normal to have feelings of anxiousness; however, when an individual’s day-to-day activities are affected by prolonged and persistent worry - although nothing has happened to cause it - this could be a sign of a generalized anxiety disorder (GAD). “Anxiety is characterized by feelings of dread or uncomfortable anticipation with psychological, physical, cognitive, and behavioral features; the primary symptom of anxiety disorders is unrealistic and excessive worry and/or fear, and include unrealistic and excessive worry and/or apprehensive expectation and significant distress and/or functional impairment, which persists for six months and includes at least three symptoms” (McGrandles, 2012, pg. 53). These are some of the same symptoms which James, the case study gentleman, reported.

GAD is unique in that the illness begins slowly and increases progressively with age; it is more common in women than men; it typically occurs in relatives of descendants; and an individual can be diagnosed with GAD if they have worried excessively for more than six months. Most individuals with GAD have trouble sleeping and difficulty relaxing. Physical symptoms that can be associated with their worries are as follows: “Trembling, twitching, muscle tension and aches, headaches, irritability, sweating, nausea or diarrhea, lightheadedness, loss of sex drive, eating too little or too much, as well as shortness of breath; they are easily startled, tend to feel tired, have trouble concentrating, and sometimes suffer depression” (Grohol, 20012, pg. 1). This would be consistent with what James, the case study gentleman, reported. He said he made errors at work and was constantly overwhelmed with worry, so he began calling off work. He reported “a number of somatic symptoms including tension, being easily distracted, and becoming easily irritated by...