Generalized anxiety disorder

It happens to almost everyone to find themselves struggling with anxiety: fear rises, you feel agitated, and even the body gives signs of discomfort, with sweating increasing and the heartbeat accelerating.

Fortunately, in most cases these are temporary disturbances that disappear within a short time. Sometimes they can even be related to the expectation of pleasant events, but when anxiety becomes a constant companion in everyday life, preventing its normal development, this feeling takes on the contours of a real medical condition: generalized anxiety disorder.

What is Generalized Anxiety Disorder

Generalized anxiety disorder is a pathological condition characterized by persistent and excessive anxiety and worries, which affect different aspects of life.

Those who live with this disorder have great difficulty controlling their worries: in addition to exaggerating the problems, they can live expecting the worst, even when there is no real motivation to worry.

Sometimes the mere thought of having to face the day is enough to trigger a panic attack; In many cases we are even convinced that worrying can prevent something unpleasant from happening, and that stopping doing so can be a risky behavior.

Breaking this vicious circle seems to be impossible, even when you realize that the level of anxiety is greater than it should and can compromise personal well-being.

In fact, many people with generalized anxiety disorder may end up avoiding certain situations or not seizing opportunities precisely because of constant worries.

And if mild or moderate levels of anxiety can generally be managed, in more serious cases the disorder prevents you from carrying out even the simplest daily activities, strongly compromising the quality of life.

Symptoms are both psychological and somatic and may include:

• nervousness, restlessness, irritability, feeling like walking on a razor’s edge and having nerves on edge
• inability to relax, with persistent and excessive worries or anxieties
• brooding and excessive elaboration of strategies and solutions
• Difficulty managing uncertainty
• indecision and fear of making bad decisions
• feeling of imminent danger or panic, even in situations that are not really dangerous
• difficulty concentrating
• memory gaps
• sleep disorders (difficulty falling asleep, insomnia)
• feeling weak or tired, easy fatigability
• increased heart rate
• hyperventilation
• perspiration
• hot flashes
• Tremors
• gastrointestinal problems (nausea, diarrhoea, irritable bowel)
• feeling of lump in the throat
• muscle pain or tension.

In addition, generalized anxiety can be associated with phobias, panic attacks, post-traumatic stress disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, depression, suicidal thoughts and substance abuse.

In the case of children and adolescents, in addition to the concerns that may affect adults, there are others, more specific to their age, concerning:

• school or sports achievements
• the health of family members
• punctuality
• catastrophic events such as earthquakes or nuclear wars.

At this age, typical signs of generalized anxiety disorder include:

• excessive anxiety about feeling integrated or, conversely, lack of social relationships
• perfectionism (for example, repeating tasks considered not perfect at the first performance and taking too long to do homework)
• Insecurity
• the continuous search for approval and reassurance on its performance
• frequent stomach pain (or other recurring physical problems).

The diagnosis of generalized anxiety disorder comes when 3 or more symptoms are present on most days of the week for at least 6 months.

Therefore, generalized anxiety disorder should not be confused with other forms of anxiety that may be associated with specific sources of stress (such as adjustment disorder) or with a more limited course in time.

It is also important to ensure that physical symptoms and anxious symptoms do not depend on the presence of other specific conditions, for example a thyroid disease such as hyperthyroidism.

Causes of generalized anxiety disorder

All anxiety disorders (category in which obsessive-compulsive disorder, panic disorder, social phobia, agoraphobia and hypochondria fall) can depend on the inability to deal with a situation of uncertainty; However, the exact causes of generalized anxiety disorder are not yet known. To come into play could be both biological factors and family predisposition and particular events, especially those particularly stressful.

The risk of developing it is greater between childhood and middle age, and women seem to be twice as likely to suffer from it as men.

Remedies for Generalized Anxiety Disorder

Fortunately, a diagnosis of generalized anxiety disorder is not a condemnation to a life lived in worries: for every person who suffers from it there are several remedies to try to improve their condition. For example, individuals with anxious personalities can benefit from a course of psychotherapy that, for example through cognitive-behavioral therapy, can help reduce worry and, above all, learn to relate differently to their mind.

Those suffering from generalized anxiety disorder can also find valuable help in medications, which can allow you to keep negative emotions and thoughts, difficulty concentrating and other symptoms under control, allowing you to face daily life without being held back by excessive worries.

Benzodiazepine therapies can be helpful in the short term; However, if taken for long periods, chronically, these anxiolytics can lead to two side effects, namely the so-called tolerance (which leads to a reduction in the effectiveness of treatment) and the possibility of developing an addiction. There is no such last risk, however, in case of drug therapy with antidepressants such as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), also indicated for the treatment of generalized anxiety disorder.

Medications and cognitive-behavioral therapy can also be used in combination; In most cases this approach seems to be the most suitable, especially in the long term.

A healthy lifestyle characterized by a balanced diet, regular physical activity and some practical measures (such as avoiding caffeine consumption) can also help reduce anxiety, but they are not a cure for generalized anxiety disorder.

In addition, it is good to remember that, although it is true that stress can contribute to anxiety, it cannot be considered the trigger cause of this disorder; Therefore, to combat generalized anxiety, more help is needed in addition to stress reduction.

Fighting one’s fears, learning to recognize the symptoms of anxiety, drawing lessons from lived experiences, changing one’s way of thinking, stopping avoiding situations that can create anxiety are all indispensable steps towards effective management of this disorder.

Finally, it is helpful for family and friends to offer support to overcome anxieties and doubts rather than avoid them. An overly protective attitude can in fact be counterproductive and prevent, in fact, the separation from one’s anxieties.

How to prevent generalized anxiety disorder

Even in the case of generalized anxiety disorder there are false myths that it is good to dispel if you want to face the problem in a proactive and effective way.

The first is precisely that according to which the solution is to avoid stress: choosing this path, behaving as if you were fragile and avoiding any risk, can instead lead to feeling demoralized and leading an unsatisfactory life.

Moreover, trying to avoid anxiety only reinforces it, while to combat it it is necessary to be aware of one’s fears and continue to live without undergoing self-deprivation.

Accepting that you cannot have control over any aspect of your life and maintaining a positive attitude, always trying to do your best while knowing that it is not always possible to achieve the goal you have set yourself, but that you can still be satisfied with yourself, is essential not to find yourself constantly in the grip of generalized anxiety.

As mentioned, then, there are daily measures that can help avoid it. Here are some of them, along with useful strategies to deal with the problem:

• try to relax: yoga, music, meditation, a massage or real relaxation techniques can be useful
• ensure adequate rest, without altering sleep
• practice some physical activity every day
• eat in a balanced way and do not skip meals to avoid nutritional deficits (just as it could happen in case of eating disorders)
• limit alcohol and caffeine consumption
• stay socially active (for example, volunteering can be useful)
• seek support from family or friends or by consulting a psychologist or therapist for an assessment of your situation.