What Is Generalized Anxiety Disorder?
Generalized anxiety disorder is a mental illness where the patient has anxiety not just to particular situations but nearly every activity of the day. They are too obsessed with money, family, work, and relationships.
What Is Generalized Anxiety Disorder ICD-10-CM?
ICD refers to the International Classification of Diseases. 10-CM refers to the Tenth Revision, Clinical Modification. It is a code that can be used to indicate a diagnosis of anxiety disorder and is used for reimbursement purposes.
What Are the Causes?
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People who received insufficient care in childhood.
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A family history of mental illness.
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Current stressful situations.
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Childhood abuse or traumatic experiences.
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Personality disorder in an individual.
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Single child syndrome (being a single child at home).
What Are the Symptoms?
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Excessive worrying sometimes accompanied by depression.
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Trouble falling asleep.
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Avoidance in social gatherings.
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Muscle tension.
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Constant negative thoughts.
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Inability to relax or enjoy me-time.
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Difficulty in focusing on the task at hand.
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Easily startled.
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Very low self-esteem, but have a positive view on peers.
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Fear of abandonment in personal relationships.
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Very sensitive to criticism.
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Afraid of intimacy and commitments.
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Expect constant reassurance and affection from their partner.
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Behaves in an irrational and emotional way.
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Trouble in developing trust.
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Succumb to dysfunctional relationships.
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Unhealthy coping with alcohol and drugs.
What Are the Physical Signs?
How to Diagnose GAD?
Generalized anxiety disorder requires psychometric tests to identify the severity of anxiousness.
Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM–5) is a professional test carried by a psychologist to assess the nature of mental health illness.
What Is the Treatment for Generalized Anxiety Disorder?
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Anti-anxiety drugs Alprazolam, Clonazepam, and Diazepam help to recover from an anxiety episode.
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Meditative practices help us to slow down the wavelength of thoughts so that one can skillfully choose their thoughts and gain more self-awareness.
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Mindfulness practice will help individuals gain insight into the present experience without any judgments.
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Psychotherapy.
What Is Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy?
Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) is a goal-oriented short term psychotherapy. It helps to cope up with severe distress. It promotes good emotional regulation. It focuses on current thinking and behavior rather than focusing on the past. Self-help CBT is helpful in patients with mild or moderate anxiety. Non-judgmental attitude will be aimed to be cultivated in the patients so that they tend to develop a positive opinion about everyone. This will make their interpersonal relationship more stable.
The components of cognitive-behavioral therapy are:
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Restructuring the cognitive thought process.
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Modification of core beliefs.
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Training social skills.
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Shifting attention from distress situations.
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Learning to tolerate doubt and uncertainty.
Acceptance and commitment therapy:
Acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) helps to reduce the impact of anxious thoughts and panic attacks.
Mindfulness Technique:
Mindfulness practice will help us gain insight into the present experience without any judgments.
Meditation:
Meditative practices help us to slow down the wavelength of thoughts so that one can skilfully choose their thoughts and gain more self-awareness. It should be done on a daily basis. Observing one’s own breath is the height of meditation. Few pieces of music help in attaining meditative state.
Gratitude writing:
Writing gratitude is a powerful psychological practice. It enables a person to write ten or fifteen gratitude statements every day. This practice becomes more powerful when it is practiced twice a day. The gratitude statements can be made for health, relationships, money, job, car, business. In this way, a positive approach can be gained in everyday life. It helps us to focus more on the grateful things in life sweeping away the negative thoughts. It helps to declutter all the distress producing thoughts and feelings. Clarity of thoughts will be attained and the person will turn more goal-oriented. It will improve one’s self-esteem. It might take only fifteen minutes a day.
A combination of both psychotherapy and medications are required in severe and long-standing cases.
Prevention:
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Stress management techniques like yoga, meditation, and deep breathing help to a great extent.
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Healthy parenting is always going to be the best. It is recommended for young parents to go for a parental counseling session. In this way, both the father and mother can contribute to the growth and development of the child.
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Being a single kid without siblings will push a child to loneliness. Parents should encourage the child to visit his/her cousins. They might even consider having another kid.
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Including a mindfulness technique in your everyday routine makes a huge difference in how one perceive the situations.
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Get adequate sleep.
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Avoid alcohol and drug abuse. Their effects are temporary and will worsen situations when the effect wears off. Get treated early. Earlier one seeks help, the better the chances of recovery.
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It is recommended to consult a mental health professional if: The worrying goes out of control and hampers daily life, work, and relationships. One has irrational fears and always expect the worst. The anxiety starts affecting their physical health. One considered or have started resorting to alcohol and drugs to calm yourself down.
What Are the Lifestyle Changes That Help to Manage GAD?
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Regular exercise.
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Intake of balanced and proper diet.
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Good sleep.
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Involving in yoga and meditation.
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Avoid triggering factors such as coffee, caffeine pills, or diet pills.
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Conversion with family members and friends about the fears.
What Are the Risk Factors Related to GAD?
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Personality: Those people whose temperature is timid and those who avoid danger may be more prone to GAD than other people.
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Genetics: There are many chances that this condition run in the family.
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Experiences: People affected by this condition can have significant changes in their lives such as traumatic or negative experiences in childhood. Long-term medical illness and other mental health conditions can enhance the chances of GAD.
What Are the Complications of GAD?
Some common complications are
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Make it difficult for the person to perform a task quickly and efficiently as there will be trouble concentrating.
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Time will be required to focus on other activities.
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Enhances the risk of depression.
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Digestive or bowel issues.
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Headaches and migraines.
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Chronic illness and pain.
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Heart issues.
Conclusion
A chronic illness known as generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) is characterized by excessive and uncontrollable worry about many elements of daily life. Significant distress and impairments in social, professional, and personal functioning may result from it. Effective therapies, including medication and cognitive-behavioral therapy, can help people with GAD manage their symptoms and enhance their quality of life. To avoid long-term consequences and enhance general wellbeing, early diagnosis and treatment are important.