Generalized Anxiety Disorder
- Details
- Hits: 11995
The following essay is a sample paper for an essay on Generalized Anxiety Disorder. It should not be used as a ready paper for your assignment as it is already in our website. In case you want an original paper on the same topic or any other field please order for the essay at our site and our able writers will work on it from the scratch.
Generalized Anxiety Disorder
Abstract
This paper has analyzed one of the personality disorder, and which focuses on the anxieties of persons. This problem is the Generalized Anxiety Disorder, and in the discussion, we have noted that this problem starts to occur in underage persons and those who are near adulthood. Some of the major symptoms of this disease include high-level anxieties, feeling of being threatened and extreme worries. The best treatment that is suggested is through guidance and counseling or generally, the Cognitive Behavioral Therapy.
Introduction
Depression and the anxiety disorders at first were seen to be very similar but generally, the two are not the same. Specifically, depression is capable of generating emotions like despair, hopelessness and anger on where energy of the persons is low; the person suffering from this problem can be overwhelmed by their daily chores. On the other hand, the anxiety disorders bring about the experiences of general anxiety, fear and panic; especially, in situations where it is not expected that persons would feel threatened and anxious. Where there are no triggers for anxiety, these people are seen to be disturbed and threatened. Comparing the two problems, both are treated with antidepressants and many depressions are accompanied by anxieties. Study has shown that 85 percent of the persons with major depression are also diagnosed with problems such as the Generalized Anxiety Disorder, which we will focus in details.
Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD)
According to Anxiety Disorders Association of America (AADAA), the Generalized Anxiety Disorder is a problem that is characterized by excessive, persistent and unrealistic worry and this is about everyday things. The persons who are diagnosed with this disease are known as the GAD and they experience exaggerated tension and worry, and more notably, their worries seen unwarranted. This is to mean, other people cannot notice the reason as to why the GAD persons are threatened by the situations bringing about this. AADAA adds that this problem has so far affected a number of adults totaling to 6.8 million representing 3.1% of the United States of America’s population. On its part, the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) writes that this problem is concerned with worries that are accompanied with some physical problems.
Particularly, the physical problems that characterize the Generalized Anxiety Disorder are like fatigue, muscle tension, headaches, muscle aches, trembling, and difficulties during swallowing, excessive sweating, twitching and lastly the hot flashes. This problem is often comorbid with the mood disorders and where research has shown that 42% of the persons that are suffering with the Generalized Anxiety Disorder have had a history of major episodes of depression in the past (Heimberg, 2004). As well, he adds that the persons that have been found with the problem are found to have strong relationship with the personality disorders, more than the panic disorder or agoraphobia. However, this is more strengthened when the person with this problem too has a major depression in himself or herself. Additionally, the Generalized is characterized with the hyperactive arousal of the central nervous system; for example, the muscle tension.
According to NIMH, there is also a level of mildness in people and the persons who have this problem can work socially and may hold down a job. They cannot avoid some situations that are due to their problem of this disorder and they have difficulties carrying even the simple daily activities. NIMH quotes a person’s account of how someone feels due to this problem, “When my problems were at their worst, I’d miss work and feel just terrible about it. Then I worried that I would lose my job. My life was miserable until I got treatment.” Portman (2009) writes that there are some researches, which have tended to suggest that the GAD can even run in families, and it is probable to grow worse when the persons are under extreme stress. This problem often begins at an early age and the symptoms starts to show slowly than in a number of other anxiety disorders.
However, some people have reported having GAD at early adulthood, and this is usually in response to a stressor in their lives. Once it develops and becomes persistent, it can turn itself to be chronic, and it can be managed to some extent with proper treatment but not entirely. Portman (2009) is categorical that GAD is prevalent in some primary care setting such as family life and marital status. This is to say that some factors such as stress in life of married persons and those who are under the care of stressed families can be real determinant of occurrence of this disorder in persons underage or near adulthood. According to NIMH (2009), the GAD normally does not occur alone, it is accompanied by other problems, and this is noted in treatments where, while treating, the persons are also diagnosed with the cognitive behavioral therapy and other conditions related to improper actions resulting from their inappropriate cognitive behaviors.
In this connection, it can therefore be argued that the treatment of diagnosis for this disorder can be correlated to that which is administered on persons who have problems with their socialization, have cognitive component, the behavioral component and the physiological components. According to Rygh (2004), some of the treatments that are administered on such persons are like on how to improve the image of these persons, and trying as much as possible to remove the worries them. There is also the self-directed kind of continuation treatments in addition to ensuring that the cognition of the persons with this problem are tackled properly and shown how to deal with the worries of life. In addition, there is also a high need of guiding the persons towards applied relaxation and the self control measures that can see the person judging his or her own environment and evaluating it positively.
NIMF notes that the best way is to seek the help of a mental doctor, simply because the element of having unstable mind cannot be ruled out in this disorder. The practitioners should be competent on matters to do with the cognitive therapies, and some suggestions being given on persons who have special qualities on guidance and counseling. Goldberg (2010) adds that the cognitive behavioral therapy is studied to be more effective in the long term which should always be the concentration, and this is even more than the pharmacological kind of treatment; for example, SSRIs (Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors). Even though all the treatments are aimed at reducing anxieties in the person, the Cognitive Behavioral Therapy reduces this better as well as the depression; which is a major characteristic of persons suffering from the problem.
Conclusion
One of the most feared medical problems are the problems that are affecting the brain, and this is because they are capable of paralyzing any other kind of functioning in a person’s body. In this regard, it is better that people evaluate themselves early enough to know as to whether or not they are suffering from any kind of ailments that are concerning this problem. One of such problem, which we have discussed, concerns the personality disorder, and particularly, we have looked at the Generalized Anxiety Disorder. This problem starts at an early age and near adulthood, and has symptoms that are connected to worries even when the situation cannot compel the person to be threatened. This problem has been studied to persist when there are other factors like low socialism, low family life and marriage that is not working for the parents of the persons. Some of the treatments require that some drugs be administered; however, as we have noted, the best form is to tackle the cognitive behavior of the person.
References
Goldberg, D. (2010). Diagnostic issues in depression and generalized anxiety disorder: Refining the research agenda for DSM-V. Arlington: American Psychiatric Publishing Inc.
Heimberg, R. (2004). Generalized anxiety disorder: Advances in research and practice. New York: The Guilford Press.
NIMH. (2009). Anxiety disorder. NIH Publication, Vol. 09 (3879), pp 2-26.
Portman, M. (2009). Generalized anxiety disorder across the lifespan: An integrative approach. Cleveland: Springer Science + Business Media LLC.
Rygh, J. (2004). Treating generalized anxiety disorder: Evidence-based strategies, tools and techniques. New York: The Guilford Press.