facts about generalized anxiety

Generalized Anxiety Disorder Facts

Generalized anxiety disorder facts: Medications

Antidepressants are often used to treat generalized anxiety disorder, in fact they are used frequently to treat all anxiety disorders.

Benzodiazepines or sedatives, tranquilizers and sleeping pills can also be used to treat generalized anxiety disorder.

Benzodiazepines can:

• have side effects of memory loss and foggy thinking
• produce tolerance and dependence
• interfere in normal sleep patterns
• produce withdrawal symptoms

It is difficult to treat anxiety in therapy if you are taking Benzos.

Generalized anxiety disorder facts about prevalence and treatment

• Generalized anxiety disorder is the most common anxiety disorder
• It is three times more likely to occur in women that men
• People typically have symptoms ten years before seeking medical treatment
• Only one fifth of people with generalized anxiety disorder receive treatment
• Only 35 percent of people with generalized anxiety disorder will be correctly diagnosed due to overlapping physical symptoms and major depressive disorder

Generalized anxiety disorder facts about physical illness

• Generalized anxiety disorder is frequently associated with diabetes, hypertension, Irritable Bowel Syndrome ,and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease
• Generalized anxiety disorder is associated with worse asthma morbidity
• There is a relationship between generalized anxiety disorder and peptic ulcers
• Anxiety is the most common psychiatric illness associated with cardiovascular disease.

Generalized anxiety disorder and beliefs about worrying

People with anxiety have these false beliefs:·

• Worrying keeps bad things from happening
• Worrying shows that one is a responsible and caring person
• Worrying helps find solutions
• Worrying increases motivation
• Worry keeps them prepared

People who worry before bed time seem to believe the false belief that worry helps them sort through difficult things

Random facts about generalized anxiety disorder

• Chronic worriers often worry to avoid dealing with bigger issues in their lives
• People with gad use more sick days than those who are healthy and frequently miss work due to avoidance or secondary physical symptoms
• Soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan have a generalized anxiety disorder rate of 14-15 percent
• Insomnia, gad and major depressive disorder commonly co-occur
• People with gad often have binge eating disorder
• People with gad often have irritability and poor concentration as symptoms of their anxiety
• People with gad are often restless
• People with general anxiety often have muscle tension and insomnia

Medical information obtained from this website is not intended as a substitute for professional care. If you have or suspect you have a problem, you should consult a healthcare provider.