Introduction To
General Anxiety Disorder (GAD)
What is G.A.D?
So what is GAD? Chances are you’ve probably never heard of it… I know I didn’t have a clue what GAD was – until I was actually diagnosed with it myself. Unlike other mental illnesses such as depression, OCD, and schizophrenia… GAD is not as well known a condition. When I first started talking to my friends and family about GAD they had no idea what it was, and I found myself having to explain the illness to them and to anyone else that asked.
These next few pages will be exploring what GAD is, how it affects people's lives and how to deal with the condition. GAD has affected my own life so much, I feel compelled to share my experiences of this mental illness and share what I have found that has helped me, inthe hope that it may help you in some way too.
About one in 10 people in the UK are affected by severe anxiety. Although it is more common that people may think, GAD is often not diagnosed and/or mistaken for another mental illness. What makes this condition so difficult to identify is that the very nature of GAD and other anxiety disorders can often cause different conditions to overlap. Of all psychiatric illnesses, GAD is the least likely to occur alone. Anxiety is a complex problem which affects a wide range of people in a variety of ways. GAD can often trigger social phobia, panic, depression, insomnia, substance abuse and other conditions.
The combination of these conditions can often mask the real root of the problem which in many cases is GAD. As a result, sufferers will try and treat the symptoms which stem from the GAD, instead of dealing with the real issue. Although GAD is actually more common that many think, it is also possibly the most badly understood and mistreated of all the anxiety disorders. If you ask anyone what GAD is, the likelyhood is that they will probably never have heard of it. Everyone that I have explained my GAD to, didnt even realise the condition existed! More needs to be done to raise awareness, so that people do not have to suffer alone in silence and ignorance...
What makes G.A.D different from normal worry?
GAD sufferers worry about many of the same things that other people do: money, relationships, health, etc, but the difference is GAD causes sufferers to become plagued and overwhelmed by their worries to such a extreme extent that their everyday lives become simply living and breathing worry.
G.A.D involves excessive, intrusive and constant worrying that feels uncontrollable... completly debilitating a sufferer’s life. People with G.A.D can become so overwhelmed by the never ending worry, that infiltrates every aspect of their lives - that the sheer desperation to escape and find peace can drive them to become suicidal. G.A.D can make a sufferers very existence feel unbearable. Life becomes no longer about ‘living’ but ‘enduring’
Common traits of G.A.D
- Constant worrying that feels out of control and relentless
- Intrusive thoughts that make you anxious and fearful
- An all-encompassing and persistent lingering feeling of dread
- Constant ruminating and going over things over and over in your mind
- Feeling like your mind is on overdrive and it just wont stop
- Living in your mind instead of enjoying or being in the present
- An inability to handle uncertainty
- Difficulty relaxing or feeling at ease
- Feeling easily overwhelmed
- Avoiding situations, people and places that make you feel anxious
- Difficulty concentrating
- Feeling tense, and having aches and pains all over
- Difficulties sleeping because you cant seem to ‘switch off’
- Feeling edgy, restless, irritable, depressed and low
- digestive problems, such as nausea, diarrhoea and constipation
You Don't Understand...
For people who have never experienced an anxiety disorder themselves, it can be very difficult for them to understand why sufferers cannot ‘just snap out of it.’ This is incredibly frustrating for both the person who cannot understand why their loved one is acting in this way, and even more frustrating for the sufferer who wants nothing more than to ‘snap out of it’ but is unable to do so despite their hardest efforts. Due to the lack of understanding and awareness of anxiety disorders, dealing with the condition becomes so much harder for the suffer and those around them.
Imagine...
To get a glimpse into what I feels like to have GAD, imagine this:
Imagine worrying about something that makes you really really really anxious.
Now imagine that that you can’t switch off thinking about that worry for not even one minute. Imagine the worry is on your mind every moment of everyday for weeks…months… and even years
Imagine trying to distract yourself with anything and everything, yet the worry is still there dragging you down like a heavy ball and chain that follows you wherever you go.
Imagine that on top of the worry that you can’t get rid of, other worries start to pile on top and you cant get rid of those either no matter how hard you try.
Imagine the burden getting heavier and heavier and your body and mind becoming weaker and weaker.
Imagine going to bed weary and worn out every night and not being able to stop the swirl of worries that are still swimming around in your head.
Imagine tossing and turning for hours on end, only then to be plagued by vivid nightmares of the very worries that you were trying to escape from.
Imagine waking up… feeling the temporary relief of thinking it was all just a dream, only then to feel the painful crushing realisation that your nightmare is actually reality.
Imagine confiding to friends, family and even doctors, only for them to look at you blankly and not know what is wrong with you.
Imagine the torture of feeling like a freak – no one understands what you are going through and you feel like the only person in the world who is this way.
Imagine not knowing where to go for help, because you don’t even know what you have. Imagine feeling on top of this all the worries you are carrying just keep snowballing and getting bigger and heavier.
Imagine, depression starts to descend and you get sucked even deeper into a spiral of despair. Imagine, thoughts of death become a welcome relief…a way to escape all the pain…
Imagine, days turning in into months… and months into years… yet you are still stuck in this torturous state, and slowly losing hope that you will ever know happiness and peace again
Imagine knowing that you are the prisoner of you own mind, that somewhere there must be a key…but you don’t know how to escape and remain trapped in a invisible trap no one else can see…
Now imagine, you are not imagining...and its actually your life and reality...
Fortunately for most people, they will only ever need to 'imagine' what G.A.D feels like. Sadly for sufferer's - the pain and anguish inflicted by G.A.D is a very real and distressing reality.
Imagine worrying about something that makes you really really really anxious.
Now imagine that that you can’t switch off thinking about that worry for not even one minute. Imagine the worry is on your mind every moment of everyday for weeks…months… and even years
Imagine trying to distract yourself with anything and everything, yet the worry is still there dragging you down like a heavy ball and chain that follows you wherever you go.
Imagine that on top of the worry that you can’t get rid of, other worries start to pile on top and you cant get rid of those either no matter how hard you try.
Imagine the burden getting heavier and heavier and your body and mind becoming weaker and weaker.
Imagine going to bed weary and worn out every night and not being able to stop the swirl of worries that are still swimming around in your head.
Imagine tossing and turning for hours on end, only then to be plagued by vivid nightmares of the very worries that you were trying to escape from.
Imagine waking up… feeling the temporary relief of thinking it was all just a dream, only then to feel the painful crushing realisation that your nightmare is actually reality.
Imagine confiding to friends, family and even doctors, only for them to look at you blankly and not know what is wrong with you.
Imagine the torture of feeling like a freak – no one understands what you are going through and you feel like the only person in the world who is this way.
Imagine not knowing where to go for help, because you don’t even know what you have. Imagine feeling on top of this all the worries you are carrying just keep snowballing and getting bigger and heavier.
Imagine, depression starts to descend and you get sucked even deeper into a spiral of despair. Imagine, thoughts of death become a welcome relief…a way to escape all the pain…
Imagine, days turning in into months… and months into years… yet you are still stuck in this torturous state, and slowly losing hope that you will ever know happiness and peace again
Imagine knowing that you are the prisoner of you own mind, that somewhere there must be a key…but you don’t know how to escape and remain trapped in a invisible trap no one else can see…
Now imagine, you are not imagining...and its actually your life and reality...
Fortunately for most people, they will only ever need to 'imagine' what G.A.D feels like. Sadly for sufferer's - the pain and anguish inflicted by G.A.D is a very real and distressing reality.
Mental Torture...
GAD is a debilitating and difficult disorder to live with as there is no rest or respite from the constant swirl of anxious thoughts and feelings. This can be extremely exhausting for the sufferer and lead to fatigue, and the lack of will to go on. G.A.D is both mentally and physically exhausting and can have a detrimental impact on a sufferer’s life, often destroying relationships, work life, social life, sleep, appetite…it literally destroy someone’s life. Even at night, sufferers cannot always escape the mental torture of GAD, as this condition can affect a person whether they are awake or asleep. Troublesome dreams and nightmares can often add to the never ending cycle of anxiety and unrest for the GAD sufferer.
People with GAD often have low self-esteem and feel insecure about themselves and other people’s feeling towards them. They have a tendency to see things negatively and to think the worst. This is not intentional, but often due to the worried, and anxious nature of GAD sufferers. Anxiety can cause simple everyday tasks and interactions almost impossible to carry out. The anxiety can become so overpowering that it can literally paralyse the sufferer and stop them from living their lives in a way that most people would take for granted.
More...
please click on the below links for more about GAD...
GAD Personal Stories
Advice From Me to You
Help for GAD
GAD and Relationships
GAD in Children and Teens
GAD Personal Stories
Advice From Me to You
Help for GAD
GAD and Relationships
GAD in Children and Teens