Generalized Anxiety Disorder

According to Young Minds, over 400,000 people in the UK suffer from some form of anxiety disorder; it can range from the simple feeling of pessimism to full blown panic attacks.

Children as young as 5 have been diagnosed with symptoms of anxiety and it can be something that stays with you for the rest of your life. For me it started at about the age of 7, I don’t remember much apart from the constant sensation of not being able to catch my breath.

All together there are over 100 symptoms of anxiety and everyone will come across some of these at one stage of their lives, whether it is feeling nervous about an exam or job interview, to simply feeling hopeless about a particular situation. Most forms of anxiety can be easily dealt with and will pass in a short space of time but in some circumstances these can progress into what is known as GAD (generalised anxiety disorder).

One thing I have learned about having to deal with something like this is it’s a state of mind, physically there is nothing wrong with you but that doesn’t mean it is any less real and hard to handle if you are unlucky enough to suffer from anxiety in the long term.

There is an estimated one in six sufferers who remain medically undiagnosed with GAD; the most common reason for this is feeling as though the doctor won’t understand and will send you away, saying there is nothing wrong. In the past this would have been true, but more and more doctors are being educated to fully understand the condition and help people to cope with their personal situations.

A number of different treatments can be applied when dealing with GAD. One of the most common practises is being prescribed medication that can help you to cope with situations on a day to day basis. Speaking to Dr Otway, she explained to me exactly what these forms of medication can do, “The most commonly prescribed medications we give out is something called Citalopram, it comes in a variety of different dosages and has been proven to help anxiety sufferers”. The drug itself is classified as a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) this means it boosts the chemicals in your body that release the ‘happy’ chemicals also known as serotonin.

An estimated 13% of the adult population will have some sort of phobia; this is an irrational fear of something that can affect day to day life. For example some people will become petrified of heights and will be unable to do anything that would involve being off the ground more than a few meters. For others it can be an intense feeling of claustrophobia to the extent that the person will avoid crowded places and may even be unable to carry out day to day tasks such as shopping or going to work.

Just taking a pharmaceutical approach is not recommended by most medical practitioners. Instead they like to use a combination of this and cognitive behavioral therapy which helps you to not only cope with (and hopefully overcome) your anxiety but to fully understand the reasons as to why you are feeling like this. The main thought behind this is, if you can find the root cause, you can begin to understand why it is you’re feeling the way you do and learn steps to cope with it.

Another highly recommended approach to dealing with GAD is meditation or relaxation techniques. Learning to control your breathing and to shut the world out enough so you can regain your focus is an excellent coping strategy for dealing with day to day life. Like many, I was very dubious about this approach but after some persuading by my doctor I decided to give it a go and have found the benefits incredibly rewarding, instead of shutting down in stressful situation I take a moment to myself and concentrate on my breathing and deal with the situation in my head before dealing with it in person.

Everyone who suffers from GAD will have certain triggers or situation that will induce a state of panic and worry, for some this can be situations at work or in education for example a deadline or presentation. Another trigger could be personal situation with family or friends after a confrontation or stressful period. There are said to be five things that will provoke a state of panic or stress in anyone; Death, Marriage, Separation, Moving and financial worries. With a person who suffers from GAD these can send you into an almost catatonic state of panic that can take some time to overcome and manage.

For myself the trigger started as school, I was never a popular child and had a lot of friends who let me down and was often the target in the playground. Through this I became a very quiet child at school and would often withdraw myself from most social situations as to avoid any difficult situations. At the age of 14 I first decided to see a doctor about the way I was feeling, to start with I was diagnosed with depression and to an extent this was true as I wasn’t happy in social situation I would have preferred to spend all my time in my room, it wasn’t until the age of 16 that I was finally diagnosed as having GAD.

Living with GAD for me has always been something which is manageable; I try to not let it control my day to day activities. There are good days and there are hard days, something I find incredibly challenging is flying, there is just something about being in a confined space with no fresh air that sends me into a state of panic but with the help of doctors and the right medication I was able last year to achieve my dream of going to New York and I made it in once piece, something I wasn’t sure was possible a few months before.

If you feel like you may be suffering from anything described in this article its best to go to your doctor and explain to them how you are feeling, they are there to listen and help you and chances are you will feel better after talking to someone. It is also recommended to try and remember the 5 ways to relieve anxiety;

1. Just breathe; try taking a few deep breaths to regain control of the situation.
2. Trust in yourself; it can be easy to lose trust in yourself but try and remember your inner most beliefs.
3. Go into nature; Going for a walk to clear and calm your head can often be one of the best ways to dealing with any stressful situation. Take an hour out of your day to sit somewhere quiet and reflect on whatever may be bothering you.
4. Write down your thoughts; most doctors recommend you keep a notebook and write down anything that is bothering you, this can help you to understand what triggers stress and anxiety.
5. Talk out loud; tell someone about what you are going through, if you feel unable to tell a doctor try and speak to a friend or a family member first as this can be the first steps into helping you dealing with your anxiety.

There are also a wide variety of online resources aimed to help people cope with GAD:

• Mood Gym
• Anxiety UK
• Turn 2 Me