What is Generalized Anxiety Disorder?

Background

Anxiety can be a useful response. In small doses, it can give us the focus, concentration and determination to achieve. If a runner is not at least a little anxious before a race, they are unlikely to give a superlative performance. An entertainer’s anxiety about a show can put energy and life into their act.

Mild anxiety sharpens our senses, while simultaneously widening our field of perception. However, as anxiety increases, our perceptual field narrows. While the senses are still sharp, we find ourselves only able to perceive the object of our worry. Even this is not necessarily negative. In an exam, it may be helpful to not notice anything other than the paper before you.

Generalized Anxiety Disorder

Anxiety becomes a problem when constant worrying overtakes all other thoughts. A sufferer of generalized anxiety disorder tends to focus inordinate amounts of worry on a number of specific concerns. They may be anxious about their health, the safety of their children, whether they have enough money in their wallet, whether the house is clean enough and dozens of other worries. Importantly, reassurance does nothing to resolve the felt anxiety.

In more severe cases, sufferers can begin to worry about the fact that they worry constantly. This leads to a negative feedback cycle, where the sufferers become more and more anxious about their own anxiety.

Prevalence

Generalized anxiety disorder appears in about 4%-6% of the population in Western nations. It is more common in women than in men, though evidence suggests that men will tend to hide the disorder behind alcohol or substance abuse.

Onset typically occurs after 35 years of age in women, and after 45 in men. However, teenage and even childhood cases are not unheard of. After appearing, the disorder will tend to wax and wane throughout the life of the sufferer.

Mixtures of Symptoms

Symptoms can be mixed with symptoms of other affective or anxiety disorders. Not uncommonly, anxious individuals may also suffer from major depression, or from panic disorder. An individual’s anxiousness may set off depression, or depression may cause anxiety. Similarly, panic attacks may bring on many more general worries about life.

Quality of Life

The disorder is not directly life-threatening. Instead, it is the anxious individual’s quality of life that is damaged. Sufferers may find themselves unable to enjoy the pleasures of driving, shopping, contact with friends or even sustained thought without dropping into a cycle of worry that overtakes their mind.

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