Unpacking Anxiety: Understanding the Differences Between Anxiety and Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD)

Do you find yourself constantly worrying? A head full of thoughts of impending doom? Accompanied by a pounding heart? Panicky breathing? Well, you’re not alone. Anxiety disorders are the most common mental health problem in the world, and it is often underdiagnosed.

Anxiety is a normal emotion to experience. Whether you have an important event coming up, moving to a new place, or going on a first date, it’s normal to feel anxious. What is not normal is if your anxiety is persistent, excessive, and interfering with your daily life which can be classified as Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD)

To begin with, what is anxiety and when can it be classified as GAD?

Anxiety is defined as a feeling of fear, uneasiness, and worry which can cause you to feel tense, cause your heart to race and your body to sweat. This is a normal reaction to stress or a big event in your life such as taking a test, making an important decision or facing a problem. However, this feeling is temporary and often resolves after the trigger is gone.

Generalized Anxiety Disorder on the other hand, never goes away. An individual lives their lives in constant worry and fear, often expecting the worst in every given scenario. This uncontrollable worry can negatively impact their lives making it hard to focus. This can complicate their work, personal relationships, and even simple tasks such as sleeping and eating, making their quality of life suffer. These individuals often isolate themselves, turn down opportunities and sacrifice the joy in their life.

To be diagnosed with GAD, these symptoms of excessive worry must be present almost every day for at least 6 months.

If you suffer from anxiety or GAD, there are many things that may help.

Calming down your mind with breathing exercises such as mediation, deep breathing, and techniques to relax muscle tension such as yoga

Daily lifestyle changes such as reducing caffeine intake, and creating a regular exercise routine

Psychotherapy consists of cognitive behavioral therapy and exposure therapy which teaches you to change your way of thinking and reconstruct your negative thoughts while exposure therapy gradually exposes you to your fears with guidance until that fear no longer exists.

If all of the above fails, you can try medications such as Benzodiazepines, which are short-acting drugs that are taken as needed when symptoms arise. Low doses of antidepressants such as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRI’s) have also been shown to relieve anxiety symptoms when taken daily.

You’re absolutely not alone and there is always help, simple as making a phone call or appointment with your physician .