Generalized anxiety disorder: description and treatment

Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) is a long (many days or more) sensation of unhealthy anxiety.

Anxiety causes the human brain to send through the nerves throughout the body specific messages for the heart, lungs, muscles and other organs. Through the blood hormonal alarm signals come - for example, adrenaline is released. Together, these "messages" lead to the fact that the body accelerates and intensifies its work. The heart beats faster than usual. There is a nausea. The body is covered with a tremor (tremor). Strongly separated sweat. It is impossible to avoid dry mouth, even if a person drinks a lot of fluids. The chest and head ache. Sucking in the pitcher. Appears shortness of breath.

The excitement of a healthy organism must be distinguished from a painful, pathological anxiety. Normal excitement is useful and necessary for experiencing stress. She warns of danger or the situation of possible confrontation. Then the individual decides whether he should "take the fight" (for example, take a hard exam). If the level of anxiety is too high, the subject realizes that he needs to leave this event as soon as possible (for example, when attacking a wild beast).

But there is a special type of anxiety, in which a person's condition becomes painful, and the manifestations of anxiety do not allow him to lead ordinary life activity.

When GTR people for a long time is in fear. Often extreme confusion is unmotivated, i.e. The cause of it can not be understood.

Symptoms of pathological anxiety can be, at first glance, similar to manifestations of a normal, healthy anxiety state, especially when it comes to the so-called "disturbing personalities". For them, anxiety is a daily norm of well-being, not a disease. In order to distinguish a generalized anxiety disorder from the norm, it is necessary to find in a person at least three symptoms of the following:

• Anxiety, nervous excitement, impatience manifests much more often than in the usual conditions of life;
• Fatigue is faster than ever;
• It is difficult to gather attention, it often refuses - as if turned off;
• The patient is more irritable than usual;
• Muscles are tense and they can not relax;
• There were disturbances in sleep, which had not existed before.

Anxiety, occurring only for one of the reasons mentioned, is not a sign of the GTR. Most likely, obsessive anxiety for any single reason means phobia - quite another disease.

Generalized anxiety disorder occurs at the age of 20-30 years. Women are sick more often than men. The reasons for this disorder are unknown, so it often seems that they are not at all. However, a number of indirect factors can influence the development of such a state. it

• Heredity: there are many anxious individuals in the family; There were relatives who survived GTR;
• During the childhood the patient suffered a psychological trauma: with him poorly communicated in the family, one of the parents died or both, a syndrome of cruel treatment of children , etc .;
• After a major stress (for example, a family crisis) developed a generalized anxiety disorder. The crisis was over, the provoking factors were exhausted, but GTR symptoms persisted. Henceforth, any small stress, to cope with which has always been easy, supports the symptoms of the disease.

GAD in a number of cases develops as a secondary, concomitant disease in those suffering from depression and schizophrenia.

The diagnosis of GAD is raised if its symptoms develop and persists for a 6-month period.

Can a generalized anxiety disorder be overcome? The treatment of this ailment has been studied quite well. The manifestation of the disease may be uncomplicated, but in the worst cases it can make the sick person incapacitated. In the mode of sudden change of heavy and easier periods, with stress (for example, a patient lost his job or parted with a loved one), spontaneous exacerbations are possible.

Patients GAD, as a rule, incredibly much smoke, drink alcohol and use drugs. So they distract themselves from anxious symptoms, and for a while it really helps. But it is quite obvious that by "supporting" themselves in this way, they can completely lose their health.

Treatment of GAD can not be rapid and, unfortunately, does not provide full recovery. At the same time, the treatment process, if it is carried out by courses for many years, will provide a significant relief of symptoms and a qualitative improvement in life.

Cognitive psychotherapy is used. Her task at the first stage is to show the patient what changes need to be made in ideas and thoughts provoking anxiety. Then the patient is trained to build his thinking without harmful, useless and false premises - so that it works realistically and productively.

Individual consultations are conducted, during which a person works out the technique for solving problems.

Where technical and financial conditions permit, there are group courses to combat anxiety symptoms. They are taught to relax, they attach great importance to strategies for overcoming difficulties.

For self-help in the centers of psychological support (if they are), you can get literature and videos that teach relaxation and how to overcome stress. Special breathing exercises, methods of alleviating anxiety are described.

Drug therapy is based on the use of two types of drugs: buspirone and antidepressants.

Buspirone is considered the best medicine to treat anxiety. Its action is not fully understood. It is known only that it affects the production of a special substance in the brain - serotonin, which, presumably, is responsible for the biochemistry of anxiety symptoms.

Antidepressants, despite the fact that anxiety is not their immediate target, can be effective in treating it.

At present, benzodiazepine preparations (for example, diazepam) are less often prescribed for the treatment of GAD. Despite their clear ability to alleviate anxiety, benzodiazepines are addictive, as a result of which they cease to function. Moreover, additional treatment is necessary against addiction. In severe cases, GAD diazepam is prescribed for a period of not more than 3 weeks.

Antidepressants and buspirone do not cause addiction.

To achieve the greatest effect, cognitive therapy and buspirone treatment are combined.

The successes of modern pharmacology allow waiting in the coming years for new drugs that will help to cure the generalized anxiety disorder completely.