Detailed info and 1st-person perspective on GAD

1. Generalized Anxiety Disorder
Told By a Victim of GAD

2. Introduction
● Generalized Anxiety Disorder, or G.A.D, is an anxiety
disorder, developed either as a child or an adult, where
anxious and scared thoughts dominate the perceptions of
mostly normal ideas or thoughts, interfering with day-to-day
activities
● The anxiety experienced with GAD is excessive and
ongoing, lasting for at least 6 months
● is a distinguishable anxiety/psychological disorder, first
distinguished in 1980’s DSM-II
o became independent disorder in DSM-III

3. Causes
● The exact cause of GAD is unknown and not
fully understood, as this is the case for most
mental health conditions
● Some possible explanations include
genetics, and certain risk factors, such as
personality, genetics, and gender

4. Risk Factors
● Personality
o People who are more timid or pessimistic, and/or
avoid dangerous things are more prone than others
to GAD
● Genetics
o Some cases of GAD are hereditary, meaning that it
may run in families
● Gender
o Women are actually diagnosed with GAD more often
than men

5. Symptoms
Some symptoms include:
● persistent worrying about small concerns
● inability to stop worrying, to relax, to rest
● always considering worst-case scenario
● punctuality (for kids)
● lack of confidence; pressure to conform (kids)
Physical symptoms include:
● fatigue
● irritability
● muscle tension
● trouble sleeping
● sweat
● nausea

6. Diagnosis
● Health provider may do physical exams, blood test,
medical history questions, or questionnaires in order to
determine diagnosis
● DSM-IV (now DSM-V) criteria for GAD:
o excessive anxiety/worry about several things for
most days of the week for at least 6 months
o distressing anxiety which interferes with daily life
o anxiety unrelated to another mental disorder
o difficulty controlling feelings of worry

7. Demographics
● GAD has been known to affect
6.8 million adults each year,
which translates to about 3.1% of
the US population
● As stated before, women have
twice a greater chance to be
affected by GAD than men
● GAD risk is highest between
childhood and middle age

8. Treatments/Cures
The two primary treatments for GAD are:
● Psychotherapy
o working with a therapist to reduce anxiety symptoms
o cognitive-behavioral therapy is best option
 focuses on teaching skills to gradually return and
get acclimated to previously avoided activities
● Medications
o antidepressants (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor-
SSRIs)
o buspirone, an anti-anxiety medication
o sedatives called “benzodiazepines”

9. How to Cope With GAD
Being one who’s suffered from GAD greatly, some ways to cope
with it include:
● Sticking to treatment plan (taking prescribed meds on
time; keep appointments consistently)
● Anxiety support group (group support; greater
understanding)
● Socialize (don’t be shy and concealed, be outgoing, form
relationships, and interact with and care about others)
● Take action (work hard with doctor to address disorder,
as it’s worked for me so far)

10. Prevention
I should’ve prevented my case earlier, but after learning from my
doctor, these are some ways to prevent persistent anxiety:
● Get early help (I was too late in getting help, since it’s been
harder for me to treat since I waited too long)
● Prioritize life issues (carefully manage your time and energy;
kids, don’t stay up doing homework until 3 A.M every night)
● Avoid substance abuse/use (I got really caught up in this
before being diagnosed with GAD, as my addiction to nicotine
and alcohol made me more anxious as the days went by, but
nowadays I don’t do anymore drugs in order to treat this
properly)

11. Famous Examples of GAD
Some famous people who dealt with and/or still with GAD
include:
● Vincent Van Gogh-artist (alcoholic; disorder stressed
him out; committed suicide eventually)
● Brian Wilson- Beach Boys artist (diagnosed due to
abusive, traumatic childhood experiences; has coped
with it and still performs)
● Abraham Lincoln-famous president (loss of loved ones
as a kid and a parent lead him to anxiety; coped with it
well, well enough to return to presidency and do well,
obviously…)

12. Interesting Facts
● Anxiety, in addition to being a psychological disorder, is a
genetic disorder as well
● About 40 million people in the US suffer from some form of
anxiety
● Anxiety can be a learned behavior, where the patients picks
it up (“learns”) from someone who already has it
● Anxiety can tend to be a self-fulfilling prophecy
● Even all animals experience anxiety at some point
● People with anxiety can get desensitized to it, to a point
where they don’t realize they’re anxious, but actually are

13. How I Feel
I’ll just put it this way. Anxiety
sucks. Every night is a struggle
just to get a good night’s sleep,
as even the most random of
things or ideas will cause
uncontrollable fear inside me.

14. How I Feel
Being a high school student,
the pressures to fit in and do
really well in school are
already stressful enough to
normal teens, but for people
with anxiety like me,
everything is so much worse.
That may explain why I failed
3 out of my 4 classes last
semester.

15. How I Feel
I had a rough going in my
early-to-mid childhood, as I
went through quite a few
traumatic experiences,
which I can definitely
attribute my anxiety to. If it
weren’t for these
experiences, maybe I
wouldn’t have GAD now.

16. How I Feel
When I am with my few closest
friends at night, I can never get
home on time. Since my parents
set a strict curfew at 11:00, I can
never come home before 11:20, at
the earliest. Since I know that
punctuality is something that’s
affected by anxiety, I unfortunately
feel pretty bad about it, knowing
that anxiety has some correlation to
my never honoring curfew.

17. How I Feel
My parents were mostly
responsible for these traumatic
childhood experiences of mine,
so while I still love them, I
definitely have some resentment
still built up inside of me. Why?
Because I know that they
could’ve treated me much better,
and not make me be so fearful of
the outside world, and society in
general.

18. How I Feel
I can’t help but ponder why it took
so darn long for me to receive any
form of treatment, whether it be
therapy or medicine. I had anxiety
for two whole years until treatment
was even considered by my
parents! But after undergoing
cognitive-behavior therapy for
about a few months now, I am
feeling less and less anxious
about things I used to be worried
sick of.

19. How I Feel
I feel like there is a new start for
me beyond the horizon, as I’m
feeling more stable than ever with
my anxiety disorder, and I am fully
confident that, with the help and
support of my family (who I’ll
hopefully be able to forgive for the
past someday), therapist, and
meds, I can cope with and get rid
of this chronic anxiety.

20. Works Cited
Anxiety and Depression Association of America. (n.d.). Facts & Statistics | Anxiety and Depression Association of America, ADAA. Retrieved
December 14, 2014, from http://www.adaa.org/about-adaa/press-room/facts-statistics
Fun Facts About Anxiety Disorders. (n.d.). Retrieved December 14, 2014, from http://anxietysonyacourtney.weebly.com/fun-facts.html
HealthResearchFunding.org. (2014, January 09). Famous People with Generalized Anxiety Disorder - HRF. Retrieved December 14, 2014, from
http://healthresearchfunding.org/famous-people-generalized-anxiety-disorder/
Mayo Clinic. (2014, September 25). Generalized anxiety disorder. Retrieved December 14, 2014, from http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/
generalized-anxiety-disorder/basics/definition/con-20024562
Medscape. (n.d.). Medscape. Retrieved December 14, 2014, from http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/431268
National Institute of Mental Health. (n.d.). Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD). Retrieved December 14, 2014, from
http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/generalized-anxiety-disorder-gad/index.shtml