Generalized anxiety disorder, or GAD, is a mental illness. It belongs to a group of illnesses called anxiety disorders. GAD is associated with excessive and uncontrollable worry, as well as significant somatic complaints, lost productivity at work, impaired social relationships, and role functioning, and increased medical service cost. Moreover, the course of GAD appears to be chronic and unremitting.
People living with GAD worry much more than other people, and they worry more often than other people. They often worry about many different activities of daily life, such as their home, work, finances, family, health and the future. People living with GAD also find it hard to control or stop worrying once they start to worry. Worrying all the time can be hard on your body and as such, GAD can leave you feeling tired, restless or irritable all the time. It can also make your muscles sore and make it hard for you to unwind, sleep or concentrate. GAD can also cause stomach problems, headaches and other physical health problems.
Day-to-day worries are a normal part of life and some worries are a good thing. Normal worry tells us when we might be in trouble or when something might be wrong. It’s also perfectly normal to feel more worried than usual if you’re experiencing a stressful or difficult event like losing your job.
Worry becomes generalized anxiety disorder when it’s an extreme reaction to daily life, when it’s difficult to control, when it happen most days for several months and when the constant worry affects your body and your life. Many people with GAD say they can’t remember the last time they felt relaxed. The disorder can last for a long time, though symptoms may feel better or worse at times.

Prevalence and Outcomes 

• 2-5 % of the population suffer from GAD, yet the condition accounts for 30% of mental health problems seen by GP’s.                                    Source: www.mentalhealth.org.uk/publications/living-with-anxiety (2014)
• Females are twice as likely as males to experience GAD.
• Individuals of European descent tend to experience GAD more than individuals of Non-European descent.

GAD can develop when you can’t cope well with your internal stress. It also runs in families, but it’s not understood why some people get it and others don’t. Researchers have shown that the areas of the brain that control fear and anxiety are involved.

The symptoms of GAD can happen as a side effect of a medicine or substance abuse. It can also be related to medical conditions, such as hyperthyroidism, that increase hormones. This can make the body response more excitable. GAD can be triggered by family or environmental stress. Chronic illness and disease can also trigger GAD.

Cognitive Behavioural therapy has modest effects with around 50% of clients achieving significant clinical improvement. Depending on the level of severity of each individual GAD, treatment will be approached differently following an individualised treatment plan. The severity will be captured at assessment following a relevant treatment protocol. For moderate to severe cases, 8 – 16 sessions of CBT are recommended. For severe to chronic cases, 20 sessions of CBT delivered to a specialist treatment protocol for GAD, combined with drug treatment, is recommended.

‘’Thoughts don’t matter, your response to them does’’. (Wells, 2009)

See nhs.uk

Please feel free to get in touch with us if you have any questions about the psychological therapies we offer at our facilities that could be able to help with generalised anxiety disorder (GAD).