If you find yourself worrying about things that are unlikely to happen or you tend to feel anxious, tense or worried all day long when there is really no reason to, then you may well be showing a few of the symptoms of GAD.
Everyone has worries, fears and concerns about certain aspects of our lives but if your anxiety is so constant that it has started to get in the way of your normal life, stopping you from relaxing and stopping you from carrying on normally then you may have GAD.
GAD is a fairly common problem that affects millions of people worldwide. It tends to show itself as constant, chronic worrying or anxiety, general tension and nervousness with sufferers finding it very difficult to relax and switch off.
If you are suffering from generalized anxiety disorder your fear is not related to a specific thing, occasion or event. You will feel anxious nearly all the time and your anxiety will influence every part of your life. The feeling is, however, nowhere near as intense as, for example, a panic attack but instead is a long lasting feeling of anxiety that makes normal life impossible.
The condition is both physically and emotionally exhausting, sapping your energy, destroying any sense of feeling good and generally wearing you down. You will probably worry about exactly the same things as other people such as family, health, work and money but your worrying will be exaggerated out of all proportion.
Your worries will constantly repeat in your head, you won’t be able to switch them off.
People with GAD will go through their days in a constant state of anxiety, imagining the worst possible outcome for every situation even when there is no logical reason for their worries.
Being worried or concerned about things is a perfectly normal aspect of our lives but it is when worry gets out of hand and starts to interfere with normal life that it becomes a problem. Excessive worrying, irrational and intrusive thoughts that keep popping into your head are symptoms of Generalized Anxiety. The anxiety can become debilitating actually preventing you from finding a solution.
The symptoms of generalized anxiety disorder can vary from hour to hour and day to day. You will experience bad days and good days, you might find that anxiety is worse in the morning while others may find that late at night will be the worst time for anxiety. Generally, not everyone experiences the same symptoms but most people with GAD have some or all of these symptoms of generalized anxiety disorder.