Clinical psychology Series: Generalised Anxiety Disorder

by | Feb 5, 2018 | Anxiety | 0 comments

“What if I am late for my interview tomorrow?” “What if I made a mistake in the report I handed in?” “What if I am sick for the presentation?”
At some point in your day or week such worries would have passed through your mind. Worrying is a common and potentially helpful process that can lead to effective problem solving. Worry as an emotion can help indicate to us that there is something important we need to address and can lead to a push in the right direction towards resolving the worry. Healthy worrying is usually short-lived and easily filed away either in the “let’s fix it” basket or the “can’t do anything about it” basket. Sometimes we are able to postpone the worry in acknowledgement that we cannot fix it straight away. We may need time to pass, more information or more help from others.
Excessive worrying on the other hand can paralyse an individual with its never ending chase for resolution, intolerance for uncertainty and an unquenchable thirst to make sure that no detail in the quest for resolution is left unchecked. The worries tend to manifest in several areas (health, finances, the future, family, relationships, daily tasks that need to be done) and can be crippling. If excessive worrying leads to disrupted sleep, impaired functioning at work or school, low mood, and loss of coping this can be a form of anxiety called Generalised Anxiety Disorder.
Generalised Anxiety Disorder can go undetected. As worrying is a normal response in people, Generalised Anxiety Disorder can be dismissed easily. Without treatment, however, it is a never ending cycle of anxiety for impending catastrophe. Seeing a Psychologist can bring relief and ultimate refuge from such worries. Generalised Anxiety Disorder is a very treatable condition.