Anxiety is something that is common all over the United States. Pretty much everybody experiences some type of anxiety whether they are taking a test, going on a first date, or just have a lot of work to get done and are overwhelmed. Having anxiety is not a disorder it shows that you are human but there is a limit to having a normal amount of anxiety and having GAD otherwise known as General Anxiety Disorder.
There are multiple symptoms of Generalized Anxiety Disorder they are… Persistent and uncontrollable tenseness and apprehension (for 6 months or more), autonomic arousal (sweating, palpitation, dry mouth, lightheadedness, upset stomach, or hyperventilation), or being unable to identify or avoid the cause of the feelings that you are experiencing. GAD interferes with people’s lives because they have persistent anxiety that does not go away easily and has to be treated. According to the NIH (National Institutes of Health), treatments can be psychotherapy, medication such as SSRIs which are serotonin reuptake inhibitors or Anti-anxiety medications such as benzodiazepines. Other treatments can be support groups or healthy habits such as going to the gym or any form of exercise, reading, or even meditation.
There is a girl that I know who used to be anxious about everything she would stress about tests, homework, and even Snapchat if someone did not respond fast enough to her. I was always curious why she was like this. There was one time after a test that she took she was freaking out. I calmed her down and asked her what was wrong. She said that she thinks she failed the test and that her academic career is over. I calmed her down and come to find out she has generalized anxiety disorder but it was self-diagnosed. So, I told her we would go to the gym every day so that she could take her mind off of life and worries for one hour and just focus on herself. We did that for a year straight and her anxiety was so much better. I would say it was cured or anything like that but she was a lot more calmed and not as worked up all of the time. To this day she goes to the gym daily and is handling her anxiety amazingly.
Sources:
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (2022). Generalized anxiety disorder: When worry gets out of Control. National Institute of Mental Health. https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/generalized-anxiety-disorder-gad