| You may hear people talking about generalized anxiety | | | | * Post Traumatic Stress Disorder |
| disorder but may not be familiar with what that is, so | | | | Most people who can be diagnosed as having |
| let's take a look at this very common affliction. | | | | generalized anxiety disorder go through their normal |
| Common? Yes although most people do not realize | | | | day filled with high levels of worry or tension. It may |
| they have it or are even subject to it, but having | | | | not appear that way to the outside observer but it is |
| generalized anxiety disorder is more common than | | | | very real to the person afflicted with this disorder, |
| most people realize. | | | | even though nothing may have happened to provoke |
| First of all, you need to understand that the natural | | | | or bring out such feelings. |
| human reaction to stress is anxiety. There is nothing | | | | People who are afflicted with this often have |
| you can do about that since it is part of your human | | | | significant problems in sleeping soundly or even falling |
| nature. The easy answer is to simply eliminate stress | | | | asleep. They have trouble just simply relaxing because |
| in your life, but that solution is far too unrealistic for | | | | their anxiety makes them feel like they need to be |
| almost everyone since that simply cannot happen in | | | | something to alleviate the undefined worries or |
| the vast majority of cases. | | | | concerns. |
| What causes stress? This in itself is a key question | | | | There may be certain periods of your life where things |
| since the circumstances that cause stress in one | | | | are going on which might deserve such anxiety, worry, |
| person may be nothing more than a news alert to | | | | and concern, but when the level of anxiety is |
| another person. Perhaps it is due to some kind of | | | | unreasonably high for a period of six months or more, |
| conflict going on at the office or your job. Perhaps as | | | | it really is time to see a professional. |
| a student it was the realization that finals are coming | | | | While this is indeed a disease, there is not a "cure" in |
| up and you have not studied hard enough. Many | | | | the same sense that you would cure a cold or set a |
| performers experience stress just before a | | | | broken arm. But between therapy and perhaps |
| performance when they think of the mistakes they | | | | prescribed medications by a medical professional, the |
| could make if they do not perform correctly. | | | | anxiety can be tamed and kept under control instead |
| Stress and anxiety go hand in hand, and to an extent, it | | | | of being a devastating and debilitating handicap for you. |
| helps to keep us more focused on what we need to | | | | One of the recommended treatments is |
| do or be doing. But sometimes the anxiety generated | | | | psychotherapy. While this is not used as often as |
| by stress goes to an extreme, even becoming a | | | | medication, there is new evidence that suggests that it |
| devastating and irrational dread of normal everyday | | | | is more effective for longer periods of time for most |
| situations, and in this case, it has become a disabling | | | | people. |
| disorder. | | | | The key point here is there something can be done |
| Looking closer, we find that the National Institute of | | | | about this condition. Sometimes it is simply a matter of |
| Mental Health has defined five major types of anxiety | | | | training the mind and body that it is exaggerating the |
| disorders, which are: | | | | current situation and there are many self-help books |
| * Panic disorder | | | | about how to accomplish this. But if the problem is |
| * Generalized Anxiety Disorder | | | | severe, do not hesitate to see a doctor about it for |
| * Obsessive Compulsive Disorder | | | | your own benefit. |
| * Social Anxiety Disorder | | | | |