
One of the fall-outs from experiencing trauma is living with generalized anxiety disorder. It is a of a sense of dread that colours everything in life, so the person can’t relax and focus on what’s happening now.
Note: The difference between ‘normal’ worrying and generalized anxiety disorder is the worrying associated with GAD is excessive, intrusive, persistent and debilitating.
Signs and Symptoms
The person diagnosed with GAD will typically struggle with the following, on a regular and ongoing basis:
– Constant worrying
– An inescapable feeling of anxiety, and the feeling this is something that is outside their control
– Being constantly troubled by intrusive, anxious thoughts. (Thoughts they can’t switch off)
– Being unable to tolerate uncertainty, and not ever knowing what the future may hold
– A pervasive feeling of apprehension or dread
– Being unable to relax, and to enjoy time alone
– Difficulties with attending, focusing and concentrating
– Feeling overwhelmed; feeling life is out of control
– Avoiding situations which leave you feeling worried or afraid
– chronic muscle tension
– Having trouble falling asleep, or staying asleep, because your mind won’t switch off
– Feeling restless or edgy
– Tense headaches and migraines
– Upset stomach and nausea.
What Can You do to Help?
Here are a few things you can try to help you cope with GAD:
1. Do your best to build a good support network. We humans are social animals. We are meant to be with other people. Isolating ourselves will increase anxiety; whereas spending time with others reduces cortisol (a stress hormone). These should be people you feel comfortable with.
– If you sense your anxieties are beginning to spiral, talk them out with a trusted friend. Meeting face to face can help keep things in proportion.
– Think through in advance who it might be best to avoid when you’re feeling anxious. For example, if your sister is a terrible worrier then she probably won’t be the right person to calm you down, or to reorient you, when anxiety assaults you. As yourself the question: Do I generally feel better or worse after talking to this person? The answer here will give you important information.
2. Use your senses to ground you in the present. Notice and name what you can see, hear, smell, touch and – perhaps – taste.
3. Move your body. Doing some form of exercise – even if it’s only taking a short walk – will help to dissipate excessive cortisol. It will also release, and increase your levels of endorphins (the feeling good hormone).
4. Practice some kind of relaxation technique such as mindfulness, deep breathing, or meditation. These will stabilize blood pressure, slow your heart rate down, regulate your body’s ‘fight-flight-freeze’ response, and help you cope with any symptoms of hyperarousal.
5. At some point when you’re not anxious, set aside some time to take a new look at your worries. What are the triggers? Are they self-generated? Are there errors in your thinking that, perhaps you could challenge? (For example, perhaps you tend to think about worst-case scenarios.) These are areas you could address in counselling, or perhaps work through with a caring friend.
“Don’t believe every worried thought you have. Worried thoughts are notoriously inaccurate.”
As a person who occasionally struggles with GAD, I can identify with your statements—especially the last one.
Our most anxious thoughts are often inaccurate.
Anxiety is often amplified because it is largely a FEAR of fear.
It has helped me to realize that, while debilitating, panic attacks are rarely fatal.
We must trust ourselves that handle anxious thoughts when they arise—using the methods you mentioned.
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I appreciate your comment: “Anxiety is often amplified because it is largely a FEAR of fear.” This is so true. If we deal with anxiety a lot, this almost certainly becomes the case!
And, yes, panic attacks can be very frightening but, as you share, realizing that we always survive them can be a huge help when it is happening again.
Thank you for sharing your wisdom, David. Have a great day 🙂
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There is a much over which we have no control. But God remains in control of the world. We can give our anxieties over to Him. “Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me, and know my anxieties…” (Ps. 139: 23). Wishing you a very Merry Christmas! ❤
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Yes, it is so wonderful to know Emmanuel never abandons us or leaves us to our own devices. We experiences all the sorrow and pain with us … and, as you say, we can cast our anxieties on Him. Thanks for sharing this Anna. Have a lovely day.
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What is the difference between GAD and Pure O OCD?
I ask because my son has been diagnosed with the latter, but the list above describes his “attack” symptoms to the letter.
And, how do I help him when I cannot get him to actively engage with coping strategies?
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O OCD has more of an obsessive component to it. It deals with anxiety through the use of hidden mental rituals. GAD is much more general … where you feel anxious all the time, or you feel excessively anxious in situations where others would experience a mild, ‘normal’ level of anxiety (say the way you would feel before sitting an exam).
I would suggest talking to his counsellor about how best to work with him. If he is an adult, it really needs to be self-motivated. No-one else can do it for you. It’s tough when you’re the onlooker, and it’s someone you really care about. I feel for you.
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Yes, it is.
He doesn’t like to go to therapy, and refuses to take medications. I respect his wishes as best as I can, but it’s so difficult to watch your child self-destruct. (Especially when you know your genetics played a role in his mental affliction.) 😭
Thank you for the clarification. I appreciate it more than I can say! 💕
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Yes, it’s really hard to be the onlooker … Please don’t beat yourself up over genes.
That is something that is completely outside our control
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I agonize over having him too young — before I had the tools necessary for a productive way of life. There is so much I would have done differently.
He truly is an amazing young man — a living statement about the resilience of the human spirit — and is definitely the light of my life!
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Being resilient is one of the most important traits in life. Hold onto that hope!
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I can relate to everything in this post. The comments and responses were also helpful
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Thanks. Glad it was helpful ❤️
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Brilliant post. ❤
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Thank you. Glad you found it helpful 🙂
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Welcome always. ❣
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[…] Do You Suffer From GAD? — Don’t Lose Hope […]
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Reblogged this on Survivors Blog Here Mental Health Collaborative .
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The final statement at the end speaks honestly about one avenue to avoid when surrounded by too much anxiety. Anxiety creates a sense of overwhelming “fake news” inside our souls.
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Yes, it often feels true but it is actually fake news. A good description! Thanks bigskybuckeye 🙂
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I use to be on the Ptsd
Board another anxiety disorder
On the GAD board
Everyone had the same triggers firing and excessive anxiety
Theirs was
Not connected to
A
Person or event
A traumatic experience
It seemed GAD sufferers did not have a cause to try to fix or integrate
I had childhood abuse to work on and integrate
For someone with serious PTSD
Triggers fired
15 times a day
GAD was foreign for me
Do you work on calming your adrenal stress
Response and what else
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Yes, plus selftalk which challenges the faulty thinking patterns.
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I was surprised to come upon this long ago
.
Psychologist, anxiety treatment specialist and author, Edmund J. Bourne, Ph.D, defines Self Talk and how it works:
“It is so automatic and subtle you don’t notice it or the effect it has on your moods and feelings.
It appears in telegraphic form- one short word or image (”Oh no!) contains a whole series of thoughts, memories, or associations.
Anxious self-talk is typically irrational but almost always sounds like the truth.
Negative self-talk perpetuates avoidance.
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That’s a good way of describing what happens … the thoughts are so subtle and automatic that we hardly notice them, and yet their impact can be extremely powerful. Thanks for sharing this, Marty.
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We all have struggled with our self talk
I think it is connected to self worth
For me I found affirmations to be helpful
Hard to have self worth with a river of negative self talk flowing underground
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I think i had this few years back and i couldn’t think of ways of healing myself. I didn’t know how to. All i did was, trusted God that everything will be fine!
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Faith can make such a huge difference. I hope you feel that you are in a better place today 🙂
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Yes definitely… yesterday was a different struggle and today is different. After each struggle you just become stronger.
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This is very useful info. Maybe I should bring this up to my dr at me next appointment and see what he thinks. I feel like most people would tell me these feelings are normal in the first year of losing a child. Honestly, I’ve had these feelings for the last 7-8 years…back when Jace was actively using, throughout all of his overdoses. I can only explain it as being on a roller coaster, sometimes those feelings were more intense, sometimes they were bearable but, those feeling were always there.
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I wouldn’t be surprised at all if someone who’d gone through the same trauma as you said they struggled with these symptoms. Those feelings and reactions are normal and understandable. In many ways, you were on the same roller coaster as Jace. … And then there was the awful trauma of his death on top of that. A year is nothing under those circumstances. Thinking of you.
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