Generalized Anxiety Disorder Essay

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Imagine walking, talking on the phone, watching television, cleaning your house or even driving and all of a sudden experiencing an extreme rapid heartbeat, shortness of breath, severe neck pain, stomach cramping, sweating, and even hyperventilation. Many “normal” people experience these symptoms on a frequent basis. The medical diagnosis and definition for this is disease is called Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD), it is the feeling of chronic and persistent anxiety that last for six months or longer. A person who is experiencing GAD will often feel as if they have no control over their anxiety. This person will often experience some forms of insomnia, restlessness, fatigue, uncontrolled behavior, crying and depression. Many people have…show more content…
However, abnormal heightened anxiety can be emotionally painful and extremely traumatic and can disrupt a person's daily functioning. Anxiety disorders affect about 40 million American adults ages 18 years and older (about 18%) and is twice as common in women as men (NIMH). The broad spectrum of anxiety disorders can be narrowed into more specific categories such as, Panic Disorders, Obsessive-Compulsive Disorders, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, Acute Stress Disorder, Social Anxiety Disorder and specific Phobias. People with one anxiety disorder often have others too (Halgin &…show more content…
The diagnosis of social anxiety disorder can be of a specific disorder or a generalized disorder. Social anxiety disorder typically involves a persistent, intense, fear of being judged by others and of being embarrassed or humiliated by their own actions. These fears can be triggered by false perception or actual scrutiny (Mayo Clinic). Most of the time the person with SAD is experiencing symptoms from “working themselves up” than actually being judged or humiliated by
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