For all of you who were wondering
what the difference is between Anxiety and Panic Disorders, here’s a brief run
down. Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) is characterized by 6 months of
ongoing excessive anxiety and worry. The worry involved in GAD is not typical;
it is defined as indiscriminant and unproductive. Usually when a person worries
about an upcoming event the worry stops at the fruition of the situation, but
worry associated with GAD does not discontinue at the completion of a problem.
The physical symptoms of GAD are muscle tension, mental agitation,
irritability, sleeping difficulties and susceptibility to fatigue. The causes
can either be due to generalized biological vulnerability, in which one
inherits vulnerability for the GAD or generalized psychological vulnerability,
which vulnerability to GAD is due to early life stressors. The epidemiology of
GAD is a gradual progression usually having an onset in early adulthood; the
population most affected by GAD is the elderly.
Treatments for this disorder are
pharmacological and behavioral; the most effective of the drug therapies is Benzodiazepine, however this drug has been shown to be very habit forming, so other drugs such as
antidepressants are a better option. Cognitive Behavioral Treatment (CBT)
allows the patient to enter into the worry process during the therapy session;
through the guidance of the therapist the patient confronts anxiety provoking
images and thoughts. Other behavioral treatments exist and like the CBT have
demonstrated some success, like with many disorders there is no cure, but
through effective drug and behavioral therapy one suffering from GAD can be
equipped to confront their anxious tendencies and work through them.
A panic attack is “an abrupt
experience of intense fear or acute discomfort, accompanied by physical
symptoms that usually include heart palpitations, chest pain, shortness of
breath, and, possibly, dizziness.” The differences are fairly obvious; a panic
attack is confined to a single episode of acute physical symptoms and fear
which has a definite ending point, GAD is a psychological disorder that has a
gradual onset and does not have a definite ending point and requires long-term
pharmacological and behavioral treatment for slight relief.
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