Generalized anxiety disorder

Worries, doubts and fears are very common in everyday life. It’s normal to feel anxious about making an important choice, or to feel tense before a job interview or an exam.

Occasional worrying in itself is not a harmful process. It can help you solve a problem, it can prevent you from making mistakes or ending up in an unpleasant or risky situation.

Characteristics of a generalized anxiety disorder

Worrying becomes a problem when the worrying is persistent, excessive, and uncontrollable. You are stuck in a certain negative thinking pattern, where you can not find a solution for all the possible worst-case scenarios that you fear.

Generalized anxiety disorder is characterized by excessive and constant worrying for months without a good reason. You can worry about your job, money, friends, family, accidents or your health. But you can also continue worrying about small things, such as an event during a party or something your colleague said. The worrying is not limited to one subject, but you are anxious and worried about many different things..

It are everyday events and problems, that other people can also worry about. But if you suffer from generalized anxiety disorder, the worries, negative thoughts and fears keep grinding in your head, you can’t control or stop the worrying. It makes you anxious and hinders your daily life. The longer the worry lasts, the stronger the fears can become.

As a result of the fears, you may begin to avoid certain places, activities, and situations. The tendency to avoid anxious feelings is understandable. But avoidance behavior also ensures that your anxiety persists and can even get worse. Worrying can prevent you from enjoying the present moment and prevent you from doing nice things.

Generalized anxiety disorder is also known as worry disorder, because daily, uncontrollable, and prolonged worrying is the main characteristic of generalized anxiety disorder.

Symptoms of a generalized anxiety disorder

Worrying every day, thinking negatively and always expecting the worst can have a negative impact on your mental and physical health. You suffer from unreal fears, which are not based on reality. And you are usually aware that there is no reason to worry so excessively.

In addition to an excessive and uncontrollable worry about many different things, you may suffer from the following mental or physical problems:

• tension;
• restlessness;
• concentration problems;
• fatigue;
• irritability;
• muscle tension;
• sleep problems;
• headache;
• stomach problems.

Because constant worrying can make you anxious, you can also suffer from anxiety-related symptoms such as palpitations, sweating, chills, trembling or tingling in the hands.

Possible causes of generalized anxiety disorder

The development of a generalized anxiety disorder is often not entirely clear, it is usually a combination of hereditary, psychological and social factors.

If anxiety symptoms run in your family or if your parents were overprotective, you are more likely to be vulnerable to developing generalized anxiety disorder.

Negative or traumatic experiences, especially in childhood, can also increase the risk of a later worry disorder. You can think of the death of a parent, neglect, bullying, or receiving a lot of criticism.

Treatment of generalized anxiety disorder

It often happens that people with a worry disorder wait a very long time before seeking professional help. Often only when it hinders their daily lives or when they suffer from physical problems.

A generalized anxiety disorder usually does not go away on its own and can be treated well. Please also read our general Anxiety disorder treatment page if you would like to know how we can help you with your worry disorder. The treatment of generalized anxiety disorder is basically the same as the treatment of other anxiety disorders. The therapy is of course tailored to your needs and symptoms.

Contact Psychologen Amsterdam

Do you recognize your symptoms and do you need help or do you just have a question about the treatment of your generalized anxiety disorder? Call for an appointment or send a message to Psychologen Amsterdam.