Worrying about many things
Therapists are trained to spot people with Generalised Anxiety Disorder and one of the easiest ways to detect GAD is to look at whether a person worries about a particular situation or whether they tend to worry about a variety of situations. If their pattern of worry persists no matter what is happening to them, this is one sign of GAD. Do you tend to worry about almost everything?
Two common features of Generalised Anxiety Disorder:
1)People with GAD worry about the same things that everyone else worries about but the difference is that their worries are often on minor issues (eg. which toaster to buy or which book to read).
2) People with GAD tend to worry about unlikely or remote future events more than other anxious individuals (eg. dying in a plane crash).
People with GAD tend to report a poorer quality of life as they ‘live in their heads’ and worry about the future a lot. They have great difficulty living in the present moment. Even when doing something pleasant, they often don’t fully enjoy the experience as they are worrying about some future event. In fact, many clients with GAD report that they find it hard to enjoy themselves as they are constantly thinking about what might happen next.
Individuals with generalised anxiety disorder spend a lot of time on “What if…?” possibilities.
Cognitive Behavioural Therapy is particularly well suited to people with GAD. If you think that you may be someone who suffers with excessive worry, have a chat with a CBT therapist to find out more information.
Mandy X
Author: Mandy Kloppers
Mandy is a qualified therapist who treats depression, anxiety, OCD, PTSD, trauma, and many other types of mental health issues. She provides online therapy around the world for those needing support and also provides relationship counselling.
