Anxiety (GAD)
And Anxiety Symptoms
How much is too much?
Everybody worries sometimes, right? But Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) is different. This kind of worry is all day, all the time, about every little thing. If feels awful. It makes you anxious, uptight, irritable.
Because worry thoughts make you feel anxious, they fool you into thinking that what you are worrying about is urgent and you have to do something about it – – now. So, what do you do? You worry some more! This is the vicious cycle of GAD – – the worry/anxiety cycle.
Anxiety Symptoms
Because worry activates your “fight-or-flight” response – – which floods your body with adrenaline – – you probably experience symptoms like:
Anxiety Symptoms
When you have GAD, your thoughts feel real, dire, urgent.
You overestimate the likelihood of things going wrong, and you imagine worst case scenarios. But, do you engage in productive problem-solving? No! If you could do that, you wouldn’t be worrying. Instead, your worry thoughts go round and round.
You can’t quiet your mind.
Anxiety Symptoms
Because your thoughts make issues seem critical, you feel compelled to take some action to try and get the situation under control. You may go online searching for information and solutions. If your worry is health-related, you might schedule multiple doctor appointments. And, like most worriers, you probably seek reassurance – – repeatedly – – typically, from those closest to you: your spouse, partner, mother, friends.
What you don’t realize is that all this frantic activity reinforces your doubts – – because you’re never satisfied with the answers you get. You can never be sure. And so. . . . your worry continues.
Anxiety (GAD)
Fortunately, Generalized Anxiety Disorder is very treatable. The solution to runaway worry is the opposite of what you’ve probably been doing: focusing all your attention on your worries! To get worry and anxiety to subside, you have to take your attention off your worry thoughts and physical symptoms. Easier said than done – – right?
With Acceptance-Based Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, you’ll learn how to do this.
I will teach you:
How To Get Started
I offer a free phone consultation to discuss your situation, answer your questions and tell you how I would approach treating your problem.