Managing worry in generalized anxiety disorder

Follow me at @srinipillay Everyone worries, but some people worry more than others. When worry is excessive, people may develop generalized anxiety disorder (GAD). In fact, close to a quarter of people who go to their primary care physicians with anxiety suffer from this. In general, stressful events in childhood and adulthood, having strained economic resources, being divorced, and being female all put you at risk for GAD. But what do all of these different high-risk groups have in common psychologically? Why do they worry so much? And what can they do about this? The surprising benefits of worry for people with GAD A recent study explained why people with GAD worry so much — and the findings may surprise you. While many people think they are just worriers, they do not realize that they actually worry for a reason. Their worry is an attempt to protect themselves! If you’re wondering how such a nagging, persistent, annoying, and sometimes distressing psychological state can be helpful, you’re probably not alone. But the findings do in fact make some sense. It turns out that worrying about something puts your mind into a negative state, but this helps, because when something negative does happen, you don’t feel that much worse. You’ve already been feeling bad. For people with GAD, it’s better to feel bad most of the time so that a negative event — someone being ill, sudden financial challenges, or rejection from a loved one — doesn’t have the power to create ...
Source: New Harvard Health Information - Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Tags: Anxiety and Depression Behavioral Health Mental Health Source Type: news