Generalised Anxiety

What Is It?

Generalised Anxiety

Generalised Anxiety, also known as GAD, is the most common and widespread type of anxiety. Characteristically General Anxiety sufferers have relentless, unspecified worry about everyday things. The person with General Anxiety expects the worst to happen, believes their expectations to be true and then act upon their beliefs, by avoiding whatever provokes the anxiety. Chronic worry affects every aspect of life.

A General Anxiety condition is something that sets into us, we are not born with it. When we have anxious thoughts, they trigger feelings of anxiety/discomfort which we then we then act upon to avoid feeling anxious.

The behaviour we implement to ease the anxiety (double checking, not going out, not asking a question, etc.) in the short term helps our anxiety, but in the long term keeps us trapped in the anxiety.

GAD is something that sets into us, we are not born with it. When we have anxious thoughts, they trigger feelings of anxiety/discomfort which we then we then act upon to avoid feeling anxious.

The behaviour we implement to ease the anxiety (double checking, not going out, not asking a question, etc.) in the short term helps our anxiety, but in the long term keeps us trapped in the anxiety.

General Anxiety typically leaves sufferers awake at night and unable to handle small things in life that once seemed normal. This is down to an increasingly negative level of appraisal of what’s going on. This is can be returned to normal again.

General Anxiety is also common among people with panic disorders and obsessive-compulsive disorders. General Anxiety naturally chokes up our resources and leaves us exhausted, it can trigger depression when we are suffering with it over time.

Symptoms

NOT BEING ABLE TO SLEEP

FEELING CONSTANTLY ON EDGE

DIFFICULTY CONCENTRATING

IRRITABILITY

FEELING OUT OF CONTROL

INCESSANT NEGATIVE AND ANXIETY PROVOKING THOUGHTS

TENSE MUSCLES

LOW ENERGY AND TIREDNESS

MAGNIFYING SMALL EVENTS OUT OF PROPORTION

Personal Stories

"It felt like I was seeing the world in black and white… like I was wearing dark glasses that constantly cast a shadow on everything I could see. All the colour and happiness in my life had been sucked away by the GAD and depression which had consumed my life. I felt like I could never break free and that I would be stuck in this miserable existence for the rest of my life"

Anonymous

"I thought I was going mad. No one else around me seemed to understand what I was going though. I felt so alone. I couldn’t seem to stop worrying about everything. I knew in my head it didn’t make sense, but nothing I could do would stop the thoughts that kept coming into my head and driving me crazy."

Anonymous

"For me anxiety feels like a fear that I’m gonna mess up. Fear that I won’t be able to equal what others do with ease (looks like they do it with ease anyway!). An irritable kind of feeling... fearing that I’m not going to be able to handle things. This made me feel things must be a certain way or going right. If not, I get out of my comfort zone and am therefore in a 'un-safe zone'."

Anonymous

Getting Help

Thousands of people in Ireland suffer in silence with many kinds of difficulties yet general anxiety is probably one of the most widespread issues. General anxiety doesn’t become a huge debilitating problem overnight but over time it digs itself into us so that we’re paralysed. Often when we really notice it, it has really set in and we can feel like we’ve gone crazy.

Early intervention or even crisis intervention counselling/psychotherapy is way of giving sufferers back control over their thoughts and ultimately how they feel.

Getting Help

Anxiety Ireland has fully trained counsellors nationwide on standby to assist you in taking back control of these problems. For more information or to arrange a free telephone consultation with one of our team please see our get help section.

Success Stories

"I am not yet fully recovered. However, I feel it is just around the corner. It's just a matter of keeping my mind busy and focusing on what I learned in therapy rather than on myself. This does not mean I run around frantically doing things to forget my anxiety as this would be running away. No, if it's there, it's there, now I know how to react to it differently. Everyone worries that they may be the only one who doesn't recover. It is part of the self-doubt that we all have when suffering."

Anonymous

"I have progressed from experiencing anxiety every day, thick depersonalisation, unrelenting fear and wandering thoughts that had to do with everything and anything, to a new me. After time it comes off in layers. Of course, your perception is stuck on you for a while, but it makes too much sense to even question, as all you have been doing is noticing and fearing everything that's been going on"

Anonymous

“I have learned that no matter what I'm feeling it's okay. It's okay. And that's all there is to it. Whatever I am feeling, I am feeling and that's okay. If my stomach churns (which it still does a lot) that's okay, just sensitised nerves. My body has developed a habit and my mind believes that somehow, I'm not safe - that's okay too - habits take time to change. It's all part of it, and that's okay. If my hands shake, sure, that's okay too, my nerves are a little fraught at the minute …I'm still working away.”

Anonymous