Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) is one of the most common forms of anxiety that can easily sabotage your daily life. When constant worry seems overwhelming, there are several treatment approaches that can help.
Therapy
Therapy is an important part of treating GAD, often because it is necessary to find the root of the problem and develop coping mechanisms to deal with anxiety. There are different approaches to therapy that may or may not work in your specific case, so it is important to try different therapeutic approaches and not simply give up if the first one doesn't work. Some therapists use cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) for GAD. CBT is used to address the negative thought patterns that often underlie anxiety and help change them. For example, people with GAD frequently believe their chronic worrying can help prevent bad situations from happening, although this is unrealistic. Certain companies, such as Can't We Just Get Along Counselling Inc., know that developing thought patterns that reduce worrying and learning to accept that being less anxious will not cause bad things to happen can help reduce these patterns of thinking.
Medications
Medications are frequently used to help with GAD. The medications most often used are reuptake inhibitors, whether they affect serotonin, dopamine, or norepinephrine. Much like therapy, it may take trial and error to find the reuptake inhibitor that helps reduce your anxiety. In people with GAD only or those who experience a combination of unipolar depression and GAD, taking a reuptake inhibitor might be the right treatment. For people who experience GAD in combination with other mental health conditions, such as bipolar disorder or schizophrenia, they will need additional medications to not only tackle their anxiety, but to address the additional condition. The addition of mood stabilizers and/or antipsychotics will be necessary to tackle various mental health conditions in people with multiple diagnoses.
Self-Care
Your therapist will make recommendations for activities you can do at home that might reduce GAD. Having or finding activities you enjoy that are productive and relaxing can help in combination with treatment. You might develop a nighttime regimen that helps you decompress for the day if your sleep is often affected by anxiety. This might involve soaking in warm bath with scents such as lavender, and reading a book, or watching television. If performing an activity, such as reading or watching television will be part of this, it is important to be selective about the material you choose. You may only read or watch things that are funny, not anything that would further exacerbate your anxiety, such a crime dramas or situations that are otherwise emotionally-charged.
Although it can seem like it is impossible to deal with GAD there are many approaches to treatment that can help. Finding the right combination of treatments can make life more manageable with GAD.
