RESPOND TO THE TWO CLASSMATES BELOW INDIVIDUALLY 175 WORD COUNT EACH

Maddy Niebauer

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Generalized Anxiety Disorder or GAD for short is a disorder marked by chronic anxiety that may develop over a variety of activities and/or situations. Specific criteria of GAD include feelings of anxiety or worry that occur on most days for at least six months. For this feeling of worry to be clinically significant, the feelings must be described as “difficult to control” (Butcher, Hooley, & Mineka, 2014, p. 188). To be diagnosed with GAD, the individual must have multiple worries about different things unrelated to concurrent disorder and have thrr of the six following symptoms: Restlessness or feeling keyed up or on edge, easily fatigued, difficulty concentrating or mind going blank, irritability, muscle tension, and/or sleep disturbance (difficulty falling or staying asleep, or restless, unsatisfying sleep) (Butcher, Hooley, & Mineka, 2014).

As for treatment, individuals suffering from GAD have two major options for treatments. The most common method is through the use of drugs. Benzodiazepines have been used to treat GAD but have a sedating effect and can lead to physiological dependence if taken incorrectly. Other drugs, such as antidepressants, have shown to also have positive effects on GAD but require a period of time before the effect may be observed. Cognitive behavioral therapy may also be used to assist the individual with GAD in reducing their anxieties.

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Debra Guzman

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As our reading material indicates generalized anxiety disorders, people experience a general sense of diffuse anxiety and are constantly thinking and worried about bad things happening and can sometimes lead to a panic attack. It is described as someone who worries a lot about bad things occurring in their life or around them. Anxiety disorders have a number of symptoms one that is mentioned a lot is sleep disruptions as people who are constantly thinking about their worries, can sleep less. Generalized Anxiety Disorders can be treated through medication, counseling sessions, coping mechanisms, and also known as psychological treatment. It is important for people with such symptoms to seek professional treatment in order to ensure that panic attacks don’t occur, or the problem worsens.

My younger sister was diagnosed with anxiety, she describes herself as someone who is constantly worried about bad things happening. She is 28 years old and still fears sleeping in the dark. She often sleeps with the light on in her bedroom. She informed me that she still has this issue and cannot explain why or how she started feeling so worried about so many things.

Reference:

Butcher, J. N., Hooley, J. M., & Mineka, S. (2014). Abnormal psychology (16th ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson.

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