Do you struggle with Generalised Anxiety Disorder?

Generalised anxiety disorder (GAD) will have you feeling on edge, anxious and worried either constantly or for long periods of time. And whilst we all have worries and stresses from time to time, if you struggle with GAD you are likely to find that you move from one worry to another and that your mind feels like it never ‘switches off’.

You may feel irritable and be having trouble concentrating and it can impact on other areas of your life such as your eating, sleeping and general sense of wellbeing.

You may feel like your mind is on high alert all the time and when you do worry about something, it may feel out of proportion to the thing you are thinking about. So how can you start to overcome generalised anxiety disorder?

Generalised Anxiety Disorder

To establish if you have the symptoms of Generalised Anxiety Disorder, a medical practitioner will be looking at how often over the last two weeks you have been bothered by:

• Feeling nervous, anxious or on edge
• Not being able to stop or control worrying
• Worrying too much about different things
• Trouble relaxing
• Being so restless that it is hard to sit still
• Becoming easily annoyed or irritable
• Feeling afraid as if something awful might happen

If you are concerned that you may be suffering with GAD then the best thing to do first is go and see your medical practitioner for some advice. And in addition to this, there are a number of things you can do RIGHT NOW to start overcoming your generalised anxiety.

How To Overcome Generalised Anxiety Disorder Symptoms

Now personally I’m not a big fan of giving people and things labels as a ‘disorder’ because (especially if you are struggling with worry and anxiety), you may have a tendency to pay even more attention to the anxiety and to start defining yourself as someone with an anxiety disorder. However, I also get that some people like to know that they have a name for what they are struggling with right now and to know that it is normal and treatable.

Because in essence, GAD arises when stress, worry and anxiety levels reach a ‘tipping point’ where your mind goes onto high alert, keeping you ready for action to deal with perceived threats. And once in this highly anxious state, we will always find ‘something’ to worry about, which makes us feel more anxious, which leads to more worry. So here are 3 things you can start doing today to erode that generalised anxiety:

1. Cut the caffeine – whilst you may feel like you need some caffeine through the day to give you a boost, caffeine can generate very similar symptoms to anxiety – feeling on edge, restless, even shaky. Caffeine heightens your symptoms so it makes sense to start reducing those level from now.
2. Get Out For A Daily Walk – remember your mind and body are getting you ready for action to fight or flee from a danger. Yet there is no danger to run from as it is only perceived and psychological. Your body gets you ready to exercise and if you do nothing it builds and you may feel hot and shaky. So get out for a walk EVERY day and give your body an outlet.
3. Start To Take Time Off From Worry – struggling with GAD is like having a stressed out brain, so give your mind and body some time out from all that worry every day by using relaxation or my free creating calm audio. The more you give yourself time off from the worry, the easier you will find it to overcome your anxiety.

To avoid overwhelm I would suggest starting with these three things and making them past of your daily routine and and, once you have done that, you can find more help in the many articles on this site such as 7 Ways To Control Anxiety and Lower Anxiety This Sure-Fire Way). To your health and happiness, Dan Regan Abolish Anxiety