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- Herausgeber: Youcanprint
- Kategorie: Ratgeber
- Sprache: Englisch
- Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2021
Do you want to overcome stress at work and home from the first day without spending a dime in therapy, counseling, and consultation? Stress is a menace that affects everyone. Do you think you'll be less affected by it if you didn't know it? This is a misconception that most people have. They believe that only the people who have to see a doctor are suffering from stress. Stress affects all of us because it is our body's natural reaction. The problem begins when this reaction is serious and becomes chronic. More than 110 million Americans are currently affected by prediabetes or diabetes, but most are ignorant about it. Does that make them less susceptible to danger? The same is the case with stress. The overall stress level of American society is much above the acceptable level, and that even includes kids. In reality, a much greater population is currently battling with high stress which is affecting them emotionally, behaviorally, and physiologically. Did you know that stress can have a deep impact on your physical health too? Most people have a very vague knowledge of stress, and they would clearly fail to identify clear signals of stress. This means they might be overlooking their own real health issues as well as the issues faced by their loved ones. This book will help you in understanding: The real depth and penetration of stress Types of stress and how it matters to us Impact of stress on our body, mental, and emotional health as well as behavior The real terms in which you need to identify stressors Ways in which you can bring down stress at the workplace Ways in which you can bring down stress in your personal life Ways in which you can deal with your mind causing the stress More importantly, ways to deal with unchangeable stressors Techniques like meditation, visualization, mindfulness, and goal setting that can help in bring down stress And much more….
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Cognitive Behavioral
Therapy
The Best Strategy for ManagingAnxiety and Depression Forever
Copyright by Robin McGill - All rights reserved.
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Introduction
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy has been an increasingly hot topic in the world of psychology in the past few years. More and more therapists and psychiatrists are adopting this type of speaking therapy due to its proven effectiveness in treating common mental disorders like anxiety and depression. Although we hear about this term a lot, what exactly is it? Cognitive Behavioral Therapy is based on the theory that a person’s thoughts (cognition), emotion, and behavior are all constantly interacting with one another, therefore, if one of these three components are affected, the rest will be affected as well. Cognition is responsible for how we think and what we think, emotion is based on how we feel, and behavior is based on how we act.
These three components all support the theory that if a person merely changes their thoughts or the way they think, it will impact our feelings, which will ultimately determine our behavior. In simple terms, this means that people who may be having negative or unrealistic thoughts that cause them distress could result in behavioral problems. When a person is suffering from psychological distress, the way they perceive certain situations can become contorted, this could cause negative behaviors.
The History of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
CBT is actually an umbrella term for many different therapies that share common components. The earliest forms of cognitive-behavioral therapy were developed by Albert Ellis and Aaron T.
Beck in the mid-90s. At the time, it was called Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT). REBT is a type of cognitive therapy that is focused on fixing emotional and behavioral problems.
The main goal of REBT is to shift irrational beliefs to rational ones. Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy encourages an individual to figure out their personal irrational beliefs and then influence the individual to challenge those beliefs through testing them in reality.
Albert Ellis proposed that every single person carries a unique set of assumptions regarding ourselves and our world. He suggested that we use those set of assumptions to serve and guide us through life and has a huge influence on our reactions to different situations that we experience. However, some people’s set of assumptions are irrational, which leads to them acting and reacting in ways that are inappropriate and have a negative effect on their happiness and success. This term is called ‘basic irrational assumptions.’
An example of irrational assumptions is an individual that assumes they are failures because they are not liked by everyone they know. This leads them to constantly be seeking out approval and feeling rejected. Since all of this individual’s actions and interactions are based upon this assumption, they will feel dissatisfied if they did not receive enough compliments.
According to Albert Ellis, these are other popular and common irrational assumptions:
● The idea that you should be competent at everything you do
● The idea that when things are not the way you want them to be it is catastrophic
● The idea that you cannot control your own happiness
● The idea that you need to be dependent on somebody stronger than you
● The idea that your present life is heavily influenced by your history
● The idea that it will be a disaster if you don’t find the perfect solution to human problems Aaron Beck has a similar system of therapy to Albert Ellis’s but is more commonly used for depression compared to anxiety.
Therapists typically use this system of therapy to help the client notice the negative thoughts and logic errors that they have that
leads them to be depressed. They also use this system to challenge an individual’s dysfunctional thoughts, try to interpret situations differently, and apply a different perspective of thinking into their everyday lives.
Typically, if a person has a lot of negative automatic thoughts, it is likely that the person would become depressed. These thoughts will continue even though there is conflicting evidence.
Aaron Beck identified three mechanisms in the mid-90s that he thought caused depression:
● The cognitive triad (negative automatic thinking)
● Negative self-schemas
● Errors in logic (inaccurate information processing) Aaron Beck thought that cognitive triad are three types of negative thinking that are showcased in individuals who suffer from depression. It consisted of negative thoughts about yourself, the world, and the future. These types of thoughts tend to appear automatically in depressed people and is quite spontaneous. As these three types of thoughts begin to interact, they actually interfere with the normal cognitive functions of our brain and leads to perception impairment, memory impairment, and difficulty with problem-solving. The person will likely become obsessed with these negative thoughts.
Aaron Beck identified numerous illogical thinking processes in his study of cognitive distortions. He concluded that these illogical thought patterns are self-deprecating and cause a large amount of anxiety and/or depression for the person. Here are a few of his illogical thinking processes:
● Arbitrary interference: This thinking process is based on drawing conclusions with insufficient and/or irrelevant evidence. For instance, thinking and feeling worthless because of the theme park you were going to have closed due to weather.
● Selective Abstraction: This thinking process is based on focusing on one single aspect of a circumstance and ignoring all other aspects. For example, you feel responsible for your team losing a volleyball match even though you are just one team member.
● Magnification: The thinking process is based on the exaggeration of importance during a negative situation.
For example, if you accidentally scratched your car, you see yourself as a terrible driver.
● Minimization: This thinking process is based on underplaying the importance of an event. For instance, you get praised by your boss for your excellent work, but you see this is a trivial matter.
● Overgeneralization: This thinking process is based on drawing negative conclusions due to one single event. For example, you normally get straight As in university, but you failed one exam and therefore, you think you are stupid.
● Personalization: This thinking process is based on associating the negative feelings of other people to yourself. For example, your boss looked really angry when she entered the office today; therefore, she must be angry with you.
Aaron Beck and Albert Ellis have developed many theories and structured behaviors that led to the modern-day development of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. Due to their research in the mid-90s, studies have concluded that 80% of adults benefit from Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. This is a huge success in the world of therapy, as many people prefer talking therapy over medical therapy to help mental disorders like anxiety and depression.
Modern Day Uses for Cognitive
Behavioral Therapy
In today’s society, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy is used to treat mental disorders, primarily anxiety and depression. Due to its
long history and development, CBT is a practical and time-saving form of psychotherapy. CBT focuses on your here-and-now problems that come up in daily life. It is used to help people make sense of their surroundings and events that happen around them. CBT is very structured, time-saving, and problem-focused. These advantages are the reason why CBT is one of the most popular techniques when used to deal with mental disorders in our fast-paced modern lives.
In the present day, CBT works by helping clients recognize, question, and change the thoughts that relate to the emotional and behavioral reactions that cause them difficulty. By using CBT to monitor and record thoughts during undesirable situations, people begin to learn that the way they think is a contributor to their emotional problems. Modern-day Cognitive Behavioral Therapy helps reduce emotional problems by teaching individuals to:
Identify any distortions in their thinking process
See their own thoughts as ideas rather than facts
Take a step back from their own thoughts to look at situations from another perspective The new CBT model used in the present day is built on the relationship between thoughts and behaviors. Both can
influence each other. There are three levels and types of thoughts:
Conscious thoughts: These are rational thoughts that are made with complete awareness
Automatic thoughts: These are the thoughts that move very quickly; you are likely to not be fully aware of their movement. This means that it’s difficult to check them for accuracy. A person suffering from mental health problems may have thoughts that are entirely not logical.
Schemas: These are the core beliefs and personal values when it comes to processing information. Our Schemas are shaped by our childhood and other life experiences.
The modern-day CBT is slightly different than the previous type, which was mainly REBT. The CBT we use now is used to treat a plethora of mental disorders whereas REBT was mainly used to treat depression and anxiety. Moreover, depression and anxiety were not as prevalent in the mid-90s compared to its presence now. In the later chapters, we will talk about why mental orders like depression and anxiety are more common in today’s society.
What To Expect In This Book: In this book, we will be exploring the theories and functions of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and how it works to treat disorders like Anxiety and Depression. We
will start off this book by learning more about how CBT works when its used and how it compares to other types of therapy. We will then learn about what anxiety is, its symptoms, and different types. Then, we will learn about depression, the science behind it, the different types and its symptoms. By this point in the book, you should have a strong understanding of how anxiety and depression works and how CBT can play a role to effectively treat symptoms. Towards the center of this book, we will be looking at the benefits and drawbacks of choosing CBT as your method of treatment. This chapter is important in order to help you determine if CBT is the right treatment method for the disorder you are looking to treat. After that, we will spend two chapters focusing on how to use CBT, so specifically, manage a person’s anxiety/depression and how other methods can also be used to manage these disorders as well. We will take a look into mindfulness, meditation, lifestyle changes, preventing procrastination and practicing gratitude. Although these topics are not necessarily under CBT, they do support the main theories of it, so exercising these methods may prove to be effective for some people. Lastly, we will spend the last chapter studying anger and how it can manifest into other emotions. We will learn about anger management and how that plays a role in a person’s mental health as well. Overall, this book is meant to not only teach you how to use CBT; its purpose is to educate you on all topics related so you understand why CBT uses the
strategy that it does. By understanding that, people are more likely to stay committed to the process rather than giving up if they don’t see results right away. Without further ado, let’s dive into this book.
Chapter 1: What is Cognitive
Behavioral Therapy?
As we discussed at the very beginning of this book, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy is a type of talking therapy that is used to treat people with mental disorders. The fundamentals of CBT
are based on three components; cognition (thought), emotion, and behavior. All three components interact with each other, which leads to the theory that our thoughts determine our feelings and emotions which then determines or behavior.
How does Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Work?
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy works by emphasizing the relationship between our thoughts, feelings, and behaviors.
When you begin to change any of these components, you start to initiate change in the others. The goal of CBT is to help lower the amount you worry and increase the overall quality of your life.
Here are the 8 basic principles of how Cognitive Behavioral Therapy works:
1. CBT will help provide a new perspective of understanding your problems.
A lot of the times, when an individual has been living with a problem for a long time in their life, they may have developed unique ways of understanding it and dealing with it. Usually, this just maintains the problem or makes it worse. CBT is effective in helping you look at your problem from a new perspective, and this will help you learn other ways of understanding your problem and learning a new way of dealing with it.
2. CBT will help you generate new skills to work out your problem.
You probably know that understanding a problem is one matter, and dealing with it is entirely another can of worms. To help start changing your problem, you will need to develop new skills that will help you change your thoughts, behaviors, and emotions that are affecting your anxiety and mental health. For instance, CBT will help you achieve new ideas about your problem and begin to use and test them in your daily life.
Therefore, you will be more capable of making up your own mind regarding the root issue that is causing these negative symptoms.
3. CBT relies on teamwork and collaboration between the client and therapist (or program).
CBT will require you to be actively involved in the entire process, and your thoughts and ideas are extremely valuable right from the beginning of the therapy. You are the expert when it comes to your thoughts and problems. The therapist is the expert when it comes to acknowledging the emotional issues. By working as a team, you will be able to identify your problems and have your therapist better address them. Historically, the more the therapy advances, the more the client takes the lead in finding techniques to deal with the symptoms.
4. The goal of CBT is to help the client become their own therapist.
Therapy is expensive; we all know that. One of the goals of CBT
is to not have you become overly dependent on your therapist because it is not feasible to have therapy forever. When therapy comes to an end and you do not become your own therapist, you will be at high risk for a relapse. However, if you are able to become your own therapist, you will be in a good spot to face the hurdles that life throws at you. In addition, it is proven that having confidence in your own ability to face hardship is one of the best predictors of maintaining the valuable information you
got from therapy. By playing an active role during your sessions, you will be able to gain the confidence needed to face your problems when the sessions are over.
5. CBT is succinct and time-limited.
As a rule of thumb, CBT therapy sessions typically last over the course of 10 to 20 sessions. Statistically, when therapy goes on for many months, there is a higher risk of the client becoming dependent on the therapist. Once you have gained a new perspective and understanding of your problem, and are equipped with the right skills, you are able to use them to solve future problems. It is crucial in CBT for you to try out your new skills in the real world. By actually dealing with your own problem hands-on without the security of recurring therapy sessions, you will be able to build confidence in your ability to become your own therapist.
6. CBT is direction based and structured.
CBT typically relies on a fundamental strategy called ‘guided recovery.’ By setting up some experiments with your therapist, you will be able to experiment with new ideas to see if they reflect your reality accurately. In other words, your therapist is your guide while you are making discoveries in CBT. The
therapist will not tell you whether you are right or wrong but instead, they will help develop ideas and experiments to help you test these ideas.
7. CBT is based on the present, “here and now.”
Although we know that our childhood and developmental history play a big role in who we are today, one of the principles of CBT actually distinguishes between what caused the problem and what is maintaining the problem presently. In a lot of cases, the reasons that maintain a problem are different than the ones that originally caused it. For example, if you fall off while riding a horse, you may become afraid of horses. Your fear will continue to be maintained if you begin to start avoiding all horses and refuse to ride one again. In this example, the fear was called by the fall, but by avoiding your fear, you are continuing to maintain it. Unfortunately, you cannot change the fact that you had fallen off the horse but you can change your behaviors when it comes to avoidance. CBT primarily focuses on the factors that are maintaining the problem because these factors are susceptible to change.
8. Worksheet exercises are significant elements of CBT
therapy.
Unfortunately, reading about CBT or going to one session of therapy a week is not enough to change our ingrained patterns of thinking and behaving. During CBT, the client is always encouraged to apply their new skills into their daily lives.
Although most people find CBT therapy sessions to be very intriguing, it does not lead to change in reality if you do not exercise the skills you have learned.
These eight principles will be your guiding light throughout your Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. By learning, understanding, and applying these eight principles, you will be in a good position to invest your time and energy into becoming your own therapist and achieving your personal goals. Based on research, individuals who are highly motivated to try exercises outside of sessions tend to find more value in therapy than those who don’t. Keep in mind that other external factors still have an effect on your success, but your motivation is one of the most significant factors. By following CBT using the principles above, you should be able to remain highly motivated throughout CBT.
When is Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Used?
Now that we have learned how CBT works, when is CBT used?
The main answer to this question is that CBT is used when an
individual decides to pursue therapy in order to help with the problems they are facing. A lot of the time, these problems are disorders such as depression, anxiety, or more serious ones like OCD and PTSD.
To dive a little more in-depth, the most common uses for CBT is actually depression and generalized anxiety disorder. However, CBT is also used and is very effective for other disorders such as:
● Body Dysmorphic Disorder
● Eating Disorders
● Chronic Low Back Pain
● Personality Disorders
● Psychosis
● Schizophrenia
● Substance Used Disorders
Since CBT focuses on the relationship between thoughts, emotions, and behavior, those who suffer from disorders that stem from mental health may find it helpful to try CBT. Most modern-day therapists opt for CBT as the best technique to handle the problems that the client may be facing as it covers numerous disorders, and the client can learn it and continue to use it without the therapist’s help.
On a simpler note, CBT can just be used for general therapy.
This may be a situation where somebody is attending therapy sessions in order to remain in touch with their thoughts and feelings. Although this person may not be suffering from any particular disorder, CBT is a helpful tool for someone who wants to organize their thoughts.
Who Uses Cognitive Behavioral Therapy?
A large variety of people use Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, whether it is to help others or to solve their own problems. The most general answer to who uses CBT would be a therapist and somebody who is suffering from a mental disorder. However, CBT is also used by professionals within the psychology space, alcohol addiction, substance abuse, eating disorders, phobias, and anger management. CBT is a flexible tool that many types of people can use to treat the problem at hand.
Like I mentioned in the previous subchapter, CBT can be used even if you are not facing a serious problem like mentioned above. Many people who used to go to therapy continue to use CBT to maintain a healthy mindset. CBT has also been used for events like interventions. However, the people that typically use and gain the most from CBT are the people who are willing to spend the time and energy analyzing their own thoughts and
feelings. Since self-analysis is typically difficult, a lot of people may give up after realizing how uncomfortable it could be.
However, CBT is very well-suited for the people who are looking for short term treatment that does not require medication. This is very suitable for people who don’t want to take drugs in order to manage disorders like depression and anxiety.
Comparison of CBT and Other Types of Therapy
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and other types of behavioral therapies share a lot in common but also have a lot of significant differences. The typical behavioral therapies that you may see on TV and movies seem to involve a lot of dream interpretation or complex discussion of one’s childhood experiences. This type is therapy is very outdated compared to CBT. In fact, not many therapists in modern-day use this type of treatment. CBT is different from other therapies by focusing mainly on the ways that a person’s thoughts, emotions, and behaviors are all connected. Both CBT and other behavioral therapies have common approaches, such as:
The therapist and client work as a team with an understanding that the client is the expert on their own
thoughts while the therapist has the theoretical and technical expertise.
Treatments are often short term (usually lasting between 6 - 20 sessions). The client actively participates in the treatment inside and outside of the sessions. Homework and worksheets are often mandatory.
The therapist aims to help the client realize that they are strong and capable of choosing to have positive thoughts and behaviors.
Treatment is aimed to resolve present-day problems and is goal-oriented. The therapy involves achieving goals by working step by step.
The client and therapist choose their goals for therapy together and track their progress throughout the treatment.
Since the foundation of CBT is the theory that thoughts influence feelings and that a person’s emotional response to a problem comes from how they interpreted the situation. Here’s an example to help you further understand: Imagine feeling the sensations of your heart beating irregularly fast and feeling shortness of breath. If these symptoms occurred while you were sitting quietly at home, you would likely assume that it is a medical condition like a heart attack, which will cause anxiety and worry. However, if these symptoms occurred while you were
running outside, you would likely not attribute it to a medical condition, and therefore it will not lead to anxiety and worry. Do you see here that different interpretations of the exact same sensations (e.g., heart racing and shortness of breath) can lead to different emotions entirely?
CBT suggests that a lot of the emotions that we are feeling is completely due to what we are thinking about. In other words, our emotions are entirely based on how we perceive and interpret our environment or a situation. Sometimes these ideas and thoughts become distorted or biased. For example, an individual may interpret an ambiguous text message as personal rejection when they may not have any evidence to support that.
Other individuals may begin to set unrealistic expectations for themselves regarding being accepted by others. These thoughts contribute to illogical, biased, or distorted thinking processes, which then affect our emotions. In CBT, clients will learn to distinguish the difference between an actual thought and feeling. They will learn to be aware of the ways that thoughts can influence their emotions and how it is sometimes unhelpful. In addition, they will be able to evaluate critically whether their automatic thoughts are accurate and have evidence, or if they are simply just biased. At the end of their therapy, they should have developed the skills to notice these negative thoughts, interrupt them, and correct the thoughts properly.
Now, let’s talk about how other behavioral therapies are different. Most of them focus on how certain thoughts and behaviors are accidentally “rewarded” within an individual’s environment. This contributes to these thoughts and behaviors increasing. Behavior therapies can be used in a wide selection of psychological symptoms in a wide range of ages. Here are a couple of examples to further explain it: Example #1: Imagine a teenager that is constantly asking for permission to use the family car to go and hang out with friends.
After the parents asking repeatedly and receiving numerous denials, the teenager becomes angry and disobedient towards the parents. Afterward, the parents come to the conclusion that they do not want to take the hassle from their teen anymore and allow their teen to borrow the car. By giving permission, the teenager has actually received a “reward” for throwing a tantrum. Behavior therapists say that by giving permission to the teenager, the teenager has learned that bad behavior is a strategy that works if they are going after permission. Moreover, behavior therapy aims to understand the relationships between behaviors, rewards, and learning, and changing negative patterns. In conclusion, the parents and children in this example can unlearn these unhealthy behaviors and reinforce good behavior instead.
Example #2: Imagine being afraid to ride in vehicles. To avoid being scared and anxious, you may eventually begin to avoid all vehicles and walk or ride a bicycle instead. The extra energy and time required for your transportation may cause you to be constantly late for events or work. However, despite these consequences, your fear of avoiding riding in a car has been rewarded with the absence of fear and anxiety. Behavioral treatments would consist of riding in a car under a supervised environment and reward you when you are successful. These rewards will be given after each success, and its aim is to help you unlearn these negative associations. Although behavioral therapies are different based on the disorder they are treating, a common thread is that behavioral therapists help their clients try new or feared behaviors and disallows them from letting negative rewards dictate their behavior.
Chapter 2: What Is Anxiety?
So, what exactly is anxiety? A lot of the times, when people use the term ‘anxiety,’ they are referring to generalized anxiety.
Anxiety is a basic feeling and experience that literally all species of animals experience. Although anxiety is not a pleasant feeling, it is not dangerous. Actually, anxiety is helpful for us in certain situations. Some people wish to get rid of anxiety completely but that goal isn’t possible or realistic! When it comes to Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, the approach is to help you build the skills required to help you manage and understand your anxiety as opposed to getting rid of it all together (again, not possible).
We all have to keep in mind that anxiety is a normal emotion and that it is not dangerous. The symptoms of anxiety actually serve a function. Anxiety is actually a natural reaction to a perceived threat and helps us humans respond to it. However, if you have excessive anxiety, it can also be a problem.
Since anxiety is a normal response to a threat, when a person perceives that they are in a threatening situation, their fight or flight instinct is triggered which its sole purpose is to protect itself by fighting or fleeing from danger. When somebody is feeling threatened, their brain sends messages to your
autonomic nervous system (this is a section of your nerves).
When this nervous system reacts, adrenalin and noradrenalin are released from your brain, which then triggers the anxiety response and automatically prepares us for danger. This nervous system is eventually stopped when these chemicals are destroyed by our bodies in an attempt to calm the body down.
This fact is extremely important to remember because those who suffer from anxiety disorders are convinced that their anxiety will go on forever. However, biologically, this cannot happen since anxiety is limited by time. Although it may feel that the anxiety is going on forever, it has a limited lifespan. After some time, your body will determine that it has had enough with the fight or flight instinct and restore the body to its neutral feeling.
Anxiety cannot continue endlessly or damage your body.
Although highly uncomfortable, this whole cycle is perfectly harmless and natural. In fact, this behavior is an instinct to us because, in the wild, it is necessary for our bodies to reactive this response because we know that danger can return.
Overall, the flight or flight response activates the entire body’s metabolism. This is what makes someone feel hot, flushed, and tired afterward because the entire process uses up a lot of energy. After a strong anxiety experience, most people feel drained, tired, and completely washed out.
What is an Anxiety Disorder?
Now that you know what anxiety is and how it is a natural emotion that we feel for protection - what is an anxiety disorder?
An anxiety disorder is a medical condition where the individual feels symptoms of extreme anxiety or panic. In other words, an anxiety disorder is when the individual is feeling severe anxiety or panic and is unable to manage their symptoms.
We will be going through all the different types of anxiety disorders in the next subchapter, but in this one, we will be talking about the most common ones that people face nowadays.
The most common anxiety disorder that people face in present-day is Generalized Anxiety disorder.
Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD)
Generalized anxiety is the susceptibility to engage in excessive panic, worry, or anxiety regarding numerous events or situations. Usually, the person has major difficulty controlling their feelings of worry and is associated with other symptoms such as fatigue, restlessness, concentration difficulties, sleep disturbance, irritability, and muscle tension. The feeling of worry is actually defined as a process where it is focused on the
uncertainty of the outcome regarding future events. It is actually not an emotion itself, but it leads to feeling the emotion of anxiety. The main and most obvious symptom of generalized anxiety disorder is the “what if” thoughts that begin to occur.
These “what if” thoughts work hand in hand with worrying, and it often feels like it is uncontrollable. In addition, the process of worry is often associated with physical symptoms that are related to the flight or fight response. It happens often that the individual will think of the future in a negative light and have thoughts that are followed by feelings of anxiety.
People with GAD often feel worried and anxious most of the time and not just in specific situations that are stressful. The worries that they have been constant, intense, and interferes with their daily routine. Their worries are typically multiple aspects and not only one. It may include work, health, finance, family, or just everyday life things. Trivial tasks such as household chores or being late for a meeting can lead to extreme anxiety, which then leads to the feeling of doom.
Most people are diagnosed with GAD if they showcase some of the symptoms for 6 months or more:
● You feel extremely worried about numerous activities or events
● You struggle to stop worrying
● You are finding that your anxiety has made it very hard for you to do your daily routine (e.g., studying, working, hanging out with friends)
● You feel constantly restless or on edge
● You are always/easily tired
● You struggle with concentration
● You are easily irritable
● You have tension in your muscles (e.g., neck or sore jaw)
● You struggle with sleeping (e.g., difficulty staying asleep or falling asleep)
About 14% of the population suffers from GAD in the present day. This condition tends to appear in more women than men and can occur at any time in an individual’s life. It is common in all age groups, even including young children and seniors.
However, the most common time for diagnosis is when an individual is around 30 years of age.
Children who suffer from GAD will usually have exhibit behaviors like:
● Being un-confident of themselves
● Being over-conforming
● Seeking constant approval and assurance from others
● Being a perfectionist
● Needing to re-do tasks to perfection
● Using the phrase “Yes, but what if?”
So what exactly causes GAD? This one is tricky; there is a combination of different factors that take place. First, biological factors are considered. Certain changes in brain functions have been associated with GAD. Next, family history is also considered. People who have GAD often have a history of mental health issues in their family. Stressful life events also increase the risk of someone developing GAD. For example, loss of a relationship, moving, or physical or emotional abuse are all examples of events that can play a role in causing GAD. Lastly, psychological factors may also put a person at higher risk. Those who have personality traits of being sensitive, nervous, or inability to tolerate frustration are at higher risk of GAD.
The most common treatment for GAD is Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. Medication will be used if psychological treatments are ineffective. We will be diving into the details in the later chapters on why and how CBT is an extremely effective treatment for those who have GAD.
What Are the Different Types of Anxiety Disorders?
Now that we have learned about the most common anxiety disorder, generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), and the largest component that leads to it (worry), we will move on to learning about other types of anxiety disorders that people suffer from.
The other types of anxiety disorders that we will learn about are:
● Social Anxiety
● Specific Phobias
● Panic Disorder
