This type of anxiety can be all-encompassing, which makes it the most difficult to explain. The person with this disorder may think that it’s in his nature to worry and that nothing can be done about it. In fact, worrying may have become a way of life for the person. Physical manifestations of this disorder include panicky behavior, pessimism and half-heartedness in any task, including the tasks related with work.
To simplify the way we understand generalized anxiety disorder, here are the three common thoughts that could occur to a person with generalized anxiety disorder.
Everything could fall apart any minute.
The primary notion that something bad is bound to happen characterizes what we call generalized anxiety disorder. Irrational fear will bring about many scenarios that usually exist only in that person’s head. Of course, the scenarios that the person thinks of may be possible, but there’s always a chance that they wouldn’t happen. But no, the person’s thoughts would only center on the bad things and not the good things. This pessimism is so extreme that the person actually believes there’s no use trying to fix things when they’re bound to fall apart anyway.
Even if I do my best, I may still fail.
One constant source of worry is the imminent failure that could come despite the fact that the person is trying his best. This thought can be the most damaging of all because it interferes with the risk-taking of the individual. Instead of hoping for the best and giving his all to a task, he will only do enough to get by. The bar of success is inevitably lowered, and even success itself would feel like a failure because the person is not tapping into his real potential to succeed. Generalized anxiety disorder is typified by the anticipation of disaster.
There’s something wrong with me.
For the most part, a person who thinks this may be right. However, instead of fighting to get better, someone with generalized anxiety disorder may simply stand back and make no effort to improve. To compensate for what he thinks is wrong with him, he becomes defensive and tries to second guess what could happen.
People with generalized anxiety disorder are extremely prone to superstition and scams. Because they are convinced that the worst things could happen at any time, they tend to react violently to occurrences that justify all their worrying. A person screaming ‘I knew this would happen’ when something bad actually happened may have been worrying about the incident for a long time.
GAD is not all about what a person thinks. Most of the time, the anxiety can have physical manifestation, including nausea, muscle twitching and numbness. All of these physical effects may in turn lead to worse thoughts, and the person worries some more.
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