Anxiety can make you so overwhelmed by stress to the point where you feel like you’ll never have a moment to relax. It can interfere with your quality of life or make it difficult to maintain healthy relationships with those around you. That’s why it’s important to explore treatment options that can help alleviate your feelings.
Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) affects millions of people worldwide. In fact, about 6.8 million U.S. adults are affected by GAD, which adds up to about 3.1% of the national population. But only about 43% seek treatment for their symptoms. What are the benefits of generalized anxiety disorder treatment? That’s what we’re here to answer.
Read on to learn about the basics of generalized anxiety disorder, the treatment options that you can explore and the benefits of treating your symptoms.
What is generalized anxiety disorder?
Generalized anxiety disorder, commonly referred to as anxiety or GAD, is a mental health disorder that can make you feel overwhelmed by worry and stress, even without justifiable cause.
It’s important to note that while everyone feels stressed out at some point due to everyday problems, not everyone has GAD. It’s usually diagnosed if you’re experiencing persistent or worsening feelings of anxiety for at least six months.
Common symptoms of generalized anxiety disorder include:
- Constantly feeling worried.
- Increased irritability.
- Becoming easily fatigued.
- Trouble sleeping.
- Concentration issues.
Treatment options for generalized anxiety disorder
Some people try to just “grin and bear it” when it comes to generalized anxiety disorder symptoms. But with proper treatment, you don’t have to let it interfere with your responsibilities or personal relationships.
One of the most effective treatment options for generalized anxiety disorder is psychotherapy, also known as talk therapy. This means that you sit down with a mental health provider to discuss the problems you’re experiencing that are contributing to your anxiety. They can help you work through your thoughts and feelings as well as help you develop healthy problem-solving and coping skills.
Psychotherapy gives you the chance to explore your anxiety in a safe and nonjudgmental space. It can include one-on-one sessions, as well as group and family therapy sessions.
Your mental health provider may also recommend transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) if you have been diagnosed with anxious depression. This refers to depression symptoms that are triggered by an anxiety disorder diagnosis. TMS is a noninvasive treatment that uses magnets to stimulate the areas of your brain that control your mood. It’s a way to reduce the negative feelings that stem from anxious depression.
Medication is also a common treatment option used to reduce your generalized anxiety disorder symptoms to help you carry out your daily responsibilities.
5 benefits you can gain from treating generalized anxiety disorder
The goal of generalized anxiety disorder treatment is to help you manage your symptoms daily. You also learn skills to deal with overwhelming worry and restlessness. While some of the benefits stem from psychotherapy, others come from TMS or medication.
Here are five benefits of generalized anxiety disorder treatment:
- Learn about GAD — By learning about your mental health disorder during treatment, you can have an understanding of how it affects your thoughts, emotions and behavior. Becoming educated on your disorder will help you gain a better perspective on your specific symptoms. You will also be more open to support and resources from others.
- Reduce your symptoms — One of the main reasons that people seek generalized anxiety disorder treatment is because they want to alleviate their symptoms and manage their anxiety on a daily basis. Psychotherapy, medication and TMS can all play a hand in reducing your symptoms and helping you work toward a happy and healthy future.
- Gain lifelong skills — Generalized anxiety disorder treatment, especially therapy, focuses on helping you develop coping and problem-solving skills to integrate into your daily life. The skills you can gain from GAD treatment can continue to help soothe your anxious feelings for years.
- Adjust your mindset — Psychotherapy and TMS can help change how your brain responds to everyday situations that may cause you to feel anxious. By adjusting your mindset, you can alter your perspective on your circumstances. Then you can see how they often don’t warrant your feelings of concern.
- Work through stressors — By talking about the problems in your life with a mental health provider, you can determine why the circumstances are causing you to stress. Speaking about your anxiety with a third party with no stakes in your life can illuminate why you’re feeling the way you do. Then they can help you figure out how to handle the situation.
Active Path Mental Health can provide generalized anxiety disorder treatment
Anxiety can impact every aspect of your life, from productivity to personal relationships. But generalized anxiety disorder treatment can help you learn how to manage your symptoms. You’ll also learn coping mechanisms that will help you far into the future.
Active Path Mental Health has locations in Oregon and Washington that can help you learn how to take control of your anxiety.
Contact our team today for more information or to schedule an initial appointment.
