What is the difference between Anxiety and Worry?

Anxiety and worry are different words for the same thing.

While everyone worries, anxiety disorders involve constant and disproportionate anxiety.

What is the way to diagnose anxiety disorder?

Although generalized anxiety disorder is one of the common disorders, the diagnosis can be hard.

GAD-7 remains one the most reliable scales to diagnose the extent of GAD.

It consists of seven items that assess various symptoms of GAD, such as nervousness, inability to stop worrying, and restlessness.

What are the symptoms of GAD?

To be diagnosed with GAD you must experience your symptoms for most days over 6 months.

You must have 3 or more of the following 6 symptoms in this period:

• feeling restless, keyed up, or on edge

• having difficulty concentrating or feeling like your mind is “blank”

• being irritable

• fatiguing easily

• feeling tension in your muscles

• experiencing sleep issues such as difficulty falling or staying asleep, or restless unsatisfying sleep

Are these only symptoms of anxiety?

The symptoms of anxiety disorder are not limited to the symptoms mentioned above.

The following symptoms are also experienced by people suffering from anxiety disorders:

• feeling a general sense of nervousness

• being easily startled

• experiencing headaches, muscle aches, stomach aches, or other unexplained pains

• having difficulty swallowing or feeling a lump in your throat

• twitching or trembling

• sweating a lot or experiencing hot flashes

• feeling lightheaded or out of breath

• feeling nauseated

• having to use the bathroom a lot

When to seek help for anxiety disorders?

There is no wrong time to seek help for anxiety disorders.

There is no shame in discussing anxiety with family, friends or a psychotherapist.

Some remedies to cope up with anxiety include

• mindfulness and meditation

• exercise

• breathing techniques and grounding exercises

• CBD oil

Sources

• PsychCentral

• NIH

• CDC

• jamanetwork