by Valerie Johnson

Created on: September 21, 2008

You woke up late this morning because you had a hard time going to sleep last night. Your mind kept playing a scenario over and over again and no matter how hard you tried to stop it, you could not, there was no stop or pause button to be found. This morning you have a sick feeling in the pit of your stomach and you know if you try to eat it will immediately come back up. You overheard 2 co-workers talking about how unhappy the boss is with someone's work and you just know they were talking about you. You are sure that the boss is unhappy with your last presentation and today you will face certain reprimand or even be fired for your lack of performance. A sense of dread overcomes you and you

contemplate calling in sick but if you do that, the boss just has another reason to fire you for missing so much work lately.

The above scenario depicts a person suffering from Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD). Anxiety and worry are a normal part of everyone's daily life. We worry about how we're going to pay the mortgage because there just isn't enough money to pay all the bills that are due. We worry about our health, our children and their future. What makes the above described situation different from normal worry or anxiety is that you have no reason to believe the boss is unhappy with you. After your last presentation you were praised and your ideas were put into practice by your company. There is no basis for believing that your job is on the line.

According to www.helpguide.org, "GAD is about chronic, excessive worry concerning events that are unlikely to occur; it's minor problems or concerns that wrap around your mind like kudzu and won't let go." Many people use the terms "anxiety attack" and "panic attack" interchangeably. According to the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), a panic disorder is a type of anxiety disorder. NIMH lists 5 major types of anxiety disorders:

1. Generalized Anxiety Disorder
2. Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder
3. Panic Disorder
4. Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
5. Social Anxiety Disorder

Anxiety disorders affect more than 40 million American adults each year and if left untreated can continue to escalate. The following are the symptoms for each of the 5 major types of anxiety disorders. While each type has different symptoms, a common thread throughout each of them is excessive, irrational fear and dread.

GENERALIZED ANXIETY DISORDER

GAD rarely occurs alone. Depression, substance abuse or other anxiety disorders often accompany it. A person

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