A study on generalized anxiety disorders and examination of the appearance of physical symptoms when these disorders occur

Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) is a type of anxiety disorder that is defined as excessive and unreasonable worry about everyday events and activities. Unlike panic attacks, generalized anxiety disorder is more chronic and can last for months. Excessive anxiety for no apparent reason is a symptom of generalized anxiety disorder. In this disorder, a person worries excessively about everyday events. Affected people are constantly waiting for a disaster and cannot control their worries about various things such as health, money, family, job and education. Fear, worry and panic are part of the daily state of the affected people. In these people, anxiety has dominated their thinking so much that they have problems in doing daily tasks and social relationships. Sometimes we may feel anxious thinking about daily tasks and this is completely normal. But a person with GAD is not able to control his worry and anxiety. He feels that everything is out of control. Individuals diagnosed with an anxiety disorder report more physical health problems than those without an anxiety disorder. Few studies have examined the relation of anxiety disorders to later physical health symptoms, or the processes that may explain this relation. One process of interest is experiential avoidance (EA), which is commonly reported in populations characterized by high anxiety and often leads to health-compromising behaviors. The present study examined the relations between anxiety disorder diagnostic status, EA, and physical health symptoms in a community sample of young adult women. Results revealed a significant association between an anxiety disorder diagnosis and physical health problems four months later. Furthermore, levels of EA accounted for this relation. Findings highlight the potential utility of targeting EA as a method for improving health outcomes among individuals with anxiety disorders.

کلیدواژه ها:

Anxiety Disorders ، Physical Health Symptoms ، Experiential Avoidance.