General Anxiety Disorder, Living in constant fear

Living in Constant Fear

General Anxiety Disorder, or GAD, is a condition in which a person suffers constant worry and high anxiety, feeling a state of constant fear and dread. At the very core of anxiety is a feeling of being helpless, or having no control over something really important. To live in a constant state of helplessness and fear can be distressing and debilitating.

Some people who suffer with GAD describe themselves as ‘looking for things to worry about’. As one issue is resolved or forgotten another appears to take it’s place. In fact some say that even when everything is going well they start to panic that there’s something they may have missed or forgotten and are unable to relax. Poor concentration, hyper vigilance, irritability, fear of consequences and ruminating excessively are also common with GAD.

The worry and anxiety that comes with GAD is usually out of proportion to the actual situation, it usually lasts a lot longer too. It can lead to unhelpful thinking styles such as catastrophising, jumping to conclusions, labeling, or all or nothing thinking

Cognitve Behavioural Therapy, or CBT,  can help uncover the underlying assumptions fuelling the core beliefs that fuel anxiety. It can help you to develop better coping and problem solving skills through exercises like reframing and desensitizing as you learn to identify automatic negative thinking and irrational thought patterns.

As you become more confident and comfortable in your decision making processes, accept your failings and internalize your successes the fear begins to lose it’s grip and you can become the person you want to be free of always worrying about consequences.

If you think you would benefit from talking to a counsellor then contact Sentient Counselling in Belfast.

 

#generalanxietydisorder

Tags: cbt, cognitive behavioural therapy, counselling Belfast, dread, GAD, general anxiety disorder, living in constant fear, sentient counselling