Generalized Anxiety Disorder
A little bit of worry is part of life for most humans. You might worry about finances, your health and the health of your family, or issues at work. But this worry doesn’t consume your days and nights. Most people are able to stop the thoughts and move on to other things.
Constant Worry That Won’t Stop
But when someone has Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD), the worrying grows out of control. You feel nervous about most things, even when there’s nothing happening to cause it. You may even feel such extreme worry and nervousness that it’s difficult to go through you daily routine, or function in your job.
In addition, do you feel wound up tight lots of the time…edgy…on the verge of jumping on someone’s case?
Does your jaw get tight, your neck…do your shoulders become so tense you get a headache…while you worry about the things on your mind…?
Do you sometimes feel tired, like you aren’t sleeping well, and you get tired easily and you just can’t concentrate…?
If so, you might have generalized anxiety disorder.
It’s not about sudden feelings of panic, but more of an almost constant nervousness, and worrying and worrying that just takes over your world.
This condition can plague not only adults, but children too.
And if you do have generalized anxiety disorder, you probably need treatment to help you break away from the worry so you can invest in your life again; your family, your work…your friends. Because if worry, nervousness…and fear, have continued for this long, it’s unlikely you’re able to stop it.
More Symptoms You May Experience
There is a variety of other symptoms people with this disorder may experience.
Things like worrying, of course, about common every things but knowing you probably worry too much; it may be hard to focus, to concentrate on things you want to; you may feel a bit jumpy and startle easily, you may have headaches and all sorts of aches and pains…you probably don’t sleep very well, and you might even need to go to the bathroom more often than you wish.
GAD in children, including teenagers, shows up as worrying and worrying about their grades at school, their performance in sports or academics, as well as the potential for devastating disasters like earthquakes, hurricanes, and war.
For adults, the worry is more likely about finances, your job, your own health or the health of your family, running late to work or an event, fulfilling your various responsibilities…
Even though General Anxiety Disorder runs in families, it’s not clear why one family member suffers from it while another one doesn’t. But one thing is clear: treatment can bring you relief from the constant cycles of hand-wringing worry.
In some cases, medication and therapy can help. But for those who aren’t relieved from these traditional treatments, there’s hope.
Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation for Anxiety
An innovative treatment has been developed that’s 21st-century-new and on the front line of space-age technology. Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation delivers relief to 75% of treatment-resistant patients with generalized anxiety disorder.
Using a machine that might remind you of the x-ray machine at the dentist, a device is placed over the left front part of your head, which is where the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex portion of the brain is located.
The device contains a coil that creates a magnetic field. This sends tiny pulses into the brain over and over. What you feel is a tap tap tap. It’s gentle and easy to tolerate, but those pulses produce nothing short of a miracle.
As they stimulate the nerves in your brain those nerve pathways take the stimulation deep, deep into the brain where emotion regulation is managed. By stimulating this area, the dormant processes wake up and begin functioning again.
And that relaxes the worry and helps your brain return to a more normal function.
75% effective for those who were not helped by medication and psychotherapy.
75% effective means you feel good again. You can live and enjoy life again.
Lori Calabrese, M.D. at Innovative Psychiatry in South Windsor, CT offers advanced treatment options for treatment-resistant generalized anxiety disorder. TMS and IV ketamine treatment are bringing restoration to patients who previously had no hope.