Everyone gets a little anxious once in a while. When anxiety happens too often and starts to affect normal living, it should be a cause for worry. The medical term for such a mental and emotional state is generalized anxiety disorder. Such a disorder is characterized by overreaction to certain triggers or to unnecessary worry that is way beyond what is normal. This disorder is normally not dangerous but it could lead to other conditions that could put the patient and those around him in danger. Recognizing the signs of this disorder is important in order for the patient to be able to seek proper treatment from the right professionals and at the right time.

There are a lot of emotional and behavioral indicators of anxiety disorder. Different people would have varying levels of anxiousness. People with this disorder startle easy and are nervous most of the time. The have trouble falling asleep and when they do fall asleep, they find it hard to stay asleep. As a result, they also tire easily and find it difficult to concentrate. Other physical manifestations of this anxiousness would include shortness of breath, restlessness, nausea, diarrhea, and muscle tension. These symptoms could occur by themselves or in various combination over time. This disorder can afflict people of all ages. This disorder can also occur as a symptom of other conditions affecting the heart or the lungs. There are other specific kinds of anxiousness that are have particular identified triggers such as phobia, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and panic disorder.

Such a disorder can be brought about by a number of factors. These factors include childhood trauma, illness, stress, personality type, and genetics. Trauma from childhood years such as the death of an immediate family member or the involvement in an accident could cause a person to be particularly anxious of having another experience of such an event. Everything that is related to such an experience, and often even those that have nothing to do with it, would bring about feelings of anxiousness and worry. Stress from life situations as well as the work environment could also bring about this disorder. Fears of losing one’s job or not being able to come up to the bosses’ standards could bring about symptoms of this disorder. It has also been found that persons of particular personality types are much more prone to such a disorder than other personality types. Genetic have also been found to play a role in one’s predisposition to having this disorder.

If you suspect that you or anyone you know is suffering from such a disorder, you can seek help from professionals. By looking at a specific criteria for such a disorder, medical professionals can diagnose whether a person has such a disorder or not. An inital consultation with a psychotherapist would normally reveal if such a psychological disorder is present. Depending on the extent of the disorder, a physician or a psychotherapist could prescribe the necessary treatment. Each person could have a different program than another person since the reason for the disorder and the extent of the disorder could occur in varying degrees.