Feeling anxious is a natural response to heightened, risky or unnerving experiences, consequences or actions. As we enter the ‘fight or flight’ mode, a degree of anxiety is healthy to make proactive decisions.

Yet, that degree of anxiety for some individuals is uncontrollable, consuming and overwhelming, which can be very difficult to manage and work through, making most decisions illogical.

This experience is recognised as a generalised anxiety disorder (GAB), where the norm of anxiety becomes life-changing and threatening for many individuals across the globe.

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Anxiety is an emotion that is commonly short-lived. The average person can combat symptoms of anxiety through coping strategies, management and pushing through the trigger of anxiety.

Yet, someone with a generalised anxiety disorder will, unfortunately, experience long-term impacts, which can showcase through a number of events, rather than a singular trigger.

In the UK it’s found that 5% of the population displays symptoms of generalised anxiety disorder. As its impacts can be difficult to manage, reduce the quality of life, and result in further health issues, it’s important that treatment is accessible for those in need.

If you’re struggling with ongoing feelings of intense anxiety, here’s some generalised anxiety disorder treatment you can access, along with addiction support services available here at Nova Recovery Scotland.

Insight into generalised anxiety disorder

GAB is defined as a mental health issue that surrounds overwhelming experiences of uncontrollable anxiety.

While anxiety is a common emotion, which many can experience excessively, in most cases, symptoms of anxiety can be suppressed and managed.

Here’s where generalised anxiety disorder is different, where symptoms normally reside and continue, even through the use of self-help tips and coping strategies.

The symptoms of generalised anxiety disorder do reflect those of commonplace anxiety. Someone who’s suffering can expect to feel irritable, nervous and on edge, have dizziness, nausea and increased blood pressure, and can expect risks of palpitation and increased heart rate.

However, those symptoms for someone with GAB will be long-lived, can become a part of everyday life, and can make such life extremely exhausting.

Just like other mental health issues, GAB can stem from personal, deep-rooted causations. Stress, vulnerabilities within genetics and trauma are all leading causes.

However, down to its constant presence, it is a complex disorder that will require professional interventive steps of generalised anxiety disorder treatment.

Symptoms of GAD

As it’s recognised under the umbrella of anxiety, symptoms of generalised anxiety disorder may be unsurprising, reflecting nervousness and irritability. Common symptoms which are expected through stressful situations and high-pressured events are attached to GAB.

For example, trembling, dizziness, nausea, digestive issues, depression, insomnia, high blood pressure and blackouts are all symptoms of anxiety, which are also found within GAB.

However, the difference is that such symptoms are constant and uncontrollable through generalised anxiety disorder, which differs from the majority of standard anxiety diagnoses.

GAB is found to be harder to live with down to its symptoms, as the quality of life will usually plummet with a focus on the negative, uncontrollable and unpredictable symptoms of generalised anxiety disorder.

Suitable generalised anxiety disorder treatment in Scotland

As causations of anxiety disorders are complex, a range of treatment services will usually be recommended to follow a holistic approach to recovery.

Suitability will need to be gauged to ensure that our recommendations here at Nova Recovery can help to suppress and manage your generalised anxiety disorder diagnosis. We can treat generalised anxiety if you also suffer from drug or alcohol addiction, and offer dual diagnosis treatment programmes for people who require it.

  • CBT 

Psychological therapies for GAB are very important, to help promote rational thinking, clarity and balance. Cognitive behavioural therapy is a commonly recommended treatment, due to the structure that it provides when focusing on thoughts and emotions. CBT works on revisiting the triggers of anxiety and adapting the outlook of our clients to suppress the response of ongoing anxiety.

  • Relaxation therapy 

Another common generalised anxiety disorder treatment is relaxation therapy, helping to promote mindfulness, rest and restoring efforts.

Many individuals who experience GAB are constantly on the go, feel extreme pressure, and find it hard to switch off the symptoms of anxiety. Working with both CBT and CBT, relaxing techniques will be promoted to offer respite through potential symptoms.

  • Medication  

Alongside talking through the triggers of GAB, antidepressants are usually prescribed throughout treatment to restore the stability of cognitive chemicals and responses. Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors, for example, may be prescribed for long-term use as a management tool.

  • Wellbeing management  

Lifestyle choices and decisions are also known to heighten the symptoms of generalised anxiety disorder. Poor sleep, low socialisation, low levels of exercise, negative habits and associations, and poor nutrition are known to contribute towards low feelings, irritability and poor self-esteem.

Well-being management will be recommended to revert those results, to help manage the presence of generalised anxiety disorder.

While well-being management will not cure GAB, it will offer structure and guidance to manage symptoms for the long term.

Source support via our rehab at Nova Recovery

Anxiety treatments and therapies are available through a wealth of services. However, it is important that suitability is met when completing generalised anxiety disorder treatment.

At Nova Recovery Scotland, we are a private rehab centre that specialises in addiction and mental health recovery services and is here to offer support, quality resources and personalised treatment programmes.

Combining some of the above treatments, we can work with you to tailor a comfortable and proactive programme to help ease, suppress and manage your symptoms of GAB and treat addiction.

Unfortunately, as anxiety is now becoming a commonly experienced diagnosis, many believe that self-management is the best way forward.

However, as GAB can be extreme and can be challenging to maintain independence and often accompanies drug or alcohol abuse, reaching out for professional support should always be the case. Do so by accepting addiction and generalised anxiety disorder treatment here at Nova Recovery in Largs Scotland.