Chen Piao, Department of Mental Health, Sansanyi Hospital, Zhuzhou City
Clinical manifestations of Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD)
Mr. The staff of the state-owned enterprise have suffered from insomnia, palpitation, shortness of breath, dyspnea, restlessness, and suspected serious illness in recent years without any incentive. , was introduced by the director of the Department of Cardiology to the Psychiatric and Psychological Outpatient Clinic of San Sanyi Hospital.
Xing Jinghua, Deputy Chief Physician of the Psychiatry and Psychology Clinic of the City’s 331 Hospital, asked Mr. Li for a detailed medical history and led Mr. Li to conduct a professional examination in the Department of Psychiatry – Psychological CT. The results showed that Mr. Li had severe anxiety and moderate body shape. Disorders, moderate insomnia. Diagnosed by Director Xing: Generalized Anxiety Disorder.
Mr. Li, who was holding the checklist, was frowning, worried, and still doubtful. Under the patient explanation of Director Xing, he took medicine on time as prescribed by the doctor, regularly psychological counseling, paid attention to his emotional changes, and carried out appropriate sports activities. Time to divert attention… After three months of treatment, Mr. Li has achieved great improvement, his physical discomfort has improved significantly, and his sleep quality has also improved.
What is an anxiety disorder?
Anxiety disorder, also known as anxiety disorder, is a general term for a group of mental disorders with the above pathological anxiety symptoms as the main clinical phase. According to the tenth edition of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-10), it is divided into two categories: one is phobic anxiety disorder, including agoraphobia, social terror, specific (isolation) terror, and other terror; the second is other anxiety disorders, including panic disorder Disorder (intermittent anxiety disorder), generalized anxiety disorder, mixed anxiety-depressive disorder, other specific anxiety disorder.
●Mental anxiety: Excessive worry is the core symptom of mental anxiety. It is manifested by constant fear of some unpredictable danger or misfortune that may occur in the future. Some patients are often and inexplicably in a strong inner experience of fear and anxiety, but they cannot clearly realize the object or content of worry, which is called free-floating anxiety. Increased alertness is also a common psychiatric symptom of GAD, manifested as sensitivity to external stimuli and sometimes startle responses. Difficulty concentrating, falling asleep, waking up easily, and being irritable are also common in GAD patients.
●Somatic anxiety: including motor restlessness and muscle tension. Sports anxiety can be manifested as rubbing hands and feet, unable to sit still, walking back and forth, and many small movements without purpose. Muscle soreness occurs when muscle tension is severe, which is more common in the muscles of the chest, neck, shoulders and back. Tension headaches are also common. Some patients may experience tremors in the limbs and even tremors in the voice.
Autonomic dysfunction: manifested as tachycardia, chest tightness, shortness of breath, dizziness, headache, skin flushing, sweating or paleness, dry mouth, feeling of swallowing obstruction, stomach discomfort, nausea, abdominal pain, bloating, Constipation or diarrhea, frequent urination, etc. Some patients may experience premature ejaculation, erectile dysfunction, menstrual disorders, loss of libido and other symptoms.
●Other symptoms: GAD patients often experience symptoms such as fatigue, depression, obsession, fear, panic attacks, and depersonalization.
In fact, the vast majority of patients with anxiety disorders will be accompanied by somatoform disorders – physical discomfort caused by emotions such as anxiety and depression. Usually patients will repeatedly seek medical examinations but find that they do not have any physical diseases. Doctors can treat symptomatically. There are several points to treat this anxiety disorder:
1. Improve anxiety: take enough anti-anxiety drugs for a full course of treatment; conduct psychological counseling; divert attention, etc.
2. Improve autonomic disorder symptoms: massage, bath, yoga meditation and other relaxation methods.
3. Establish a correct understanding of the disease: Only by understanding the disease can the patient cooperate more, trust the doctor’s treatment, and avoid detours.
Anxiety disorder is not a monster, nor is it incurable, as long as the patient has enough confidence, enough patience and complete trust in the doctor, combined with the professional diagnosis and treatment plan of the psychiatry department of the city’s 331 hospital, strive for Get back to a peaceful, happy life as soon as possible.