Stress Disorder
stress disorder involves symptoms that last from three days to one month following exposure to one or more traumatic events. Symptoms develop after an individual experiences or sees an event involving a threat or actual death, serious injury, or physical violation to the individual or others. Symptoms fall into the five general categories of intrusion, negative mood, dissociation, avoidance, and arousal, and begin or worsen after the trauma occurred.
Symptoms fall into the following five categories:
Intrusion symptoms (involuntary and intrusive distressing memories of the trauma or recurrent distressing dreams)
Negative mood (persistent inability to experience positive emotions such as happiness or love)
Dissociative symptoms (time slowing, seeing oneself from an outsider’s perspective, being in a daze)
Avoidance symptoms (avoidance of memories, thoughts, feelings, people, or places associated with the trauma)
Arousal symptoms (difficulty falling or staying asleep, irritable behavior, problems with concentration)
Anxiety
Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) is much more than the normal anxiety people experience day to day. It is chronic and sufferers experience severe worry and tension, often without provocation. This disorder involves anticipating disaster, often worrying excessively about health, money, family, or work. Sometimes, though, just the thought of getting through the day brings on anxiety.
Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) is characterized by six months or more of chronic, exaggerated worry and tension that is unfounded or much more severe than the normal anxiety most people experience. People with this disorder usually:
- Can’t control their excessive worrying
- Have difficulty falling or staying asleep
- Experience muscle tension
- Expect the worst
- Worry excessively about money, health, family or work, even when there are no signs of trouble
- Are unable to relax
- Are irritable
- Are easily startled
- Are easily fatigued
- Have difficulty concentrating or the mind goes blank
Common body symptoms are:
- Feeling tired for no reason
- Headaches
- Muscle tension and aches
- Having a hard time swallowing
- Trembling or twitching
- Sweating
- Nausea
- Feeling lightheaded
- Feeling out of breath
- Having to go to the bathroom frequently
- Hot flashes