Coping Skills for Generalized Anxiety

You may suffer from generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) if you're often anxious about your family, health or work even when there are no signs of trouble.

"Anxiety is essential for living. It warns us when there's danger and helps us prepare for important events, like exams and interviews," says Jerilyn Ross, M.A., L.C.S.W., president and CEO of the Anxiety Disorders Association of America in Washington, D.C., and author of "Triumph Over Fear." "But those with GAD become anxious over routine things in life."

Someone with GAD may have a good job, a happy marriage and well-adjusted kids, for example, but worries constantly it's all going to fall apart. Such a person may not let their children go on school trips because they fear they'll get kidnapped.

Constant worrying may interfere with GAD sufferers' day-to-day functioning and be accompanied by chronic physical symptoms, such as aches and pains, irritability and fatigue.

When exaggerated worrying lasts more than six months, GAD may be diagnosed.

To help you or someone you know cope with this debilitating disorder, Ms. Ross offers the following treatment options.

Challenge negative thoughts

One major approach to treating GAD is cognitive behavioral therapy. With this treatment, "a therapist helps you identify and challenge the thoughts and behaviors that keep you stuck," says Ms. Ross.

Say, for example, you're doing well at your job but constantly worry you'll be fired. Using cognitive behavior therapy, a therapist may reality-test your catastrophic thinking by analyzing the facts, such as whether you've gotten a good review lately and whether others in your company are being fired.

"Cognitive behavioral therapy is about getting people to understand how they're scaring themselves or feeding their own negative thoughts. Once we identify that, we teach how to change their reaction to things," says Ms. Ross.

As part of cognitive behavioral therapy, you might be advised to engage in a five-minute worry session twice per day. With this technique, "you can worry all you want by, say, sitting down at your computer and typing out your worrying thoughts or talking into a tape recorder," says Ms. Ross.

By giving your worry an outlet, you can begin to refocus your thinking and change your perspective.

"Often people see for themselves, 'this is crazy. Why am I thinking that?'" says Ms. Ross.

As part of cognitive behavioral therapy, you'll also learn basic stress-management techniques. You may also be advised to start an exercise program, if you haven't already. "Studies show that exercise can help manage stress as good or better in some cases than medication," says Ms. Ross.

Consider medication

If cognitive behavioral coping skills don't control your condition -- perhaps you're still losing sleep or feeling anxious so you're not functioning -- you may need medication. It won't necessarily stop the worry, but can ease it. "Many of my patients on medication say, 'The thoughts may come into my head, but they have no place to go,'" says Ms. Ross.

Medications prescribed for GAD may have troublesome side effects, so "it's important to work closely with your doctor when taking them," says Ms. Ross.

In some cases, the side effects may pass in the first week to 10 days; in other cases, they may linger and warrant switching medications.