Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) (Nursing)

00:00 So when anxiety is unresolved, and the coping and defense mechanisms don't relieve that distress, that sense of fear can begin to affect all of the activities of normal living.

00:13 Now, again, remember that coping mechanisms and defense mechanisms might be something that we are totally aware of, but it also might be something that we're not aware of that is arising to protect ourselves in a moment that we are feeling stress or fear.

00:34 And when those mechanisms don't work anymore, that is when we start to see our normal activities of daily living, starting to be impacted by our anxieties and our fears.

00:53 When we see a person who rises to moderate to severe anxiety, and also when they're at severe anxiety, this level of anxiety that is persistent, if left untreated, becomes our anxiety disorders.

01:16 Anxiety disorders are the most common of all mental health disorders.

01:22 They affect over 40 million American adults, which is 18%.

01:28 And they are more common in women, two to one thing in men.

01:33 The prevalence in youth is 25.2%.

01:38 That's with youth that are between the ages of 13 and 18 years old, and less than 40% of people who live with anxiety disorders ever receive any treatment.

01:54 What are some of the risk factors for anxiety disorders? Genetics, are one.

02:00 Brain chemistry itself is another.

02:04 A person's personality, how they interact with their environment, and life events, things that affect a person's life, the death of a parent or a spouse, even sometimes for some people who have different kinds of personalities, changing a residence might actually bring up enough anxiety that might move them into a severe state of anxiety.

02:38 So how would we actually decide or diagnosed general anger anxiety disorder? Well, we all worry, but when worrying becomes excessive, persistent, unrealistic, when we can't attribute that one worry to a specific factor, like caffeine, drinking too much caffeine, you might feel very anxious and worried or you might have a thyroid condition that actually increases that level, that sense of worry or doom.

03:18 When that sense of stress and worry occurs more days than not, over a six month period of time.

03:26 It becomes chronic in nature.

03:29 Now, remember, it said 25% of youth, anxiety disorders can start in youth, in childhood.

03:39 But more commonly we see anxiety disorders, starting after the age of 20.