General anxiety disorder is when your girlfriend is pregnant, your wife just found out you have a girlfriend, your parents just found out you have a wife, your boss is your wife’s dad and your girlfriend is your wife’s mom.  General anxiety disorders are clearly the most extreme form of anxiety disorders, and should taken seriously.  Less extreme forms, such as colonel anxiety disorder, and lieutenant anxiety disorder, are more common and more easily treatable, but if you have general anxiety disorder you’re in real trouble.

That may just be the most absurd thing I’ve ever written, but I can joke about general anxiety disorders because I have one.  While it’s always good to be able to laugh at your misfortunes, general anxiety disorders can be very hard to live with if you don’t seek treatment.  A lot of people with general anxiety disorders are either unaware of it, or ashamed to seek help for it.  This can often lead to dangerous and unhealthy self-medication habits.  Even if it doesn’t, general anxiety disorders don’t usually go away on their own, and often get worse with age.

Fortunately, there are a lot of things you can do to reduce the symptoms of a general anxiety disorder.  Two things you can do right off the bat that may lower your anxiety down to manageable levels by themselves; quit caffeine, and get some regular exercise.  An excessive caffeine intake can mimic a general anxiety disorder, and you may have been diagnosed with one when really you’re just drinking too much coffee or tea.  Exercise is also a great way to boost your natural anti-anxiety chemicals.  I’ve found that so long as I keep caffeine intake down and go for regular runs my anxiety is probably not any worse than average.

There are plenty of other things to try to help with a general anxiety disorder as well, such as meditation, getting enough sleep, talk therapy, creative arts, music, or anything that helps you relax.  No matter how crazy your life is, set aside some time to do something relaxing everyday.

Everyone has anxiety in their life, and general anxiety disorder is something of a vague diagnosis.  However, if you’ve found that even after trying everything you can think of to lower anxiety yet you still have more than you can handle,  it’s never a bad idea to talk to your doctor about it.  Psychology condition is not something you can will yourself to forget or change. No matter how hard you try, you are feeling the anxiety.  Talk to your doctor , there are some effective medications available for general anxiety disorders today. 

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