What causes generalized anxiety disorder (GAD)? The symptoms can be troubling, distracting and unpredictable. While they may be difficult to anticipate in advance, there are some risk factors associated with GAD’s development. Some risk factors are connected to GAD symptoms resurfacing or worsening, too. If you have GAD or symptoms of this condition, a professional at ReKlame Health can help you move forward.

Learn the details about GAD

The term “generalized anxiety disorder” may sound nebulous, as if it’s mild and indistinct compared to other anxiety disorders. However, this is a common misconception. GAD symptoms can range from mild to severe, and it is a concrete condition. It’s characterized by disruptive thoughts and feelings, like a sense of impending doom.

According to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5), the guide that mental health professionals use to diagnose conditions, it is defined by:

• Experiencing excessive anxiety or worry about multiple topics, more days than not, for at least six months
• Finding the anxiety or worry difficult to control
• Going through at least three of the following symptoms, more days than not, for at least six months:
• Feeling restless, keyed up or on edge
• Becoming fatigued easily
• Struggling to focus or going blank
• Feeling irritable
• Having tense muscles
• Dealing with sleep disturbance like insomnia or restless sleep
• Having these symptoms without another mental health condition providing a better explanation for them (such as PTSD causing anxiety about a traumatic event, or illness anxiety disorder causing worries about health)
• Having these symptoms without their only cause being a physical health condition, medication or drug
• Being disrupted in an important area of functioning, such as a social life or occupation

If you’re living with some or all of these symptoms, you might wonder where they came from. After all, understanding your mental health is one of the first steps to treating it.

Learn about risk factors for GAD

Professionals have found links between GAD and several factors. Some may be associated with developing GAD. Others might be associated with exacerbating symptoms among people who already have the condition.

These risk factors include:

• Family history

“Nature or nurture?” is a question routinely run into the ground and picked up again (and again) in psychology. In this case, it appears that having a parent or close family member with an anxiety disorder may be correlated with an increased likelihood of developing an anxiety disorder.

It’s possible that someone in your family has a diagnosed anxiety disorder. Someone without a diagnosis may still struggle with symptoms of GAD or another anxiety disorder. Maybe you can recognize similarities between yourself and relatives, like a tendency to worry too much.

• Traumatic experiences

Traumas in childhood, clinically called adverse childhood experiences, can raise the risk of developing some mental health conditions. Some examples include neglect, abuse, witnessing abuse or going through a family separation. Others may be having a parent with a substance use disorder or having a parent in prison.

The risk of trauma leading to the development of a mental health condition is present in adulthood, too. A violent, disruptive or disturbing experience may contribute to the development of your symptoms or exacerbate them, with or without co-occurring PTSD.

• Other mental health conditions

Unfortunately, sometimes one mental health condition that disrupts your life brings a friend. GAD has several common comorbidities, or conditions that often appear together. These include other anxiety disorders (such as panic disorder, social phobia or specific phobia) and major depressive disorder.

• Physical health symptoms and conditions

Physical issues do not cause GAD directly; correlation does not prove causation. However, researchers have found correlations between anxiety or GAD and:

• Gastrointestinal problems
• Migraines
• Hypertension
• Cardiovascular disease
• Metabolic syndrome

• Certain medication or drug use

Taking medication or drugs with stimulating effects can exacerbate anxiety. These medications can range from bupropion to methylphenidate. Other things that can bring out anxiety symptoms range from caffeine — maybe just an extra cup of coffee — to drugs like cocaine or methamphetamines.

If you have a substance use disorder, you may find that treating it has an extra bonus: reducing your anxiety. Without a substance use disorder, you may still find that cutting back on things like alcohol has an effect on your symptoms.

Get help with anxiety from ReKlame

If you’re dealing with GAD, a care navigator and psychiatric nurse practitioner at ReKlame may be able to help you. We can also offer treatment, including medication-assisted treatment (MAT), for a co-occurring substance use disorder. To find out more about what we can do for you, reach out to us. We can set up an initial appointment within 48 hours.

Give our care team a call today for more information, check your eligibility for free online or book an initial appointment online.