The 4 Main Comorbidities Of Generalized Anxiety Disorder
Most anxiety disorders, such as social anxiety disorder or social phobia, panic disorder, agoraphobia or any type of specific phobia, are linked to symptoms related to some bodily sensation, an external situation or with a specific stimulus. However, this does not occur in the case of generalized anxiety disorder.
In the case of generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), the symptoms are not triggered by any specific situation or stimulus, but rather occur without the person suffering from this disorder being able to detect which situations trigger the symptoms, there being a wide variety of situations. range of contents among threat signals.
However, it should be noted that Comorbidities are common in generalized anxiety disorder, that is, overlap between this and other disorders. In this article we will see which are the most important, focusing on the field of mental health.
Generalized anxiety disorder, according to the DSM-5 diagnostic manual of mental disorders, is composed of symptoms of excessive worry and anxiety for at least 6 months and are associated with various activities and/or events. Likewise, the person has serious difficulties controlling their worries and anxiety symptoms, these being associated with 3 or more of the following symptoms: restlessness, fatigue, concentration difficulties, muscle tension, irritability and sleep disturbances.
It is also worth noting that worry, anxiety or physiological symptoms cause significant discomfort or difficulties in your daily life (for example, academically, at work, among others). Furthermore, this disturbance cannot be attributed to the side effects of a substance or another health condition, nor can it be better explained by another mental disorder.
Below we will explain the most common comorbidities of generalized anxiety disorder.
The most important comorbidities of generalized anxiety disorder
There are clinical studies carried out with anxiety disorders that estimated that Approximately 80% of patients who suffered from any anxiety disorder usually present comorbidities with another mental disorder; In most cases, the second psychological alteration is another anxiety disorder, although they also overlap with depressive or personality disorders.
In this sense, here we will see the most common comorbidities of generalized anxiety disorder,
1. Comorbidity of GAD with other anxiety disorders
Comorbidities of generalized anxiety disorder often occur with other anxiety disorders (for example, specific phobia, social phobia, agoraphobia, panic disorder, etc.).
The high degree of neuroticism or emotional responsibility usually found in patients with generalized anxiety disorder are usually the main factors that support comorbidity with other anxiety disorders, this being associated with the temperamental history of these patients.
Studies have also found that generalized anxiety disorder and other anxiety disorders have a number of environmental and genetic risk factors in common.
2. Comorbidity of GAD with depressive disorders
The second most common comorbidities of generalized anxiety disorder are those that occur with other depressive disorders, such as major depressive disorder or dysthymiait should be noted that there may also be comorbidity between generalized anxiety disorder and bipolar disorders.
3. Comorbidity of GAD with personality disorders
Other comorbidities of generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) are those that occur when patients with a diagnosis of GAD also meet the criteria for the diagnosis of a personality disorder, especially obsessive-compulsive personality disorder, avoidant personality disorder, and borderline personality disorder.
When there is a case in which there are any of the possible comorbidities of generalized anxiety disorder with a personality disorder, the patient usually suffers from symptoms with a higher level of clinical severity than in the case of comorbidities with anxiety disorders or depressives, so the degree of negative interference in the various areas affected in the patient’s life is also greater.
Cases have also been found with comorbidities of generalized anxiety disorder with other conditions such as headaches or irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), in which cases they usually occur as a result of prolonged stress suffered by the patient.
You may be interested: “5 signs of poor mental health that you should not ignore”
Main comorbidities of generalized anxiety disorder in adolescents
Generalized anxiety disorder has a low percentage of cases among the adolescent population; However, cases have also been found in these population groups, so it is worth highlighting the comorbidities of generalized anxiety disorder in this age group.
In Spain there is a study carried out with 962 participants aged between 12 and 16 years in which it was found a prevalence of generalized anxiety disorder of 3% globallywith a prevalence of 2.4% in men and 3.7% in women.
What was most striking is that comorbidities of generalized anxiety disorder were found in 58% of the cases with this disorder, the most common being that these comorbidities occurred together with another anxiety disorder in general, with 48.3 %, which represents almost half of the cases with generalized anxiety disorder.
Other comorbidities of generalized anxiety disorder found in the study are also worth highlighting. First, it was found that along with the panic disorder there was a comorbidity of 20.7%; With oppositional defiant disorder, a comorbidity of 10.3% was found.; With some anxiety disorders in isolation, and not in general, such as agoraphobia, specific phobia, separation anxiety disorder and social phobia, the results revealed a comorbidity of 13.8% in each disorder.
With eating disorders (ED), comorbidities of generalized anxiety disorder were found in 13.8%; With attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), a comorbidity of 13.8% could also be observed, as occurred with oppositional defiant disorder; with obsessive-compulsive disorder and also with the major depressive episode, it was found that both had a comorbidity with GAD of 6.9%; and finally, the one with the least comorbidity observed to have with GAD is the case of conduct disorder, with 3.4%.
Related article: “What is anxiety: how to recognize it and what to do”
Interference caused by comorbidities of generalized anxiety disorder
When comorbidities of generalized anxiety disorder occur, as well as when it occurs in isolation, those who suffer from it usually suffer a series of negative consequences by interfering in a very significant way in their daily life, since it affects various areas of the day. on a daily basis (for example, work, academic, interpersonal relationships, health care…).
High levels of pathological worry usually exhaust a lot of time and energy of the person who suffers from a general anxiety disorder.. Likewise, other symptoms of the disorder that are related, such as muscle tension, nervousness, difficulty concentrating, sleeping difficulties or fatigue, usually contribute to the interference of the disorder in this diversity of areas of the patient’s life. , all of these problems increase and there is another one when the comorbidities of generalized anxiety disorder occur in the same person.
On the other hand, the comorbidity between this and other disorders is associated with a high number of cases of sick leave and the suffering of high levels of distress, which in clinical psychology and medicine is known as a prolonged state of tension at the level. psychological associated with suffering or anguish; in situations like this the patient is unable to adapt to a series of factors that he perceives as threatening and that could have been increased by these comorbidities of generalized anxiety disorder.
Factors that are directly related to a worse GAD prognosis
The factors that are directly related to a worse long-term prognosis Among people who have generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) are the following:
The most serious, when there are comorbidities of generalized anxiety disorder with personality disorders.
Comorbidities of generalized anxiety disorder with other anxiety and/or depressive disorders.
When there are high levels of neuroticism.
When GAD symptoms present high levels of severity.
