Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) can make having a normal life challenging. It can impact how you feel around friends and social settings. In some cases, GAD can even be considered a disability.
What is Generalized Anxiety Disorder?
At its heart, generalized anxiety disorder is when you worry or feel anxious about something in a way that’s disproportionate to how much you should worry about it. When this happens, your anxiety may get in the way of having a normal life, like maintaining a job, going to social events, or completing classes.
Sometimes, people with GAD perceive normal, safe events as threatening or intimidating. They may obsessively plan out how to deal with perceived threats and concerns. Often, the individual will struggle to make decisions and find it impossible to relax.
Symptoms of Generalized Anxiety Disorder
Each person is different, but most people will experience some of the following symptoms if they have generalized anxiety disorder.
- Overthinking plans and jumping to the worst-case outcome.
- Problems dealing with uncertainties.
- Fear of making the wrong decision.
- Thinking situations are threatening when they aren’t.
- Consistent, ongoing worries and anxieties that aren’t proportionate to how things really are.
Because of these emotional and mental concerns, you may also suffer from some of the following physical problems.
- Insomnia and trouble sleeping.
- Nausea, irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), and diarrhea.
- Fatigue.
- Nervousness.
- Trembling.
- Being easily startled.
- Muscle tension.
- Irritability.
- Sweating.
Why Some People with GAD Struggle to Maintain Gainful Employment
For many people, work is their biggest source of stress each day. Unsurprisingly, people who have generalized anxiety disorder can struggle to maintain a job because they can’t deal with the added stress. For these individuals, GAD can be a true disability.
Struggles Doing Physical Work
Anxiety can cause trembling, panic attacks, and other physical symptoms. Because of this, doing physical labor can be dangerous. Anxiety can also cause muscle tension, which can make physical work painful and injuries more likely.
Problems Focusing at Work
Most jobs require you to focus on a single task or project. For someone with anxiety, concentrating can be extremely difficult.
Difficulties Building Relationships
If you’re worried about threats and problems that don’t exist, it’s hard to build relationships with your co-workers. This can make it difficult to work in a team environment.
Issues Handling Large Workloads
When confronted with a large workload, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed or stressed out. If the employee has anxiety, they may be completely unable to take the first step in tackling a major project.
Is Generalized Anxiety Disorder a Disability?
A generalized anxiety disorder disability may exist if you meet certain conditions. To qualify, you must meet the medical requirements listed in the Social Security Administration (SSA)’s Blue Book. Additionally, you must have gained enough work credits.
Do You Qualify for a Disability?
To see if you qualify for a disability from GAD, there are a few things you should do.
Build Your Medical History
Because anxiety is a subjective diagnosis, you will need a long medical history of having this disorder. You must show a history of A and B or A and C from the SSA’s Blue Book. This generally involves going to the doctor, seeking treatment, and getting everything documented in your medical records.
File Your Case
If you fit the SSA’s definition and have a strong medical history, you can file your case with the SSA. Depending on how busy they are, it can take months or years to go through the entire process. Because of this, it is important to turn in all the right documentation and paperwork on your first attempt.
Get Help With Anxiety Disorders
If you are suffering from generalized anxiety disorder, you don’t have to heal by yourself. The Bakersfield Behavioral Healthcare Hospital is here to support you or a loved one. To learn more about how we can help, reach out today.