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How to diagnose Generalized Anxiety disorder

Table of Contents
Here we will discuss the clinical picture and differential diagnosis of Generalized Anxiety disorder  after we mentioned the causes of Anxiety disorder before .

Clinical Picture 

A- Psychological symptoms 

- Unexplained fears, apprehension, irritability.
- Insomnia, night mares.

B- Somatic manifestations:

CVS: Tachycardia. Lt mammary pain, systolic hypertension.
GIT: Nausea, vomiting, indigestion, diarrhea, anorexia,aerophygia.

Chest: Sighing, tightness, hyperventilation resulting sometimes in tetany & numbness (Hyperventilation
syndrome)
Urogenital: Frequency, dysmenorrhea, impotence, premature ejaculation, sexual frigidity.
Nervous system: Headache, tremors, hyperreflexia.
Muscles: Pains due to muscular spasm.
Skin: Rashes, urticaria, & neurodermatitis

C- Cognitive  manifestations

- Lack of concentration
- Lack of remembering & recall
- Decreased abifity to learn and ability to do ordinary work.

D- Psychosomatic Illness:
- Bronchial asthma, GHD, ulcerative colitis, peptic ulcer.
- Psychosomatic illness usually occur with chronic anxiety .

Differential diagnosis 

- Normal Anxiety : it is a universal feeling, see later.

- Anxiety Symptoms secondary to other psychiatric diseases;
OCD, Mood disorders, substance related disorders. e.g. caffeine intoxication, alcohol and sedatives withdrawal, phobic disorders in which the anxiety is
related to the phobic stimuli.
- Anxiety secondary to medical diseases:
e.g. thyrotoxicosis,pheochromcytoma, mitral valve prolapse, hypoglycemia,angina, bronchial asthma, COPD .

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