Dr. Adams
06-02-2007, 12:40 PM
"We really should be taking worry — at a level of severe or uncontrollable worry, even if it's less than generalized anxiety disorder — very seriously, because there are things that you can do to help people who are worrying. There are psychological treatments, cognitive behavior therapies, and so on, that might make a difference, because it does affect their quality of life. He added that this is a new area of research that he hopes will receive more attention in the future.
The authors write that among the elderly, GAD — a condition whose unique feature is chronic, excessive worry — is common and occurs about as often as depression. It is unclear, however, where the boundary lies between normal and pathological worry.
In the study, women worried more than men about the health of others and family matters, and both women and men worried about finances. Worries decreased with age, except for worry related to one's own health.
Among the septuagenarians, severe worry affected almost half of the women and one quarter of the men. The prevalence of severe worry or GAD declined with age.
The most severe worriers reported declining quality of life and happiness.
Individuals whose level of worry was greater than simple worry had a very high risk of having depression; the risk increased with each successive level of worry.
Severe worry and GAD have a significant prevalence in the elderly. Both clinical practice and research need to take these problems seriously."
American Psychiatric Association 160th Annual Meeting: Abstract NR622. May 19 – 24, 2007.
The authors write that among the elderly, GAD — a condition whose unique feature is chronic, excessive worry — is common and occurs about as often as depression. It is unclear, however, where the boundary lies between normal and pathological worry.
In the study, women worried more than men about the health of others and family matters, and both women and men worried about finances. Worries decreased with age, except for worry related to one's own health.
Among the septuagenarians, severe worry affected almost half of the women and one quarter of the men. The prevalence of severe worry or GAD declined with age.
The most severe worriers reported declining quality of life and happiness.
Individuals whose level of worry was greater than simple worry had a very high risk of having depression; the risk increased with each successive level of worry.
Severe worry and GAD have a significant prevalence in the elderly. Both clinical practice and research need to take these problems seriously."
American Psychiatric Association 160th Annual Meeting: Abstract NR622. May 19 – 24, 2007.