Survey highights burden of anxiety disorder

A new survey has highlighted the difficulties and disruption caused to the lives of people who suffer from generalised anxiety disorder (GAD).

GAD is the most common anxiety disorder in the Western world, and is characterised by persistent, excessive anxiety that occurs most days, for longer than six months, and by sleep disturbance.

While everyone tends to worry from time to time about specific issues, people with GAD typically worry about all or most things.

The 'What Keeps You up at Night?' survey carried out among people with and without GAD found that 31% of people with the disorder worry most days, compared to the 18% of the general public.

Finance tops the list of specific causes of worry among the general public, at 34%, while the figure is 25% for GAD sufferers.

Seventy-three per cent of people with GAD are often unsure what causes them to be anxious, while the figure for the general public is 39%.

The survey found that 49% of GAD sufferers worry mainly all through the day, while 16% worry all through the night. The general public, on the other hand is affected by worry particularly between 9pm and 1am.

Four out of five people with GAD experience difficulty sleeping, compared to one-in-two of the general public. People with GAD are more likely to experience all forms of sleep disturbance.

The survey also found that 27% of people with GAD say it has a significant impact on their everyday lives and a negative impact on their working lives, and that GAD sufferers are more likely to proactively manage their anxiety compared to the general public.

The survey, of 519 members of the general public and 51 people with GAD, was carried out for the pharmaceutical company Pfizer.

[Posted: Thu 28/06/2012]