Do GAD Symptoms Recede After Five Years?

According to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders -- more commonly known as DSM-IV -- generalized anxiety disorder or GAD is a type of anxiety disorder characterized by persistent, chronic, excessive worry. People who suffer from GAD may know their worry is unreasonable, but they find themselves unable to control it. Most people with GAD develop it in their teens or early 20s. Gary Emery, a Ph.D. and author of "Anxiety Disorders and Phobias," says that although symptoms of severe anxiety can often marginally improve on their own, most of the time they significantly improve only with therapy or medication.

Misinformation

• Many people with GAD or other mental illnesses mistakenly believe they will improve over time. They may attribute their chronic, insufferable anxiety not to a problem with their brain but to an external circumstance -- such as a stressful move or an unhappy marriage. "Oftentimes symptoms of GAD will abate as the sufferer recognizes his own thoughts are overly anxious," Emery says. "But for most people, they will not find any serious relief without professional treatment."

Prognosis

• With treatment, most cases of GAD can be overcome. Treatment for GAD includes medications, such as antidepressants and anti-psychotics, as well as cognitive behavioral therapy or CBT. The latter is a type of therapy aimed at teaching the sufferer to recognize and argue with his overly anxious thoughts. Prognosis for GAD is fairly positive; the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry says 60 percent of people achieve remission within three years.

Relapse

• According to the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, 30 percent of people who achieve remission of symptoms will relapse. Relapses may be triggered by stressful events such as taking a new job or a death in the family. Relapse is also very likely if the patient stops taking his medication. This happens quite often; a lot of the time the cost of the medication or the side effects discourage the patient from continuing with his medication. Ironically, it's also common for people with GAD to stop taking medication because they have excessive worry about possible harmful side effects.

Will Symptoms Recede in Five Years?

• In order to recover from GAD, the patient must take control of her destiny and seek treatment. With treatment, GAD symptoms can improve substantially within five years or even sooner.