As a hypnotherapist, I see many people who have been diagnosed with Generalised Anxiety Disorder (GAD), and many who have not. Medical doctors like to diagnose their patients. This gives them a label so that they can apply a specific treatment for an identified problem. The question I want to examine is: how useful is a doctor’s diagnosis for people suffering from Anxiety?
Diagnosing Generalised Anxiety Disorder
The standard test for Generalised Anxiety Disorder is known as GAD-7. It is a series of seven questions, to which the client can answer: “Not at all”, “Several days”, “More than half the days”, or “Nearly every day” – and are given each a score of 0, 1, 2 or 3 respectively for each question. The questions are:
Over the last 2 weeks, how often have you been bothered by the following problems?
- Feeling nervous, anxious or on edge
- Not being able to stop or control worrying
- Worrying too much about different things
- Trouble relaxing
- Being so restless that it is hard to sit still
- Becoming easily annoyed or irritable
- Feeling afraid as if something awful might happen
By adding up the scores for the seven questions, the doctor comes to the following diagnosis:
- 0-5 mild anxiety
- 6-10 moderate anxiety
- 11-15 moderately severe anxiety
- 15-21 severe anxiety.
Based on the score, the doctor will choose an appropriate treatment plan.
Critique of GAD-7
In answering these questions, the patient must come up with a subjective assessment. For example, question 1 “Feeling nervous, anxious or on edge” We all know that feeling nervous can range from something very mild to something extreme. So the answer is subjective, and therefore two people with the same level of nervousness may answer this question differently.
A small change in the answer to a question could change the diagnosis from, say moderate anxiety to moderately severe anxiety, or vice versa. This could change the treatment plan that the doctor prescribes.
Fortunately, doctors are usually savvy enough to understand borderline cases and the subjectivity of assessment. They will have the leeway to change their prescribed treatment plan if they think that the GAD-7 score does not reflect reality.
Does the GAD-7 Score Matter to the Patient?
In my opinion, the GAD score should not matter to the patient. There is just one question that the patient should be asking themselves:
Does my anxiety effect my life so much that I need to do something about it?
If the answer is “yes”, then it does not matter what the diagnosis says. They need to start looking for a solution. However, if the answer is “no”, then they can carry on life as normal.
Ways to Tackle Anxiety
There are broadly three ways to tackle anxiety:
- Self-help – change your life in some way to improve the situation
- Medication – Go to your GP to get a diagnosis and anti-anxiety medication
- Therapy – Either through your GP or privately – choose a type of therapy that suits you
And Finally …
Of all the types of therapy that are available, hypnotherapy is very effective at helping people regain control of their lives and return to normality. I work as a hypnotherapist in Fleet, Hampshire, as well as online. Contact me if you would like to find out more.
Photo courtesy of Alex Green in Pexels