The Current Study
The over-arching theory being studied is that people with anxiety disorders or other mental health problems also have poorer physical health, which leads to the development of other physical problems that needs medical attention. For example, people with anxiety disorders are more at risk for heart problems. The authors examined a database of people seeking help for a variety of medical conditions who also had anxiety disorders, such as GAD.Results
First, results showed that people with anxiety disorders had significantly more medical visits on average than people without anxiety disorders. In fact, people with anxiety disorders had almost double the amount of medical visits. Additionally, it was found that people with anxiety disorders did indeed have more medical problems. However, even when taking this fact into account, people with anxiety disorders still utilized more services.What Does This Mean?
Essentially, this has three major findings for you, if you have GAD.First, it means that your anxiety may cause you to worry more about your physical health, especially if you have physical symptoms from anxiety, which leads you to head to the doctor’s office more regularly.
Second, it means that you are more prone to developing medical conditions that actually do require treatment because of the anxiety.
Finally, and on a more positive note, it means that people with GAD are pretty committed to taking care of their physical health, at least when they notice symptoms.
My hope is that people with GAD use this energy for maintaining good health and seeking psychological services for the anxiety disorder itself as a way to prevent future medical problems.
Source:Levy et al (2007). Why do people with an anxiety disorder utilize more nonmental health care than those without? Health Psychology, 26(5), 545-553.
