Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD)

With Separation Anxiety Disorder, Phobias, and Social Anxiety Disorder, we observed that fear and anxiety are associated with specific contexts. However, in Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD), excessive anxiety and worry pertain to more general contexts. For children and adolescents, these might include school or sports performance, while for adults, they might include family well-being or personal health.

According to the DSM-5, Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) is characterized by:

• Excessive anxiety and worry that occur more days than not for at least six months, concerning various activities or events.
• Difficulty controlling the worry.
• Anxiety and worry are associated with at least three of the following symptoms:
  - Being nervous
  - Being easily fatigued.
  - Difficulty concentrating or mind going blank.
  - Irritability.
  - Muscle tension.
  - Sleep disturbance (difficulty falling or staying asleep, or restless, unsatisfying sleep).
  
• The anxiety and worry cause significant distress or impairment in social, occupational, or other important areas of functioning.
• The disturbance is not attributable to the physiological effects of a substance (e.g., a drug of abuse, a medication) or another medical condition (e.g., hyperthyroidism) and is not better explained by another mental disorder.

How to distinguish GAD worries from everyday worries?
The worries associated with GAD are excessive and pervasive, becoming a central focus of the individual's life and limiting their functioning. They are more distressing and often occur without a clear trigger (i.e., the likelihood that the causes of worry are significant enough to create a substantial problem for the individual is very low). Additionally, as we have seen, these worries tend to generate physical symptoms.

Sources:

• American Psychiatric Association (2013) - Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (5th ed.).
• Bernhill, J. W. (2014) - DSM-5 Clinical Cases.

I also recommend watching this video.

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