Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD)
A condition marked by excessive worry and feelings of fear, dread, and uneasiness that last six months or longer.
TreatmentsPart of: Anxiety Disorders
About Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD)
Everyone feels frightened or very scared every once in a while. When a threat approaches, such as a dangerous situation on the highway, fear can help to protect you. It puts the body in a state of readiness so that it can react to threats quickly. Worries and anxiety about the future, your job or family might also help to guard against danger. For example, by keeping you from making rash decisions that could lead to a precarious situation. But when these sorts of fears gain the upper hand, they can be a real burden. Some people end up constantly worrying about practically everything. If fears and anxiety are overshadowing everything else and not going away, it may be that the person has developed generalized anxiety disorder (GAD). Someone with generalized anxiety disorder usually realizes that their fears have become excessive, but they are not able to control them. It is a difficult position to get out of, but there are treatments that can help.
Symptoms
Generalized anxiety disorder can have both emotional and physical symptoms. The emotional symptoms include persistent, unrealistic and exaggerated fears that can affect different parts of someone’s life. They are not a response to a threat and are not related to concrete things or situations. Because this feeling of anxiety can be associated with just about anything, it is referred to as “generalized” anxiety… Read more about Generalized Anxiety Disorder