The information in this section is about a specific condition called generalised anxiety disorder (gad). Gad is a long-term condition that causes you to feel anxious about a wide range of situations and issues, rather than 1 specific event. People with gad feel anxious most days and often struggle to remember the last time they felt relaxed.
As soon as 1 anxious thought is resolved, another may appear about a different issue.
If your anxiety symptoms meet certain criteria, your gp may diagnose you with an anxiety disorder. Some common anxiety disorders include: generalised anxiety disorder – feeling anxious or worried most of the time panic disorder – having regular panic attacks, often for no apparent reason post-traumatic stress disorder (ptsd) – having anxiety problems after experiencing a very stressful or frightening event social anxiety disorder – a fear or dread of social situations obsessive-compulsive disorder (ocd) – having recurring unpleasant thoughts (obsessions) and performing certain routines (compulsions) to relieve anxiety phobias – an overwhelming fear of a specific object, place, situation or feeling anxiety disorders are among the most common mental health problems.
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When to get help for anxiety
Anxiety may be treated by using different therapies, including cognitive behaviour therapy (cbt).
Cbt is designed to change problematic thinking patterns that cause anxiety. Behaviour therapy is a part of cbt that includes ‘desensitisation’. Desensitisation is a method of slowly exposing you to feared situations to reduce the anxiety that comes with them. Other types of therapy for anxiety may include:
interpersonal therapy (focusing on relationships)
acceptance and commitment therapy (such as mindfulness )
narrative therapy (understanding the stories you use to describe your life).
Although feelings of anxiety at certain times are completely normal, you should see your gp if anxiety is affecting your daily life or is causing you distress. Your gp will ask you about your symptoms and your worries, fears and emotions to try to find out if you could have gad. Read more about diagnosing gad.
Feeling worried or nervous is a normal part of everyday life. Everyone frets or feels anxious from time to time. Mild to moderate anxiety can help you focus your attention, energy, and motivation. If anxiety is severe, you may have feelings of helplessness, confusion, and extreme worry that are out of proportion with the actual seriousness or likelihood of the feared event. Overwhelming anxiety that interferes with daily life is not normal. This type of anxiety may be a symptom of generalized anxiety disorder, or it may be a symptom of another problem, such as depression. Anxiety can cause physical and emotional symptoms.
Experiencing occasional anxiety is a normal part of life. However, people with anxiety disorders frequently have intense, excessive and persistent worry and fear about everyday situations. Often, anxiety disorders involve repeated episodes of sudden feelings of intense anxiety and fear or terror that reach a peak within minutes (panic attacks). These feelings of anxiety and panic interfere with daily activities, are difficult to control, are out of proportion to the actual danger and can last a long time. You may avoid places or situations to prevent these feelings. Symptoms may start during childhood or the teen years and continue into adulthood.
What causes generalised anxiety disorder (GAD)?
If constant worries and fears distract you from your day-to-day activities, or you're troubled by a persistent feeling that something bad is going to happen, you may be suffering from generalized anxiety disorder (gad). People with gad are chronic worrywarts who feel anxious nearly all of the time, though they may not even know why. Gad often manifests in physical symptoms like insomnia, stomach upset, restlessness, and fatigue.
Gad is common. The main symptom of gad is over worrying about different activities and events. This may feel out of your control. You feel anxious a lot of the time if you have gad. You might feel ‘on edge’ and alert to your surroundings. This can affect your day-to-day life. You might find that it affects your ability to work, travel places or leave the house. You might also get tired easily or have trouble sleeping or concentrating. You might have physical symptoms, such as muscle tension and sweating. It is common to have other conditions such as depression or other anxiety disorders if you have gad.
Generalized anxiety disorder (gad). People with gad worry excessively about ordinary, day-to-day issues, such as health, money, work, and family. With gad, the mind often jumps to the worst-case scenario, even when there is little or no reason to worry. Women with gad may be anxious about just getting through the day. They may have muscle tension and other stress-related physical symptoms, such as trouble sleeping or upset stomach. At times, worrying keeps people with gad from doing everyday tasks. Women with gad have a higher risk of depression and other anxiety disorders than men with gad. They also are more likely to have a family history of depression.
This may help some people with certain conditions. For example, counselling which focuses on problem-solving skills may help if you have generalised anxiety disorder (gad).