Generalized anxiety disorder, or GAD, afflicts 3.1% of adults living in the United States, according to the National Institute of Mental Health. GAD manifests as unremitting worry over an extended period of time. Worries tend to focus on daily hassles or uncontrollable situations, such as financial concerns, interpersonal relationships or the unknown future. People with GAD often also experience physiological symptoms, such as muscle tension, agitation and fatigue, according to the Mayo Clinic. Symptoms required for diagnosis can be a complex combination of symptoms that must be considered carefully for accurate diagnosis.
Chronic Worry
For a diagnosis of GAD to occur, the worry must occur more days than not, meaning more than 50% of days, according to the American Psychiatric Association. When asked for this level of specifics, some patients find it difficult to enumerate the proportion of days, but many will report that they feel this anxiety nearly every day. Symptoms must occur for at least six months, but many patients report a tendency to worry their entire lives. Once the worry begins, the individual finds it difficult to stop worrying, like a repeating record that will not shut off, according to the Anxiety Network website.
Anxiety Attacks
GAD is a chronic condition, so even on a good day, a person will have a propensity for worry. On a bad day, however, this worry may grow into a feeling of dread or fear, according to the Anxiety Network website. Physical symptoms will increase along with the emotional ones, and an individual may feel extremely agitated and restless. Severe symptoms can resemble a panic attack; however, individuals with GAD do not tend to make the catastrophic interpretation of their symptoms as do those with panic disorder, and symptoms are less likely to occur with rapid onset out of the blue.
Insomnia
Sleep does not come easily to many individuals with generalized anxiety disorder, as an individual with GAD may find that his mind races with worries when not distracted by daily tasks. Once asleep, an individual may awaken with a sudden feeling of dread or panic; this in turn can prevent falling back asleep, according to the National Institute of Mental Health. Such symptoms can also occur during flashbacks in post-traumatic stress disorder, but PTSD symptoms can be linked directly to a specific traumatic event.
Symptoms in Children
Children and adolescents with the disorder may have different worries than adults, according to the Mayo Clinic. Their worries may tend to focus on punctuality, school performance and catastrophic world events like earthquakes or hurricanes. Other symptoms may also manifest, such as perfectionism, a strong desire to fit in socially and a need for reassurance.
References
- National Institute of Mental Health: The Numbers Count: Mental Disorders in America
- Mayo Clinic: Generalized Anxiety Disorder -- Symptoms
- Anxiety Network: What is Generalized Anxiety Disorder
- National Institute of Mental Health: Anxiety Disorders
- "Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders"; American Psychiatric Association; 2000.
