Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) is an anxiety disorder that causes excessive worry even when the person’s stressors, or things that normally cause stress, are well within normal range. In other words, even if a person with generalized anxiety disorder has nothing to be stressed about, the person will still be plagued with worry. Generalized anxiety disorder can be a debilitating condition.

Generalized anxiety disorder symptoms are both emotional and physical. One of the defining symptoms of generalized anxiety disorder is having excessive worry or anxiety for more days than not. This tendency to be anxious and worrisome must last for at least six months to be considered generalized anxiety disorder.

The person may have no desire to worry or be anxious. However, someone with anxiety disorder has difficulty stopping these negative thoughts. The person may have no ability to stop worrying until they receive effective treatment for generalized anxiety disorder that helps them control the anxiety.

For a person to be diagnosed with generalized anxiety disorder, they must have at least three of the following generalized anxiety symptoms:

Feeling easily fatigued
Difficulty concentrating
Feeling on edge or restless
Muscle tension
Irritability
Difficulty sleeping, which can be insomnia, restless sleep, or difficulty falling asleep or staying asleep

The generalized anxiety disorder symptoms may cause impairment in the person’s ability to function normally. The person may tend to isolate and cut themselves off from friends and family. The person may experience difficulty at work due to the generalized anxiety symptoms.

The worry cannot be attributed or focused on another psychological condition for it to be considered generalized anxiety disorder. For example, if a person is having difficulty sleeping due to posttraumatic stress disorder and worries about having flashbacks or has worry related to the trauma, chances are the person does not have generalized anxiety disorder. In that case, the worry is related and almost expected at times of someone with posttraumatic stress disorder. In other words, another psychiatric illness cannot be causing the generalized anxiety symptoms.

The symptoms of generalized anxiety disorder cannot be caused by a medical condition, medication, or illicit drugs for the symptoms to be considered evidence of generalized anxiety disorder.