Generalized anxiety disorder is characterized by persistent, excessive, and unrealistic worry

about everyday things. People with the disorder, which is also referred to as GAD, experience
excessive anxiety and worry, often expecting the worst even when there is no apparent reason
for concern. They anticipate disaster and may be overly concerned about money, health,
family, work, or other issues. GAD is diagnosed when a person finds it difficult to control
worry on more days than not for at least six months and has three or more symptoms.
DSM-5 criteria for generalized anxiety disorder include:

Excessive anxiety and worry about several events or activities most days of the week
for at least six months

Difficulty controlling your feelings of worry

At least three of the following symptoms in adults and one of the following in
children: restlessness, fatigue, trouble concentrating, irritability, muscle tension or sleep
problems

Anxiety or worry that causes you significant distress or interferes with your daily life

Anxiety that isn't related to another mental health condition, such as panic attacks or
post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), substance abuse, or a medical condition

Generalized anxiety disorder often occurs along with other mental health problems, which can
make diagnosis and treatment more challenging. Some disorders that commonly occur with
generalized anxiety disorder include: Phobias, Panic disorder, Depression, Substance abuse,
PTSD. Even other disorders come along with GAD, it is very important to distinguish those
disorders from the main diagnosis (from the GAD). People experiencing depression may
occasionally feel anxious. People suffering from phobias worry about one particular thing, but
people suffering from GAD worry about a number of different topics over a long period of
time (six months or more), or may not be able to identify the source of their worry.
Causes of and risk factors for GAD may include: a family history of anxiety; recent or
prolonged exposure to stressful situations, including personal or family illnesses; excessive
use of caffeine or tobacco (which can make existing anxiety worse); being the victim of
childhood abuse.

GAD is diagnosed with a mental health screening that primary care provider can perform.
Therapist ask questions about patient's symptoms and how long he/she been experiencing
them. Therapist can refer patient to hs/her mental health specialist, such as a psychologist or
psychiatrist.
Medical tests may also be used to determine whether there is an underlying illness or
substance abuse problem causing your symptoms. Anxiety has been linked to
gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), thyroid disorders, heart disease, and menopause. If
patietne's primary care provider suspects that a medical condition or substance abuse problem
is the cause of the anxiety, they may perform more tests. These may include: blood tests to
check hormone levels (thyroid disorders); urine tests to check for substance abuse; gastric
reflux tests (X-ray of your digestive system, endoscopy procedure to look at your esophagus)
to check for GERD.
If GAD is diagonesed one of the theretement is Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. This involves
meeting regularly talk with a mental health professional. The goal is to change patient's
thinking and behaviors. This approach has been successful in achieving permanent change in
many people who suffer from anxiety, and is considered first-line treatment of anxiety
disorders in persons who are pregnant. Others have found that the benefits of cognitive
behavioral therapy have provided long-term relief from anxiety. In therapy sessions, patient
will learn how to recognize and control his/her anxious thoughts. Therapist will also teach
patient how to calm himself/herself when upsetting thoughts arise. Also, doctors often
prescribe medicines along with therapy to treat GAD.
Test for dagnosis of GAD can be concepted in the following way :
la. Over the last several months, have you been continually worried or anxious
about a number of events or activities in your daily life? YES NO
Ib. What kinds of things do you worry about?
_____________________________________________________
Ic. Have you ever experienced an extended period when you were continually
worried or anxious about a number of events or activities in your daily life? YES __
NO __

Id. What kinds of things did you worry about?

____________________________________________________
Ie. When was the most recent time this occurred?
_________________________________________________
2a. Besides this current/most recent period of time when you have been
persistently worried about different areas of your life, have there been other,
separate periods of time when you were continually worried about a number of
life matters? YES __ NO __ If NO.
2b. So prior to this current/most recent period of time when you were worried
about different areas of your life, there was a considerable period of time when
you were not having these persistent worries? YES __ NO __
2c. How much time separated these periods?; When did this/these separate
period(s) occur?
3. Now I want to ask you a series of questions about worry over the following
areas of life: (If patient does not report current or past persistent worry (i.e., NO
to 1a and 1b), inquire about CURRENT areas of worry only. If patient reports
current or past persistent worry (i.e., YES to either 1a or 1b), inquire about both
CURRENT and PAST areas of worry.) Particularly if there is evidence of separate
episodes, inquire for the presence of prior discrete episodes of disturbance (e.g.,
Since these worries began, have there been periods of time when you were not
bothered by them?). Use the space below each general worry area to record the
specific content of the patients worry (including information obtained previously
from items la and 1b). Further inquiry will often be necessary to determine
whether areas of worry reported by patient are unrelated to a co-occurring Axis I
disorder. If it is determined that an area of worry can be subsumed totally by
another Axis I disorder, rate this area as 0. Use comment section to record
clinically useful information (e.g., data pertaining to the discreteness of episodes,
coexisting disorder with which the area of worry is related). For each area of
worry, make separate ratings of excessiveness (i.e., frequency and intensity) and
perceived uncontrollability, using the scales and suggested queries below.

CONTROLLABILITY:
01234567
8 0.Never / 1. No wory/ 2.Rarely / 3.Slightly Difficulty/4.Occasionally/ 5.
Moderate Difficulty/ 6.Frequently/7.Marked Difficulty/7.Constantly/8.Extreme
Difficulty

EXCESSIVENESS:
What is your grater worry?
How often do/did you worry about ?; If things are/were going well,
do/did you still worry about ?; How much tension and anxiety
does/did the worry about produce?
UNCONTROLLABILITY:

Do/did you find it hard to control the worry about in that it is/was
difficult to stop worrying about it?; Is/was the worry about hard to
control in that it will/would come into your mind when you are/were trying to
focus on something else?
*In this secton use the scale provided above to mark the strenght of the worry
about mentioned parts of life.