1. Criteria

Excessive anxiety and worry occur more days than not for at least 6 months about a number of events or activities.

The individual finds it difficult to control the worry.

The anxiety and worry are associated with at least 3 of the following 6 symptoms, with at least some symptoms present for more days than not during the past 6 months.
In children, only 1 associated symptom is required.

Restlessness or feeling keyed up or on edge.
Being easily fatigued.
Difficulty concentrating or the mind going blank.
Irritability.
Muscle tension.
Sleep disturbance, including difficulty falling asleep, difficulty staying asleep, or restless unsatisfying sleep.

The anxiety, worry, or physical symptoms cause clinically significant distress or impairment.

The disturbance is not attributable to a substance or another medical condition.

The disturbance is not better explained by another mental disorder such as panic disorder, social anxiety disorder, OCD, separation anxiety disorder, anorexia nervosa, or PTSD.

2. Context

Generalized anxiety disorder often sounds like a mind that cannot let go. The worry moves from one topic to another, keeps going even when the person knows it is excessive, and starts to show up in the body through tension, poor sleep, irritability, and mental fatigue.
Time threshold: This is not brief situational stress. The worry tends to stick around across months and becomes part of the person's daily life.
Breadth: The worry is usually broad rather than narrowly focused, moving across health, finances, work, family, and ordinary responsibilities.
Clinical overlap: It is worth checking whether this is really GAD or whether panic, OCD, PTSD, illness anxiety, substances, or a medical problem fits better.
Clinical focus: Most common brief outpatient severity tracker for generalized anxiety symptoms.

3. Validated scales

GAD-7

Most common brief outpatient severity tracker for generalized anxiety symptoms.

HAM-A

Clinician-rated anxiety severity measure used in specialty settings and trials.

OASIS

Short transdiagnostic measure of anxiety severity and impairment.

4. FDA approved treatments

FDA-indicated medications commonly used for GAD

FDA labeling for generalized anxiety disorder exists for select antidepressants and anxiolytics; verify product-specific age ranges and formulation details.

Common treatment side effects

Check drugs.com/sfx for common side effects. Direct side-effect links for the medications in this section are below when available.

Common off-label medications

Interventional psychiatry modalities

TMS is being studied for anxiety disorders but is not standard first-line care.
Ketamine is investigational for anxiety-spectrum symptoms in some settings.
ECT is not a standard treatment for isolated GAD.

Related Guides

5. Top management articles

Evidence-based pharmacological treatment of generalized anxiety disorder Review literature
Efficacy of cognitive behavioral therapy for anxiety-related disorders: a meta-analysis Meta-analysis literature
Guidelines for the pharmacological treatment of anxiety disorders Guideline literature

When to seek professional help

Seek urgent help if there are thoughts of suicide, self-harm, or feeling unable to stay safe.³
Seek urgent help if there are thoughts of harming someone else, escalating violent urges, or loss of behavioral control.³
Take hopelessness seriously, especially if the person feels trapped, cannot imagine staying safe, or is withdrawing from support.⁴
Use emergency services if there is immediate danger, severe agitation, psychosis, intoxication, or inability to care for basic needs. In the United States, call or text 988 for crisis support and call 911 for immediate danger. Use emergency services in your region if you are outside the U.S.³

Simple Psych

Generalized Anxiety Disorder

1. Criteria

Criterion A

Criterion B

Criterion C

Criterion C symptom list

Criterion D

Criterion E

Criterion F