Symptoms and Signs
Generalized Anxiety Disorder Symptoms and Signs
This page pulls together the symptom-level picture of Generalized Anxiety Disorder in a way that is easier to skim than the full pillar page.
Main diagnosis page
Return to the full Generalized Anxiety Disorder pillar page.
Clinical overview
- 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.