Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD)

Up to 20% of Adults are impacted by Anxiety Disorders Each Year

Miner, S., Takov, V., 2022

Almost 10% of Children Ages 3-17 are Diagnosed with Anxiety

CDC

What is GAD?

When people are experiencing Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD), they can find themselves feeling worried, afraid, and constantly overwhelmed over everyday things. The worries feel out of control and impact your day-to-day functioning. People experiencing GAD also experience physical sensations such as restlessness, being easily fatigued and muscle tension.

Signs of GAD

  • Worrying that feels out of control

  • Worrying about different, everyday things or circumstances

  • Feeling easily annoyed

  • Having trouble relaxing or feeling restless

  • Feeling afraid something bad will happen

  • Easily startled

  • Headaches, muscle aches, stomach aches, unexplained pains

  • Having a hard time concentrating

How I Treat GAD

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) focuses on the connection between thoughts, feelings and behaviors. When people change their ways of thinking or their behavior, they start to have different emotions. When using CBT to treat anxiety, clients challenge thoughts that are causing distress and use new behaviors (like skills or reducing avoidance) to feel better.

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) teaches people to accept that pain is a natural part of life and encourages them to commit to living in accordance with their values, making the difficult moments more bearable. ACT also teaches how to increase flexibility in thinking, which is very helpful when people feel that they are stuck on the roller coaster of anxiety.

Sources:

  • ACT for the Public | Association for Contextual Behavioral Science. (n.d.). https://contextualscience.org/act_for_the_public

  • Data and Statistics on Children’s Mental Health | CDC. (2022, June 3). Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. https://www.cdc.gov/childrensmentalhealth/data.html

  • Munir, S., & Takov, V. (2022, October 17). Generalized Anxiety Disorder. StatPearls - NCBI Bookshelf. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK441870/

  • American Psychiatric Association. (2013). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (5th ed.). https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.books.9780890425596

  • Generalized anxiety disorder: when worry gets out of control. (n.d.). National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH). https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/generalized-anxiety-disorder-gad#:~:text=GAD%20usually%20involves%20a%20persistent,GAD%20develops%20slowly.

  • Cognitive behavioral therapy - Mayo Clinic. (2019, March 16). https://www.mayoclinic.org/tests-procedures/cognitive-behavioral-therapy/about/pac-20384610

  • Spitzer, R. L., Williams, J. B. W., Kroenke, K., & Pfizer Inc. (1999). GAD-7 anxiety. In Primary Care Evaluation of Mental Disorders Patient Health Questionnaire (PRIME-MD-PHQ). Pfizer Inc. https://adaa.org/sites/default/files/GAD-7_Anxiety-updated_0.pdf 

  • CDC

  • Miner, S., Takov, V., 2022