About Generalised Anxiety Disorder (GAD)

This is a disorder of uncontrolled worrying. It is a chronic sense of unease, doom and worry not directed towards any one thing in particular and while it doesn’t necessarily become very severe but also does not seem to go away. Sufferers may worry all the time about little things, feel ongoing  anxiety for no obvious reason and their anxiety may be out of proportion to the impact of a particular event.

Generalised Anxiety Disorder (GAD) is one of the most common anxiety disorders, affecting 2-8% of the population. The age of onset is quite variable, ranging from childhood to adulthood. Symptoms include distress, sleep disturbance, difficulty concentrating and exhaustion. Unlike obsessive compulsive disorder, there is an absence of acts or compulsions to neutralising their concerns and fear tends to encompass numerous everyday themes rather than fixating on specific dangers. This kind of ongoing worry and anxiety can cause significant distress and impairment in functioning, interfering with a person’s social, occupational or routine functioning.