Anxiety can be conceptualized as a normal and adaptive response to a threat that prepares the organism for flight or fight. Persons who seem to be anxious about almost everything, however, are likely to be classified as having generalized anxiety disorder.
Generalized anxiety disorder is defined as excessive anxiety and worry about several events or activities for most days during at least a 6-month period.
The worry is difficult to control and is associated with somatic symptoms, such as muscle tension, irritability, difficulty sleeping, and restlessness. The anxiety is not focused on features of another disorder, is not caused by substance use or a general medical condition, and does not occur only during a mood or psychiatric disorder.
The anxiety is difficult to control, is subjectively distressing, and produces impairment in important areas of a person’s life (Kaplan and Sadock’s Synopsis of Psychiatry, 2015).