Regardless of how harmless an event or object may seem it can become a source of anxiety. .
Background.
Prior to the DSM-III (1980) panic disorder and the anxiety neuroses were combined. In 1980 these two areas were split, leaving panic disorder and GAD as two separate categories. In the DSM-III (1980), individuals suffering from GAD were described as being apprehensively anxious with somatic symptoms, but without more specific anxiety related symptoms which would lend to an alternate diagnosis. However, in the DSM-III-R (1987) the criteria for GAD were revised, with GAD obtaining an additional key symptom: chronic and pervasive worry. The DSM-IV (1994) simply revised the worry criterion and the somatic criterion to be more valid and intelligible (Barlow, Rapee & Brown, 1992).
Description.
It can be difficult to identify and diagnose GAD as it involves the same worry as normal anxiety, however, on an overwhelming scale. Perhaps the greatest distinction from people experiencing normal worry is that they worry about worrying. GAD is characterised as more than 6 months of chronic, exaggerated worry and tension that is unfounded or much more severe than the normal anxiety that most people experience. People with this disorder usually expect the worst, worrying about money, health, family or work even when there is no sign of trouble. .
Apart from the excessive anxiety, sufferers of GAD can also encounter physical symptoms. Typically these are related to the stress and anxiety. They can include tightness and pain in the muscles of the neck, headaches, shortness of breath, a racing heart, abnormal tiredness, trembling, twitching, sweating, lack of concentration and irritable bowel syndrome (Borkovec & Costello, 1993). Other physical signs can also mimic the symptoms of other serious physical illnesses. For example, it is not unusual for sufferers of GAD to experience pins and needles, numbness and/or pain running up and down their arm.