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Added FAQ "What are the differences between fear, anxiety, and anxiety disorders?" to the page.
Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) falls under theMental Healthcategory.
Last Updated:January 6, 2025
Anxiety disorders are defined by the 5th edition of the American Psychological Association (APA)’s Diagnostic And Statistical Manual (DSM-5) as a group of disorders "that share features of excessive fear and anxiety and related emotional disturbances".[1] Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) is an anxiety disorder characterized by excessive, frequent, hard-to-control anxiety and worries about everyday activities and events over a period of at least six months. The anxiety and worries cause distress or difficulty functioning and are accompanied by several additional symptoms, including restlessness, fatigue, concentration difficulties, irritability, muscle tension, and/or sleep disturbances.[1]
Diagnosing GAD is done through a psychological evaluation performed by a clinician, after ruling out other potential causes of symptoms such as medication, drugs, other anxiety disorders, or other medical conditions.[2] The psychological evaluation is typically based on diagnostic criteria set by a publication such as the American Psychological Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) or the World Health Organization’s International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems (ICD). In 2022, 5.2% of Canadians 15 years and older met the diagnostic criteria for GAD.[3] The diagnostic criteria for GAD in the DSM 5th edition are:
To be diagnosed as GAD, the anxiety and worries must have happened more days than not for at least six months and have been about multiple different events and activities. Additionally, the diagnosis of GAD can only be made if the symptoms can't be better explained by the effects of a medication or drug, by another medical condition, or by another mental disorder.[1]
A supplement that helps a situationally stressed person with transient anxiety won’t necessarily be effective for a person with generalized anxiety disorder (GAD). The best evidence for relieving anxiety symptoms in the context of GAD comes from trials whose participants have all been diagnosed with GAD. Although many supplements have been studied for anxiety symptoms, relatively few trials have been specifically in people with GAD. Supplements that have demonstrated promise in preliminary research include lavender oil, passionflower, ashwagandha, saffron, and ginkgo biloba.
Because of the small size of these trials, more research is necessary to confirm these findings.
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Added FAQ
Added FAQ "What are the differences between fear, anxiety, and anxiety disorders?" to the page.
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We added the following FAQs to our Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) page to reflect research already in the Examine Database: