We all know what it is to feel anxious but some people feel excessively anxious a lot of the time. Sometimes, this is referred to as having Generalised Anxiety Disorder (GAD).

 

Everyone feels anxious at times, but people with this condition feel tense and stressed most days and for most of the day. The anxiety can take over their lives and can lead to depression and be the pre-cursor for panic attacks and phobias.

 

Anxiety is thought to be abnormal if it:

​

 - Is excessive or out of proportion to the source of the anxiety (e.g. sufferers might worry about the same things as everyone else like money etc. but take it to a much higher level than most people), or, 

​

 - Persists when whatever has cause the anxious response  has gone, or it, 

​

 - Appears for no apparent reason when there is no specific situation that is causing anxiety (for example, over-reacting to a simple event such as someone not responding to a text – imagining something terrible has happened to them),

​

 - Is almost constant and/or, 

​

 - It is debilitating i.e. it effects and interferes with normal daily life.

​​

​​