Generalised Anxiety Disorder (GAD)
“Most days it feels like my mind won’t switch off — I’m constantly bracing for what could go wrong, even when nothing is happening.” If this resonates, it doesn’t mean you’re broken or stuck like this forever. Generalised Anxiety Disorder is very treatable — especially with CBT, implementing gradual, supported behavioural/cognitive techniques, and sometimes EMDR/ACT, depending on what’s driving it.
What is Generalised Anxiety Disorder?
Generalised Anxiety Disorder
It’s not only about feeling anxious and worrying.
“My mind stays on alert — worrying about lots of different things — and even when I try to reassure myself, the worry keeps coming back. It drives unhelpful coping (overthinking, catastrophising, avoiding) and leaves me feeling tense, drained, and self-critical.”
The symptoms show up more days than not, for at least 6 months, with:
Excessive anxiety and worry about a number of events or activities (work, health, money, family, performance, the future).
Difficulty stopping/controlling the worry (it feels hard to switch off, settle, or let it go).
Plus 3 or more of these symptoms (1 or more for children):
Restlessness or feeling keyed up/on edge
Being easily fatigued
Difficulty concentrating or mind going blank
Irritability
Muscle tension
Sleep disturbance (trouble falling/staying asleep, or restless/broken sleep)
And the key impact:
It causes significant distress or impairment (work, relationships, decision-making, routines, confidence)
It’s not due to substances/medical causes, and it’s not better explained by another condition (e.g., panic disorder, social anxiety, OCD, PTSD, illness anxiety).
You might be dealing with GAD if you notice a pattern like:
“Most days my mind is already scanning for what could go wrong.”
“I worry about lots of different areas (health, money, work, relationships) — it jumps from one thing to the next.”
“Even when something is resolved, my brain finds a new worry.”
“I try to stop thinking about it, but I can’t switch it off.”
“I over-prepare, over-check, or seek reassurance to feel safe… but the relief doesn’t last.”
“I replay conversations and decisions, looking for mistakes.”
“My body feels tense or on edge — like I can’t fully relax.”
“I get mentally exhausted, but my sleep is restless because my mind keeps going.”
“I struggle to concentrate because I’m stuck in ‘what if’ thoughts.”
“I’m more irritable than I want to be, because I feel constantly stretched.”
And often underneath it all:
“I’m really hard on myself — I tell myself I should cope better, and I beat myself up for worrying.”
Even if you’re not sure your symptoms hit all criteria, those patterns are still worth support.
The anxiety is about uncertainty/control — and feeling like you have to stay on guard
The worry isn’t random — it’s usually tied to thoughts like:
“What if something goes wrong and I’m not prepared?”
“What if I make the wrong choice and it ruins things?”
“What if I miss a detail and something bad happens?”
“What if people are upset with me and I don’t realise?”
“What if I can’t cope if it happens and I never recover?”
So the core problem is feeling responsible for preventing risk, and using worry to try to mitigate risk/increase certainty—even though it doesn’t stop the worry in the long term.
These situations almost always trigger the spiral
Not every single time — but typically, when you face things with uncertainty, responsibility, or “stakes” (decisions, waiting for replies/results, health sensations, work tasks, finances, relationships, travel/planning), your body goes into threat mode: racing mind, tension, reassurance seeking, overthinking, checking, and difficulty switching off.
You start over-preparing, seeking reassurance, avoiding uncertainty, or pushing through on edge
People often cope by:
avoiding situations that trigger uncertainty (difficult conversations, emails/calls, decisions, driving/travel, health checks, money tasks)
only doing it if someone helps (someone comes with you, sits with you while you do it, reassures you, checks it for you)
doing it, but in distress (racing thoughts, tense body, nausea/heart pounding, needing constant checking, feeling “wired” the whole time)
It feels bigger than the actual situation
A key part of GAD is that the level of worry feels out of proportion to what’s realistically happening — even small, everyday things can feel loaded with risk.
It’s not “dramatic.” Your nervous system is acting like you need to prevent danger, so your brain treats uncertainty as a threat and keeps running what-if loops to try to feel safe.
It’s been going on a while (usually 6+ months)
In DSM-5 terms, GAD involves anxiety/worry occurring more days than not for at least 6 months, often across multiple areas of life.
And it tends to become a pattern: the worry shifts topics, but the underlying “on guard” feeling stays, and it starts affecting sleep, focus, energy, confidence, and daily functioning.
It’s messing with your everyday life
For a provisional diagnosis, GAD symptoms need to cause meaningful distress or impairment — meaning the worry and tension noticeably get in the way of things like:
sleep (can’t switch off, waking early, restless sleep)
concentration and decisions (overthinking, mind going blank, difficulty choosing)
work/study (perfectionism, procrastination, reassurance seeking, avoidance of tasks)
relationships (irritability, needing frequent reassurance, replaying conversations, fear of conflict)
daily life admin (emails, calls, appointments, finances—put off because it feels overwhelming)
health and body focus (excess checking, googling symptoms, repeated “just in case” behaviours)
leaving the house/planning (needing control, backup plans, avoiding uncertainty)