General Anxiety Disorder - 7

Anxiety

Anxiety, or fear and worry, can happen to anyone from time to time, too.
It’s not unusual to experience anxiety before a big event or important decision. But, chronic anxiety can be debilitating and lead to irrational thoughts and fears that interfere with your daily life.

Physical symptoms

Physical symptoms and behavioral changes caused by generalized anxiety disorder include:
  • Feeling fatigued quickly
  • Difficulty concentrating
  • Recalling muscle tension
  • Racing heart
  • Grinding teeth
  • Sleep difficulties, including problems falling asleep and restless, unsatisfying sleep

Emotional symptoms

Emotional symptoms of anxiety include:
  • Restlessness irritability
  • Feeling on edge
  • Difficulty controlling worry, fear, dread, or panic​​

Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7 (GAD-7)

The Generalised Anxiety Disorder Assessment (GAD-7) is a seven-item instrument that is used to measure or assess the severity of generalised anxiety disorder (GAD).

Although designed as a screening tool for generalized anxiety, the GAD-7 is also performs reasonably well as a screening tool for three other common anxiety disorders—Panic Disorder, Social Anxiety Disorder, and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder.

Citation

The GAD-7 was developed by Drs. Robert L. Spitzer, Janet B.W. Williams, Kurt Kroenke and colleagues, with an educational grant from Pfizer Inc.

​Spitzer RL, Kroenke K, Williams JBW, Lowe B. A brief measure for assessing generalized anxiety disorder. Arch Inern Med. 2006;166:1092-1097.
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