Clinical Presentation

Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) is a common and disabling disorder characterised by excessive worry (apprehensive expectation), anxiety and somatic symptoms. Unfortunately, because the diagnosis of GAD is poorly recognized, general practitioners and mental healthcare professionals do not exactly be aware of the presenting symptoms. The disorder is associated with high subjective impairment and high social cost. Consequently, unrecognized GAD results in intensive use of unnecessary and costly healthcare facilities for a long time. GAD can be considered as a gateway disorder that, if not recognized and treated in time, may lead to the development of other psychiatric disorders such as anxiety disorders, depressive disorders, addictive disorders and also to psychosis. Because of its importance as a predisposing factor for the development of other psychopathology, GAD requires more consideration from a clinical point of view. In this regard, several evidence suggested that GAD is best conceptualized as dimensional construct and in light of this, a dimensional approach to generalized anxiety disorder has important implications for conceptual models, assessment and treatment.