Generalized anxiety

Feeling a little anxiety sometimes is very normal. However, you may have generalized anxiety if you experience the following situations:

• You feel a level of anxiety that is disproportionate to the importance of events in question, meaning your worries are excessive and hard to control. For instance, fearing that your children have a road accident each time they go to school.
• You feel a lot of anxiety due to your professional, financial and family responsibilities, without being able to step away and relax a little.

Generalized anxiety has significant impact on a person’s daily functioning. It affects their relationships and their family, social and professional activities.

Generalized anxiety is part of the large group of anxiety disorders.

People with generalized anxiety feel a high level of anxiety and worry nonstop during a period of at least 6 months. The anxiety is often accompanied by one or more of the following symptoms:

• Restlessness (severe agitation, feeling overwhelmed or exhausted)
• Fatigue
• Irritability (a tendency to get angry easily)
• Sleeping disorders
• Dizziness, vertigo or feeling that you are about to faint
• Headaches
• Nausea
• Diarrhea or abdominal discomfort
• Excessive sweating
• Trembling or muscle twitching, sometimes affecting the whole body
• Heart palpitations or increased heart rate
• Muscle pain
• Difficulty concentrating
• Blackouts
• Choking or strangling feeling
• Numbness or tingling sensation

Do not wait to be unable to conduct your usual activities in order to consult. If you have symptoms, you can consult certain organizations and associations working with anxiety disorders. They offer information, help and support.

However, see your family doctor or another health professional if you experience one of the following situations:

• You are in a high level of anxiety for several months and you worry constantly about real events or ones that you fear happening.
• You are experiencing distress.
• Your physical and psychological symptoms prevent you from functioning normally, accomplish your family, professional or social responsibilities.

A health professional can assess whether you have a generalized anxiety, or another health problem with similar symptoms. To be properly assessed, it could be necessary to conduct a physical exam or to prescribe laboratory tests. You will be proposed a treatment plan that is adapted to your needs.

See the Help and resources section to find resources available to you.

If you have suicidal thoughts and fear for your safety, or that of people around you, see the Preventing suicide page. You will find further information on help and resources available.

Generalized anxiety is an illness that can be treated. There are known treatments available to treat this disorder. Treatments allow people with generalized anxiety to regain control of their lives and daily activities. The earlier the person consults, the better their chances of recovery.

In most cases, generalized anxiety are treated effectively with self-care, group psychological education, an intervention, psychotherapy, medication, or by a combination of some of these treatments.

Psychotherapy sessions

Anxiety disorder experts usually recommend the cognitive behavioural therapy, which aims to change the individual’s thoughts, core beliefs and problematic behaviour, and replaces them with thoughts and responses appropriate to reality. It helps understand the origins of the problem and to find solutions.

Experts also recommend that people with generalized anxiety join a support group to talk and help each other.

Anti-anxiety medication

Different medicines can be used to treat generalized anxiety, including antidepressants and anxiolytics. See the page with information on anxiety problems to learn more about:

• Effect of antidepressants and anxiolytics in the treatment of anxiety disorders
• Recommendations for taking medication

The condition of someone with generalized anxiety can worsen if it is not taken seriously. See the page with information on everything you need to know about anxiety disorder complications.

If you show symptoms of generalized anxiety, you can act now. Advice on maintaining good mental health will help you change certain lifestyle habits. These changes will help you eliminate factors that worsen or maintain your condition.

Generalized anxiety has no single cause. A combination of several factors results in the onset of the disorder. These factors can be biological, hereditary, individual or environmental. See the anxiety disorder information page to learn more about the risk factors of anxiety disorders.

More women than men are affected by generalized anxiety.

It is usually at the beginning of adulthood that people consult a health professional for generalized anxiety. They often report having always been anxious. These people also often consult family doctors or specialists for all kinds of physical pain.

Many people with generalized anxiety have also other mental problems, panic disorder and depression in particular.

Also, many people with generalized anxiety have a problem with excessive consumption or alcohol or drug dependence.

Help and support resources

Resources are available for help and to obtain further information about generalized anxiety. You can consult the anxiety disorder information page to find available resources for anxiety disorders.

Resources for care and services

To receive care or services, or to find a professional with whom you are comfortable, contact one of the following resources:

• Your family doctor
• Your integrated health and social services centre (CISSS) or your integrated university health and social services centre (CIUSSS)
• The Ordre des psychologues du Québec