Generalized Anxiety Disorder

Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) is the presence of worry and anxiety far out of proportion to the feared event. Children and adolescents with GAD may also experience restlessness, fatigue, difficulty concentrating, irritability, and muscle tension in addition to the ever-present worry and anxiety. To make a diagnosis of GAD, the psychologist or psychiatrist would expect the worry and anxiety to have been present for at least six months. Furthermore, the child or adolescent with GAD is likely to be overly concerned about the frequency or intensity of the worrying. Children may feel an inability to control their worrying, which at times interferes with their ability to pay attention in school or at work.

Children and adolescents with GAD tend to worry about their performance in sports ...