Generalised Anxiety Disorder: Causes, Symptoms & Treatments

Living with a constant sense of worry can feel like your mind is stuck in a loop that you cannot escape. While everyone feels nervous sometimes, there is a point where that nervousness turns into something much bigger and more exhausting.

Generalised anxiety disorder is a real medical condition that affects how your brain and body react to the world around you. It can make small problems feel like huge disasters and can even cause physical pain. Understanding why this happens is the first step toward finding peace. By learning about the causes and symptoms, you can start to find the right tools to calm your mind and take back control of your life.

What Is Generalised Anxiety Disorder (GAD)?

If you are asking ‘what is generalised anxiety disorder’, it is much more than just feeling worried about a big meeting or a relationship problem. It involves a persistent and excessive feeling of anxiety that lasts for at least six months. This worry is usually not about one specific thing but instead affects many different parts of your life. You can think of it as your brain’s alarm system being stuck on the highest sensitivity level. It registers everything from minor chores to “what-if” scenarios as major emergencies.

Ms Sulagna Mondal, Clinical Psychologist at BetterPlace, notes that while generalised anxiety disorder can feel all-consuming, its symptoms are often frequent but low in severity. Unlike more intense conditions such as OCD or specific phobias, it acts as a persistent background hum of unease.

This condition is very common and affects about 3% to 4% of adults at any given time. Women are diagnosed with this disorder about twice as often as men. This might be because women are more likely to talk about their feelings and look for help. People with this disorder find it very hard to relax even when things are going well. They are constantly waiting for something bad to happen.

What Causes GAD?

Causes of generalised anxiety disorder involve a complex interplay of biology, environment, and personal history. According to Ms Mondal, the primary factors include:

• Neurochemical Imbalances: Disruptions in chemical messengers like serotonin and GABA prevent the brain from regulating stress effectively.
• Role Conditioning: Early childhood experiences where significant others, such as parents or teachers, respond to the world with fear or apprehension can lead a child to internalise those same patterns.
• Heightened Threat Perception: Growing up with a parent who has a heightened perception of threat can cause a child to develop hypervigilance as a core part of their personality.
• Lack of Internal Resources: An individual may lack the specific internal coping mechanisms required to manage their current life stressors.
• Genetic Predisposition: Having a close relative with the disorder increases your likelihood of developing it fivefold.
• Brain Functionality: Overactivity in the amygdala, the brain’s alarm centre, paired with underactivity in the areas responsible for calming the system.
• Modern Lifestyle Factors: Sedentary habits and a lack of physical exertion can lead to poor nervous system regulation, making it easier for anxiety to convert into physical symptoms.

Key Symptoms and Characteristics

Because generalised anxiety disorder symptoms are frequent but often low-intensity, they can be easy to dismiss as “just stress.” However, when these feelings linger, they can lead to significant self-doubt. You might find yourself wondering why everyone else can handle basic activities while you feel stuck.

Physical Symptoms

Many people are surprised to learn that the symptoms of generalised anxiety disorder can cause physical pain. Ms Mondal points out that GAD is closely linked to somatic symptoms and can even mimic the sensations of a heart attack.

• Muscle Tension: Tightness in the jaw, shoulders, or neck.
• Restlessness: A constant sense of “bechaini” or being unable to sit still.
• Fatigue: Feeling tired regardless of how much sleep you get.
• Digestive Issues: Nausea, nervous stomach, or chronic digestive upset.
• Heart Racing: Palpitations that feel physically alarming.

Emotional and Mental Symptoms

The emotional side of GAD creates a constant background noise. Ms Mondal notes that thoughts of worry arrive regardless of the situation. Decision-making becomes difficult because you are afraid every choice leads to disaster. Irritability is also common, as you are often emotionally exhausted from the sheer effort of managing your thoughts.

How GAD Differs from Normal Worry

The simplest way to recognise when worry has become a disorder is to look at its boundaries. Ms Mondal explains that normal worry is cognitive; it stays in your thoughts and usually focuses on a specific topic. In GAD, the “topic list” gets bigger and bigger until there is no specific theme left—just a general sense of dread.

When Should I See A Mental Health Professional?

You should consider seeing a professional if your worry “surpasses its boundaries” and starts affecting your work or relationships. Ms Mondal suggests looking out for frequent restlessness or self-doubt that lingers for too long. If your anxiety is frequently converting into physical symptoms or if you are using alcohol to cope, it is time to seek support. You do not need to wait for a crisis to start feeling better.

Treatment for Generalised Anxiety Disorder

Generalised anxiety disorder treatment is highly successful and often involves addressing both your thoughts and your biology. A professional approach aims to restore nervous system regulation, which is often compromised by modern sedentary lifestyles.

Psychotherapy and Behavioural Interventions

Therapy provides the “internal resources” needed to manage stressors that may otherwise feel overwhelming.

• Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT): This is the most successful therapy for anxiety. It helps you identify the thought patterns that make you feel worried and teaches you that your thoughts are not always facts.
• Addressing Cognitive Anxiety: Since worry in its simplest form is cognitive anxiety, existing only in terms of thoughts, CBT works to prevent these thoughts from spiralling into a physical response.
• Developing Coping Skills: Therapy sessions help you build new habits and internalise healthier ways to respond to stress.

Medication Support

When symptoms are linked to neurochemical imbalances, medication can be a vital component of the recovery process.

• Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRIs): Doctors often prescribe these to help the brain balance its chemical messengers and reduce the baseline level of anxiety.
• Biological Support: Rather than changing your personality, these medications assist with nervous system regulation and address the biological factors that contribute to the disorder.
• Short-term Use: Some individuals use medication for a limited period to lower symptom severity while they focus on learning new coping skills in therapy.

Lifestyle and Holistic Management

Because GAD is closely linked to somatic symptoms, physical intervention is often required to discharge the nervous energy trapped in the body.

• Movement and Exercise: Regular exercise is non-negotiable. Walking for just 20 minutes can lower stress and provide the physical exertion necessary to regulate the heart and nervous system.
• Sleep and Diet: Establishing good sleep habits and limiting caffeine are essential steps to avoid over-stimulating an already sensitive “alarm centre” in the brain.
• Distraction Techniques: Because a negative loop does not lead to a solution, active distraction can be a helpful tool to help the brain move past a state of emotional stagnancy.
• Support Networks: Building a strong circle of friends and family ensures you do not have to face your anxiety in isolation.

A Hopeful Path Forward

The most important thing to remember is that your biology is actually on your side. Ms Mondal reminds us that the brain’s ultimate agenda is survival. It will naturally create variations in your mood because it knows that being stuck in one emotion leads to a “demise of the system”. Anxiety is a loop that gets you nowhere, and it often needs simple distraction or action to break. Your brain is already trying to pull you out; you just have to give it a little help.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can GAD be completely cured?
Ms Mondal offers a hopeful perspective: your brain actually hates stagnancy. Just as it makes you thirsty to prompt action, it naturally tries to pull you out of negative emotional loops because staying there is a threat to the system. While you have to help your brain by taking active steps, it is biologically impossible to stay in one emotional state forever.

How long does treatment typically take?
Treatment journey for everyone is difference since no two people experience a condition the same. However, most people see a difference within four to six weeks. It takes time to build the new “internal resources” Ms Mondal mentions are necessary for managing stress.

Can teenagers develop GAD?
Yes. Ms Mondal notes that early “role conditioning” from parents who have a heightened perception of threat can cause a child to develop hypervigilance as part of their personality.