Generalised Anxiety Disorder (GAD) is a persistent “free floating” anxiety where the individual can worry about anything and everything. Though it is usual for most of us to worry some of the time, e.g. for a job interview, people suffering from GAD will experience chronic worry, that is difficult to interrupt and distract from and that they cannot turn off. The level of worry is out of proportion with the situation and interferes with the individual’s ability to do day-to-day things.
 

Worries can jump from one to another, with individuals predicting one disaster after another. People often have positive beliefs about the function of worry i.e. ‘worrying helps me to prepare for the worst’ and negative beliefs about the function of worry  i.e. ‘Worrying is driving me mad and is uncontrollable’. People with GAD also find it difficult to tolerate any degree of uncertainty.