generalized anxiety disorder

noun

: an anxiety disorder marked by chronic excessive anxiety and worry that is difficult to control, causes distress or impairment in daily functioning, and is accompanied by three or more associated symptoms (such as restlessness, irritability, poor concentration, and sleep disturbances)

—abbreviation GAD

Examples of generalized anxiety disorder in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The study involved 198 adults with generalized anxiety disorder, or GAD, a disabling form of anxiety that affects about 1 in 10 people over the course of a year. —Jon Hamilton, NPR, 5 Sep. 2025

Preliminary trial results published in the medical journal JAMA suggest that a single dose of MM120, an oral pharmaceutical formulation of LSD, can significantly reduce symptoms of generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), offering a potential alternative to daily medications. —Dr. Christian S. Monsalve, ABC News, 4 Sep. 2025

What makes treating panic disorder difficult is that these attacks can be symptoms of other conditions, including generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), social phobia disorder (SAD), agoraphobia, major depressive disorder (MDD) and alcohol use disorder (AUD). —New Atlas, 25 Aug. 2025

Perinatal generalized anxiety disorder affects up to 10% of women postpartum. —Kaitlyn May, Hartford Courant, 3 Apr. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1978, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for generalized anxiety disorder

• boarder
• border
• corder
• order
• warder
• camcorder
• recorder
• reorder
• suborder
• transborder

Medical Definition

generalized anxiety disorder

noun

: an anxiety disorder marked by chronic excessive anxiety and worry that is difficult to control, causes distress or impairment in daily functioning, and is accompanied by three or more associated symptoms (as restlessness, irritability, poor concentration, and sleep disturbances)