Generalised Anxiety Disorder (GAD) involves persistent and excessive worry across multiple areas of life, often feeling difficult to control. Unlike more situational anxiety, worry in GAD is typically broad, ongoing, and not confined to a single trigger. GAD develops when worry becomes a habitual way of managing uncertainty. The mind begins to treat worrying as a way of preparing for or preventing negative outcomes. Over time, this creates a cycle in which worry feels both automatic and necessary, even when it is no longer helpful.

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GAD is maintained by repeated patterns of anticipatory thinking, mental “what if” scenarios, and attempts to reduce uncertainty through planning, reassurance seeking, or overthinking. While these strategies may provide temporary relief, they reinforce the belief that worry is required to stay safe or in control, which keeps the cycle going. Like other anxiety disorders, GAD is linked to the activation of the fight, flight, and freeze response. In this state, the body and mind remain in a heightened sense of threat detection, even in the absence of immediate danger. This can lead to persistent mental alertness, difficulty switching off, and a sense of being constantly “on edge.” Physically, GAD may present as muscle tension, restlessness, fatigue, sleep disturbance, and gastrointestinal discomfort. Emotionally, individuals often describe feeling overwhelmed by thoughts, irritable, mentally exhausted, or unable to relax, even in safe environments. Over time, this combination of cognitive worry processes and physiological arousal can significantly impact wellbeing, concentration, sleep, and overall quality of life.​​