Generally, people suffering from GAD experience unrelenting and unnecessary worrying about daily things. People express their inability to relax and calm down, they startle easily, and they have a hard time concentrating. Physically, people managing GAD describe fatigue, irritability, muscle tension and aches, sweating, nausea, hot flashes and lightheadedness (National Institute of Mental Health, n.d.). Specifically in children, GAD often manifests itself in ways that make the child hyper focus on various aspects of their lives. In regard to academics, children are often depicted as perfectionists, because they are in constant need of reassurance and praise. Athletically, children may shy away from trying new things for fear of not performing well. At home, parents may experience their child needing to know everything, and noticing eavesdropping if they sense that information is being withheld. "Parents of kids with GAD may regret telling their children snippets of information (a neighbor has cancer, a relative lost a job, how lyme disease works) because they quickly turn it into days or weeks of distress about whether this might happen to them"(WorryWiseKids, 2015). According to the National Institute of Mental Health, GAD's prevalence in children is displayed in the graphs below:
Causes
There isn't much information on why some people suffer from GAD, while others do not. Some research indicates that GAD may run in the family, and scientists have begun to research what regions of the brain have an effect. (NIMH, n.d.)
Signs & Symptoms
According to Worry Wise Kids, an awareness organization created by Dr. Tamar Chansky, in conjunction with The Children's and Adult Center for OCD and Anxiety, here are ten red flags to look out for:
Excessive, unrealistic fears about day-to-day activities
"What if" concerns that span far into the future
Uncontrollable worry about multiple situations, performance, social, academic, health, financial
Physical symptoms: headaches, stomachaches, inability to unwind
Difficulty concentrating, always thinking what's next
Low risk-taking; Need for reassurance and approval for small steps
Perfectionism, great fear of making mistakes, fear of criticism; unrealistic unfavorable assessment of their grades, abilities
Over-responsibility, feels that tragedies are preventable by worry, and if disaster happens that it's their fault
Any negative piece of news that happens to others, fears will happen to them; everything is contagious by association: divorce, illness, car accidents, food poisoning
Reviewing events to make sure that didn't hurt anyone's feelings or do anything wrong
Sleep difficulties, irritability, fatigue
Diagnosis
Diagnosis of GAD often requires time and multiple visits to a doctor. A diagnosis of GAD is given when "a person worries excessively about a variety of everyday problems for at least 6 months"(NIMH, n.d.).