This Journal feature begins with a case vignette highlighting a common clinical problem. Evidence supporting various strategies is then presented, followed by a review of formal guidelines, when they exist. The article ends with the authors’ clinical recommendations.
A 46-year-old married woman presents with insomnia, headaches, muscle tension, and back pain. She describes a long-term pattern of worrying about several life situations, including health, finances, and her job, and she notes increased anxiety associated with her teenager’s leaving home to attend college. She drinks alcohol daily to reduce the tension and help her sleep. In reviewing her history, you note that she has visited your office many times over the past year because of physical symptoms. What do you advise?
THE CLINICAL PROBLEM
Generalized anxiety disorder is characterized by chronic and persistent worry. This worry, which is multifocal (e.g., about finances, family, health, and the future), excessive, and difficult to control, is typically accompanied by other nonspecific psychological and physical symptoms (Table 1TABLE 1
Criteria for the Diagnosis of Generalized Anxiety Disorder.
). The term “generalized anxiety disorder” may incorrectly suggest that symptoms are entirely nonspecific, and this misconception may sometimes lead to the inappropriate use of this diagnosis for virtually any anxious patient. A new term — generalized worry disorder — was considered, though not adopted, for the fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Medical Disorders (DSM-5).1 However, excessive worry is, indeed, the core and defining feature of generalized anxiety disorder.