Your mind, once a place of respite, becomes a relentless worry machine. Thoughts buzz and swarm, each "what if" scenario spinning into more elaborate disasters.  Your body mirrors the chaos – muscles clench, your stomach churns, your breath feels shallow and trapped. It's a gnawing sense of unease that colors every moment, making relaxation seem as distant as a forgotten dream. Sleep is a battleground; even when exhaustion wins, it brings nightmares instead of rest. Generalized anxiety is like living with a never-ending alarm blaring in your head, a constant, exhausting hum of fear that you can never quite switch off.

Some of the symptoms of generalized anxiety include:

• Feeling constantly ‘on edge’ and unable to relax.
• Difficulty falling and staying asleep.
  
• Feeling tired or easily exhausted.
• Increased irritability.
  
• Trouble concentrating and focussing on a task.

Other factors such as a family history of mental health problems, chronic physical health issues, and certain personality types – such as being a perfectionist or having low self-esteem – can make it more likely that someone will develop GAD.

‍You are not alone.
‍
GAD is one of the most common anxiety disorders. Approximately six out of 100 Australians experience it at some point in their lives. Some research suggests that GAD might be even more common in veterans; at one stage or another about 14 out of 100 Vietnam veterans have been affected by it.  

Many people with GAD suffer from other mental health problems as well; over their lifetime, someone with GAD is about 5 times more likely than the average person to have depression, and twice as likely to have a problem with drugs or alcohol.

What treatments or strategies help?

One of the most effective treatments for GAD is cognitive behavioural therapy – this approach recognises that the way we think and act affects the way we feel. Typically, during this therapy you will learn:

relaxation strategies such as controlled breathing and muscle relaxation exercises

a step-by-step problem-solving approach to help manage day to day problems so that they don’t seem so overwhelming

strategies to challenge negative thoughts that might be triggering and maintaining your worry (like “everything’s going wrong” or “I can’t deal with this”).