Summary
Definition
History and exam
Key diagnostic factors
- excessive worry for at least 6 months
- anxiety not confined to another mental health disorder
- anxiety not due to medication or substance
- muscle tension
- sleep disturbance
- fatigue
- restlessness
- irritability
- poor concentration
Other diagnostic factors
- headache
- sweating
- dizziness
- gastrointestinal symptoms
- muscle aches
- increased heart rate
- shortness of breath
- trembling
- exaggerated startle response
- chest pain
Risk factors
- family history of anxiety
- physical or emotional stress
- history of physical, sexual, or emotional trauma
- other anxiety disorder
- chronic physical health condition
- female sex
Diagnostic investigations
Investigations to consider
- thyroid function tests
- urine drug screen
- 24-hour urine for vanillylmandelic and metanephrines
- pulmonary function tests
- ECG
Treatment algorithm
Contributors
Authors
Research Director
Consultant Psychiatrist
Southern District Health Board
Senior Lecturer
Department of Psychological Medicine
Dunedin School of Medicine
Otago University
Dunedin
New Zealand
Disclosures
CG is an author of the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists clinical practice guideline on social phobia, panic disorder, and generalized anxiety disorder. He is a contributor to the Cochrane Common Mental Disorders group, writing on generalized anxiety disorder, and has authored papers relating to heterogeneity of the database separately to Cochrane work. Otago University has commercial and research relationships with multiple pharmaceutical companies. He is an author of a number of references cited in this topic.
Dr Christopher Gale would like to gratefully acknowledge Dr Richard P. Swinson, Dr Elizabeth Hoge, and Dr Phebe Tucker, previous contributors to this topic.
Disclosures
RPS has personally received royalties for articles published in UpToDate (Wolters Kluwer) and the Compendium of Therapeutic Choices, 2nd edition (Canadian Pharmacists Association). EH is an author of a number of references cited in this topic. PT has done research for GlaxoSmithKline, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Wyeth Pharmaceuticals, Astra-Zeneca, Cephalon, Inc., and Ortho-McNeil. She has also consulted for Forest Pharmaceuticals and received honoraria from Pfizer, Inc. and Forest Pharmaceuticals.
Peer reviewers
Research Director
University of Alabama
School of Medicine Tuscaloosa Campus
College of Community Health Sciences
Tuscaloosa
AL
Disclosures
LD declares that she has no competing interests.
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