Generalized Anxiety Disorder

Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) was first characterized by Freud as part of anxiety neurosis and became part of the diagnostic nomenclature in 1980. GAD is a chronic condition, which affects between 6% -10% in the general population. It is associated with significant functional impairment and increased risk of adverse health outcomes, including cardiovascular disease. It is also frequently found in conjunction with other psychiatric conditions, including mood and other anxiety disorders, and alcohol and substance abuse/dependence. Somatic symptoms are common in GAD, and patients diagnosed with GAD visit primary care physicians twice as often as patients with similar medical and socioeconomic backgrounds.

Part of the Oxford Psychiatry Library series, this pocketbook provides a user-friendly overview of the characterization, diagnosis, evaluation and treatment of GAD in addition to differential diagnoses, pathogenesis, course and clinical co-morbidity associated with this disorder. Each chapter begins with a series of key points.

Dr. Michael Van Ameringen, MD, is Co-Director of the Anxiety Disorders Clinic at McMaster University Medical Centre and Associate Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioural Neuroscience at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. He is the author of book chapters, reviews, and journal articles, and has presented the results of his research both nationally and internationally. His research interests include the psychopharmacology of social phobia, childhood anxiety disorders, OCD spectrum disorders (including trichotillomania and skin picking), treatment resistance in anxiety disorders and several other areas of study.

Dr. Mark Pollack received his M.D. in 1982 from New Jersey Medical School, and completed residency and fellowship training in psychiatry at Massachusetts General Hospital. He has been Director of the Center for Anxiety and Traumatic Stress Disorders at the Massachusetts General Hospital since 1990 and is a Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School.