The psychiatric diagnosis of GAD is chronic, exaggerated worry and tension that lasts for more than six months. They may worry excessively about health, money, family, or work, even when there is no sign of difficulty. They also have trouble relaxing and they often have insomnia. Many live from day to day with distressing physical symptoms such as trembling, sweating, muscle tension, stomach pains, or headaches that tend to worsen when they face even mild stress (Harvard Health Letter, 1998)

In 1994, generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) became an identifiable mental disorder with a DSM-IV diagnosis. The diagnostic criteria for GAD are:

B. The person has difficulty controlling the anxiety and worrying.

Taken together, the cognitive and behavioral strategies create a balanced approach to understanding and treating common life problems. This approach provides a means of examining not only the manner an individual views themselves and their environment (cognition), but also the way in which they act on that environment (behavioral). Ultimately effecting a positive and lasting change in maladaptive thoughts and/or behaviors.

D. If another psychiatric disorder is present, the focus of the anxiety and worry is unrelated to it.

E. The anxiety, worry, or physical symptoms cause significant distress or impairment in social, occupational, or some other important aspect of functioning.

Behavior therapists view disorder behavior as learned from past experience and attempt to alleviate the disorders by training the patient to use new, more adaptive behaviors (Rosenhan, Seligman, 1995). Among the behavioral techniques employed are training in both assertiveness, relaxation, and gradual desensitization to the fearful objects. Sarah has the classical learned conditioning symptoms of a child reared in an environment of conflict between her parents. Sarah has been given the ability to be assertive in dealing with the things that make her anxious. Sarah was taught techniques of deep rhythmic breathing to relieve her symptoms of the anxiety. By using the method of systematic desensitization, Sarah was able to imagine the more stressful and anxious times then what she had suffered. This method brought about the partial alleviation of Sarah's symptoms.

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Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)