Generalized anxiety disorder occurs when you feel worried and stressed about many everyday events and activities. Often the things you are worried about are small or not important. This type of worry disrupts your life most days. Everyone gets worried or anxious sometimes. But people with generalized anxiety disorder experience more than normal everyday worries.

Many people who have generalized anxiety disorder have physical symptoms, such as headaches or being tired all the time.
 
Anyone can get generalized anxiety disorder at any age, but it usually starts when you are a child or teenager. Most people with generalized anxiety disorder have felt nervous or anxious as long as they can remember. About 5% of people have generalized anxiety disorder at some time. Women are twice as likely as men to have the problem.
 
Many people with generalized anxiety disorder also have other problems such as depression, other anxiety illnesses (obsessive-compulsive disorder, panic disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, or social anxiety disorder), alcohol abuse, or personality disorder.

WebMD. (2009, July 27). Retrieved from http://www.webmd.com/anxiety-panic/tc/generalized-anxiety-disorder-topic-overview