Abstract

This article describes the key features of generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) to help GPs recognize patients with the disorder and provide a management strategy that can be used in the primary care setting to support them. Management strategies are linked to recently updated National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) guidelines and include both drug treatments and psychological interventions. As a GP, the ability to screen at-risk patients, diagnose those with symptoms, assess the severity of GAD, provide education and self-help strategies and referral appropriately to specialist mental health services is important. Although the course of GAD tends to be relapsing and remitting, effective control of symptoms can help to allow patients to live a more normal life.