Generalised Anxiety Disorder is the diagnosis given when anxiety becomes a constant, low-grade background hum — not tied to any single situation, not relieved by any single change, and present "more days than not" for at least six months.
If that description fits, you are not weak, broken or destined to live this way. You are experiencing a sensitised anxiety response that has generalised across your whole life rather than attaching to one specific trigger.
The DSM and ICD criteria
Both diagnostic frameworks describe GAD as excessive, hard-to-control worry across multiple domains (work, family, health, finances) accompanied by at least three of:
What GAD actually feels like
Why GAD does not "settle down by itself"
Standard advice — exercise more, drink less caffeine, try mindfulness — is genuinely useful, but it does not change the sensitised anxiety response that defines the condition. That is why GAD often persists for years even when people make every recommended lifestyle change.
Standard treatment: CBT and SSRIs
NICE recommends CBT and/or SSRIs as first-line treatment. Both can reduce symptom intensity. Neither addresses the underlying sensitisation. Long-term outcome data shows high rates of partial response and relapse.
The LAR approach to GAD
LAR Coaching treats GAD as exactly what it is: a chronically over-firing anxiety response. The programme guides you through the precise behavioural and cognitive conditions that allow that response to normalise.
The result is not "better coping". It is the absence of the background hum. Clients describe it as the moment they realise they have not thought about their anxiety in three days.
The next step
If any of this resonates, book a free 30-minute Recovery Call with one of our LAR Coaches. No pressure, no obligation — just a real conversation about what is happening to you and whether the LAR programme is the right fit. Sessions are delivered worldwide via Zoom, Phone or FaceTime.