Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) is one of the most common mental health conditions in the world. It’s defined as ongoing anxiety that is severe enough to interfere with daily activities.

We have all heard of it, but how do we know if we have it? And how do we know if it’s something we should be paying closer attention to?

Occasional anxiety is a normal part of life. Many people worry about things such as health, money, family problems, and relationships. But sometimes anxiety can interfere with our everyday functioning and activities. It’s important to understand the difference between “regular” anxiety and an anxiety disorder.

Anxiety and stress are words that have become regular fixtures in the collective pandemic and post-pandemic vernacular. While anxiety and stress are normative human experiences, these feelings are meant to be transient and fleeting, observed and allowed to pass through us without necessarily adding judgment or intervention.

As the ripple effects of the coronavirus pandemic continue to unfold and expand, one thing has become clear: women are under siege.

At LIFT, we are advocates and allies for women’s whole health; and most preeminently, mental health, which includes emotional and psychological health, as well as social well-being. Why?

Health anxiety is a condition wherein we cannot stop thinking about potential symptoms and begin to catastrophize them. We often create rituals or habits of inspection to look for anything seemingly out of place and then gather as much information on them as possible.

This holiday period, kicked off with Thanksgiving and spanning through the New Year, can contain joy, elation, and the creation of family memories that last a lifetime. Yet, simply reviewing that sentence will reveal the pitfalls this very same season bestows.