Helps people put persistent worry, tension and overthinking into context by outlining what generalised anxiety can look like day to day. It is suited to adults experiencing excessive worry, students or workers under ongoing stress, and practitioners wanting a simple printable anxiety information sheet for psychoeducation.
This generalised anxiety information sheet gives a clear overview of how ongoing worry can develop, why it may feel difficult to switch off, and how it can affect thoughts, body sensations and behaviour. The “What is Worry?” section describes frequent “what if” thinking, chronic worry, nervous tension and persistent overthinking, then links these experiences to common features of generalised anxiety disorder, often shortened to GAD.
It also outlines vulnerability factors that may make a person more prone to excessive anxiety, such as inherited emotional sensitivity, long periods of stress, traumatic or uncontrollable experiences, messages that the world is unsafe, and patterns of avoidance. This makes it a useful psychoeducation handout for adults trying to understand their symptoms, as well as for counsellors, psychologists, mental health nurses, GPs, wellbeing staff and support workers.
The sheet can be used in therapy sessions, wellbeing appointments, classroom or university support settings, workplace conversations, revision around mental health topics, or as home reading between sessions. It provides a starting point for discussing support options and self-help approaches, including cognitive behavioural therapy, relaxation, challenging unhelpful beliefs about worry, problem solving, present-focused coping, mindfulness and meditation. View, download or print the resource when you need a concise guide to GAD and worry. Produced by the Centre for Clinical Interventions.
