GAD Diagnosis
The major markers of GAD are significant, persistent, and uncontrollable anxiety and worry about a wide range of situations and things in life. People with GAD may be identified by their friends as “anxious people” or as “worriers.” Additionally, people with GAD experience physical symptoms of anxiety (muscle tension, headaches, etc.), difficulty sleeping and concentrating, and are often irritable and tense.
Adjustment Disorder
When there is a major change in life, people respond in a variety of ways. Sometimes the stress of these changes causes a significant emotional or behavioral change that affects the normal functioning of the person. When this is the case, the person may have an adjustment disorder, which is a set of symptoms that develop within three months of the change and can involve significant anxiety. Adjustment disorder with anxiety is often an onset of worry, nervousness, anxiety, and irritability that is likely related to the stressor, but sometimes is experienced as coming without reason.
Telling the Difference Between the Two
For people with GAD, there is often a long and consistent history of having anxiety and worry about a variety of things. People with adjustment disorders experience their symptoms in times of stress or change. People can have both disorders, and GAD can be made worse by change and adjustment to things. People with adjustment disorders will often see a large reduction in their anxiety as they adapt to the life change, however, which is not true for people with GAD.
Treatment for both issues is often psychotherapy and sometimes medication.
Source: American Psychiatric Association: Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (IV-TR).
