Generalized Anxiety Disorder
Excessive, hard-to-control worry about multiple everyday domains (work, health, finances, relationships), present more days than not for at least six months, accompanied by physical tension symptoms.
Generalized Anxiety Disorder vs. Panic Disorder
GAD is a diffuse, ongoing pattern of worry across many life domains; Panic Disorder centers on discrete, sudden panic attacks and the fear/avoidance that follows them.
Onset / developmental pattern
GAD often has a gradual, longstanding quality ("I've always been a worrier"); Panic Disorder frequently has an identifiable first attack, often during a period of stress.
Duration / course
GAD requires worry present more days than not for six-plus months; Panic Disorder requires recurrent attacks (each peaking within minutes) plus at least a month of follow-on worry/avoidance.
Associated features
GAD is accompanied by muscle tension, restlessness, and fatigue that build gradually; Panic Disorder is accompanied by abrupt, intense physical surges (racing heart, sweating, shortness of breath, fear of dying/losing control).
Functional impairment
GAD impairment comes from chronic, draining worry affecting concentration and sleep; Panic Disorder impairment often comes from avoidance of places/situations associated with past attacks.
Rule-outs / exclusions
Both require distinguishing the anxiety from a substance/medical cause and from worry/fear that is specific to a single narrow trigger (which would suggest a specific phobia instead of either).
The differential question
Ask: is the primary experience a continuous hard-to-turn-off worry that drifts across topics (GAD), or discrete, sudden surges of intense fear that come on abruptly and then fear of the next one (Panic Disorder)?
Common student confusion
Students sometimes assume any anxiety with physical symptoms is "basically panic disorder." GAD also produces physical tension symptoms, but they build gradually rather than surging abruptly within minutes.
Case clues
Look for the word pattern: "worried about everything -- grades, family, money, whether people are mad at me" suggests GAD; "out of nowhere my heart started racing and I thought I was dying" suggests Panic Disorder.
Read each disorder in full
Panic Disorder
Recurrent, unexpected panic attacks -- abrupt surges of intense fear peaking within minutes -- followed by at least a month of persistent concern about additional attacks or significant related behavior change.