That's right. Unlike other anxiety disorders which pop up only around a certain catalyst, Generalized Anxiety Disorder (or as we like to call it, GAD, as in e-GAD) can come to the surface at any time. It's not triggered by one object, situation or place. The disorder is pretty much what it sounds like--a general, persistent feeling of anxiety; a.k.a. excessive feelings of nervousness; a.k.a. unrealistic or irrational worries.

So you may be asking yourself, what's the big deal? Everyone worries, right? Well, of course! But people who suffer from GAD can't turn the worry off. They have difficulty sleeping, can't eat (and get a "nervous" stomach when they do), and their constant worrying interferes with everything from job performance to relationships--both romantic and platonic. What's worse, all that restlessness and fatigue from so much worrying makes the GAD-having individual pretty much feel like crap.

Don't get paranoid though. Worrying and feeling anxious is still a normal reaction to the chaos and drama of... oh, everything that can happen during the course of a day. There's no need to be concerned about stressing the week before finals, biting your fingernails about college apps, or feeling anxious that your parents will discover you lied about going to Savannah's house when you were really at Eduardo's wild party last weekend. You don't have a disorder; you're just a normal teen.

People with GAD experience these feelings practically everyday; 20 to 24 hours a day (give or take). If you've spent more days out of the past six months with overwhelming anxiety than not, you should probably check that out with a doctor.