Generalized Anxiety Disorder

Generalized anxiety disorder involves chronic excessive worry accompanied by autonomic hyperarousal. The amygdala shows heightened reactivity while prefrontal inhibitory control is diminished. GABAergic interneurons in the basolateral amygdala and bed nucleus of the stria terminalis are central to fear circuitry. Fear extinction deficits — failure to update safety memories — are a key mechanistic finding. Exposure-based therapies directly target these learning mechanisms.