Are you a 24/7 fret machine?

Almost everyone worries about something -- credit card debt, car repair bills, an upcoming work review, whether your child will get into a good college. A little worry is natural and normal.

But when you become a 24/7 fret machine, that's not normal. You may have what doctors call generalized anxiety disorder, or GAD – a condition marked by worry about most aspects of life that you feel you can't control. It can leave you feeling physically exhausted and emotionally drained, and also frustrate loved ones who must listen to you verbalize all that anxiety. "This worry process never ends," said Dr. David H. Barlow, professor of psychology and psychiatry at Boston University and founder and director emeritus of the university's Center for Anxiety and Related Disorders.

"The key psychological feature of GAD is a state of chronic, uncontrollable worry," he added. "They (GAD sufferers) are always anticipating the worst," Barlow said. They worry about major concerns as well as ones most of us would consider minor, he explained. They can't seem to stop the worrying, even when they know it's unrealistic or unfounded.

People struggling with GAD "know the worry is out of proportion" to reality, said Jerilyn Ross, a licensed clinical social worker and president and CEO of the Anxiety Disorders Association of America. By way of example, Ross cited a woman whose husband is a wonderful family provider. But she'll worry incessantly about finances, even though she knows the worry is unwarranted.

Fortunately, mental health professionals have been paying increased attention to the disorder, leading to successful treatment approaches. And the treatments don't take years, Barlow and Ross said. Usually, cognitive behavioral therapy -- including talk therapy, cognitive "restructuring" to change the way people view situations that typically trigger worry -- can help, Barlow said. So can exercise.

Ross said she helps GAD sufferers learn to tolerate the discomfort of their anxiety, over and over, until it starts to diminish. She helps them do this by having them ask themselves about their areas of concern: Is this a realistic worry? What are the probabilities of this happening? Then, she suggests they attempt to let go of the worry.