Anxiety.

Everyone knows what it feels like - your stomach drops, ice trembles down your spine and your mind begins to buzz with possibilities. Whether it is bad news that has found itself on your doorstep, the knowledge that you have to stand up in front of 40,000 of your peers and deliver a speech, or the fact that you really -do- need that very big shot at the doctor's office, we all have it - anxiety.

From the dictionary:
anx·i·e·ty (āng-zī'ĭ-tē) Pronunciation Key
n. pl. anx·i·e·ties

1. A state of uneasiness and apprehension, as about future uncertainties.
2. Psychiatry A state of apprehension, uncertainty, and fear resulting from the anticipation of a realistic or fantasized threatening event or situation, often impairing physical and psychological functioning.
   

That's an understatement, to say the least. Anxiety can rend you limb from limb, leaving you shaking and unable to function, and yet this is one of those things that people are supposed to simply "suck up and deal with." Generalized Anxiety Disorder, however, is not something that you can simply "get over." GAD is characterized by anxiety that is long-lasting and is not particularly focused on one event (IE, it is not GAD when your anxiety is produced solely because you are concerned for your job; if you are unable to stop being anxious when an issue is resolved and your anxiety simply moves to another topic, however...), and you CANNOT control it.

Let me repeat that: You cannot control that you have this anxiety and you cannot simply make yourself stop having it.

You can't just "fix" it and make it go away. It's with you all of the time. Constantly, every day of your life you're afraid of something, and "this excessive worry often interferes with daily functioning, as individuals suffering GAD typically catastrophize, anticipate disaster, and are overly concerned about everyday matters such as health issues, money, family problems, or work difficulties." (Wikipedia) There is no quick fix and no way to just deal with it. You can live with GAD, but it even has physical symptoms, such as fatigue, headaches, trembling, as well as a whole host of other problems.

Can you imagine being afraid every day of your life, knowing that it's irrational but being unable to stop it? What if every day you were fixated on the fact that your loved ones COULD walk out the front door and get hit by a bread truck, that you COULD lose your job at any moment, that you COULD fail out of school and there is little you can do about it except try your best and attempt to keep your loved ones safe? What would you do?

It's not hard to believe that this disorder usually has depression showing up alongside of it.

If you were paralyzed by fear every day of your life, and your loved ones were telling you that your worries were stupid and you should just get over it... how would you feel? What would you do? Is there anyone in your life that behaves this way? Maybe after realizing that it truly is not something within their control, nor are they doing it just for sympathy, nor can they simply "get over it," you will begin to understand that they need your support, not your scorn.