After a short history of the development of the American Psychiatric Associ
ation classification system, anxiety as a symptom, syndrome, and diagnosis
and its evolution from Freud to DSM-IV are discussed. Diagnostic criteria o
f generalized anxiety disorder are compared for DSM-III, DSM-III-R, DSM-TV,
and ICD-10. Recommendations for possible revision of generalized anxiety d
isorder diagnostic criteria as presently codified in DSM-IV are made, with
focus on worry as the cardinal anxiety symptom, the use of the descriptor e
xcessive, duration of illness, and severity of symptoms.