Duration Criteria for Generalized Anxiety Disorder

During a routine psychiatric assessment, a nurse is discussing the experience of anxiety with a client who has been diagnosed with Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD). The client expresses feelings of excessive worry about various life situations, stating that this worry is difficult to control and leads to physical symptoms such as restlessness and fatigue. The nurse identifies that GAD is characterized by chronic worry that is accompanied by several physiological symptoms.

In this context, it is important for the nurse to understand that the duration of symptoms must be at least _______ months for a diagnosis of GAD to be made.