A 28-year-old woman says that she has always been "a nervous person." She feels tense all the time, shows sympathetic and parasympathetic symptoms, and has insomnia. This woman's condition is most likely to be

Generalized anxiety disorder is characterized by persistent anxiety lasting at least 6 months, with tension, sympathetic and parasympathetic symptoms, and insomnia. In this condition, the symptoms of anxiety cannot be related to a specific person or situation; instead, anxiety is "free floating." Reference: Kaplon and sadock, 11 th edition, synopsis of psychiatry, 11 th edition, pg no. 407