Anxiety Disorders
Despite how you feel while you are suffering from anxiety, you are not alone. At least 17% of the adult population suffers from some form of anxiety disorder during their lifetime. Anxiety disorders affect both sexes and all ethnic backgrounds, although some disorders are more prevalent in some areas of the population.
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Types of Anxiety Disorders:
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There are several different categories of anxiety disorder, and you can suffer from just one or several and they may vary in severity. To confuse matters even more, your anxiety disorder can change in severity and symptoms throughout your life.
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Generalized Anxiety Disorder
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Generalized Anxiety Disorder (also referred to as GAD), affects approximately 3% of the adult population, and is more common in women.
If you suffer from Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) you will find that you worry constantly and feel anxious about nearly everything.
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Generalized Anxiety Disorder Symptoms:
- general fatigue
- problems sleeping
- headaches
- mood swings and irritability
- nausea
- excessive perspiration
- muscle fatigue
- difficulty in concentrating
- constant worry
- becoming frightened very easily
Because of this wide range of possible symptoms GAD has a very high overlap with other types of anxiety disorders, and many people who suffer from GAD also suffer from Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD), phobias or panic attacks.
Learn more on Generalized Anxiety Disorder symptoms.
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Obsessive Compulsive Disorder
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Obsessive Compulsive Disorder is most commonly known as OCD, and affects 2% of the adult population.
OCD is typically characterised by obsessive thoughts and compulsive behaviour. These are unwanted obsessions that recur frequently and interfere with the sufferers life. If you suffer from OCD you will find it impossible to control these obsession and if you try to supress them it will cause you extreme anxiety.
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Most Common Obsessions:
- fear of contamination
- causing harm to others
- fear of making a mistake
- behaving in a socially unacceptable way
- a need for symmetry
- exactness
- excessive doubt
- religious or sexual concerns
Hand washing is a common compulsion in OCD
The associated compulsions involved in OCD are often repetitive or ritualized actions that a sufferer will feel compelled to do, and attempting to stop causes extreme anxiety.
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Panic Attacks
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Panic Attacks are on overwhelming sense of fear or terror, that affects at least 2% of the adult population. These feelings of sudden terror can seem to come from nowhere, or sometimes be obviously triggered by stress or fatigue.
As well as the sufferer feeling terror they will also feel a range of intense physical reactions in their body. This often leads to the fear that they are about to die.
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Physical symptoms of Panic Attacks:
- rapid heart beat
- chest pain
- numbness and tingling in the hands and feet
- chills
- nausea
- breathlessness
- blurred vision
- dry mouth
- tension in the muscles
- loss of concentration
- confusion
It has been concluded by many clinicians that panic attacks are in fact the mind/body reaction to the ancient fight or flight reflex going slightly wrong in certain individuals.
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Agoraphobia
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The anxiety condition known as Agoraphobia affects approximately 3% of the adult population.
Despite the commonly held belief that someone affected by Agoraphobia can’t go outside, it is in fact a condition where the sufferer is very anxious about not being able to escape a situation. Usually Agoraphobia develops following Panic Attacks, and the persons fear and embarrassment caused by the panic attack has overwhelmed them.
Because a sufferer of Agoraphobia avoids situations that they feel they can’t escape from, such as being in public places, or using public transport, this may lead to them not feeling safe outside their home.
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Phobia
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Phobias are the most common form of anxiety disorder, with over 9% of the adult population suffering from phobias to varying degrees.
A phobia is defined as “an irrational, intense, and persistent fear of certain situations,activities,things,animals or people” (Wikipedia/Phobias).
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Common Phobias:
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- fear of flying
- fear of heights
- fear of vomiting
- fear of spiders
- fear of small places
For a more comprehensive list of phobias, please read “Specific Phobias – List”
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Social Anxiety
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Social anxiety or social phobias affect around 8% of the population to varying degrees. It may be just one situation that scares a person or the sufferer may be intensely shy.
People suffering from social anxiety tend to be extremely fearful of certain social situations, such as public speaking, and so avoid that particular situation.
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Two forms of social anxiety:
- Performance anxiety, connected to events such as presenting a report at a staff meeting, or even answering the phone.
- Interpersonal interactions, such as mingling at parties or going on a date.
Both of these types of social anxiety stem from a fear of being humiliated or embarrassed in front of others.
It is common for sufferers of anxiety to feel at times totally trapped and overwhelmed. Anxiety can completely change the way that you live your life, for example, my nan having to change the bedding every night in case of spiders; too more extreme cases where people are unable to leave the house, have a job or a relationship.
However, there are treatments for anxiety available; ranging from cognitive therapy or medication. Some treatments aim to mask the symptoms while others will work with you to find your anxiety cures.
