Anxiety and fear are among the most basic of emotions, experienced by everyone. Like other emotions, they occur across cultures, and even across species. The purpose of anxiety and fear is to protect us from danger by making us more aware of potential threats in our environment, and by preparing us for a quick escape when we encounter a threatening situation.

Anxiety and fear can also occur in the absence of danger, particularly when we interpret a situation as dangerous, even though it isn’t. The tendency to experience excessive anxiety and fear, or unrealistic worry, is the defining feature of the anxiety disorders. People with anxiety disorders often overestimate the level of threat in the situations that they fear. They avoid feared situations, and engage in a variety of unnecessary behaviors to protect themselves from perceived danger.

To some extent, it is normal to occasionally experience excessive or unrealistic anxiety and fear. However, a second defining feature of the anxiety disorders is for the symptoms to be severe enough that they cause significant impairment in day-to-day functioning. The combination of excessive anxiety and interference in one’s life is a recipe that can lead to a full blown anxiety disorder.

Anxiety disorders are caused by a complex interaction of psychological factors (e.g., traumatic experiences, negative thinking) and biological factors (e.g., genetics). Fortunately, they are among the most treatable of mental health problems. Effective psychological treatments and medications exist for all of the anxiety disorders.

See the individual sections on each Anxiety Disorder for more detailed information.

TYPES OF ANXIETY DISORDERS - Synopsis

OBSESSIVE COMPULSIVE DISORDER (OCD)
• Obsessions - persistent thoughts, images or urges
• experienced as intrusive and senseless
• common themes: fears of contamination, self-doubt, and fear of harming others

• Compulsions - repetitive behaviors
• intended to decrease discomfort or prevent some dreaded event
• examples: washing, checking, and counting

These symptoms cause distress, are time-consuming and often interfere significantly with normal activities and basic functioning of those who suffer from OCD.

SOCIAL ANXIETY DISORDER (SOCIAL PHOBIA)
• fear and/or avoidance of situations in which one's actions may be observed by other people
• can include fear of being embarrassed or humiliated in social situations
• can also include fear of having other people notice one's anxiety symptoms
• typical situations feared: meeting new people, interacting with others at parties or get-togethers, formal speaking, interviews, and eating or writing in front of others
• symptoms include blushing, trembling, sweating, feeling faint and an inability to speak well

PANIC DISORDER & AGORAPHOBIA
• Panic attack: frequent, sudden rushes of intense fear out of the blue, without any obvious trigger or cause
• symptoms can include: shortness of breath, palpitations, chest pains, difficulty swallowing, dizziness, sweating, hot or cold flashes, feelings of unreality, and trembling.
• attacks can often be associated with a fear of something terrible occurring such as dying, going crazy, or doing something uncontrolled
• Agoraphobia: avoidance of situations where escape might be difficult or embarrassing in the event of a panic attack is called agoraphobia.
• often triggered by past panic attacks in situations which are now avoiced
• situations typically avoided by people with agoraphobia: crowds, large stores, public transportation, being alone, traveling, driving, and enclosed places. In the most extreme cases, sufferers of agoraphobia may be unable to leave their homes.

GENERALIZED ANXIETY DISORDER (GAD)
• excessive anxiety and unrealistic worry about a number of events or activities such as work or school performance, financial concerns, and the health and safety of family members
• the anxiety and worry are difficult to control
• are associated with feelings of restlessness or of being on edge, fatigue, irritability, muscle tension and inability to relax
• can occur in the presence or absence of stressful events

SPECIFIC PHOBIA
• intense fear of some specific object or situation
• the fear is excessive and out of proportion to the actual danger
• also causes intense distress or interference in the person’s life
• situations commonly avoided: certain animals (e.g. snakes, spiders, dogs, mice, etc.), heights, storms, sight of blood, needles, driving, flying, and enclosed places.

POSTTRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER (PTSD)
• severe anxiety reaction to an extremely traumatic event or stressor involving the threat of death or injury (e.g., a serious injury to oneself, witnessing or experiencing an act of violence).
• tendency to re-experience the trauma by way of nightmares or intrusive memories
• tendency to avoid situations that remind one of the trauma
• tendency to experience symptoms of increased arousal and awareness since experiencing the trauma
• symptoms must be present for four weeks before a diagnosis of PTSD can be given.

ACUTE STRESS DISORDER
• similar features to those of PTSD
• most important difference is the duration: diagnosis of acute stress disorder may be given if the symptoms are present for at least two days, but no more than four weeks. PTSD requires the symptoms to be present for at least four weeks.

ANXIETY DISORDER DUE TO A GENERAL MEDICAL CONDITION
• refers to significant anxiety-like symptoms that are directly caused by the physical effects of a disease or illness
• example: hyperthyroidism can cause panic-like episodes. Or, in very rare cases, OCD symptoms may occur with certain types of brain tumors.
• treatment: treat the underlying physical illness

SUBSTANCE INDUCED ANXIETY DISORDER
• refers to significant anxiety symptoms that are triggered by the use of, or withdrawal from, a drug or medication
• example: alcohol withdrawal can trigger panic attacks, as can drinking too much caffeine, or using cocaine.

ANXIETY DISORDER NOT OTHERWISE SPECIFIED
• occurs when an individual clearly has a problem with anxiety, but the criteria are not met for any of the official anxiety disorders or for other disorders that have anxiety as a prominent feature