Different types of anxiety

  • Generalised anxiety disorder (GAD)

  • Panic disorder

  • Social anxiety disorder

  • Health anxiety

  • Phobias

  • Agoraphobia

  • Obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD)

  • Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)

Generalised anxiety disorder (GAD)

The most typical form of anxiety disorder is GAD. The primary symptom of GAD is overly worrying about various things to do and occasions. If you have GAD, you could experience frequent feelings of anxiety. You might experience a sense of 'on edge' and extreme vigilance.

GAD may impact your daily existence. It may have an impact on a variety of aspects of your life, such as:

  • Your capacity to work or maintain a job.

  • Travel or go outside.

  • Your vitality, rest or focus.

  • Physical signs like perspiration and tense muscles could also be present.

If you have GAD, it's typical to also suffer from other ailments including depression or other anxiety disorders.

Due to the absence of some of the distinctive symptoms of other anxiety disorders, GAD can be challenging to diagnose. 

If you have experienced anxiety daily for more than six months and it has negatively impacted several aspects of your life, your doctor is likely to diagnose you with GAD.

Panic disorder

If you have a panic condition, you frequently experience panic episodes without knowing why. 

In addition to being sudden, severe, and terrifying, panic attacks can also cause dissociation (feel detached from your body). 

You might also worry that you'll experience panic attacks later.

Panic attacks can be brought on by a fear of a particular circumstance, such as having to use an elevator in an enclosed place that you dislike. 

Yet, this does not imply that you suffer from a panic disorder.

Panic disorder symptoms can include:

  • An overwhelming sense of dread or fear

  • Chest pain or a sensation that your heart is beating irregularly

  • Feeling that you might be dying or having a heart attack

  • Sweating and hot flushes, or chills and shivering

  • A dry mouth, shortness of breath or feeling like you’re choking

  • Nausea, dizziness and feeling faint

  • Numbness, pins and needles or a tingling sensation in your fingers

  • A need to go to the toilet

  • A churning stomach

  • Ringing in your ears

Social anxiety disorder

Anxiety about social or performing circumstances is common. 

When you experience a severe fear or dread of social situations, it is referred to as social anxiety disorder or social phobia. 

This might occur prior to, during, or following an occasion.

Some scenarios where you might feel anxious include:

  • Speaking to groups or the public

  • Meeting strangers or new people

  • Dating

  • Having food or beverages in public

You might be concerned that you'll say or do something embarrassing. 

You may be conscious of the bodily symptoms of your anxiety, including:

  • Racing heartbeat 

  • Sweating

  • Shaky voice

  • Blushing

You might want to avoid certain circumstances out of concern that people will notice or judge you. 

Your anxieties may not make sense to you, but it might be challenging to overcome them.

Health anxiety

The continual fear of being ill or becoming ill is known as health anxiety. You might discover if you have health concerns that you are:

  • Monitoring your body regularly for symptoms of disease like lumps or pain.

  • Seeking confirmation that you are healthy from people or medical experts.

  • Fear that professional medical advice or findings are in error.

  • Consume health-related material online compulsively, matching disease descriptions to personal symptoms.

  • Avoid watching TV soaps with health-related topics.

  • Those who have health anxiety may mistake their physical symptoms of anxiety, which can mimic disease symptoms, for indications of a serious illness.

Phobias

  • A phobia is a severe dread of a substance, environment, circumstance, emotion or animal.

  • Fear is a milder emotion than phobias. 

  • They emerge when a person experiences intense feelings of risk towards a circumstance or thing. 

  • A person who has a phobia may avoid the source of their discomfort.

Typical illustrations of phobias include:

  • Animals - including rats, snakes, and spiders.

  • Environmental factors like heights and bacteria.

  • Situational - visiting the dentist, for example.

  • Body: being ill.

  • Sex-related issues, like performance anxiety.

Agoraphobia

Agoraphobia is a fear of being in circumstances from which it may be difficult to leave or scenarios where assistance wouldn't be offered if something went wrong.

This might be:

  • Away from home.

  • Being in public areas.

  • Using public transport.

  • Being in busy areas.

You might find that if you purposefully avoid these situations because they make you feel upset, worried, or panicked it has an impact on your everyday routine.

It could be challenging for you to schedule an appointment with your doctor to discuss your symptoms if you have agoraphobia. You might not want to leave your home to visit the doctor's office. If you are experiencing agoraphobia symptoms, you can schedule a phone session.

Obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD)

  • If you have OCD, you will engage in obsessions and/or compulsions.

  • A persistent, unwanted thought or image is an obsession. 

  • It can be challenging to ignore these. 

  • You may experience distress and anxiety due to these unsettling thoughts.

  • A compulsion is a habitual thought or action that you must execute to calm your anxiousness. 

  • Using a mantra to calm yourself is one example. 

  • Alternatively, make sure the front door is locked.

  • You might think that if you don't do these things, something horrible would happen. 

  • Even if you are aware that your actions and ideas are illogical, it can be quite challenging to change.

OCD comes in a variety of forms, including:

  • A want to clean or wash something because you believe it to be contaminated.

  • Checking the ongoing desire to examine oneself or one's surroundings to guard against danger, fire, leakage, or damage.

  • Intrusive thoughts: recurrent, frightening, or unpleasant thoughts.

  • Not being able to throw away unused or outdated stuff is known as hoarding.

If you believe you have OCD, go to your doctor. 

They ought to talk to you about your therapy alternatives.

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)

  • After a terrible and terrifying incident, such as violence or war, you could acquire post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), an anxiety disorder. 

  • The disorder was initially identified in war veterans; however, a wide variety of stressful events can result in PTSD.

  • Following a stressful event like an assault, accident or natural disaster, you could get PTSD.

  • Having frightening flashbacks or dreams, avoiding things that bring up the incident, having trouble falling asleep, and feeling anxious are all examples of symptoms. 

  • You can feel withdrawn and alone.

  • After a traumatic occurrence, many people have certain traumatic symptoms. 

  • But, for most people, symptoms pass with time and do not result in PTSD.

  • Therapy can be used to treat PTSD.