Types of Anxiety
Print PageGeneralised Anxiety Disorder
Those with General Anxiety Disorder (GAD) may experience all the symptoms and problems already described. The main symptoms being such things as feeling constantly on edge, irritability, poor concentration, poor sleeping and worrying about several different things a lot of the time.
www.patient.co.uk/health/Anxiety
Panic Disorder
Someone with Panic Disorder has episodes of panic or anxiety, and takes avoiding action to prevent these feelings such as not going to the places that bring these feelings on.
A panic attack can have physical symptoms, including shaking, feeling confused or disorientated, rapid heartbeats, dry mouth, sweating, dizziness and chest pain.
The symptoms of a panic attack normally peak within 10 minutes. Most episodes (attacks) will last for between five minutes and half an hour.
http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/Panic-disorder
Phobias
A phobia is an extreme or irrational fear of an object or situation, affecting nearly one in 10 people in the UK - about 10 million people.
Phobias affect different people in different ways. Some people become mildly anxious when confronted with the object of their fear, others become severely anxious and may panic. Most people who have a phobia will plan their life to object or situation.
Some fears can be more easily avoided (such as snakes) but more complex phobias like agoraphobia (the fear of open spaces and public places), make it very difficult to lead a normal life.
Agoraphobia
Agoraphobia affects 1.5 - 3.5% of the population and often develops first between the ages of 25 and 35. Sufferers experience an intense fear of being in public places where 'escape' to a place or position that feels safe or help may not be available.
These places may include shops, crowded areas, lifts, cinemas, etc. When in such places typical symptoms of anxiety and perhaps panic, as described in the relevant sections, are experienced. Generally people will avoid these situations and the condition can become very limiting.
www.nhs.uk/conditions/Agoraphobia
Social Anxiety and Phobia
Many people have particular worries about social situations like public speaking or talking to authority figures, or experience more general feelings of shyness or a lack of confidence.
For some, however, these social anxieties and fears can become much more troubling and difficult to cope with. Everyday tasks which most people take for granted - such as working, socialising, shopping, speaking on the telephone, going out of the house etc can become difficult or impossible. Social situations result in overwhelming nervousness or dread.
These feelings are often accompanied by the typical specific physical symptoms such as trembling, rapid breathing, sweating, blushing etc. At the extreme, panic attacks can occur.
Health Anxiety
The anxiety experienced centres around worries about being ill or becoming ill. Normal physical symptoms are taken as indicators of severe and life threatening illness.
The sufferer may spend alot of time checking themselves for signs and symptoms of illness. the anxiety itself causes symptoms which can themselves be frightening. Publicity campaigns about health and illness may increase the anxiety. For some this means frequent visits to e.g. their GP whilst others avoid such appointments - fearing that they may catch a disease by being amongst ill people in the waiting room etc.
Post-traumatic Stress Disorder
The most characteristic symptoms of PTSD are re-experiencing symptoms. Sufferers involuntarily re-experience aspects of the traumatic event in a vivid and distressing way.
This includes flashbacks in which the person acts or feels as if the event is recurring; nightmares; and repetitive and distressing intrusive images or other sensory impressions from the event. Reminders of the traumatic event arouse intense distress and/or physical symptoms. People with PTSD will therefore try to avoid people, situations and experiences that remind them of the traumatic event and will often try to ignore memories of the event. They may avoid thinking or talking about it in detail.
However some may go over and over the event in their minds. Symptoms include hypervigilance for threat, exaggerated startle responses (being 'jumpy'), irritability, difficulty in concentrating and sleep problems. Other associated symptoms include depression, generalised anxiety, shame, guilt and reduced sex drive, all of which further increase distress and affect their ability to function.
Sufferers also describe symptoms of emotional numbing – a sense of being unable to have feelings and of feeling detached from other people. They may give up previous activities and be unable to remember significant parts of the event.
IAPT services may be able to offer therapy support to those with milder PTSD, whilst other services are available for those woth more severe symptoms.
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD)
About 1 in every 50 people suffers from the anxiety disorder OCD at some point in their lives, men and women equally. That adds up to about 1 million people in the U.K.
OCD can take many forms, but, in general, sufferers experience repetitive, intrusive and unwelcome thoughts, images, impulses and doubts which they find hard to ignore. These thoughts form the obsessional part of ‘Obsessive-Compulsive’ and they usually (but not always) cause the person to perform repetitive compulsions in a vain attempt to relieve themselves of the obsessions and neutralise the fear.
This can lead to endless hours of rituals of washing, checking, and/or counting, etc. in order to alleviate the anxiety. This in turn can lead to more anxiety and so the circle propounds itself. These symptoms can be alienating and time-consuming, and often cause severe emotional and financial distress impacting on their confidence and self-esteem and as a result, their careers, relationships and lifestyles. Some sufferers will have the obsessions but no physical outward compulsions
Most OCD sufferers fear that harm of some kind will come either to themselves or to those they love, or in some cases, even to strangers. They think that, by performing their rituals, harm can be evaded or lessened.