Anxiety disorders include disorders that share features of excessive fear and anxiety and related behavioral disturbances. Fear is the emotional response to real or perceived imminent threat, whereas anxiety is anticipation of future threat.
Types of Anxiety-related Disorders
- Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) is characterized by excessive and uncontrollable worry for a period of at least six months. People with GAD also experience symptoms such as restlessness, fatigue, difficulty concentrating, muscle tension and/or sleep difficulties.
- Panic Disorder is a mental health condition in which a person experiences recurrent panic attack.
- Social Anxiety is characterized by extreme fear of social situations.
- Specific Phobia is when a person experiences extreme anxiety when they anticipate exposure or are exposed to a feared stimulus.
- Agoraphobia is a fear of situations or places that may cause feelings of panic, entrapment, helplessness, or embarrassment.
The purpose of anxiety
Anxiety is a natural human emotion and is experienced by all humans and across all animal species. It is our body’s alarm system. It is a survival mechanism. It occurs in response to situations where we may be in danger or at risk for harm. Anxiety is not dangerous in and of itself. The goal of treatment is not to remove all anxiety but to reduce it to a manageable level.
“Fight or flight” response
When your brain gets a signal of danger, it triggers an immediate response. That’s a good thing because when we face danger, we need to react quickly and powerfully. All the bodily sensations that go along with anxiety are designed to help us respond to that danger. It prepares us to “fight or flight”: fight off a danger or flee/run away