Occasional fear is an expected part of life. You may feel anxious when faced with a problem at work, before taking a test, or before making an important decision. But anxiety disorders involve more than temporary worry or fear. For a person with an anxiety disorder, the anxiety doesn't go away and can get worse over time. The symptoms can interfere with daily activities, such as work performance, school work, and relationships.

There are different types of anxiety disorders, including generalized anxiety disorder, panic disorder, and various phobia-related disorders.

Generalized Anxiety Disorder

People with Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) exhibit excessive anxiety or worry, most days for at least six months, about a number of things such as personal health, work, social interactions and daily routine living conditions. The fear and anxiety can cause significant problems in areas of their life, such as social interactions, school, and work.

Symptoms of Generalized Anxiety Disorder include:

• Feeling restless, agitated, or jittery
• Being easily tired
• Have trouble concentrating; mind goes blank
• Being irritable
• Have muscle tension
• Difficulty managing feelings of worry
• Have sleep problems, such as difficulty falling or staying asleep, restlessness or unsatisfactory sleep

Panic Disorder

People with panic disorder have recurring unexpected panic attacks. Panic attacks are sudden periods of intense fear that come on quickly and reach their peak within minutes. Attacks can occur unexpectedly or can be caused by a trigger, such as a dreaded object or situation.

During a panic attack, people can experience:

• Palpitations, a pounding heartbeat or a fast heartbeat
• To sweat
• Trembling or shaking
• Feelings of shortness of breath, choking, or choking
• Feelings of impending doom
• Feelings of getting out of control

People with panic disorder often worry about when the next attack will occur and actively try to prevent future attacks by avoiding places, situations, or behaviors that they associate with panic attacks. Anxiety about panic attacks and the effort put into avoiding attacks causes significant problems in several areas of the person's life, including the development of agoraphobia (see below).

Phobia-Related Disorders

A phobia is an intense fear or aversion to specific objects or situations. While it may be realistic to be fearful in some circumstances, the fear felt by people with phobias is out of proportion to the actual danger posed by the situation or object.

People with a phobia:

• May have an irrational or inordinate concern about encountering the dreaded object or situation
• Take active steps to avoid the dreaded object or situation
• Experience immediate intense fear when encountering the dreaded object or situation
• Endure inevitable objects and situations with intense fear

There are different types of phobias and phobia-related conditions:

Specific phobias (sometimes called simple phobias) : As the name suggests, people with a specific phobia have an intense fear of, or feel deeply concerned about, specific types of objects or situations. Some examples of specific phobias are the fear of:

• Fly
• Heights
• Specific animals, such as spiders, dogs or snakes
• Getting injections
• Blood

Social anxiety disorder (formerly called social anxiety disorder): People with social anxiety disorder have an overall intense fear or fear of social or performance situations. They fear that actions or behaviors related to their feelings of fear will be judged negatively by others, causing them embarrassment. This concern often causes people with social anxiety to avoid social situations. Social anxiety disorder can manifest in a variety of situations, such as in the workplace or in the school environment.

Agoraphobia: Mensen with agoraphobia have an intense fear of two or more of the following situations:

• With public transport
• Being in open spaces
• Being in confined spaces
• Standing in line or in a crowd
• Being outdoors alone

People with agoraphobia often avoid these situations, in part because they think it may be difficult or impossible to leave if they experience panic-like reactions or other embarrassing symptoms. In the most severe form of agoraphobia, a person can be housebound.

Separation Anxiety Disorder: Separation anxiety is often seen as something that only children have to deal with; however, adults can also be diagnosed with separation anxiety disorder. People with separation anxiety disorder fear being separated from people they are attached to. They often fear that their attachment figures will suffer damage or something unusual in some way while they are separated. This fear keeps them from being separated from their attachment figures and avoiding being alone. People with separation anxiety may have nightmares about being separated from attachment figures or experience physical symptoms when separation occurs or is expected.

Researchers find that both genetic and environmental factors contribute to the risk of developing an anxiety disorder. While the risk factors for each type of anxiety disorder can vary, some common risk factors for all types of anxiety disorder are:

• Temperamental features of shyness or behavioral inhibition in childhood
• Exposure to stressful and negative life or environmental events in early childhood or adulthood
• A history of anxiety or other mental illness in biological family members
• Some physical health problems, such as thyroid or heart rhythm problems, or caffeine or other substances / drugs, can cause or worsen anxiety symptoms; a physical health exam is helpful in evaluating a possible anxiety disorder.

Anxiety disorders are generally treated with psychotherapy, medication, or both. There are many ways to treat anxiety and people should work with their doctor to choose the treatment that is best for them.

Psychotherapy

Psychotherapy or "talk therapy" can help people with anxiety disorders. To be effective, psychotherapy must target the person's specific fears and be tailored to his or her needs.

Cognitive behavioral therapy

Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is an example of one type of psychotherapy that can help people with anxiety disorders. It teaches people different ways to think, behave and respond to fearful and frightening objects and situations. CBT can also help people learn and practice social skills, which are essential for treating social anxiety disorders.

Cognitive therapy and exposure therapy are two CBT methods that are often used, together or on their own, to treat social anxiety disorder. Cognitive therapy focuses on identifying, challenging, and then neutralizing unhelpful or distorted thoughts that underlie anxiety disorders. Exposure therapy focuses on facing the fears that underlie an anxiety disorder to help people engage in activities they have avoided. Exposure therapy is sometimes used in conjunction with relaxation exercises and / or imagery.

CBT can be performed individually or with a group of people with similar problems. Often times, “homework” is assigned to participants to do between sessions.

Medication

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