Different Types of Anxiety Disorder

A healthy level of anxiety is important in aiding people who need to deal with fears, difficult situations, or even physical threats. Unfortunately, there are several people who suffer from persistent anxiety, often for no apparent reason. These people suffer from what is known as an anxiety disorder. Anxiety disorders have a number of causes, or triggers, and finding the cause is important to a doctor’s ability to diagnose the condition and provide treatment.

Baseless Anxiety Disorder

General anxiety disorder, also referred to as GAD, is the most commonly diagnosed anxiety disorder. Those suffering from GAD seem to have baseless symptoms – they feel anxious all of the time but can’t identify a real reason. GAD seems to impact women more often than it does men, and often those suffering have trouble explaining the way they feel. Those suffering from the anxiety disorder known as GAD usually experience relief from their symptoms after about six months, but during that time they may experience a number of physical conditions as well. Some suffer from headaches, insomnia, heart palpitations, and even dizziness.

In some cases the person suffering from an anxiety disorder will suddenly develop a phobia that was never present before. Their sudden, irrational phobias cause intense anxiety, nausea, heart symptoms, and breathlessness. This is a far cry from the everyday fear most of us have in regards to situations or objects.

Post-traumatic stress disorder is another common form of anxiety disorder. Those suffering from PTSD have usually been involved in a traumatic experience – for example, being in a life-threatening situation, witnessing a death, or even being involved in military activities. Those suffering from PTSD often have severe anxiety attacks when they come into contact with things that remind them of their past incidents (ie. someone who survived a serious car crash might feel intense anxiety when passing other car accidents on the road).

Anxiety disorders may take on several different forms as well. These include panic disorders, social phobias, and even obsessive-compulsive tendencies. Sufferers experiencing the symptoms of obsessive-compulsive disorders are often constantly preoccupied by a certain pattern of thoughts or behaviors. Anything they do to end these thought patterns makes them more intense.

The anxiety disorders that present themselves as panic or social phobias are unique as well. Panic disorders involve a series of reoccurring panic attacks, but many occur for no apparent reason at random times. Those with social phobias fear being the center of attention and, thus, avoid social situations altogether.