Anxiety is a normal human response to perceived stressful or dangerous situations. Life events, such as having a child or losing your job can make any individual anxious. Anxiety can be a combination of intense feelings of nervousness, a noticeable increase in sweating, racing thoughts and a more rapid heartbeat. It is a scary human emotion that in most cases, is temporary and completely harmless. But for some individuals, anxiety can be a debilitating mental disease that prevents them from living an enriched and fulfilling life. Below are the five most common anxiety disorders.
Generalized Anxiety Disorder: This type of anxiety is accompanied by persistent feelings of restlessness, usually lasting for months or longer, and is likely to affect all areas of an individual’s life, even towards things that may seem trivial in nature. They may have irrational fears about something for little to no underlying reasons.
Panic Disorder: This disorder is repetitive and ongoing but usually involves specific episodes. In these episodes, an individual may experience impending feels of doom, sudden loss of breath, chest pain, and heart palpitations. The feelings can be so intense that it can feel like a heart attack.
Social Anxiety Disorder: With this anxiety, individuals are usually characterized by feelings of insecurity or self-consciousness. They avoid social situations out of an intense fear of embarrassment, judgment, or humiliation from others. It is usually derived from some negative social experience, such as bullying.
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder: This involves intrusive fears of some horrible occurrence. To ensure this horrible occurrence does not happen, a set of obsessive guidelines and routines are followed. This could be washing your hands several times out of the fear of contracting germs or praying obsessively for a sick family member.
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD): This is probably the most well-known type of anxiety disorder. It comes from experiencing or being witness to a traumatic event. It is uncontrollable and can be triggered in the form of flashbacks, nightmares, etc. The most commonly well- known cases of PTSD involve soldiers in the military who have come back from war.
It is important to know that anxiety does not look like just one symptom and can manifest itself in many ways. Pandora’s House of Psychiatry is a judgment free zone and committed to providing the best service, personalized and extensively tailored for you. If your anxiety is preventing you from living your life to the fullest, please contact us now. Take back control of your life today!