Anxiety Disorders: Understanding the Nuances

There is more than one type of anxiety disorder. In fact, the specialists have discovered no less than five such types of anxiety disorders.

The first type of anxiety is Generalized Anxiety Disorder, also known as GAD. People who suffer from it are constantly worried and anxious. Even when they have no problem to face and nothing should trouble their lives, people with GAD still feel worried. In order to be diagnosed with GAD a patient must have experienced extreme worrying every day, for more than half of year.

Theoretically every person may be affected by GAD. However, studies have shown that the number of women with GAD is bigger than that of men having the same condition. The good news is that Generalized Anxiety Disorder can be treated. Medication can be prescribed or cognitive-behavioral therapy can be undertaken in order to treat GAD. For better results both methods can be employed at the same time.

Social Anxiety Disorder or the social phobia is another type of anxiety disorder. People suffering from social phobia encounter great difficulty in performing in front of other people. The fear of being (mis-)judged and making a fool of themselves will prevent social phobia sufferers from speaking in front of many people. The patients who suffer from extreme forms of Social Anxiety Disorder will even give up meeting their small circle of friends for fear of embarrassment.

Like GAD, social phobia can affect anyone. Yet, some think that some people are genetically predisposed to such a disease. Fortunately, social phobia can be cured by taking specific medication and undertaking therapy sessions.

When someone is obsessively thinking that a disaster is going to happen or someone dear will have a misfortune then he/she may be suffering from Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder. This condition often results in repetitive behavior, such as checking the lock of the house twice or more, and in preset way of doing things. Children, men and women, can all fall under the effects of OCD and can experience the same fears and anxieties. In order to treat OCD, doctors first address those anxieties and solve them with therapy and medication. This leads to a faster alleviation of the OCD condition.

Panic Disorder is a more severe condition. Patients suffering from it experience panic attacks which are similar to heart attacks. Chest pain, sweating, shorten of breath, palpitations and dizziness are common symptoms of panic attacks. The worse thing about panic attacks is that they are unpredictable and appear out of nowhere. Both sexes can be confronted with Panic disorder, but this condition is more common to women. With therapy and appropriate medication, Panic Disorder can be controlled.

Tragic events, such as car accidents, wars, rapes and other similar acts of violence, may leave scars on people’s minds. The victims of tragic events usually develop Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). The memories of their past experience will make them avoid circumstances or persons which may remind them or even recreate the tragic event. Similarly to all the other types of anxiety disorders, PTSD can be treated by encouraging people to talk about their experiences and by prescribing proper medication.

You might think that it is quite normal to be worried; yet, when it reaches alarming levels you should seek the help of a doctor. It is best to start earlier, so that anxiety disorder will not have the time to ruin your life.