Anxiety, Symptoms, Therapy

Common Types of Anxiety Disorders

Rahat Lookmanji

By Rahat Lookmanji

Stress is no fun to deal with. Anxiety on the other hand a whole other beast!

Some of the most common Anxiety Disorders are Generalised Anxiety Disorder, PTSD, Separation Anxiety Disorder and Panic Disorder, which we will discuss here. Phobias are another type of anxiety disorder and have several types, so to learn more about the types of phobias click here.

Anxiety Disorders are clinical mental health conditions that unfortunately negatively impact how a person functions in almost all aspects of their life.

Generalised Anxiety Disorder is one of the most common forms of Anxiety Disorders. Individuals often experience feeling either vaguely apprehensive or specifically phobic. They may be tense, indecisive and restless and may complain about physical discomforts, such as tightness or muscle aches. Often they may experience a generalised state of anxiety – the inability to relax, constantly fidgeting and may be easily startled. They may also face physical symptoms, such as shortness of breath, racing heart rate, sweating, dizziness or nausea. They may have repetitive intrusive negative thoughts about the past and future that cause them to feel anxious.

If you want to check if you have the symptoms of Generalised Anxiety Disorder, take our quiz!

PTSD is a disorder that occurs when an individual is unable to recover from experiencing or witnessing a traumatic experience in their past where they felt immense fear and helplessness.

In psychology, trauma refers to the damage the mind sustains as the result of a terrifying experience. When a person goes through an overwhelming amount of stress that they are unable to cope with, or when they can’t process and let go of the emotions involved in the event, the result is often trauma.

PTSD sufferers may have to deal with intrusive images and emotions about the trauma they went through. Often they have nightmares of the experience and flashbacks to the event are also common. Other symptoms also include high levels of anxiety, hypervigilance and efforts to avoid circumstances that are associated with the trauma.

Separation Anxiety Disorder is a common childhood disorder but does also occur in adults. When a child or adult has Separation Anxiety Disorder, they can show developmentally inappropriate (behaviours that are not age appropriate), excessive anxiety and fear centring around separation from individuals to whom they are attached. The person can experience severe distress and recurrent thoughts about separation, may have nightmares, may also avoid leaving their home, lastly, they may also experience physical symptoms, such as headaches or nausea when they are separated from people they are attached to, or about to be separated.

Panic Disorder is a type of Anxiety Disorder that is characterised by recurrent panic attacks. A panic attack is an abrupt surge of fear or intense discomfort that peaks within minutes. During a panic attack, you may experience your heart pounding, sweating, trembling, sensations of shortness of breath or feeling smothered, chest pain, choking or tightening of the throat, nausea, dizziness or feeling suddenly cold or hot. If you have a panic attack you may also worry that you are dying during a panic attack because of the physical symptoms and their intensity.

Rahat Lookmanji

Rahat Lookmanji

Therapist, Founder of The Empathy Centre, BSc Psychology with Clinical Psychology, M.A Clinical Psychology.

Published by Rahat Lookmanji

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