Anxiety Disorders
Anxiety disorders are the most common disorders in psychiatry. Anxiety is a feeling of fear, nervousness, and uneasiness. It is a normal human response, serving as a signal of danger or threat and triggering appropriate adaptive responses. However, there's a difference between feeling anxious and having an anxiety disorder. Anxiety becomes pathological when it intensifies, causes significant distress, and causes impairment in the functioning of an individual.
Some of the common anxiety disorders are discussed in the chapter below:
A. Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD)
Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) is characterized by chronic, unrealistic, and excessive fear, worry, and a constant feeling of being overwhelmed by various events and activities that are difficult to control. It is difficult to control and often accompanied by many non-specific psychological and physical symptoms.
Key features of generalized anxiety disorder include:
Excessive Worrying: Individuals experience excessive worry and anxiety about various daily life events such as work, health, family, finances, etc.
Difficulty Controlling Worry: People with GAD find it challenging to control their worries, and the anxiety can feel overwhelming and uncontrollable.
Physical Symptoms: These may include muscle tension, restlessness, fatigue, irritability, difficulty concentrating, and sleep disturbances.
Chronic Nature: GAD tends to be chronic, i.e. continuing for a long time (usually 6 months or longer) or recurring. The excessive worrying may fluctuate in intensity but persists over time.
Impact on Daily Functioning: Excessive worry and anxiety can interfere with daily activities, relationships, and overall quality of life.
B. Panic Disorder
Panic disorder is a type of anxiety disorder characterized by recurrent and unexpected panic attacks. Panic attacks are sudden, intense episodes of fear or discomfort that reach a peak within minutes. They can be accompanied by various physical and cognitive symptoms, such as heart palpitations, chest pain, shortness of breath, trembling, dizziness, sweating, and a sense of suffocation.
Key features of panic disorder include:
Recurrent Panic Attacks: Individuals experience unexpected and recurring panic attacks, and the fear of having another attack can contribute to increased anxiety.
Anticipatory Anxiety: Due to the unpredictability of panic attacks, individuals may develop anticipatory anxiety- a persistent fear or worry about having future panic attacks.
Behavioural Changes: Individuals with panic disorder may alter their behaviour to avoid situations or places where they fear a panic attack might occur. This can lead to significant lifestyle limitations.
C. Social Anxiety Disorder
Social anxiety disorder (SAD), also known as social anxiety or social phobia, is a mental health condition characterized by an intense fear of social situations and the fear of being negatively judged or evaluated by others. Individuals with social anxiety often experience significant distress in various social settings, leading to avoidance behaviours and difficulty in forming and maintaining relationships.
Common situations that may trigger social anxiety include public speaking, meeting new people, attending social gatherings, participating in group activities, or even simple everyday interactions like making phone calls or eating in public.
Symptoms of social anxiety may include:
Excessive self-consciousness: Feeling constantly judged by others.
Intense fear of negative evaluation: Worrying excessively about what others think about them.
Avoidance behaviours: Avoiding social situations or facing them with extreme discomfort.
Physical symptoms: These may include blushing, sweating, trembling, rapid heartbeat, nausea, or difficulty speaking.
D. Specific Phobias
Specific phobias are a type of anxiety disorder characterized by an excessive and irrational fear of a particular object, situation, or activity. Unlike general anxiety, which may not have a specific focus, specific phobias are centred around a specific trigger. Individuals with specific phobias may experience intense anxiety or panic attacks when confronted with the phobic stimulus. They often go to great lengths to avoid the feared object or situation, and the fear is usually out of proportion to any real danger posed.
Some common examples of specific phobias include:
Animal phobias: Fear of specific animals, such as snakes (Ophidiophobia), spiders (Arachnophobia), or dogs (Cynophobia).
Natural environment phobias: Fear of specific aspects of the natural environment, such as heights (Acrophobia), storms (Astraphobia), water (Aquaphobia), or rain (Ombrophobia).
Blood-injection-injury phobias: Fear of seeing blood or injury (Hemophobia), fear of needles (Trypanophobia), or witnessing medical procedures (Tomophobia).
Situational phobias: Fear of specific situations, such as flying (Aerophobia), driving (Amaxophobia), or being in enclosed spaces (Claustrophobia).
Other specific phobias: Fear of specific objects or situations that do not fit into the above categories, such as fear of clowns (Coulrophobia), bridges (Gephyrophobia), or balloons (Globophobia).
E. Agoraphobia
Agoraphobia is a type of anxiety disorder characterized by an intense fear of being in situations and places where escape might be difficult or where help may not be readily available in the event of a panic attack or other distressing symptoms.
Common situations and places that individuals with agoraphobia may avoid include:
Crowded spaces
Public transportation
Open spaces (such as parking lots, marketplaces)
Enclosed spaces (such as theatres, cinemas)
Being outside the home alone
The fear experienced by individuals with agoraphobia is often related to concerns about having a panic attack or experiencing intense anxiety symptoms in these situations. The fear is not solely about the situation but is more focused on the perceived inability to escape or get help if needed.