The 7 Types Of Anxiety (characteristics, Causes And Symptoms)
Anxiety disorders are one of the most common reasons why people seek psychotherapy. This type of psychological alteration presents typical symptoms of extreme activation of the nervous system, and these are normally emotional, physiological and cognitive (thinking).
Now, in order to overcome this form of discomfort, it is important to know its variants well. That’s why here We will review the different types of anxiety disorders through a summary of their characteristics, to know them one by one and distinguish them from each other.
We have all felt anxiety from time to time. It’s a normal emotion. It is possible that, just before an exam, because of a work problem, or because you needed to make an important decision, you have experienced its symptoms.
This occurs because anxiety is a normal reaction of people to situations of stress and uncertainty. The problem arises when several anxious symptoms cause distress or some degree of functional deterioration in the life of the individual who suffers from it, since it affects functioning in different areas of their life. For example: social and family relationships, work, school. Anxiety disorder is then diagnosed.
Anxiety disorders are one of the most common psychological pathologies. Now, with appropriate treatment, people who suffer from it can learn to manage their symptoms and improve their quality of life.
Since there are notable differences between the different types of anxiety disorders, in today’s article we explain the different types of anxiety:
1. Generalized anxiety disorder
Many individuals feel anxious or worried from time to time, especially when they have to face situations that can be stressful: speaking in public, playing a soccer game that means a lot, or going to a job interview. This type of anxiety can make you alert, helping you be more productive and get work done more efficiently.
People who suffer in generalized anxiety disorder (GAD)However, they feel anxious and worried most of the time, not just in potentially stressful situations. These worries are intense, irrational, persistent (at least half the days for at least 6 months), and interfere with normal functioning in your daily life (activities such as work, school, friends, and family), because They are difficult to control.
2. Panic disorder
He panic disorder It is a very debilitating anxiety disorder and different from TAD. While generalized anxiety disorder is known as trait anxiety, as it lasts longer, panic disorder It is known as state anxiety, since its symptoms are acute.
People with panic disorder experience feelings of death or the possibility of running out of air, which can cause both psychological and physical problems. In fact, the sensation may be so intense that it requires hospitalization.
In summary, a panic attack is characterized by:
Panic attacks peak within 10 minutes and they usually last up to half an hour, making the person feel tired or exhausted. They may occur several times a day or only once every few years.
3. Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder
Anxious thoughts can influence our behavior, which can be positive sometimes. For example, thinking that you may have left the oven on may make you go check it. However, If these types of thoughts are recurring, they can lead an individual to carry out unhealthy behaviors..
He Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) It is characterized because the individual who suffers from it has intrusive thoughts, ideas or images. These cause anxiety (obsessions), and cause the person to perform certain rituals or actions (compulsions) to reduce discomfort.
Some examples of obsessive thoughts are: fear of contamination or feeling of doubt (for example, have I closed the door at home?), among others. Compulsions are, for example: washing hands, repeatedly checking that the door is closed, counting, repeatedly organizing things, etc.
On the other hand, it must be taken into account that OCD is a hybrid disorder, which is sometimes not considered part of anxiety disorders but rather impulse control disorders or in its own category, the obsessive-compulsive spectrum.
4. Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
This condition It occurs when the person has experienced a traumatic situation that has caused great psychological stresswhich can be disabling. When the person relives the event that caused the trauma, he or she may experience the following symptoms: nightmares, feelings of anger, irritability or emotional fatigue, detachment from others, etc.
Due to the great anxiety that the individual feels. He or she may try to avoid situations or activities that remind him or her of the event that caused the trauma. Traumatic events can be, for example. a serious traffic accident, sexual abuse, torture during the war…
5. Social phobia
The social phobia It is characterized by an irrational fear of social interaction situations. For example, individuals who suffer from this type of anxiety disorder they feel disabling anxiety when they have to speak in publicbecause they are afraid of being judged, criticized, humiliated and they think that others are going to laugh at them in front of others. Social phobia is a serious disorder, and some individuals may even suffer from it when talking on the phone or eating in front of other people.
Even though these people know that they should not feel so bad in triggering situations, they cannot control their fear and anxiety, so they often avoid these types of situations. It is common to confuse social phobia with shyness, but not all shy people suffer from social phobia. According to a study published in the Journal Pediatrics In 2011, only 12 percent of people with shyness met the criteria for Social Phobia.
We explain more about this study and social phobia in this link.
6. Agoraphobia
The agoraphobia It is usually associated with irrational fear of being in open spaces such as large streets or parks. Actually, The agoraphobic feels strong anxiety produced by situations in which he feels unprotected and vulnerable. in the face of anxiety crises that are beyond your control. Therefore, fear is not produced by these spaces in themselves, but by the consequences of being exposed to that place, in which he feels defenseless. This means that in the most serious cases the patient can confine himself to his home as a form of avoidance.
If you are interested in knowing more about agoraphobia, click here.
7. Specific phobia
A specific phobia It is an anxiety disorder characterized by a strong irrational fear of a stimulus, for example a situation, an object, a place, or an insect. The person who suffers from a phobic disorder does everything possible to avoid that stimulus that causes anxiety, and this avoidant behavior can interfere with the normal functioning of their daily life.
There are many specific phobias, some of them very strange. Some phobias are well known and others not so much, such as coulrophobia or fear of clowns, philophobia or fear of falling in love, amaxophobia or fear of driving.
The DSM IV manual distinguishes between five subtypes of specific phobias. Get to know them in this article: “Types of phobias: exploring fear disorders”
Bibliographic references:
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Hofmann SG, Dibartolo PM (2010). Introduction: Toward an Understanding of Social Anxiety Disorder. Social Anxiety.
Stephan WG, Stephan CW (1985). Intergroup Anxiety. Journal of Social Issues.
Nestadt, G.; Samuels, J.; Riddle, M.A.; Liang, KI et.al. (2001). The relationship between obsessive–compulsive disorder and anxiety and affective disorders: results from the Johns Hopkins OCD Family Study. Psychological Medicine 31.
