Anxiety is a state that everyone is familiar with. Whether you’re preparing for a big presentation or studying for a final exam, your heart might race, your mind may be fixated on the stressor, and you may feel overwhelmed. This stress is generally a situational response to a temporary stressor, which is totally normal and can be useful in helping us to focus, prepare, and pay attention to what’s important. However, anxiety becomes clinical when the worry is persistent, intense, and disproportionate to the situation. Significant distress that has an impact on daily functioning may indicate that one has more than just common “worry,” and that they may be experiencing one of the many types of anxiety disorders recognized in clinical practice.
However, not all anxiety disorders look the same! Understanding the differences in anxiety disorders can help put a name to what you’re experiencing while helping guide you and your therapist through appropriate anxiety treatment.
7 Types Of Anxiety Disorders
Here are the most common types of anxiety disorders:
Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD)
Constant and excessive worry and overwhelm about everyday life. GAD is characterized by an intolerance of uncertainty and can cause symptoms such as irritability, helplessness, confusion, somatic tension, and rumination on thoughts related to worry.
Panic Disorder
Sudden and intense waves of fear that can cause symptoms such as a racing heart, sweating, shortness of breath, feelings of impending doom, and derealization. Panic attacks can create a “fear of fear” where one fears the next panic attack, resulting in avoidance of situations that may trigger panic. This can create an anxiety cycle that strengthens itself over time.
Social Anxiety Disorder
This disorder includes more than just being shy. It’s characterized by an intense fear of being judged, embarrassed, or humiliated in social environments.
Phobias
Strong fears of very specific things, such as spiders, flying or heights. This fear goes beyond typical caution and can lead one to avoid situations or potential triggers.
OCD (Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder)
Characterized by uncontrollable and recurring thoughts (obsessions) that create intense anxiety. Following an obsession, one may engage in excessive and repetitive behaviours (compulsions) to relieve their anxiety. These compulsions can significantly impact one’s life, and the performance of these compulsions only provides temporary relief.
Agoraphobia
Anxiety that occurs in situations where one perceives their environment to be unsafe and where they feel there is no way to escape. Individuals with agoraphobia may avoid these triggers by avoiding certain environments, such as public transit or large crowds.
PTSD (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder)
While PTSD is not necessarily an anxiety disorder, anxiety is a common symptom of those who have experienced trauma. Common symptoms are nightmares, flashbacks, and hypervigilance (feeling on edge all the time).
Why Does it Matter to Know the Difference?
Anxiety is often perpetuated by avoidance. When we avoid the anxiety trigger, we feel a small amount of relief, but we end up shrinking our lives and our anxiety grows because we never teach ourselves that we can face the trigger safely. While this is a common trend among anxiety disorders, treatment looks different for each one.
For example, someone with social anxiety may benefit from practicing new social skills, whereas someone with OCD may benefit from practicing exposure to their obsessive thoughts while preventing themselves from engaging in a compulsion. Someone with panic disorder may benefit from learning tools to calm their body during a panic attack, while someone with a phobia may benefit from gradual exposure to their trigger.
Individuals with general anxiety may benefit from cognitive restructuring techniques to learn new ways to tolerate uncertainty.
Related: The Anxiety and Chronic Pain Connection
Anxiety Support Through Therapy Support With Rebound Total Health
You now have a better understanding of the seven types of anxiety disorders. The more we understand what is happening with our specific type of anxiety, the more we can benefit from treatment. The good news is that decades of research indicate that anxiety disorders are treatable, and people often benefit from therapy to learn new tools to manage symptoms, reduce their fear and engage in life more fully.
At Rebound Total Health, experienced and down-to-earth therapists can help you to explore how your anxiety is impacting you while creating a roadmap through the uncertainty and towards healing. If any of these symptoms sound familiar to you, know that you are not alone and that we can help.
If this sounds like a cycle you are ready to break, look no further. You can book a consultation with our team and get started on creating the best version of you, both mentally and physically. Learn more about our therapists at Rebound Total Health.
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