What It Looks Like:

Anxiety Disorders

 

Common Signs & Symptoms of Anxiety:

  • Excessive worrying 

  • Shortness of breath 

  • Heart palpitation or chest pain

  • Difficulty concentrating 

  • Indecisiveness 

  • Fatigue or weakness

  • Trembling or shaking

  • Nervousness

  • Feeling tense

  • Feelings of panic or dread

  • Difficulty sleeping

  • Ruminating or obsessing about certain ideas or thoughts 

  • Feeling the need to do certain things and putting too much pressure on small things 

  • Fearing if you don't do one thing, it all goes wrong.  

  • Gastrointestinal (GI) Disturbances

Common Diagnoses That Fall Under the Umbrella of Anxiety:

Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD): Persistent and excessive worry and anxiety that gets in the way of daily activities. Physical symptoms of anxiety, such as tiredness or fatigue, headaches, and nausea, are not uncommon.

Panic Attacks / Panic disorder: Recurring panic attacks and/or other symptoms of anxiety, like chest pain, tingling hands, or breathing difficulty; constant worry that you will experience another.

Social Anxiety Disorder: Intense discomfort in social settings. Anxiety is triggered during social events like parties, and also when faced with tasks like public speaking, speaking with authority figures, or stating an opinion

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD): OCD is a mental health disorder marked by intrusive, unwanted thoughts that cause a sense of distress or anxiety and/or repetitive behaviors (e.g., hand washing, checking) that the person feels they must perform to reduce anxiety and distress or prevent something terrible from happening.

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD): PTSD is a disorder that develops after exposure to a particularly traumatic experience. It can start days, months, or even years after the event. PTSD is typically manifested as intense emotional and physical reactions, like flashbacks, nightmares, extra sensitive startle response, and avoiding situations or thoughts/feelings that remind the person of the trauma.

Other Specified Anxiety Disorder: Meeting some, but not all, criteria for an anxiety diagnosis.