ANXIETY DISORDERS

Panic Disorder

This disorder is characterized by the unexpected onset of repeated panic attacks, accompanied by some of the following symptoms:

• Shortness of breath
• Dizziness
• Rapid heartbeat
• Trembling
• Sweating
• Choking
• Nausea or abdominal distress
• Numbness or tingling sensations
• Hot flashes or chills
• Chest pain or discomfort
• A sense of unreality
• Fear of going crazy
• Doing something uncontrolled

Agoraphobia

Panic disorder is often accompanied by agoraphobia, a fear of being in place or situation in which escape might be difficult.  Common fears are of:

• Being outside the home alone
• Being in a crowd
• Being in a mall
• Being on a bridge
• Traveling in a bus, train or car

Specific Phobias

Although some phobias may seem well founded (a fear of driving on the expressway, for example), these simple phobias may in fact become crippling.  They may result from a bad experience or have no known cause.  This category would include fears of snakes, insects or animals, or fear of crossing a bridge or flying in an airplane.

Social Phobias

This disorder involves fear of situations in which one is exposed to the scrutiny of others and fears one may do something stupid or humiliating.  Fears of eating, speaking or writing in public fall in this category.

General Anxiety Disorders

Anxious moods last for longer than a month, characterized by constant worry and an anticipation of what can go wrong, constitute this disorder. Physical symptoms include a racing heart and motor tension.

Obsessive/Compulsive Disorder

Recurring thoughts, images, and impulses that are experienced as intrusive and senseless: that’s an obsession.  The behavior that one performs in response is a compulsion.

Post-Traumatic Stress

An individual has experienced an event that would be stressful to anyone, but in this case, the event is re-experienced over and over in recollections, dreams or sudden feelings that the event is happening again.