The Six Types of Anxiety [Archive] - The Apricity Forum: A European Cultural Community

Kazimiera

05-09-2012, 06:52 PM

Six Anxiety Disorders

Specific Phobias

Phobias are characterized by persistent, excessive and unreasonable fears of an object or situation, which significantly interferes with life and is beyond voluntary control. Some common phobias include fear of spiders, rodents, snakes, flying, heights, injections, and situations where escape is difficult.

Social Anxiety Disorder

These individuals have an intense fear of social and/or performance situations, and excessive concern about social embarrassment or humiliation. They may avoid social activities like going to parties, performing or speaking in front of others, dating, and may have difficulty obtaining employment.

Generalized Anxiety Disorder

Individuals with this disorder worry excessively and uncontrollably about daily life events. These worries include potential negative events in the future, minor matters, a loved one becoming ill or dying, work issues, and world events, such as natural disasters.

Panic Disorder

This is characterized by unexpected and repeated panic attacks, followed by at least one month of worry about having additional attacks and/or fear of something bad happening as a result of the panic attack, such as going crazy, losing control, or dying.

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder

Individuals with this disorder have obsessions, or unwanted ugly thoughts that make them anxious, and/or they engage in compulsions (repetitive behaviors or mental acts) in an attempt to reduce a feeling of anxiety. Some compulsions may include repeated hand-washing, checking, tapping, or mental routines (such as counting backwards from 100). An example of an intrusive thought is "I might get sick and die from touching a bathroom door".

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder

This is an anxiety disorder that can develop after being directly involved, witnessing, or hearing about a frightening traumatic event. Symptoms include upsetting vivid memories, nightmares, flashbacks of the event, and avoidance of reminders.

http://www.anxietybc.com/resources/introduction.php

Kazimiera

05-10-2012, 10:04 PM

Panic Disorder, General Anxiety Disorder and Social Anxiety
http://www.anxietynomore.co.uk/anxiety_explained.html

The most common anxiety disorders are explained below

We can all experience anxiety at some point in our lives, worrying about certain things is only natural. The problem occurs when we constantly worry, maybe over a period of months, about a particular problem, never giving our body and mind a rest.

This in turn can then bring on feelings of anxiety for no real reason, creating more problems than the very thing we were first worrying about.

An anxiety disorder may lead to social isolation. It may also impair a person's ability to work and do routine activities.

It can also cause people to have trouble sleeping and create feelings of constant fatigue. There are also many emotional problems to cope with: depression, constant worry and feelings of unreality.

It is at this point most people reach for help. If not properly treated, the sufferer can get caught in a cycle that can then last for years.

Below are three of the most common forms of anxiety, social anxiety, panic disorder and general anxiety disorder. These are just TITLES and no matter which form you may suffer from, don't be discouraged, you can recover from then all.
Panic Disorder

People who suffer with panic disorders can suffer severe attacks of panic which may make them feel like they are having a heart attack or are going crazy-for no apparent reason. The need to run away from the situation they are in is immense. Symptoms include a racing heart, sweating, trembling, feelings of dread, a fear of dying, fear of losing control, and feelings of unreality. Panic disorder can often lead to people being afraid of having a panic attack in a place from which escape would be difficult, so they avoid these places. In some cases this can lead to a fear of leaving the home altogether, making excuses not to go out.

Over the years I have studied panic attacks and do cover the subject in depth in my book.

I myself suffered mild panic attacks that disrupted my life, but not really to the point where I felt I had to run away from situations or places, although when I was going through recovery, I did have my first full blown panic attack. As I had more knowledge at that time, I knew how to cope with this situation if it ever occurred. The full account of that day is in my book, but I had learned to stay relaxed in my attitude and to tell myself that nothing bad was going to happen to me, that this feeling was just adrenalin.

My body's instinct was to run away that day, as it automatically thought I was in danger. I was taught to see panic through with as much calmness and acceptance as possible, just to let the feelings of panic be there and not try and control or stop them in any way. I knew that if I did as I was told, I would be fine, and I had to trust in these words. On the other hand if I given in to the feelings to run away that day, I would have spent the rest of my days fearing another attack, avoiding more places and watching my life become narrower and narrower.

The natural reaction to run away from the situation that day was very strong, but I stayed calm in my attitude while my body raged around me, and within a short space of time, the feeling of panic subsided and I was just left with mild anxiety. I had seen it through without feeding it with any more adrenalin. I had added no more fear to the situation, by letting it be there and by not trying to control or stop it, I had shown it that I was not at the mercy of these feelings and I was able to see my fears through.

I knew that day there was a good chance I would never have another full blown panic attack, and that even if I did, I could cope with it. I knew this because I did not fear another one coming and this is the very thing panic feeds on - FEAR. If you really think about it, it is not the place you fear, it is the fear of how you will feel in that place that you are scared of. This I took away that day, it did not matter where I found myself, I had coped with myself and not the place and that's why I was able to not enter the cycle of 'fear/panic/fear/panic' that many people find themselves in.

Like I say in my case I had only one full-blown attack, a fear that totally overwhelmed me. I really believe if I had not known what I did at the time, I would have fallen into a cycle of fearing another attack and watching my body for the first signs of another one coming. I have met and spoke to many people whose lives are dominated by panic attacks, but many of these people have been able to go on to recovery. It is sometimes not easy to break a cycle and we may have to feel fear a few times to find peace, but there is hope and if you feel you fall into this category then trust me, you can recover.

Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD)

GAD can occur with excessive, unrealistic worry over a long period of time. The anxiety may focus on issues such as health, marriage, money, career or any of the other worries the modern world can present us with. In addition to chronic worry, GAD symptoms include trembling, muscular aches, insomnia, depression, feelings of unreality and irritability.

Generalized anxiety usually does not cause people to avoid situations to the extent that people suffer who from panic disorders do. It’s the constant thinking, the constant dwelling on oneself day in day out, and the inability to shut the mind off that so incapacitates the person.

This is what I mainly suffered from. My symptoms came from worrying constantly about my first feelings of panic, basically worrying everyday about the way I felt until I just felt dreadful all the time. I realize now that I could have saved myself from all this suffering far earlier if I just had an understanding of how I first felt.

Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD)

(SAD) is a form of anxiety created from a fear of what other people may think. Sufferers find it hard to cope in social situations, they become easily embarrassed, going beyond just shyness. They have little confidence and can be highly sensitive to what others think about them. This form of anxiety may lead to avoidance behaviour. The physical symptoms related to this form of anxiety can include a racing heart, faintness, blushing and excessive sweating.

This form of anxiety can be very upsetting and rule a lot of people's lives. I myself felt terrible in social situations and constantly worried what others were thinking of me as I knew I came across as strange. I would avoid talking to people as much as possible, I just felt so uncomfortable.
What I did, I mainly taught myself.

I just told myself not to care how I came across in front of others. If I came across as strange, then so be it. When I recovered, they would see the real me. This avoiding was getting me nowhere. It felt strange at first trying to accept feeling odd in front of people, but I did it, and once I had told myself not to care how I came across, I did feel better. It was like releasing a cork from a bottle and I no longer felt I had to keep a grip on myself.

I stopped feeling like two people, one trying to hold a conversation and the other watching myself and my reactions. This in turn allowed me to feel more involved in the conversation. I did this in every situation, however I felt, and I found it got easier and easier, and with my other teachings I was able to overcome this part of my anxiety.

This is a very good example of changing a habit. A lot of anxiety is habit, habits that need to be reversed. I had avoided situations for so long that this avoidance had become me. I reversed this by ignoring what my body was telling me to do and just went forward anyway. In time this then became my new habit, it became less strange and easier to put myself in the front line of battle, I had gone through my fears faced the bogey man head on and finally achieved something. This realisation helped me with so many other parts of my anxiety. I realised I did have some power over the way I felt and I could take some control.