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Types of Anxiety Disorders

By: Chandler Vocht

Anxiety disorders vary as to symptoms and treatments. No matter the type, anyone suffering from one or more, knows how debilitating they can be. One such disorder is known as Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD). Those who are afflicted with GAD are unable to lead a normal life. They are constantly tense and worried, apparently without valid reasons. They constantly fret about things such as money or health and everything in between.

People who suffer from GAD will find it impossible to relax and will find that they are often tired and irritable. People with GAD often suffer from other types of mental health problems, such as depression, and will often be substance abusers.

Another anxiety disorder present on the spectrum is panic disorder. People suffering from panic disorder will experience panic attacks, where they develop an overwhelming and unrealistic fear that they are in some type of danger. As a result of the panic attack these people may develop phobias specific to certain conditions, a social phobia or even agoraphobia. These phobias are unnatural, uncontrollable, and overpowering. People with the phobias will go to great extremes to avoid the situation or object.

A person that has a social phobia will avoid many types of social situations that make them afraid and cause a panic attack. This includes meeting new people or speaking in public. Agoraphobia will cause a person to be fearful of being in a situation where they may have difficulty in escaping or where they may feel some type of embarrassment. In extreme cases of agoraphobia a person may have great difficulty in leaving what they think is the safety of their home. When a person with an anxiety disorder has a specific phobia they will be afraid of a particular object such as dogs or spiders. They often are aware that their fear is unnatural and unwarranted but will still be unable to overcome their feelings of fear.

Another type of anxiety disorder is an obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). With this type of anxiety disorder a person will have frequent thoughts that are irrational but that will cause great anxiety anyway. These obsessions include worrying that they forgot to turn off the stove or an unnatural obsession with cleanliness and germs. Most times people with this type of anxiety disorder are aware of their compulsion but are unable to control their irrational behavior without the help of medication under the care of a doctor.

People suffering from OCD will often develop rituals that they carry out in a compulsive manner. Many times these compulsive rituals will take the person over an hour or two to complete each day creating a great deal of upheaval in their life.

Anxiety of any type causes great distress. However, effective treatments and management are available, so if you, or your loved ones, are suffering, don't be afraid to seek professional help from a doctor, psychologist or other professional therapist.

Article Source: Free Articles - http://www.articlesworldonline.com

Helen Peters is the owner and operator of Free Anxiety, a fantastic resource for information about Anxiety, For more articles on Anxiety why not visit: www.freeanxiety.com/articles
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