Anxiety disorders include more than momentary worry or fear. For a person with an anxiety disorder, the anxiety does not resolve and can worsen over time. The symptoms can affect daily activities such as job performance, school work, and relationships.

Anxiety disorders each have distinct characteristics, and symptoms can vary from one person to another. But anxiety disorders are treatable, and a number of effective treatments are available. Treatment helps most people lead every day productive lives. We mostly treat anxiety disorders with a combination of psychotherapy and medications. We also offer various self-help, coping, and managing techniques to make treatment more effective.

Anxiety disorders are the most common mental disorders and affect nearly 30% of adults at some point in their lives.

What are the types of anxiety disorders?

Agoraphobia
Agoraphobia is the excessive fear of being in situations where escaping may be embarrassing or difficult.

People with agoraphobia have strong fear of two or more of the following situations:

• Using public transportation
• Being in open spaces
• Being in enclosed spaces
• Standing in line or being in a crowd
• Being outside of the home alone

Generalized Anxiety Disorder
Generalized anxiety disorder is feeling overwhelmed, anxious, having difficulty concentrating, mind going blank, having excessive worry that can significantly interfere with daily living. The worry may be accompanied by physical symptoms, including sleeping problems, difficulties relaxing, restlessness, feeling on edge, and muscle tension.

Panic Disorder
People with panic disorder have repeated unexpected panic attacks. Panic attacks are rapid periods of intense fear that come on rapidly and reach their peak within minutes. Attacks can occur surprisingly or can be brought on by a trigger, such as a feared object or situation.

During a panic attack, people may experience:

• Heart palpitations, a pounding heartbeat, or an accelerated heart rate
• Sweating
• Trembling or shaking
• Sensations of shortness of breath, smothering or choking
• Feelings of impending doom
• Feelings of being out of control

People with panic disorder frequently worry about when the next attack will happen and actively try to avoid future attacks by avoiding places, situations, or behaviors associated with panic attacks. Worry about panic attacks and the effort spent trying to avoid attacks cause substantial problems in different areas of the person’s life, including the development of agoraphobia

Phobias 
A specific phobia is a persistent and intense irrational fear of a specific situation, activity, or object. Although people with phobias know that their fear is irrational, thinking about it may cause excessive anxiety symptoms and distress.
Some examples of specific phobias include the fear of:

• Flying
• Heights
• Specific animals, such as spiders, dogs, or snakes
• Receiving injections
• Blood

Social Anxiety Disorder
Social anxiety disorder is the fear of a situation in which one may be judged, one may be embarrassed, humiliated, or rejected. It could be fear of offending someone. Common examples comprise fear of meeting new people and fear of public speaking.

Selective mutism
Selective mutism is rare disorder associated with anxiety. Selective mutism occurs when people are not able to speak in specific social situations despite having normal language skills. Selective mutism usually happens before the age of 5 and is often related with extreme shyness, fear of social embarrassment, compulsive traits, withdrawal, clinging behavior, and temper tantrums. Many people diagnosed with selective mutism are often also diagnosed with other anxiety disorders.

So, What Are the Symptoms of Anxiety?

Anxiety is caused by an active stress response. Therefore, its symptoms are the changes that happen in the body when this response is activated. Some of these include:

• Feeling nervous, restless or tense, and having an increased heart rate
• Hyperventilating or breathing rapidly
• Sweating and / or trembling
• Feeling weak or tired.
• Experiencing gastrointestinal (GI) problems
• Having a sense of impending danger or doom
• Trouble thinking about anything other than the present cause of worry

Professional Help Is Available

You do not need to suffer through these. With our professional help at Gateway Behavioral Healthcare, we can help you identify the underlying causes of your issues, both physically and mentally.

We can also provide you with effective strategies to manage your symptoms and reduce your stress and your other triggers to change unwanted thoughts and behaviors.

With an individualized care plan that combines the treatment options that include Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Exposure Therapy, anti-anxiety medications, and beta blockers, and general self-care practices, among others, you can enhance the overall quality of your life.

Early Intervention Is Key to Better Outcomes

Don’t wait; take the first step to turning your life around. Remember, the faster you seek help, the better your outcomes will be.

Begin by getting an evaluation with one of our behavioral healthcare professionals today. You may also send us a message here for your inquiries.