Anxiety Disorder Types and Symptoms

There are five types of anxiety disorders, each with different symptoms. They include:

• Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) - constant and exaggerated (more than normal) worry and tension about everyday life events and decisions that lasts for at least six months. A person fears the worst, even though there may be little reason to expect so. Physical symptoms can also happen, such as fatigue, trembling, muscle tension, headache, or nausea.

• Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) - repeated, unwanted thoughts (obsessions) or ritual behaviors (compulsions) that a person feels they can't control or stop. A person can sometimes feel an urgent need to perform a ritual behavior, such as always washing hands three times because three is a "good luck" number and one isn't.

• Panic disorder - feelings of extreme fear and dread that strike with no warning and for no reason. These feelings can happen over and over again. A person can have physical symptoms, such as chest pain, heart palpitations (heart beating fast or skipping beats), shortness of breath, dizziness, stomach problems, feeling disoriented or not "real," and have a fear of dying.

• Phobias - includes social phobia, an extreme fear of being embarrassed, judged, or made fun of in social or work situations and specific phobia, an extreme fear of an object or situation that poses little or no danger. People with phobias often avoid certain situations (like public speaking or parties) or objects (like elevators). Phobias can affect a person's career, relationships, and daily life activities.

• Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) - involves how a person reacts to a very frightening or stressful event, such as being tortured or put in a prison camp during a war, seeing another person being hurt or killed, or raped. With PTSD, a person can keep re-living the event with nightmares and flashbacks. They can feel numb, depressed, angry, irritable, and jumpy. Family members of victims can also develop PTSD.