What is anxiety?

In everyday life, anxiety is just one of the many normal emotions people experience. Feeling anxious about something like a job interview or hospital appointment is something everyone experiences. However, for some people, anxiety starts to take over, becoming a permanent state of mind that causes severe psychological and physical symptoms.

Some typical symptoms of an anxiety disorder include:

• Feeling tense or on edge all the time

• Restlessness and fidgeting

• Difficulty concentrating

• Problems sleeping

• Chronic fatigue

• Rapid heartbeat

• Faster breathing

• Sweating

• Trembling

The physical symptoms of anxiety can peak in a panic attack. These can cause you to freeze or make you feel like you’ve lost control. Panic attacks can cause chest pain and shortness of breath that can feel like a heart attack.

In an effort to avoid panic attacks and the other distressing symptoms of anxiety, you might stop doing any activities that are likely to worsen your symptoms or trigger an attack.

Are there different kinds of anxiety disorders?

The most common anxiety-related condition is generalized anxiety disorder (GAD). With this type of anxiety disorder, virtually everything in your life is a source of anxiety, from what to cook for dinner or watch on TV to worrying you have a serious disease or feeling overwhelmed by stories in the news.

Other kinds of anxiety disorders include:

Social anxiety disorder

Social anxiety disorder is where your symptoms focus on interacting with other people.

Separation anxiety

More common in children, separation anxiety is extreme distress when parted from a caregiver or other important person.

Panic disorder

Panic disorder sets in when you start suffering frequent panic attacks.

Specific phobias

Phobias are irrational fears of things that are harmless or fears that are out of proportion to the threat posed. Common phobias include spiders, flying, heights, and germs.

Pure Psychiatry of Michigan can help patients with all types of anxiety.