Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) is a mental health condition that causes fear, worry, and a constant feeling of being overwhelmed. It’s characterized by excessive, frequent, and unrealistic worry about everyday things, such as job responsibilities, health, or chores. It can affect children and adults. GAD is one of several anxiety disorders.
Symptoms of GAD include:
People with panic disorder have frequent and unexpected panic attacks. Panic attacks are sudden periods of intense fear, discomfort, or sense of losing control even when there is no clear danger or trigger. Not everyone who experiences a panic attack will develop panic disorder.
During a panic attack, a person may experience:
Social anxiety disorder is an intense, persistent fear of being watched and judged by others. For people with social anxiety disorder, the fear of social situations may feel so intense that it seems beyond their control. For some people, this fear may get in the way of going to work, attending school, or doing everyday things.
People with social anxiety disorder may experience:
A phobia is an intense fear of—or aversion to—specific objects or situations. Although it can be realistic to be anxious in some circumstances, the fear people with phobias feel is out of proportion to the actual danger caused by the situation or object.
People with a phobia:
Some examples of specific phobias include fear of:
It’s normal to be concerned about the well-being of loved ones. People with adult separation anxiety disorder experience high levels of anxiety, and sometimes even panic attacks, when loved ones are out of reach.
People with this disorder may be socially withdrawn, or show extreme sadness or difficulty concentrating when away from loved ones.
If you believe you have anxiety and would like to make an appointment, call A Ray of Hope: Great Lakes Institute of Neurology and Psychiatry, at 847-268-3908 or make an appointment online today, for expert, multidisciplinary treatment for anxiety.
