Anxiety disorders are fairly long lasting disruptions of the normal pattern of living, characterized by anxiety. Anxiety is usually defined as a vague feeling of fear and apprehension. The person doesn’t know exactly what the demands are and has no clear idea of the real cause of the anxiety. There are four types of anxiety disorders: panic disorder and agoraphobia, social and simple phobias, obsessive compulsive disorder, and generalized anxiety disorder.

Panic disorder is identified by the occurrence of panic attacks, specific periods of intense anxiety characterized by shortness of breath, nausea, numbness, chills or hot flashes, or a fear of dying. The person may feel apprehension and a sense of doom. Panic attacks last from a few minutes up to an hour or more. They are unexpected and are not caused by anxiety producing situations.

Usually panic disorders occur in young adults of both sexes. Panic attacks can occur several times a week, or in some cases, daily. The disruption of an important social relationship can predispose the panic disorder. When panic disorder alone is experienced, there might be a minimal impairment of social functioning; however it is often accompanied by agoraphobia.

Agoraphobia occurs when the individual is afraid of places or situations that would be difficult or embarrassing to escape from, especially if incapacitating symptoms occur. He or she may be afraid to be outside the home, in a crowd, or traveling; afraid of falling, becoming dizzy, or developing some embarrassing problem. Because of this intense fear, the person usually restricts travel. Sometimes he or she can travel with a companion, and is willing to endure the anxiety situation in order to accomplish something. Typically, agoraphobia develops in young adults, with females being more likely to develop the disorder than males. The individual may or may not also experience full blown panic attacks by may have any of the symptoms individually. Research suggests that agoraphobia and panic disorder are often experienced together, and may have a common genetic basis.

Phobias are acute excessive fears of specific situations or objects, fears which have no convincing basis in reality. Persons with phobias usually recognize their irrationality, but cannot overcome them without outside help. People can develop phobias about an endless variety of things. Some of the more common phobias are fear of being closed in (claustrophobia), fear of heights (acrophobia), fear of crowds (ocholophobia), fear of animals (zoophobia), and fear of the dark (nyctophobia).

Often fears towards specific objects are developed by simple classical conditioning. Fears become phobic when, without foundation, they interfere with daily living. For instance, they can prevent an individual from using public transportation, flying on an airplane, or going past the first floor of a building. When phobic persons encounter the objects of their phobias, typically they experience panic, nausea, and acute anxiety. On the other hand, phobias have the advantage of giving anxious persons reasons for anxiety and specific objects to avoid. Therefore, they can keep anxiety in check.

Social phobias are excessive irrational fears and embarrassment when interacting with other people. Social phobias include fear of assertive behavior, fear of criticism fear of mistakes, and fear of public speaking. Social phobias often begin in adolescence and can be quite disruptive. The disorder is more common in males than females. The individual with social phobia usually attempts to avoid the situations that cause the intense anxiety.

The individual with a simple phobia shows an excessive, irrational fear toward a specific stimulus. The most common simple, or specific phobias are directed towards dogs, snakes, insects, blood, closed in spaces, and heights. Thus, one might have a simple phobia of snakes or a simple phobia of heights. The simple phobias exclude fear of social situations (social phobias), fear of having a panic attack (panic disorder), or agoraphobia. Females more often experience simple phobias, and the problem can begin at any age from childhood on. The simple phobias are fairly common, and since they usually are not too disruptive, often people do not seek treatment for them.

One relatively common type of anxiety disorder is the obsessive compulsive disorder, which can take several forms. Anxious person may have repetitive thoughts (obsessions) or contrast urges to indulge in meaningless rituals (compulsions), which they find uncontrollable, irrational, and inconvenient. For example, they may imagine that someone is following them constantly or may check repeatedly to make sure a window is not open. The obsessions or compulsions cause significant distress, interfere with the individual’s normal functioning, and are time consuming.

Obsessions and compulsions are often combined in some way, such as constantly worrying about dirt together with washing one’s hands every half hour. Or perhaps the person is afraid of being frozen, so he or she hoards blankets and sweaters. We all have thoughts and mannerisms that we perform almost automatically. In the obsessive compulsive, however, these thoughts and acts become so dominant that they disrupt life.

Obsessive thoughts often involve fears of being unable to control impulses. The individual may continually fantasize about killing a relative, walking naked in public, or screaming obscenities. The chances of carrying out these actions are practically nonexistent, but the fantasies are continually and involuntarily recur to the point that the person having them is afraid of losing control. Any attempt to stop these thoughts, however, results in acute anxiety.

There are several theories of how obsessive compulsive disorders develop. The psychoanalytic model suggests that anxiety and guilt about some problem can overwhelm a person. The individual might find doing something else take’s one’s mind off the problem. Thus the cycle begins, and every time the anxiety is experiences, the ritualistic behavior is performed. The learning theory suggests that obsessive compulsive disorders develop in response to an anxiety producing experience. When we are upset about something, we try various methods of reducing the anxiety. When we find something that works, we continue to do it.

Individuals with generalized anxiety disorder live in a state of constant tension. Anxious people usually do not know why they feel as if something dreadful is about to happen; their anxiety is generally free floating, or unattached to any particular object or situation.

Individuals with generalized anxiety disorder feel inadequate and helpless in the face of life and its challenges. Of course, we all have had anxious experiences when faced with trying situations, but somehow we get through the situation without severe trauma. People with generalized anxiety disorder, however, cannot function when faced with problems that most of us handle without much difficulty. They are constantly apprehensive and find endless problems to worry about. Even when things are going well for them, they cannot relax because there are always tomorrow’s problems to worry about.

Six out of eighteen symptoms are required for a diagnosis of generalized anxiety disorder. Muscle tension symptoms include trembling, muscle tension, restlessness, and fatigue. Autonomic hyperactivity symptoms include shortness of breath, rapid heart beat, sweating, dizziness, dry mouth, nausea, chills, and frequent urination. Vigilance and scanning symptoms include feeling keyed up, an exaggerated startle response, insomnia, and general irritability. The person must show these symptoms for at least six months to be diagnosed as having generalized anxiety disorder. Some evidence suggests that panic attacks can occur in individuals with generalized anxiety disorder.