Anxiety disorders, like depressive disorders, are medical conditions that affect about 20 million American adults. These conditions disrupt people's lives by causing ongoing and often overwhelming fear and anxiety. Such continuous anxiety differs markedly from the manageable mild stress caused by an upcoming job interview, exam, or first date. Anxiety disorders are persistent, ongoing, distracting — and they can get worse if they are not treated. With proper professional attention, anxiety disorders can be effectively treated, for the long term.
There are several types of anxiety disorders. Each has particular symptoms and features, but they all share the common element of persistent and irrational fear. The paragraphs below describe these disorders and recommend courses of treatment.
Panic Disorder
Panic disorder is a condition in which a person experiences a sudden episode of acute anxiety, including feelings of terror, with frequent alarming physiologic sensations such as heart palpitations, shortness of breath, chest pains, and dizziness. People experiencing panic attacks also complain of feeling nauseous, weak, or faint. Panic attacks strike swiftly and hit hard without warning and often repeatedly. Due to their unpredictability, many people develop intense anxiety between attacks, worrying about when the next one will strike. It is not unusual for a person experiencing an anxiety attack to actually believe that he or she is having a heart attack or is on the verge of death. About 2.5 million adult Americans suffer from panic disorder; and the condition is twice as common in women as in men. Panic disorder, as may be expected, is often accompanied by serious conditions such as depression and substance abuse, and often leads to a pattern of avoidance of places and situations. Panic disorder is one of the most treatable of all the anxiety disorders, responding in most cases to medications and carefully focused psychotherapy. Research in the field suggests that panic disorder is a hereditary condition.
