Anxiety Disorder: Common and Treatable, Here’s How To Identify It

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Introduction

Anxiety disorders affect millions of Americans, and they’re more common than you might think. Anxiety is an extremely common symptom of many mental health conditions, including depression, addiction, and PTSD. It can be crippling to have constant worry about your future or past events causing physical symptoms such as racing heartbeats or shaking hands without any reason for it. However, anxiety disorders are treatable and there are many resources available to help you recover from them if necessary.

Anxiety disorder is one of the mental health conditions that affects people of all ages.

  • According to the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), approximately 18.1% of adults in the United States (or around 43.7 million people) had an anxiety disorder in the past year. The most common types of anxiety disorders among adults in the U.S. are generalized anxiety disorder (6.8%), social anxiety disorder (3.9%), and panic disorder (3.5%).
  • It’s worth noting that these statistics are based on data from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH), which is a nationally representative survey of mental health in the U.S. population. The NSDUH uses the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) criteria to diagnose mental disorders, including anxiety disorders.

Here is a breakdown of the prevalence of anxiety disorders among adults in the U.S., according to the NIMH:

  • Generalized anxiety disorder: 6.8%
  • Social anxiety disorder: 3.9%
  • Panic disorder: 3.5%
  • Specific phobia: 7.9%
  • Agoraphobia: 1.3%
  • Separation anxiety disorder: 0.7%
  • It’s important to note that these figures represent the prevalence of anxiety disorders in the past year, and do not necessarily reflect the lifetime prevalence of these disorders. Additionally, these statistics may not reflect the full extent of the problem, as many people with anxiety disorders may not seek treatment or may not be accurately diagnosed.

45 million people in the US have an anxiety disorder.

  • An anxiety disorder is a mental health condition that causes intense fear, worry, or agitation. It’s often associated with physical symptoms like racing heart rate and muscle tension.
  • According to the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), 45 million people in the US have an anxiety disorder.
  • How many people have anxiety disorders? The NIMH says that 40% of adults ages 18-54 will experience an anxiety attack at some point during their lives—that’s about 19 million people! That number jumps up to 60% for those between 15-24 years old and 70% for those between 25-34 years old; unfortunately though this means that 1 out of every 4 Americans has been affected by common types such as panic attacks or generalized anxiety disorder (GAD).

Generalized Anxiety Disorder occurs when an individual has excessive and unrealistic worry about everyday things.

Generalized anxiety disorder is characterized by excessive and unrealistic worry about everyday things. It is a chronic condition that can be treated with medication and therapy. However, it’s not caused by a chemical imbalance or other physical problem like heart disease, cancer or diabetes—it’s just your brain being anxious.

This type of anxiety disorder doesn’t mean you’re always anxious; it means you have times when the feeling of dread comes over you suddenly and lasts for weeks at a time (or even months). You might be constantly worrying about work-related deadlines or family problems at home; maybe even something as simple as a test in school will cause your stomach to feel queasy beforehand!

Symptoms of Social Anxiety Disorder include fear of embarrassment, humiliation, or rejection.

If you have social anxiety disorder, you may be afraid of being judged by others or embarrassed in front of others. You might also fear that you will act in a way that makes people think badly about you. Social anxiety disorder can cause people to avoid going out with friends, eating in public and even meeting new people.

Panic Disorder can lead to intense panic attacks that are characterized by intense physical symptoms including heart palpitations, dizziness, and difficulty breathing.

Panic attacks are different from anxiety. Anxiety is a feeling of uneasiness and apprehension, while panic involves feelings of intense fear or terror. If you’re experiencing these symptoms:

  • You feel your heart beating faster than normal
  • You feel dizzy or lightheaded
  • You have difficulty breathing

Symptoms of Separation Anxiety Disorder include extreme distress when separated from your attachment figures (your parents).

Separation Anxiety Disorder is a condition that causes extreme distress when separated from your attachment figures (your parents). Symptoms include fear of being away from home or loved ones, feelings of panic, and trouble sleeping.

It’s important to note that this type of anxiety disorder isn’t caused by a specific event—it’s more like an ongoing problem with anxiety disorders in general. This means you may experience symptoms on occasion but not necessarily every time you’re separated from your parents or other caregivers.

Separation Anxiety Disorder can be treated with medications and psychotherapy; however, if left untreated it can become permanent over time.

Specific Phobias can make it difficult to live an ordinary life as even thinking about phobic objects or situations can cause extreme anxiety.

Specific phobias are the most common anxiety disorder, affecting 11 million adults in the United States and Canada. What makes this condition so difficult to treat is that it often presents as a single object or situation—for example, a fear of spiders with no other triggers. When you have a specific phobia like this, even thinking about phobic objects or situations can cause extreme anxiety.

If you suffer from one of these specific fears (or if your loved ones do), there are ways you can help yourself manage your symptoms and improve your quality of life:

  • Practice mindfulness meditation techniques such as breathing exercises and focusing on thoughts that aren’t linked to your panic attacks or negative feelings about the thing causing them (like “I’m going crazy!”). These strategies will help reduce anxiety levels while also improving self-confidence levels by teaching us how our brains work in situations where we’re at risk for experiencing fear responses.* Don’t try too hard; just relax into what’s happening instead!

It’s important to know the symptoms of anxiety disorders so you can get help if you need it

Here’s what you should know about getting help for an anxiety disorder:

  • Anxiety disorders are common. About 40 million adults in the U.S. experience an anxiety disorder each year, according to the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH). That number doesn’t include children or teens who may also be affected by these conditions.
  • Symptoms can vary widely depending on the type of anxiety disorder you have and how severe it is. For example, some people with social phobia may only feel nervous when they’re around other people. Others might experience physical symptoms such as sweating or having a racing heart rate when they’re alone in their home or car at night before bedtime. Both forms of social anxiety can cause similar problems with sleep patterns due to increased stress levels caused by worrying about whether someone will judge them based on their appearance or behavior during a potential encounter with another person (e.g., at work).

Conclusion

The first step to anxiety disorder treatment is identifying the condition. If you’re unsure if your symptoms are causing a problem, talk with your doctor or therapist. It’s also a good idea to keep a list of triggers and any specific situations that make you anxious.

 

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