How does anxiety disorder differ from normal anxiety? What are its causes and treatment?
What are anxiety disorders?
Anxiety is a normal response to stress. However, anxiety disorder differs from normal feelings of anxiousness – it involves an excessive anxiety or fear of a particular situation, place, object, or activity. The distress caused by an anxiety disorder can keep you from living your life to the fullest.
Several factors can increase your risk of developing an anxiety disorder, including traumatic events, substance or alcohol abuse, stress due to illness, and inherited traits.
What are the types of anxiety disorders?
There are numerous types of anxiety disorders, namely:
Agoraphobia
Agoraphobia is the excessive fear of being in situations where escaping may be embarrassing or difficult. People with agoraphobia often fear to be in open spaces, enclosed spaces, standing out in a crowd, or going outside the home alone.
Generalized Anxiety Disorder
Generalized anxiety disorder is a persistent and excessive worry that can significantly interfere with daily living. This ongoing worry may be accompanied by physical symptoms, including sleeping problems, restlessness, feeling on edge, and muscle tension.
Social Anxiety Disorder
Previously known as social phobia, social anxiety disorder is the fear of being embarrassed, rejected, or humiliated in social interactions. Common examples include fear of meeting new people and fear of public speaking.
Panic Disorder
Panic disorders are characterized by random, recurrent panic attacks. During a panic attack, you may feel dizzy and nauseous; you may experience palpitations and chest pain; you may experience chills or hot flashes, tingling or numbness; and you may feel like you are losing control or dying.
Phobias, Specific Phobia
A specific phobia is a persistent and excessive fear of a specific situation, activity, or object. People with phobias know that their fear is excessive, but they have difficulty overcoming it. These fears cause extreme distress and cause people to go to extreme lengths to avoid what they fear.
How can Prime Behavioral Health help?
Anxiety disorders each have unique characteristics and symptoms can differ from one person to another. At Prime Behavioral Health, we primarily treat anxiety disorders with a combination of psychotherapy and medications. While these medications may not be able to fully cure anxiety disorders, they can provide the patient with significant relief from their symptoms. We also offer a variety of self-help, coping, and managing techniques to make treatment more effective.
We Are Ready to Listen
If you’re in need of assistance, get in touch with us at 301-477-2128 or Set An Appointment now.
If you are experiencing thoughts of suicide or are concerned about a loved one, please contact Maryland’s Crisis Hotline at +1-800-422-0009 or you can reach out to the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at
1-800-273-TALK (8255). If you don’t feel comfortable speaking to someone, you can use the Crisis Text Line by texting HOME to 741741. For immediate crisis support, please call
911. For other resources, please visit
https://www.mdcrisisconnect.org/.
