Therapy for Anxiety

What are the different Anxiety Disorders? The DSM 5 defines seven different types of Anxiety Disorders:

Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD)

Folks with GAD experience excessive anxiety or worry for months with little to no reprieve.

Symptoms include restlessness or feeling wound-up or on edge, being easily fatigued, difficulty concentrating, irritability, difficulty controlling worry, and sleep issues.

Panic Disorder

Folks with Panic Disorder experience panic attacks, which are sudden periods of intense fear that may include heart palpitations, accelerated heart rate, sweating, trembling, sensations of shortness of breath, smothering, or choking, and feeling of impending doom.

Symptoms include sudden and repeated attacks of intense fear, feelings of being out of control during a panic attack, intense worries about when the next attack will happen, and fear or avoidance of places where panic attacks have occurred in the past.

Agoraphobia

Agoraphobia is anxiety related to finding oneself in a situation that would be difficult to escape. It often leads to isolation at home, because fears of leaving the house become overwhelming.

Symptoms include fear of using public transportation, fear of being in open spaces, fear of being in enclosed spaces, fear of standing in line or being in a crowd, or fear of being outside of the home alone.

Separation Anxiety Disorder

Separation anxiety disorder involves symptoms related to excessive anxiety triggered by the separation of a child from their home or caregiver. This disorder can occur in children or adults. Symptoms include:

• Recurrent excessive distress when separation from home or major attachment figures occurs or is anticipated.

• Persistent and excessive worry about losing, or about possible harm befalling major attachment figures.

• Consistent and excessive worry that an untoward event will lead to separation from a major attachment figure.

• Persistent reluctance or refusal to go to school or elsewhere because of fear of separation. Consistent and excessively fearful or reluctant to be alone or without major attachment figures at home or without significant adults in other settings.

• Persistent reluctance or refusal to go to sleep without being near a major attachment figure or to sleep away from home.

• Repeated nightmares involving the theme of separation, or repeated complaints of physical symptoms when separation from major attachment figures occurs or is anticipated

Selective Mutism Disorder

Folks with Selective Mutism display anxiety that manifests in a persistent failure to speak in specific social situations where speaking is expected, despite speaking in other situations. Symptoms include excessive shyness, fear of social embarrassment, social isolation, withdrawal, clinging, or temper tantrums.

Specific Phobia

Specific phobias are intense, irrational fears of certain things or situations. The fears surpass an intense feeling and create overwhelming experiences of anxiety.

Symptoms include fear, triggered by the specific object or situation, or anticipating it, that is excessive or unreasonable. Exposure to the phobic stimulus provokes an immediate anxiety response. The fear or anxiety is out of proportion to the actual danger posed by the specific object or situation, The phobic situation or situations are avoided or else are endured with intense anxiety or distress.

Social Phobia Disorder

Folks with social phobia experience a great deal of fear surrounding social or performance-related situations. There is a fear of feeling embarrassed or judged.

Symptoms include feeling highly anxious about being around and talking to people, feeling highly self-conscious in front of people, excessive worry about feeling humiliated, embarrassed, rejected, or judged, avoidance of places where there are other people, and difficulty making and keeping friends.