Anxiety is a common human emotion that is experienced by everyone at some point in their lives. However, when anxiety becomes persistent and starts interfering with daily activities, it can be classified as an anxiety disorder.
Anxiety disorders are a group of mental illnesses that are characteriSed by excessive worry, fear, and uneasiness. There are several different types of anxiety disorders, each with its own set of symptoms and treatment options.
We hope to shine a light on a few of these in this article. We have grouped them into categories to make it easier to find your way through this article however, these groupings are crucially not medical groupings and instead more informal ways of navigating through complex concepts. We hope you find it useful.
SOME OF THE MORE WELL-KNOWN DISORDERS:
- Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD)
- Panic Disorder
- Social Anxiety Disorder
- Health anxiety
Generalised anxiety disorder or GAD is a persistent feeling of anxiety and excessive worry that permeates most days for people with the condition. To read more about whether you experience anxiety or an anxiety disorder like GAD, click here.
Panic disorder is the experience of frequent panic attacks for seemingly no clear reason. Panic attacks can feel life-threatening and may include the feeling of not being able to breathe, blurred vision, fainting, difficulty speaking or thinking clearly and other symptoms.
Social anxiety disorder or social phobia is an overwhelming fear of social situations. Post-pandemic, many may be experiencing social anxiety. Social anxiety disorder is an intense fear of social situations where they think that they will embarrass themselves. The situations vary from person to person but may include public speaking, meeting new people, or speaking to people in authority. People with social anxiety disorder may experience physical symptoms such as sweating, trembling, or blushing in social situations. It often is combined with low self-esteem or low confidence, as are many experiences of other anxiety disorders.
Health anxiety (previously known as hypochondria) is an intense fear of illness or disease, a constant worry about their health, even in the absence of any symptoms. This anxiety can lead to excessive doctor visits and medical testing.
DISORDERS WITH CLEAR PHYSICAL SYMPTOMS:
All anxiety disorders have physical symptoms such as elevated heartrates, fainting, trouble regulating breathing and more. But certain anxiety disorders are often experienced as physical symptoms first and foremost, then traced back to being about the anxiety related to those symptoms.
- Selective Mutism
- Agoraphobia
- Claustrophobia
Selective mutism is when a person, often a child, does not speak. It’s a severe anxiety disorder that sometimes occurs very suddenly. It can mean the person avoids eye contact and finds it impossible to speak either in front of certain people or in groups. Mutism in general might be connected to anxiety disorders too.
Agoraphobia is when a person has an excessive fear of leaving their home. This anxiety disorder could stem from many reasons. Like with other phobias it is an overwhelming fear that can impact life hugely. The physical impact of agoraphobia can mean a person becomes extremely withdrawn and fearful of going outside which can have a huge impact on physical and mental wellbeing.
Claustrophobia is when a person has an extreme fear of confined spaces. People with the condition will often avoid any situations where they might become trapped or have to be in a small space such as a lift but like with any anxiety disorder, avoiding the perceived catalyst may increase the symptoms and lessen chance of recovery.
INTERPERSONAL RELATIONSHIP ANXIETY DISORDERS:
A lot of relationships can cause anxious feelings. But some people develop anxiety disorders clearly linked to relating to others. These are very common and very treatable.
- Social Anxiety Disorder (already outlined above)
- Separation Anxiety Disorder
- Attachment disorders (not a type of anxiety disorder but can cause great anxiety)
Separation anxiety disorder is often experienced in children with recurrent and excessive fear of leaving loved ones or home, constant and excessive worry about loved ones and extreme terror of being parted from those they are close to. While for children it is seen as a healthy part of developmental growth, sometimes this can be experienced in adulthood either due to developmental traumas or adverse situations in adulthood. This fear or anxiety must be beyond what is developmentally appropriate for the individual's age and must persist before diagnosis.
Attachment disorders might not be classed as an anxiety disorder, but they can cause a lot of anxiety. This is an area of research from Bowlby in the 1990s. Attachment disorder might be anxious attachment, avoidant attachment or disorganised attachment all of which might hinder a person’s ability to form lasting relationships and are associated often with adverse conditions during formative years and unmet childhood needs.
ALL THE PHOBIAS…
There are some medically named phobias. But there are also many other phobias people might experience. To meet the criteria necessary to be medically diagnosed with a Specific Phobia, according to guidelines in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual 5th edition, a phobia must be include the following: is an excessive and unreasonable fear, provokes an immediate anxiety response, affects your routine in a life-limiting way, means you avoid the thing/situation or exposure to it causes extreme distress and this fear is not caused by another disorder.
The phobias we’ve already mentioned that meet this criteria and are listed in the DSM include: Agoraphobia, Social Phobia (Social Anxiety Disorder), Panic Disorder. There is also Specific Phobia (or Simple Phobia – although that medical terminology may seem a contradiction in terms since it’s unlikely a phobia is experienced as “simple”).
However people often describe their excessive fears as phobias even if they do not meet the DSM criteria. So you might hear people speak of a fear of many things as a phobia. And these might include:
- Nyctophobia – fear of the dark, anxiety when the sun goes down
- Monophobia – fear of being alone
- Scopophobia – fear of being watched
- Haphephobia – fear of being touched
- Athazagoraphobia – fear of being forgotten
- Emetophobia – fear of vomiting
- Trypophobia – fear of holes
- Coulrophobia – fear of clowns
- Trypanophobia - Fear of needles
- Arachnophobia - Fear of spiders
- Aquaphobia - Fear of water
- Hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia – the fear of long words
- And many more…
HANG ON! ARE THEY ANXIETY DISORDERS?
- Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD)
- Eating Disorders
- Body dysmorphic disorder
- Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
These kinds of conditions, whilst diagnosed and classified as separate to anxiety disorder can begin as a means to managing overwhelming anxious feelings and can stem from undiagnosed anxiety disorders. Our minds are incredible things and will find new ways to survive overwhelming thoughts and feelings like undiagnosed anxiety disorders by creating new mind maps for coping that can lead to the development of other mental illnesses like eating disorders, OCD or phobias.
It's important to note that some anxiety disorders, such as OCD and PTSD, are also classified as a separate class of disorders, but they still have anxiety as a key symptom .
Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). is a mental health condition that is characterised by unwanted, intrusive thoughts also colloquially known as ‘obsessions’, that can lead to repetitive behaviours or compulsions. These compulsions are often performed to reduce anxiety caused by the obsessions.
Body dysmorphic disorder is when a person spends a great deal of time worrying about their physical appearance, a specific part of their body or an overall unease with their bodily appearance. The perceived “flaws” are often imperceptible to others and are anxiety related.
PTSD is a disorder developed after a person goes through traumatic events and has related symptoms to anxiety disorders. Symptoms of both PTSD and CPTSD (complex PTSD – originating from childhood) can be intense.
Another group of disorders linked to anxiety are eating disorders. People with eating disorders such as anorexia nervosa or bulimia nervosa often experience intense anxiety about their weight and body image. This anxiety can lead to extreme dieting behaviours, binge eating, and other ultimately life-threatening behaviours. Some eating disorders are directly related to anxiety around food types, colours or other restrictive thoughts connected to food and eating
LESSER-KNOWN ANXIETY DISORDERS
- Acute Stress Disorder (ASD)
- Anxiety Disorder not otherwise specified
- Substance-Induced Anxiety Disorder
- And many others!
Acute stress disorder is often very similar in its symptoms to PTSD as it involves a lot of dissociation just like PTSD can – meaning disconnection from the world around a person. However it is different in that it is experienced usually within hours or days after a traumatic event whereas PTSD is longer term in its symptoms.
Substance-Induced Anxiety Disorder is when a person presents as not experiencing anxiety disorder at all until they use a substance, perhaps commonly alcohol or recreational drugs. Of course, other things affect our brain chemistry including relationships, food, patterns of behaviour, social interactions hence why anxiety disorders can become quickly linked to these things.
TYPES OF ANXIETY RELATED TO MODERN LIFE:
Modern life in general does create a lot of anxiety. However strongly experienced some anxieties can be, they may not be recognised yet as anxiety disorders by the living in a post-pandemic, climate change affected world and therefore the anxiety hinges upon very specific topics related to living in the 2020s era.
- Climate Anxiety
- Technophobia
- Pandemic Anxiety
- Politicophobia
There are a vast number of anxiety disorders and phobias, many of which are being medically recognised now. This list we’ve compiled will be constantly changing.
There are a huge number of anxiety disorders and phobias. They can be highly debilitating if left untreated. But there is always hope. All the above conditions and experiences can be properly diagnosed and treated. While for some they may make a full recovery, for others they may learn how to manage their experience of anxiety disorder more effectively. And while it’s not yet possible to guarantee prevention of these anxiety disorders yet, with further research, and crucially funding for that research, it may well be possible.
This is why mental health research is so vital – to constantly chase and catch the latest developments so we can help those inhibited by these symptoms more effectively. And that is why we at MQ need your help to aid research that will effect true change. And you can support mental health research now.
If you feel concerned, you might be experiencing symptoms of an anxiety disorder it’s important to seek medical help. Talk to your GP or call the Anxiety UK helpline on 03444 775 774. And if you’re wondering whether you’re experiencing anxiety or anxiety disorder, read our article here.
Many thanks to MQ Researcher Professor Colette Hirsch from Kings College London for her help in reviewing this article before publication. Read more about her development of a new evidence-based intervention for anxiety and depression.
