Five Forms of Anxiety

The symptoms of anxiety cannot be compartmentalized into a single diagnosis; there are a number of conditions for which anxiety may be one of the symptoms. For this reason, when a person is experiencing symptoms such as rapid heart rate, sweaty palms, or dizziness, their doctor will need to investigate further to determine which form of anxiety is the cause.

For example, the doctor may ask in what setting the anxiety symptoms tend to occur or if the patient uses any type of prescription medication or illicit drugs. The doctor will also probably gather information about any traumatic events the patient has experienced in the past. With these questions, and perhaps additional testing, the patient’s healthcare provider can develop a diagnosis as to what type of anxiety is present.

Anxiety can take many forms. Here are five of the most commonly diagnosed forms of anxiety.

·         Social Phobia symptoms include an intense fear of being judged by others or of becoming the center of attention. It can cause the patient to avoid social contact and to worry incessantly about being humiliated weeks before a social occasion.

·         Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is a form of anxiety that results from traumatic events in the past. The symptoms of PTSD may not be displayed immediately after the trauma, but the patient may later begin reliving the event mentally, suffering from extended insomnia, withdrawing from everyday life, or being easily startled. PTSD symptoms take different forms, but the central factor of having lived through some form of trauma is a constant.

·         Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is actually a form of anxiety that causes a person to obsessively perform certain rituals that can hamper their ability to work, be in relationships, and otherwise function normally.

·         Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) is diagnosed when the patient reports feeling largely anxious or fearful without an obvious cause. This overall feeling of anxiety can keep the patient on edge, irritable, or overly emotional.

·         Panic Disorder is present when the person reports severe attacks of anxiety that appear without warning. The patient may have difficulty breathing, feel dizzy or nauseous, have an accelerated pulse rate, or experience chest pains. These episodes are usually not connected in any way to the person’s circumstances at the time.

Treatment for anxiety depends upon which form the disorder takes and also on the severity of the symptoms. The more details a patient can furnish their doctor or therapist, the more accurate the diagnosis and the more successful their treatment will be.

NEUROFEEDBACK FOR ANXIETY