Anxiety disorders are one of the most common reasons people go to psychotherapy. This type of psychological disturbance presents symptoms typical of extreme activation of the nervous system, and these are usually emotional, physiological and cognitive (thinking).

However, in order to overcome this form of discomfort, it is important to know its variations well. That’s why here we’ll review the different types of anxiety disorders through a summary of their characteristics, to get to know them one by one and distinguish them from each other.

Anxiety disorders: a very common condition

We’ve all felt anxiety from time to time. It’s a normal emotion. Just before an exam, because of a work problem or because you needed to make an important decision, you may have experienced its symptoms.

This is because anxiety is a normal reaction of people to situations of stress and uncertainty. The problem arises when several anxious symptoms cause distress or some degree of functional impairment in the life of the individual who suffers it, as it affects functioning in different areas of his or her life. For example: social and family relationships, work, school. Then the anxiety disorder is diagnosed.

anxiety disorders are one of the most common psychological pathologies. However, with appropriate treatment, people who suffer from it can learn to manage their symptoms and improve their quality of life.

Since there are significant differences between the different types of anxiety disorders, in today’s article we explain the different types of anxiety:

1. Generalized anxiety disorder

Many individuals feel anxiety or worry from time to time, especially when they have to deal with situations that can be stressful: speaking in public, playing a football game that means a lot, or going to a job interview. This kind of anxiety can make you more alert, helping you to be more productive and perform your job more efficiently.

People with generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) , however, feel anxiety and worry most of the time, not just in potentially stressful situations. These worries are intense, irrational, persistent (at least half the days for at least 6 months), and interfere with normal functioning in your daily life (activities such as work, school, friends, and family) because they are difficult to control.

  • You can learn more about the symptoms, causes and treatment of this pathology in the article: “Generalized Anxiety Disorder: symptoms, causes and treatment”

2. Panic disorder

Panic disorder is a very debilitating anxiety disorder and is different from ADD. While generalised anxiety disorder is known as trait anxiety, as it is more durable, panic disorder is known as state anxiety, as its symptoms are acute .

People with panic disorder experience feelings of death or the possibility of running out of air, which can cause both psychological and physical problems. In fact, the sensation may be so intense that it requires hospitalization.

In short, the panic attack is characterized by:

  • The presence of recurrent and unexpected panic attacks
  • Concern after having a panic attack that another one will occur, at least for a month.
  • Concern about the implications or consequences of a panic attack (such as thinking that the panic attack is a sign of an undiagnosed medical problem) For example, some people have repeated medical tests because of these concerns, and despite negative test results, they still have fears of discomfort.
  • Significant changes in behavior that are related to panic attacks (such as avoiding activities like exercise, which increases the heart rate)

Panic attacks reach their peak after 10 minutes and usually last up to half an hour, making the person feel tired or exhausted. They may occur several times a day or only once every few years.

  • You can learn more about panic attacks in our article: “Panic attacks: causes, symptoms and treatment”

3. Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder

Anxious thoughts can influence our behavior, which can be positive at times. For example, thinking that you may have left the oven on may make you go to check it out. However, if this type of thought is recurrent it can lead an individual to carry out unhealthy behaviours .

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder is characterized by intrusive thoughts, ideas, or images on the part of the individual who suffers from it. These cause anxiety (obsessions), and cause the person to perform certain rituals or actions (compulsions) to reduce discomfort.

Some examples of obsessive thoughts are: fear of contamination or feeling of doubt (for example, will I have closed the door of my house?), among others. Compulsions are, for example, washing your hands, repeatedly checking that the door is closed, counting, repeatedly organizing things, and so on.

On the other hand, it should be noted that OCD is a hybrid disorder, which is sometimes not considered part of anxiety disorders but rather of impulse control disorders or in its own category, the obsessive-compulsive spectrum .

  • In our article “Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD): what is it and how does it manifest itself” you can delve deeper into this psychopathology

4. Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)

This condition occurs when a person has experienced a traumatic situation that has caused great psychological stress , which can be disabling. When the person relives the event that caused the trauma, he or she may experience the following symptoms: nightmares, feelings of anger, irritability or emotional fatigue, detachment from others, etc.

Because of the high anxiety the individual feels, they may try to avoid situations or activities that remind them of the event that caused the trauma. Traumatic events can be, for example, a serious traffic accident, sexual abuse, torture during war

  • Learn more about the anxiety disorder that can follow a major emotional shock in our text: “Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder or PTSD”

5. Social phobia

The social phobia is characterized by an irrational fear of situations of social interaction. For example, individuals suffering from this type of anxiety disorder feel a disabling anxiety when they have to speak in public , because they are afraid of being judged, criticised, humiliated and think that others will laugh at them in front of others. Social phobia is a serious disorder, and some individuals may even suffer from it when talking on the phone or eating in front of other people

Although these people know they shouldn’t feel so bad about the triggers, they can’t control their fear and anxiety, so they often avoid these kinds of situations. Social phobia is often confused with shyness, but not all shy people have social phobia. According to a study published in the Journal Pediatrics in 2011, only 12 percent of people with shyness meet the criteria for social phobia.

We explain more about this study and about social phobia in this link.

6. Agoraphobia

Agoraphobia is often associated with irrational fear of being in open spaces such as big streets or parks. In reality, the agoraphobe feels a strong distress produced by situations in which he feels unprotected and vulnerable to anxiety attacks that are beyond his control. Therefore, the fear is not produced by these spaces per se, but by the consequences of being exposed to that place, where he feels defenseless. This means that in the most serious cases, the patient can be confined to his home as a form of avoidance.

If you want to know more about agoraphobia, click here.

7. Specific phobia

A specific phobia is an anxiety disorder characterized by a strong irrational fear of a stimulus, for example, a situation, an object, a place or an insect . The person suffering from a phobic disorder does everything possible to avoid that anxiety-provoking stimulus, and this avoidance behaviour may even interfere with the normal functioning of his or her daily life.

Specific phobias are many, some of them very strange. Some phobias are known and others not so well known, such as coulrophobia or fear of clowns, philophobia or fear of falling in love, amaxophobia or fear of driving.

  • The DSM IV manual distinguishes between five subtypes of specific phobias. Learn about them in this article: “Types of Phobias: Exploring Fear Disorders”

Bibliographic references:

  • Bonnot O, Herrera PM, Tordjman S, Walterfang M (19 May 2015). Secondary psychosis induced by metabolic disorders. Front Neurosci.
  • Hofmann SG, Dibartolo PM (2010). Introduction: Toward an Understanding of Social Anxiety Disorder. Social Anxiety.
  • Stephan WG, Stephan CW (1985). Intergroup Anxiety. Journal of Social Issues.
  • Nestadt, G.; Samuels, J.; Riddle, M.A.; Liang, K.I. et.al. (2001). The relationship between obsessive-compulsive disorder and anxiety and affective disorders: results from the Johns Hopkins OCD Family Study. Psychological Medicine 31.