Anxiety Disorder- Symptoms-Subtypes

What is Anxiety Disorder?

Anxiety is defined as “a state of intense apprehension, uncertainty, and fear resulting from the anticipation of a threatening event or situation, often to a degree that normal physical and psychological functioning is disrupted” (American Heritage Medical, 2007, p. 38).

The American Psychiatric Association (APA) purports that each of the Anxiety Disorders share features of fear and anxiety.

 • “Fear is the emotional response to real or perceived threat, whereas anxiety is anticipation of future threat” (APA, 2013, p.189).

Symptoms:

Physiological symptoms include:

 muscle tension, heart palpitations, sweating, dizziness, or shortness of breath.

  Emotional symptoms include:

restlessness, a sense of impending doom, fear of dying, fear of embarrassment or humiliation, or fear of something terrible happening.

9 Mental Disorders under Anxiety Disorder

1)    Separation Anxiety Disorder: is an anxiety disorder in which an individual experiences excessive anxiety regading separation from home or from people to whom the individual has a strong emotional attachment (e.g., a parent, caregiver, significant other or siblings). Duration of at least six months in adults; at least one month in children.  

2)   Selective Mutism: Selective Mutism–the voluntary refusal to speak (typically occurring outside of the home or immediate family).

3)   Specific Phobia:  Specific Phobias represent the existence of fear or anxiety in the presence of a specific situation or object. This is called the “phobic stimulus” (APA, 2013).

4)   Social Anxiety Disorder: Individuals with SAD often fear negative evaluation (e.g., being humiliated, embarrassed, or rejected) by others (either unfamiliar or familiar) in performance, interaction, or observation situations.

A Performance only specifier has been added for SAD in the DSM-5 and includes a minimum duration of 6 months.

5)   Panic Disorder:

The essential features of Panic Disorder are: persistent fear or concern of inappropriate fear responses with recurrent and unexpected panic attacks   including physiological changes such as accelerated heart rate, sweating, dizziness, trembling, and chest pain. Panic Disorder has physical and cognitive symptoms and involves numerous, unexpected panic attacks (although it is important to note that individuals with Panic Disorder can have expected panic attacks too).

Essential features: Panic attacks represent intense fear or discomfort that occurs abruptly and peaks rapidly

6) Agora Phobia:  Agoraphobia is a newly codeable disorder in the DSM-5 and represents an intense fear resultant from real or imagined exposure to a wide range of situations. you fear and avoid places or situations that might cause you to panic and make you feel trapped, helpless or embarrassed

7) Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD): an anxiety disorder characterized by excessive, uncontrollable and often irrational worry, that is, apprehensive expectation about events or activities. These symptoms must be consistent and ongoing, persisting at least six months, for a formal diagnosis of GAD.

8)   Substance/Medication-Induced Disorder: • Anxiety caused by substance utilization is the primary criterion for the diagnosis of substance/medication induced Anxiety Disorder. Essential features include anxiety or worry that takes place across a number of settings and more days than not for at least six months. The individual experiences at least three characteristic symptoms including:

9)   Anxiety Disorder Due to Another Medical Condition: Medical conditions can cause the development of an Anxiety Disorder, but they must cause clinically significant distress

Examples of medical conditions that cause Anxiety Disorder Due to Another Medical Condition include endocrine disease, cardiovascular disorders, respiratory illness, metabolic disturbance, and neurological illness (APA, 2013).