Anxiety takes many forms – and it can be useful to identify which type of anxiety you or a loved one may be dealing with. Here’s a run-down of the most common different types of anxiety.
Generalised anxiety disorder (GAD)
GAD is the most common type of anxiety disorder – and like the name suggests, it doesn’t usually have a specific trigger. It is anxiety at a more general level. The main GAD symptom is over-thinking and worrying excessively about events and everyday activities. It may make you feel out of control and cause you to feel anxious, ‘on edge’ and alert to your surroundings a lot of the time.
Experiencing this type of anxiety may negatively affect your day-to-day life. Common issues GAD may affect include your ability to leave the house, travel to places and work. Getting tired easily, trouble with sleep and concentrating are all symptoms, as well as sweating more than usual and experiencing muscle tension. Depression or other anxiety disorders are commonly experienced alongside GAD.
It can be quite hard to get a GAD diagnosis as it doesn’t have some of the unique symptoms of other common anxiety disorders. If you have felt anxious for whatever reason for most days over six months and it has had a negative impact on your life, your doctor will likely diagnose you with GAD.
Please seek the advice of your GP if you think you have GAD. However, if you feel like your anxiety doesn’t necessarily need medical treatment, and may not be a full-blown disorder, here’s some tips on how to deal with anxiety
Panic disorder
Have you ever had a panic attack? People with panic disorder experience panic attacks regularly with no specific trigger.
What is a panic attack? A panic attack is a type of fear response – they’re an exaggeration of your body’s normal response to stress, danger or excitement.
These frequent panic attacks can come out of nowhere and can be frightening and intense – often causing you to worry about having other panic attacks. It is not to be confused with triggered panic attacks, e.g. you don’t like large crowds and one forms around you for some reason and you have a panic attack – this doesn’t necessarily mean you have a panic disorder.
Here are some common panic disorder symptoms:
- An intense and overwhelming sense of fear or dread
- Chest pain or a feeling that your heart is beating irregularly
- Feeling that your may be having a heart attack or dying
- Hot flushes and sweating, or shivering and chills
- Mouth dryness or a choking sensation
- Dizziness, nausea and feeling faint
- Pins and needles, numbness or a tingling sensation in your fingers
- Needing to go to the toilet more
- Ringing in your ears
- A churning feeling in your stomach
Please seek the help of your GP if you are experiencing this and want help.
Social anxiety disorder
Also known as social phobia, social anxiety (SA) is an intense fear of social / performance situations. It’s normal for everyone to have passing worries about social situations, but when you are fearful of social occasions a lot of / all of the time, it could be social anxiety. Some situations can cause social anxiety before, during and after the event, like:
- Meeting new people or strangers
- Speaking in groups or in public
- Dating
- Drinking and eating in public
One of the main worries for people with SA is that they will embarrass themselves in front of people. This worry can cause physical symptoms like:
- Sweating
- A shaky voice
- A fast heart beat
- Skin blushing
You may also excessively worry about what other people think of you and feel conscious that they can see that you’re embarrassed. This may cause you to avoid certain situations and isolate yourself. You may realise that these fears are excessive, but still find it hard to control this intense worrying.
Please seek the help of your GP if you are experiencing this and want help.
Phobias
A phobia can be about anything, e.g. a place, object, situation, animal or feeling. They are not simply a fear, phobias are much stronger. Phobias develop when people get increased feelings of danger about an object or situation, so much so that they may arrange their daily routine to avoid the thing they have a phobia of. Common phobias include:
- Environmental phobias – like germs and heights
- Animal phobias – like snakes, spiders or rodents
- Body phobias – like being sick or seeing blood
- Sexual phobias – like performance anxiety
- Situational phobias – like going to the dentist
Agoraphobia
People with agoraphobia are afraid of being in situations where they may not be able / it may be difficult to escape, or where they wouldn’t be able to get help if something went wrong. Examples of this are:
- Leaving your home
- Using public transport
- Being in crowded places
- Being in public places
Being worried about these common day-to-day activities can make you feel distressed, anxious and panicked and cause you to avoid certain situations entirely.
Going to see your GP can be difficult if you suffer with agoraphobia. However, you can arrange a telephone appointment with them and they can help you get treatment.
Please seek the help of your GP if you are experiencing this and want help.
Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD)
Obsessions and compulsions are separate things that make up OCD.
Obsessions are an uninvited image or thought that you can’t stop thinking about and is mostly out of your control. These difficult-to-ignore thoughts can be disturbing and cause you to feel anxious and distressed.
Compulsions are things you do or think about to relieve anxiety. These behaviours can be hidden, e.g. saying a phrase in you head to calm yourself down, or obvious, e.g. making sure all the windows are locked. It’s common to think that something bad will happen if you don’t do these things, even if you acknowledge that it is not logical, but still find it difficult to stop.
There are many types of OCD, including:
- Checking – the constant urge to check yourself or your environment from damage, e.g. leaks, fire or harm
- Contamination – the need to wash and clean a lot because something or someone is ‘contaminated’
- Hoarding – not being able to throw away worn-out or useless items
- Intrusive thoughts – having uncontrollable upsetting, repetitive and often very disturbing thoughts pop up in your head
Please speak to your GP if you are worried you have OCD and they can discuss potential treatments with you.
Skin-picking
Medically known as dermatillomania skin picking is an impulse control disorder. You find it difficult to stop picking at your skin, even when it is healthy. This can cause bleeding, bruising and sometimes even permanent marks. People generally pick their facial skin, but some also pick other areas of the body and find it difficult to stop.
There is no known cause for picking your skin but it is thought that it could relieve tension and stress or is some sort of addiction. Its quite common to pick your skin and have OCD at the same time.
Your GP may arrange an appointment for you to see a specialist mental health doctor for a diagnosis.
Hair pulling
Another impulse control disorder is hair pulling, aka trichotillomania. If you have no underlying skin conditions that cause you to pull out your hair, but still have the urge then you may be experiencing this disorder. You will feel a strong desire to pull hair from places like your eyelashes, arms, eyebrows, legs or pubic area and find it difficult to stop.
When you pull your hair out, you may be relieving tension, experiencing pleasure or may not even be aware that you are doing it. It’s difficult to stop, so having this disorder long-term can lead to hair loss, and consequently significant distress, guilt and embarrassment.
Please seek the help of your GP if you are experiencing this and want help.
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
If you have been feeling anxious and have experienced a traumatic situation, like being in a fire, seeing people die or being sexually assaulted in the past, you could have PTSD. This anxiety can go on for months or years, even if you weren’t physically harmed. Please go and see your GP who can suggest treatment for this condition.
Body dysmorphic disorder (BDD)
If you are upset about the way you look and can’t stop thinking about it, you may be suffering from body dysmorphic disorder. This may manifest in several ways, including:
- Obsessively worrying about a perceived flaw in your physical appearance, when most people cannot see it or do not think it is as nearly bad as you do
- Developing compulsive routines and behaviours, like the excessive use of mirrors, or picking your skin or hair as a way of trying to cope
Many people with this disorder will not seek help as they are worried that they will be perceived as vain. It is not vanity – please see your GP to see how you can treat this disorder.
Last updated: 01 July 2020
Sources:
2 https://mentalhealth-uk.org/help-and-information/conditions/anxiety-disorders/types/
