Often people confuse nervousness for anxiety and anxiety for nervousness. Both are completely different feelings. While feeling anxious once in a blue moon is normal, having a diagnosis for an anxiety disorder is a grave concern.
You cannot call anxiety mere nerves or stress. It is a mental disorder with even physical symptoms such as shortness of breath, heart palpitations, nausea, panic, excessive worry, trouble sleeping, chills, tingling, numbness, dizziness, and muscle tension.
Anxiety comes in many varieties. To give you an idea, here is a look at some common anxiety disorders:
1 – Generalized anxiety disorder
Generalized anxiety disorder or GAD is an anxiety disorder in which the sufferer feels constant worry or uneasiness even at the littlest of things that don’t even matter in the eyes of a normal person.
2 – Social Anxiety
This type of anxiety refers to the fear of social situations. There can be varying degrees of social anxiety. Some people feel anxious in response to a specific social situation while for others it is so bad that they feel anxious in almost every social situation. This makes social interactions, even the smallest ones, difficult for them.
3 – Specific phobias
To have an excessive fear of a particular situation falls under the category of phobia. For instance, some people have a phobia of flying. This means they feel anxious and uncomfortable when in the air, as in when travelling in a plane.
4 – Post-traumatic stress disorder
PTSD results from a particularly traumatic event which a person cannot forget. Flashbacks of the event, insomnia from thoughts of it, etc. are some characteristics of PTSD. Such an anxiety disorder occurs when an event that harms one personally or is violent in nature occurs. This includes accidents, attacks, and military combat.
5 – Panic disorder
This type of anxiety disorder is such that it comes with several episodes of panic attacks. These attacks occur because of sudden and intense fear. Panic attacks also have physical symptoms such as increased heartbeat, sweating, shortness of breath, etc.
6 – Obsessive compulsive disorder
OCD is also a type of anxiety. In obsessive compulsive disorder, a person has obsessive thoughts, and then to combat them, he does compulsive actions. The thoughts and actions are both repetitive in nature. The obsessive thoughts are unwanted and disturbing while the compulsory behaviors that follow are only for temporary relief.
7 – Separation anxiety disorder
This type of anxiety is when a person feels anxious on the separation of someone he or she is attached to. For instance, children may experience anxiety disorder when their mother is away for a few days. Adults can also experience separation anxiety disorder.
Note that anxiety can be treated. Some ways to combat anxiety include practicing healthy habits such as quitting smoking, not drinking alcohol or caffeine too much, exercising, and eating a healthy diet. If your condition is severe, consider connecting with a professional and getting therapy.