Anxiety and Anxiety Disorders
Let's dive deeper into what anxiety is and the different types of anxiety disorders.
What is Anxiety?
Anxiety is an emotion characterized by feelings of tension, worried thoughts, and physical changes like increased blood pressure.
Anxiety is a common human emotion characterized by feelings of fear, worry, and apprehension.
We hear the term thrown around all the time. "I am feeling so anxious." "I have test taking anxiety." "I am feeling a bit anxious before this job interview." You see, mild anxiety is a common and normal human emotion that many people experience in response to stressors or challenging situations. It is a natural and adaptive response that can help people cope with stress and avoid danger. Having mild anxiety is usually never a cause for concern; it's the body's way of coping with danger. You probably aren't on our website experiencing mild anxiety; you are most likely here due to your anxiety getting out of control. If anxiety becomes excessive, persistent, or interferes with daily functioning, it may be indicative of an anxiety disorder. Let's explore what anxiety disorders are and the key differences between them and mild normal anxiety.
Anxiety Disorders
Anxiety disorder is a broad term to describe a more specific issue. Anxiety disorders are a group of mental health conditions characterized by excessive and persistent feelings of fear, worry, or dread that can interfere with job performance, school work, daily activities, and relationships. For most people with anxiety disorders, the anxiety does not go away and can worsen over time. There are several types of anxiety disorders, and people can suffer from just one or many different anxiety disorders.
Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD)
Generalized Anxiety Disorder is a mental health condition characterized by persistent and excessive worry about a variety of different things, such as health, work, or relationships. The worry is often difficult to control and can cause significant distress and impairment in daily functioning. This is not to be confused with mild anxiety or occasional worrying over life events. People that suffer from GAD are plagued with constant worry and anxiety that lasts for several months.
GAD Symptoms
Some of the many GAD symptoms include restlessness, feeling on edge, or being easily fatigued.
Excessive and persistent worry about everyday events, activities, or responsibilities, even when there is no obvious reason to worry.
Difficulty controlling worry or stopping anxious thoughts. And many more symptoms.
FreeMind Recovery Members have access to a list of all anxiety disorder symptoms. Ranging from mental symptoms to physical.
Panic Disorder is characterized by sudden and recurrent panic attacks, which are episodes of intense fear or discomfort that occur unexpectedly. Panic attacks are usually accompanied by a sudden and intense fear or discomfort, which may be accompanied by physical symptoms such as rapid heart rate, sweating, trembling, or shortness of breath. More mild panic attacks can sometimes be referred to as anxiety attacks. Panic attacks are usually more intense and can leave your nervous system in a state of severe stress and shock.
Panic Disorder Symptoms
A feeling of being out of control or of going crazy.
Persistent worry about having another panic attack, which may lead to avoidance of situations or activities that may trigger anxiety.
A strong urge to escape from the situation or environment in which the panic attack occurred. And many more symptoms.
Panic disorder was a difficult anxiety disorder that I once suffered from. I had all the symptoms listed above and many more. One of the worst feelings of having constant panic attacks is that your body is left in a state of shock. Sometimes this can last a couple of hours, and sometimes it can last days or weeks.
Social Anxiety Disorder
Social Anxiety Disorder is a mental health condition characterized by intense fear or anxiety in social situations due to the fear of being judged, embarrassed, or scrutinized by others. People with SAD often experience significant distress and avoidance of social situations, which can interfere with daily activities and relationships.
Social Anxiety Symptoms
Difficulty making or keeping friends, or forming romantic relationships.
Distress or impairment in social, academic, or occupational functioning.
Physical symptoms such as blushing, sweating, trembling, or nausea in social situations.
Phobias are a type of anxiety disorder characterized by an intense, irrational, and persistent fear of a specific object or situation, such as flying, heights, or spiders. The fear is often disproportionate to the actual danger posed by the object or situation and can lead to avoidance behaviors that interfere with daily activities and relationships.
Phobias Symptoms
Intense fear or anxiety in response to a specific object or situation, which may be out of proportion to the actual threat posed by the object or situation.
Avoidance of the object or situation that triggers the fear or anxiety.
Preoccupation with the object or situation that triggers the fear or anxiety.
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD)
OCD (Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder) is a type of anxiety disorder characterized by the presence of disturbing intrusive and unwanted thoughts, images, or impulses that cause significant anxiety and compulsions. Compulsions are repetitive behaviors or mental acts that an individual feels compelled to perform to reduce the anxiety caused by disturbing intrusive thoughts. Notice the use of the word "disturbing." OCD thoughts are usually more extreme, disturbing, and irrational than other anxiety disorder thoughts.
More on OCD
OCD is one of the most misunderstood anxiety disorders. Because of that, here at FreeMind, we have made a separate channel for OCD. If you or your loved one are suffering from OCD or think you might be, check out the OCD section.
Agoraphobia is a type of anxiety disorder characterized by intense fear or anxiety of being in situations or places from which escape might be difficult or embarrassing. People with Agoraphobia usually fear using public transportation, being outside alone, being stuck in closed spaces, and much more. This fear or anxiety often leads to avoidance behaviors that can significantly interfere with daily activities and relationships. In more severe cases, individuals might become housebound.
Agorophobia Symptoms
Feeling trapped or helpless in situations that trigger fear or anxiety.
Physical symptoms such as sweating, shaking, rapid heartbeat, and difficulty breathing when exposed to the object or situation.
Avoiding certain situations and locations that may trigger anxiety or panic attacks
Panic attacks
Important Note!
If you don't suffer from OCD or Depersonalization Derealization Disorder(DPDR), staying away from those channels is recommended. Reading up on it will not be beneficial for non-sufferers. OCD is characterized by extremely disturbing thoughts and mental or physical compulsions. DPDR is characterized by an extreme disconnection from oneself. Please take note before entering in those channels.
Anxiety vs Anxiety Disorders
Now that we have listed some of the major types of anxiety disorders, it is important to distinguish the difference between mild anxiety and anxiety disorders. Mild anxiety is "healthy" anxiety that does NOT impair your life, reduce your quality of life, and leave you in constant fear or worry. In contrast, most anxiety disorders are characterized by: significant life impairment, reduced quality of life, severe fear that is constant and never ends, and much more.
If you are undiagnosed and believe that you relate more to anxiety disorders, please consult with your doctor or therapist to get diagnosed. It is important to note that many anxiety disorder symptoms overlap, and anxiety disorder online "tests" are not an accurate diagnosis. Our mission at FreeMind is not to diagnose you but to help you make a FULL recovery so you can get back to enjoying your life.
@Jared
Hey everyone! My name is Jared. I am a software engineer who loves building websites and software, traveling, hiking, and playing all types of sports. For most of my life, I was ungrateful for all of these things and took them for granted. Anxiety eventually stripped away everything from me. In June of 2022, I had a massive and intense panic attack that would completely change my world. I had a random intrusive thought that led to a severe panic attack. The next day I woke up completely disconnected from myself and my surroundings. I developed chronic depersonalization derealization disorder, panic disorder, and other anxiety disorders caused by one panic attack. It was pretty sad seeing how I went from living my best life to being unable to function overnight. I was unable to eat, sleep, or even leave my bed. I was in a paralyzed mental state; nothing like that happened to me before, so my fears continued to grow. I grew fearful of everything. I was too afraid to drive, be by myself, be in large crowds, look at the sky, and even be too afraid to leave the house at some point. I had hundreds of symptoms plaguing me (nocturnal panic attacks, visual snow, shortness of breath, etc.). I had new anxiety symptoms show up every week for over 7+ months. I lost everything I owned, including my job, apartment, and much more. Fear became my new normal, and it felt like I never had another normal thought in my life again. OCD plagued me daily, DPDR took away all joy from life, and anxiety made me fearful of doing anything. These three disorders would take control of my life for the next 8+ months until I found something that worked. I slowly began crawling out of the depths of anxiety. I started training my brain to be normal again; I began to overcome all irrational and rational fears in my life. Fast forward to today: I conquered planes, long drives, crowded areas, leaving the house, and more. I am still here standing, almost nearly recovered, and the best part is that anyone can recover or make a near recovery like me. At my lowest, I could not afford a $100-$500 anxiety, DPDR, or OCD course. FreeMind is the program I desperately needed back then - one that could provide guidance, understanding, and financial accessibility! Register for FREE today to see my full anxiety recovery story. I'll show you what I did right, what I did wrong, and how you can recover fully.
FreeMind Recovery Members have full access to all Anxiety symptoms, Anxiety recovery methods, relaxation techniques, and much more.
Research has shown that psychotherapy, self-help therapy, and lifestyle changes such as stress management techniques and exercise are critical for someone to recover fully.
Here at FreeMind, we use a combination of great self-help therapy, which uses crucial CBT techniques and methods, stress management techniques, personalized online support, and much more to ensure our members are on track to make a full recovery.
Once you join our recovery support group, you will begin to understand what you are dealing with, what caused your severe anxiety, and why it is stuck on to you; this is vital to recovery. With good use of self-help therapy and techniques, I was able to make a full recovery from almost all of my anxiety disorders.
You can make a full recovery from any anxiety disorder. Here at FreeMind, our mission is to guide you through recovery so you can get back to living a fulfilling life!
I built this website with one intent, to provide anxiety disorder recovery services at no cost to you. When I was at my lowest, I was unable to pay my rent, let alone $300, for an anxiety recovery course.
FreeMind is the anxiety disorder recovery website I needed two years ago. It is free and continues to grow daily! FreeMind has several pages, links, audios, and much more to help you make a full recovery. (Videos coming soon)
New information is constantly added for support members. You will get the latest up-to-date anxiety disorder recovery information (OCD and DPDR Recovery sections coming soon!). Join hundreds of others in recovery today!
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