Depression, anxiety & mood

Severe anxiety disorders

Here’s a brief description of each of the severe anxiety disorders:

Acute stress disorder: Anxiety that lasts for up to one month following a traumatic experience. Similar to PTSD but subsides with time.

Anxiety disorder due to a medical condition: Pronounced anxiety, panic attacks, obsessions, or compulsions caused by a medical concern, such as asthma or cardiovascular disease (CVD).

Obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD): Recurrent distressing thoughts and uncontrollable repetitive behaviors meant to reduce anxiety provoked by those thoughts. Symptoms last more than an hour a day and cause significant distress or interfere with normal functioning.

Panic attack: A sudden wave of intense dread, fearfulness or terror, with physical symptoms such as shortness of breath, palpitations, dizziness, and chest pains.

Panic disorder: Recurrent panic attacks that occur suddenly and without reason.

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD): Distressing thoughts, anger, or other anxiety symptoms that occur for more than a month following a life-threatening or severe traumatic experience. Memories and environmental triggers prompt out-of-scale anxiety and panic that disrupt normal life. Women are vulnerable to PTSD following childhood abuse, including sexual abuse, rape, and traumatic childbirth. Symptoms include intrusive thoughts and memories, insomnia, anger, numbness, depression, avoidant behavior.

Social phobia: Symptoms of anxiety caused by certain social situations or performing in front of a group.

Specific phobia: Symptoms of anxiety and panic caused by exposure to a single feared object or situation, i.e., flying, heights, elevators.

Substance-induced pronounced anxiety: Anxiety, panic attacks, obsessions, or compulsions caused by medication, drug abuse, or toxin. Can include food allergies.

For more information on mild to moderate anxiety, and on natural methods to relieve both severe and generalized anxiety, read our article on chronic anxiety.

Click here for information on major anti-anxiety medications (also known as anxiolytics).

 

Last Modified Date: 04/18/2011