Info: Common anxiety disorders

 

Generalized anxiety disorder

In generalized anxiety disorder, a person can worry excessively and uncontrollably about daily life events and activities and can have difficulty with uncertainty. A lot of the psychological symptoms can manifest physically.

Psychological symptoms
Physical symptoms 

  • Restlessness and fatigue

  • Persistent feeling of anxiety and fear

  • Scrambled or confused thoughts

  • Irritability

  • Sleeping troubles: falling asleep, staying asleep, disrupted sleep

  • Dizziness and/or nausea

  • Heart palpitations 

  • Shaking, twitching

  • Shortness of breath

  • Dry mouth

  • Headaches

  • Muscle pains and/or tension

  • Sweating

Social anxiety disorder 

Social anxiety disorder causes extreme fear in social settings. Triggers that vary among people with this disorder but are within day to day life include: talking to people, going to public places, presentations, etc..

Psychological symptoms
Physical symptoms 

  • Fear of being watched and judged by others

  • Avoidance with people

  • Restlessness and fatigue

  • Persistent feeling of anxiety and fear

  • Scrambled or confused thoughts
  • Irritability
  • Avoidance of others
  • Feelings of panic

  • Dizziness and/or nausea

  • Heart palpitations 

  • Shaking, twitching, freezing

  • Shortness of breath

  • Dry mouth

  • Headaches

  • Muscle pains and/or tension

  • Sweating 

  • Difficulty speaking, maintaining eye contact

Obsessive-compulsive disorder  

Obsessive-compulsive disorder causes a person to have uncontrolled fears of harm towards oneself or others that lead to obsessions. Intrusive thoughts, images, impulses, and triggers occur, resulting in acts of compulsions that induce a temporary sense of relief. 


OCD has 5 main subtypes. A person with OCD will exhibit one or more subtypes and the form may change overtime.

Cleaning and contamination 
Checking
Symmetry and ordering

  • Worry about germs or sickness 
  • Mental contamination (ex: crime, infidelity, scared of losing control)
  • Excessive cleaning and washing
  • Avoiding contact with strangers and certain places that seem “dirty”


  • Worrying they’ve done something to cause harm to oneself/others
  • Worry of natural disasters, accidents, illnesses, burglary
  • Repetitive checking
  • Doubting 

  • Need for things to be organized
  • Have to do things symmetrically
  • Monitoring or protecting organized objects
  • Balancing objects
  • Touching things symmetrically

Forbidden thoughts
Hoarding

  • Uncontrollable intrusive thoughts
  • Repetitive thoughts/rumination
  • Thoughts opposing ones values/beliefs


  • Keep unnecessary items
  • Difficulty discarding items
  • Collecting bacteria around items kept too long


Uncommon forms include: relationship OCD, need to know OCD, somatic OCD, existential OCD, fear of saying the wrong thing OCD, religious OCD, False memory OCD, Magical thinking OCD, and behavioural tics.


Post-traumatic stress disorder

Post-traumatic stress disorder, or (PTSD) may occur to those who have experienced a traumatic event: For example, war, a natural disaster, death, sexual assault, and etc.. 


Signs and symptoms:

  • Intrusive memories 

  • Repeated memories and flashbacks that feel like you're reliving the situation

  • Avoiding people, places, activities, objects and situations that may trigger distressing memories

  • Changes in physical and emotional reactions (ex: easily startled, feeling agitated)
























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