Types of Anxiety Disorders

Anxiety is a normal reaction to stress that helps one to cope with a stressful situation whether at work, in school, to study harder for a test or just to help us keep focused on an important speech.  However, when anxiety becomes an excessive, irrational experience in everyday situations, anxiety becomes disabling.  When diagnosing anxiety, it falls into one of six major types of disorders, each with its own distinct symptoms:

Generalized Anxiety Disorder or GAD: If consistent worries and fears are a distraction from your day-to-day activities or you’re troubled by a persistent feeling that something bad will happen, you may have generalized anxiety disorder (GAD). People with GAD worry and feel anxious nearly all of the time, though they may not even know why.  This type of anxiety can cause physical symptoms like restlessness, insomnia, stomach upset and fatigue.

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder or OCD: This type of anxiety causes unwanted thoughts or behaviors that seem impossible to stop or control. Someone with OCD may be troubled by recurring worry or obsessions (ex: that you forgot to turn off the iron or that you might injure someone). In addition, people with OCD may suffer from uncontrollable compulsions, like washing your hands over and over again, as well.

Phobia: Phobia is an exaggerated fear of an object, activity, or situation that presents little to no danger in real life.  Many suffer from fear of animals such as snakes and spiders, fear of flying, and fear of heights. A severe phobia may cause you to go to extreme lengths to avoid the thing you are afraid of and avoidance only makes the phobia stronger.

Panic disorder:  This form is characterized by repeated, unexpected panic attacks, as well as fear of experiencing a future episode.  This disorder may also be accompanied by agoraphobia, or a fear of being in places where escape or help would be difficult in the event of a panic attack. Those with added agoraphobia, are likely to avoid public places or confined spaces.

Social Phobia: Someone with a debilitating fear of being seen negatively by others and humiliated in public, may have social anxiety disorder, or social phobia. Often thought of as extreme shyness, in severe cases, social situations are totally avoided.

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD): PTSD is an anxiety disorder that can occur after a traumatic or life-threatening event and include symptoms such as flashbacks or nightmares, startling easily, withdrawing from others, and avoiding situations that remind of the event.

So where does one turn to for treatment of all of these debilitating forms of anxiety?  Zoloft or sertraline offers benefits for multiple conditions, including major depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD), panic disorder and social phobia (social anxiety disorder).  It is highly effective for panic disorder and boasts 15 years of effective treatment history.  Plus, Zoloft doesn’t cause weight gain like some other anti-depressant drugs.  In 2007, sertraline was the most prescribed antidepressant on the U.S. market, with over 29 million prescriptions written.