We all experience anxiety disorder symptoms at some point or another. Actually a moderate amount of anxiety is good as it can serve as a motivator to achieve a goal. However, if there is too much anxiety, then performance goes down. It becomes a disorder if it prevents you from living life and doing the things you want to do.

If your anxiety becomes excessive, your world will start to shrink. You won’t go as many places as you typically do. Perhaps you become afraid to go to the grocery store, drive a car, or leave your house. The more you avoid your feared situation, the greater the anxiety will grow.

If your anxiety disorder symptoms become great enough you might have panic attacks. Many people learn they have panic attacks by going to the emergency room thinking they are having a heart attack, only to find that there is nothing wrong with them physically.

When you have a panic attack, your fight or flight instinct gets activated. In addition, you may freeze. These are all automatic responses that occur when we fear our life is in danger. Surprisingly, the fight or flight response can also be activated by an imagined fear.

Common anxiety disorders symptoms:

Obsessive-compulsive disorder

With this disorder, one has obsessive thoughts. You might fear something bad will happen or that you harmed someone. Alternately you may want things to be in a specific order, or need to adhere to a rigid schedule. These are intrusive and unwanted thoughts.

In addition there are compulsive behaviors. These compulsions help reduce the anxiety of the feared situation. However, the more one engages in the compulsions, the greater the obsessions grow.

Generalized anxiety disorder symptoms

With generalized anxiety disorder symptoms, the person worries about many different things, more so than the average person. It can cause a great deal of distress. There isn’t a specific trigger with generalized anxiety disorder, as there is with a phobia.

Panic disorder

When someone has recurrent panic attacks, they receive a diagnosis of panic disorder. The person tends to avoid the situation that led to their first panic attack. For example if it happens in the grocery store, the person may be afraid to go back. Or if it’s in the car, they may be afraid to drive. Over time, the person can have another panic attack in a different situation. Thus, there won’t be a specific trigger. The person fears having another panic attack.

Agoraphobia

This can be a common outcome of panic disorder. The person fears that they will not be able to escape or get away if they have another panic attack. They might think that they will make a fool out of themselves, or lose control. Thus they avoid any situation that might cause another panic attack. Over time they may even fear leaving their house.

Phobias

Unlike panic disorder that doesn’t have a specific trigger, a phobia occurs when a person sees a specific object or situation that can lead to a panic attack. Common phobias include, spiders, snakes, blood, vomiting, heights, and public speaking.

Social anxiety disorder symptoms

If someone has social anxiety, they fear certain social activities. They may fear that they said something to offend someone, or that they sound stupid or awkward. The person may be afraid they are fat or ugly and not want to go out, or that they don’t have anything that looks good on them. Fear of judgment is also a common symptom.

Separation anxiety disorder

This occurs when someone experiences intense anxiety if they are not with a certain person. They may fear a parent or loved one will die or something disastrous will happen to them. The person may not want to leave the house, or be alone because of this fear.

Post-traumatic stress disorder

If someone has an experience where his or her life/or life of a loved one is in jeopardy, or even hear about it in graphic detail, they may experience (PTSD). They will experience flashbacks or recurrent nightmares about the event. Avoidance of the situation, or things they previously enjoyed is another hallmark of the disorder. Guilt and emotional detachment can occur. The person may be easily angered or engage in substance abuse as a result.

If you have these anxiety disorder symptoms, you don’t need to suffer in silence. Anxiety is the main reason people come to therapy. There are many different treatment options including several types of therapy and relaxation techniques. If you are struggling with any type of anxiety, please give me a call at 713-304-6554 and we can come up with a game plan to get you back to your normal level of functioning.

Take care,

Debbie Grammas