Diagnosis and Treatment

Anxiety Disorder

By: Keith Williams

There are many psychological disorders that effect the human body, One of those psychological disorders is anxiety disorder. Anxiety disorders are disorders in which anxiety is a characteristic feature or the avoidance of anxiety seems to motivate abnormal behavior. Anxiety is mental distress that is caused by fear. It is true that all of us are fearful or afraid at times, but people with anxiety disorders either do not know they are afraid or they are showing more fear than necessary. Anxiety disorders are said to be the most common form of mental disorders.

Anxiety disorders can be divided into specific diagnostic categories. One type of anxiety disorder is called specific phobia. A specific phobia is a very intense fear of something, that usually would be feared, but not feared excessively. The fear in a specific phobia is so intense that people that suffer from specific phobia avoid daily routine activities. Common phobias focus on animals, closed places, needles, or injury. It is expected to have some fear of these things, but paralyzing, intense fear is a sign of specific phobia.

Another type of anxiety disorder is panic disorder. A person that has a panic disorder usually suffers from recurrent panic attacks. A panic attack is a sudden feeling of intense terror or fear. There is usually no reasonable cause for this sudden feeling of fear. A person suffering from a panic attack may have chest pains, feel dizzy, have difficulty breathing, a they may feel like they are dying. Panic attacks effect you during and after the panic attack, which usually only last for a few minutes. After a person has a panic attack they still suffer, because they dread having another panic attack. To avoid a recurrence, people try to stay calm and avoid anything that would cause anxiety.

Obsessive-Compulsive disorder (OCD) is another form of anxiety disorder. Obsessions are the domination of one's thoughts...