Anxiety disorders affect people of all ages and the many different types of anxiety disorders all have different symptoms

Having an Anxiety Disorder

Everyone in the world experiences feelings of anxiety at some point. Anxiety is a feeling of uneasiness, nervousness, worry, fear, or dread of what might happen or is about to happen. It’s usually a sense of anticipated danger, trouble, or threat. Feeling a bit anxious can be helpful sometimes, because anxiety makes you more alert and focused on warding off a potential problem. A little anxiety can help us do our best in situations that involve performance. The problem is when anxiety is so strong and frequent that it interferes with your functioning and causes you to feel overwhelmed, stuck, or unable to do what you need to do. Anxiety that is too constant or too intense needs to be addressed.

Anxiety disorder is one of the most common mental health conditions. Anxiety disorders affect people of all ages and the many different types of anxiety disorders all have different symptoms. What they all have in common is that the anxiety is frequent; is too strong; is out of proportion to the present situation; and affects a person’s daily life and happiness.

There are many different types of anxiety disorders, and you might have heard of some of them: generalized anxiety; obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD); phobias (intense fears) like social phobia (social anxiety); agoraphobia (an intense fear being in open or crowded places); and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Obviously, these can range from mild to severe, but if you think you suffer from any of them, please talk to a trusted adult to find out what you can do about it. Medication and therapy help tons! We can’t stress it enough!