Stress and Anxiety Disorders Simply Explained and Defined

Anxiety disorder is the trunk of the tree. There are many branches that include; post-traumatic stress disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, panic disorder, and obsessive-compulsive disorder, separation anxiety, and phobias. A branch under phobias is social anxiety. Social anxiety is the single largest anxiety disorder and effects more than 5 million Americans each year. Agoraphobia also falls under phobias and occurs when an individual feels they are in a place or situation where escape is difficult or embarrassing.

To put these anxiety disorders simply I’ve listed them below with their definition:

Post-traumatic stress disorder is exactly what it says. This anxiety disorder occurs when an individual is effected by an even that has already happened, yet the emotions of the situation still are very much present. Sometimes the emotions, the stress, the “feelings� of an experience can snowball into something larger than it originally was because of the fear that it may happen again.

Generalized anxiety disorder is an anxiety disorder that results in the worrying and fearing the worst of everyday situations and the effect cannot be pinpointed to one specific event. There is no one place to cast the blame of generalized anxiety disorder.

Panic disorder is somewhat similar to generalized anxiety disorder in that both can result from many different elements of worry. However, where panic disorder differs greatly from generalized anxiety disorder is the result from the stress. Panic disorder results in panic attacks (trembling, shaking, confusion, nausea, difficulty breathing) that can last for just a few minutes to several hours.

Obsessive-compulsive disorder is when an individual repeats an act with obsession as if to obtain comfort through the action. Almost as if it would be the “end of the world� if the repetitive actions were not carried through.

Separation anxiety is similar to post-traumatic stress disorder in that they both are caused by a focused event. However this anxiety disorder focuses on the separation of one individual with another person, place, or other object they have connected to in a strong emotional way. It’s as if when the object at hand was taken away, so were the emotions attached. This creates a void that the victim of separation anxiety doesn’t know or understand how to fill. Separation anxiety can lead to panic.

Phobias include social anxiety disorder and agoraphobia. Social anxiety is the fear or worrying that human contact (touch, conversation, eye-contact) will result in harsh criticism, resulting in avoidance of social arenas. Agoraphobia, as described above, occurs when an individual feels they are in a place or situation where escape is difficult or embarrassing.

The descriptions above explain the detail of anxiety disorders, and until 1980 the American Psychiatric Association didn’t even recognize that stress and nerves could develop and in fact was a disorder to be reckoned with. For this reason, many victims of anxiety did not receive adequate treatment and was were left to suffer through the symptoms and ultimately, the attacks. Although it seems a surprise that this disorder was not taken seriously until 1980, international research speedily came up with treatment that showed noteworthy. Thankfully, when treatment was given and taken the victims began seeing a change, especially if it was an early diagnosis. Presently there are many solutions available to choose from.

Anxiety disorders can be very serious if left untreated or if the individual has not found a viable solution. There are many answers out there, one in particular that has changed my life. My testimony shares the journey of a person that finally found the cure for anxiety, not just a coping mechanism.

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