Anxiety Disorders: Common Types, Symptoms and Treatments

2.) Social anxiety disorder

Everyone has felt self-conscious or embarrassed in front of others — but people with social anxiety disorder have an intense fear of being watched, judged or rejected. Some people fear social situations across the board, while others fear situations in which they have to speak or otherwise perform in front of others.

People with social anxiety disorder often avoid interacting with others. When they can’t steer clear, they experience extreme distress, including a rapid heart rate, blushing, trembling, feeling their mind go blank and nausea. Without treatment, social anxiety disorder can have profound effects on a person’s social life and work life.

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3.) Panic disorder

Panic attacks are sudden episodes of intense fear that involve extreme symptoms, such as sweating, chest pain, shortness of breath, choking sensations, dizziness and nausea, along with feelings of impending doom or death. They’re as scary as they sound. It’s common for people experiencing panic attacks to end up in an emergency room. Yet, unlike heart attacks, panic attacks typically subside within about 20 minutes.

Panic disorder is diagnosed when people who experience panic attacks become consumed with the fear of having another one. Panic disorder and agoraphobia, the fear of being in a place or situation in which you can’t escape or get help, often occur together.

4.) Specific phobias 

Heights, flying, snakes, needles, dental work — these things make many of us nervous, even scared. But people who have a phobia go to great lengths to avoid the object of their fear. People with a phobia feel powerless to control it, even when they recognize the fear is not based in reality. Symptoms such as rapid heartbeat, nausea, dizziness, fainting and difficulty breathing typically accompany phobias.

Phobias often start early in life, but they can occur any time. Among elderly adults, falling is a common phobia. Although phobias sometimes develop after a traumatic experience, they can also appear out of the blue.

Treatment for anxiety

Symptoms of anxiety overlap with those of other health conditions — for example, a rapid heartbeat could signal heart problems — so it’s important to visit a doctor to look into other medical causes, especially when symptoms start later in life, Laudate says. 

If medical causes are ruled out, cognitive-behavioral therapy, or CBT, is the place to start for all types of anxiety. “CBT should always be the number one option for anxiety disorders,” Hudak says.

Medication can play a role, but “it’s rare that someone should be treated with medication alone,” Hudak adds. Medications known as SSRIs, also used for depression, can be very helpful for some people, he says. One class of fast-acting anti-anxiety drugs, the benzodiazepines, can be habit-forming and come with serious side effects, including cognition and balance problems in older people. In Hudak’s experience, they’re not effective and can interfere with treatment. “I almost never [prescribe] benzodiazepines,” he says.

How does cognitive behavioral therapy work?

Anyone hesitant about therapy may be relieved to hear that CBT doesn’t entail months exploring your childhood. “We might spend a little time getting clarity about what brought [the anxiety] on,” Cooper says. “What matters more for me is: How is it affecting your life? How can we intervene to try and bring about change?” 

In CBT, a therapist helps you gradually reframe thought patterns — that’s the cognitive part. While acknowledging your feelings, you learn to “check the facts,” Cooper says. If you’re experiencing anxiety about an upcoming trip overseas, for instance, you may ask yourself, “What do I fear will happen?,” “How likely is it?” and “How could I cope if this did happen?” You may learn to recognize the racing thoughts keeping you up at night as a false alarm.

You also examine your behaviors, things you do — or don’t do. “Avoidance is one of the big things that can really propel the maintenance and worsening of anxiety,” Cooper says. Suppose someone has a bad experience with a dog and starts avoiding all dogs — and then starts “avoiding all animals, and then starts avoiding places where they suspect there might be animals,” she says. Ignoring or distracting yourself from the fear — more avoidance — can make the anxiety snowball even further.

Exposure therapy in CBT

Breaking the cycle of avoidance is key to treatment. Exposure therapy — gradually approaching the things you fear — is useful for all sorts of anxiety-related disorders, Cooper says. For someone with social anxiety related to performing, it might include imagining giving a presentation, then practicing it. In the case of a fear of dogs, you may work your way up to interacting with a dog that you deem friendly and reasonably safe. The goal isn’t to convince yourself that nothing bad will happen. “It’s about creating a more balanced, accurate perspective,” Cooper says.

People with excessive anxiety often underestimate their ability to cope. Through exposure therapy, they can learn that what they fear will happen is less likely than they predicted — and that if it does happen, it’s less catastrophic than they expected. Just as important, they learn “they can tolerate anxiety and distress without doing something to push it away,” Cooper says.

Group therapy can be helpful, in part by getting people to feel socially connected, which is crucial for mental health, Laudate says. Instead of being stuck in “everything’s going bad” mode, you may get another viewpoint and support from group members.

Being able to voice your fears — to a therapist, in a group or to a close friend — can loosen anxiety’s grip. “Life can be difficult. Life can be wonderful. It [can] be scary, it can be stressful, it [can] be all those things,” Cooper says. With support and treatment, you can manage and enjoy it.