What Is an Anxiety Disorder?
Most people experience feelings of
anxiety before an important event, such as a big exam, business presentation, or first date. An anxiety disorder, however, is an illness that fills people's lives with overwhelming anxiety and fear that are chronic and unremitting, and that can grow progressively worse. Tormented by
panic attacks, obsessive thoughts, flashbacks of traumatic events, nightmares, or countless frightening physical symptoms, some people with the condition even become housebound.
Anxiety disorders, as a group, are the most common mental illness in America. More than 19 million adults in America are affected by these debilitating illnesses each year. Children and adolescents can also develop them
(see Anxiety in Children).
Types of Anxiety Disorders
There are several conditions related to extreme anxiety.
These anxiety disorders include:
Each anxiety disorder has its own distinct features, but they are all bound together by the common theme of excessive, irrational fear and dread.
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