Exploring Different Types of Anxiety Disorders and the Need for Treatment

Last year, Sarah Fader posted a message to her 16,000 Twitter followers while awaiting a text from a friend: “I don’t hear from my friend for a day—my thought, they don’t want to be my friend anymore #ThisIsWhatAnxietyFeelsLike.” Fader, 37, has generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) and her tweet quickly garnered the attention of not only her followers, but the media. In fewer than 140 characters, she gave voice to what millions of people experience every day.

Having GAD isn’t simply being a worrywart—it’s a debilitating medical condition that can cause significant emotional distress and severely impair your ability to function. People with GAD feel an overwhelming sense of anxiety that is not necessarily connected to any one experience or object. Instead, the anxiety is pervasive, attaching itself to a variety of situations and threading itself through virtually all aspects of your life. As the Help Guide says, “If constant worries and fears distract you from your day-to-day activities, or you’re troubled by a persistent feeling that something bad is going to happen, you may be suffering from GAD.” This can result in not only in psychological suffering, but may also manifest in physical symptoms like gastrointestinal problems, dizziness, insomnia, and restlessness that interfere with everyday life and could have long-term health effects.

“I thought I was dying,” Daniel says about his first panic attack. “My heart was racing, my chest hurt, I felt like I couldn’t breathe. I believed I was having a heart attack.” Daniel’s experience with panic isn’t unusual. According to doctors at the Montreal Heart Institute, “a quarter of 441 patients who came to the emergency room because of chest pains were, in fact, suffering from panic disorder, not a heart ailment.” However, not all panic attacks are alike; panic can manifest in a variety of ways both emotionally and physiologically.

People with panic disorder have “recurrent unexpected panic attacks, which are sudden periods of intense fear” that may be accompanied by a host of physical symptoms, including heart palpitations, difficulty breathing, sweating, and trembling or shaking. These feelings may be triggered by specific stimuli or have no apparent cause. In either case, they can be frightening and debilitating phenomena that impede normal function and keep you from being able to enjoy life.

I’m going to say the wrong thing. I’m going to get anxious and embarrass myself. I don’t think people like me. What if I offend someone? These are thoughts that virtually everyone has from time to time. But for people with social anxiety disorder, they come to shape your social interactions in a way that is deeply damaging to your inner self and your ability to function in the world.

People with social anxiety disorder experience extreme anxiety in social situations. While for some people this manifests in all social situations, for others it only arises in certain kinds of interactions, such as public speaking or public performance, meeting new people, or talking on the phone. It may also be caused by specific activities such as eating or drinking in front of someone, filling out a form in front of others, or ordering food at a restaurant. The profound feelings of anxiety caused by these situations are often paired with physical symptoms like shaking, blushing, dry mouth, lightheadedness, and stomach upset. As a result, you are likely to avoid any scenario in which your anxiety may arise, spend an inordinate amount of time ruminating over past social interactions, and can even become anxious about becoming anxious. This may severely limit your ability to participate in ordinary social and professional activities and forge meaningful connections with other people.

Julia’s obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) started early. “I used to wash my hands 30 times a day starting at the age of 10,” she says. “I couldn’t stop and it went on for years. The idea of germs was so repugnant to me that I made it my job to avoid them at all costs. At the time, others thought I was just a strange kid, but it was more than that. It was a constant cycle of anxiety and attempting to relieve that anxiety through dysfunctional means.”

OCD is an anxiety disorder characterized by “uncontrollable, unwanted thoughts” (obsessions) and “repetitive ritualized behaviors you feel compelled to perform” (compulsions). Obsessions often involve thoughts of doubt, fear of harming yourself or others, fear of contamination or a need for symmetry. Compulsions typically correspond to an obsession, acting as a disordered coping mechanism for the intrusive thoughts. For example, someone who lives with severe anxiety that they left the stove on or the water running may check the house multiple times before leaving while someone who is obsessed with symmetry may arrange their clothes so that they are all perfectly aligned and sorted by color. Some people, however, suffer only from compulsions or obsessions, but not both.

While OCD has now entered the pop culture lexicon and gained increased awareness, many erroneously regard it as a benign quirk rather than the disabling illness it truly is. The symptomatology of OCD can significantly disrupt your ability to function in a healthy way is deeply painful psychologically.

While the specifics of each form of anxiety differ, the current that runs throughout the different types of anxiety disorders is profound distress. For many, anxiety becomes the thing around which you build your life, fitting yourself into those narrow spaces in which you feel comfortable. This can be extraordinarily limiting, isolating, and emotionally harrowing. Many people who struggle with anxiety disorders feel a great sense of shame regarding their illness and may be reluctant to seek out care. But healing from these afflictions requires professional treatment.

Today there are more anxiety treatment options available than ever before. From pharmacological therapies such as SSRIs and benzodiazepines to Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and other talk-based modalities, modern medicine offers a range of paths toward healing. But if you have tried these treatments on an outpatient basis and have not found relief from your anxiety, it could be time to consider residential treatment.