Anxiety disorders
definition
Fear is first and foremost a feeling that everyone knows because everyone has experienced fear to various degrees in their life. Fear is therefore something that is part of life.It protects us from stupid things and too big risks, it reminds us to be careful and can therefore be an important companion. But what happens when the fear grows, it grows so far that we can no longer understand and explain it? So what if the companion becomes a threat?
The following text gives you an overview of the most important anxiety disorders.
Forms of anxiety disorders
The morbid fear occurs in different forms. A basic distinction must be made between:
- Generalized anxiety disorder
- Panic attack / panic disorder
- Agoraphobia
- Social phobia
- Obsessive-compulsive disorder
Common to all anxiety disorders is the disproportionate level of fear in relation to the current situation.
Generalized anxiety disorder
Generalized anxiety disorder is characterized by diffuse anxiety with tension, apprehension and apprehension about everyday events and problems over a period of at least six months, accompanied by many other psychological and physical symptoms.
Read more about the topic here: generalized anxiety disorder
Panic attack / panic disorder
A panic attack is the sudden occurrence of a physical and psychological alarm reaction with an unclear cause and usually only for a few minutes without an appropriate external cause. The person concerned is often not aware of a panic attack.
The behavior of panic is inherent in every person and serves in earlier stages of evolution to provide energy in life-threatening situations.
Read more about the topic here: Panic attack
Social phobia
A social phobia is the permanent fear of meeting and dealing with other people and, above all, the fear of negative evaluation by other people.
With social phobia, like any other phobia, the sick person feels a logically incomprehensible (irrational) fear. In social phobia, as the name suggests, this fear is related to social situations.
You may also be interested in this topic: Attachment disorder
Epidemiology
Average life prevalence (from Angenendt et al. 1998)
- Agoraphobia: 5.4%
- Panic disorder: 2.0%
- Social phobia: 2.5%
- Generalized anxiety disorder: 5.1%
Gender ratio
female: male 2: 1 (social phobia more like 1: 1)
Age of first illness (after Perkonigg & Wittchen 1995)
- Specific phobias 5-14 years
- Social phobia 0-5 years, 11-15 years
- Agoraphobia 20-30 years
- Panic disorder 25 - 30 years, in men 2nd peak> 40 years
- Generalized Anxiety Disorder (25-30 Years)
Very often anxiety is a symptom of another mental disorder. For example, almost 90% of all patients meet with a Borderline disorder at some point the criteria for an anxiety disorder.
