
It is SO normal to be anxious these days, so I want to dive in and discuss what an anxiety disorder IS.


Short answer: When anxiety and fear gets in the way of you living your life.
There are 6 types of anxiety disorders:

You are worrying most days and it is really hard to stop worrying once it starts. This has been going on for at least 6 months and worries are about a lot of topics such as health, relationships, and finances. Hard to concentrate and/or sleep.

Fear of being rejected or humiliated in social interactions. The fear can be so extreme that you are afraid to talk with other people. Also can be limited to public speaking which is a specific performance based type of social anxiety.

INTENSE episodes of physical symptoms of anxiety (think heart racing, sweats, dizziness, chest pain, feelings of choking) that show up out of the blue and leave you feeling like you are going "crazy" or thinking you might die.

Fear of public spaces (pre-COVID) and of places where you think it will be hard to escape and you will feel trapped. This often goes with panic attacks as many people with agoraphobia fear having panic attacks in these places and situations that they’re avoiding.

This often occurs in children when they have extreme and excessive anxiety about being temporarily separated from parents and/or caregivers and the anxiety lasts for a long time. Yes, separating children from their parents can create mental health problems!




Excessive fear of specific situations like the dark or heights or dogs or insects. It becomes a phobia when you regularly avoid any situation where the phobia comes up.


