“Do I have an anxiety disorder or am I anxious because… you know… 2020?”

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

I don’t want folks to assign themselves a disorder without a professional involved (of course). That said knowledge IS power, and I hope these tweets help you ask better questions when you are able to set an appointment.

Let’s start with the basics. What is an anxiety disorder?

Short answer: When anxiety and fear gets in the way of you living your life.

There are 6 types of anxiety disorders:

Generalized Anxiety Disorder:

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.

Social Anxiety

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.

Panic

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.

Agoraphobia

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.

Separation Anxiety
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!

Specific Phobia

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.

Fun fact: Did you know that most insects are not dangerous to humans?

Alright, there’s the list! TBC, I can't diagnose you over Twitter. Plus, who can really say if your fear is out of proportion. These days, lots of fears fit the facts.

Anxiety disorders are really common (nearly 30% of Americans will meet clinical criteria at some point in their life - APA). If you think you might have an anxiety disorder, talk to your doctor and/or check out this listing of therapists who do CBT: https://www.findcbt.org/FAT/