Anxiety is a feeling of nervousness, worry, or unease about life’s uncertainties. It is a natural human emotion that helps us prepare or cope with stress and danger. However, when anxiety becomes chronic, it can interfere with your daily life and lead to immense emotional, physical, and psychological distress.
What is Anxiety Disorder?
Anxiety disorders are a group of mental illnesses characterized by persistent and excessive worry and fear. These conditions can profoundly impact your life, often getting in the way of your work, school, and personal relationships.
Research shows that anxiety disorders are the most prevalent mental illnesses in the country, affecting nearly 40 million adults yearly. And despite being highly treatable, only about 37 percent of patients receive treatment due to barriers such as lack of access to adequate mental health care, the stigma associated with mental illness, and the high cost of treatment.
Types of Anxiety Disorders
There are several different types of anxiety disorders, including generalized anxiety disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, social anxiety disorder, panic disorder, agoraphobia, and specific phobias.
Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD): People with GAD experience chronic and excessive worry and anxiety about everyday life events like work, school, finances, or relationships. This can lead to excessive stress, fatigue, unease, irritability, difficulty concentrating, muscle tension, and sleep problems.
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD): PTSD is a type of anxiety that can develop after witnessing or living through a traumatic event, such as a car accident, natural disaster, or assault. Symptoms include flashbacks, nightmares, difficulty sleeping, irritability, panic attacks, and constantly feeling “on edge.”
Social anxiety disorder (SAD): SAD is a mental illness that causes extreme fear of social situations, such as public speaking or meeting and socializing with new people. People with SAD often worry about being judged or embarrassed in social settings. This can lead to severe discomfort in or avoidance of social situations altogether.
Panic disorder: Panic disorder is characterized by sudden, recurrent panic attacks or moments of intense fear. These attacks can cause physical symptoms like a racing heart, chest pain, shortness of breath, sweating, dizziness, or abdominal distress. Panic disorder can also lead to avoidance behaviors, such as avoiding places where previous panic attacks have occurred.
Agoraphobia: Agoraphobia is a type of anxiety disorder characterized by a fear of situations or places like elevators or planes where escape might be difficult, or help may be unavailable in the event of an emergency. In severe cases, people with agoraphobia may be confined to their homes.
Specific phobias: Specific phobias manifest as an intense irrational fear of certain things or situations, such as heights, spiders, or flying. People with this type of anxiety disorder often go to great lengths to avoid their feared object or situation.
What is a Mood Disorder?
A mood disorder is a mental health condition that causes persistent severe changes in mood and other symptoms. Common mood disorders include depression, bipolar disorder, and seasonal affective disorder (SAD).
Anxiety Disorders VS Mood Disorders
There is a lot of confusion about whether or not anxiety is a mood disorder. The answer is no – anxiety disorders are not mood disorders. While anxiety may lead to changes in mood, these changes are largely a byproduct of the anxiety itself and do not constitute a mood disorder. But for mood disorders like depression, the changes in mood are the main feature of the illness.
Despite their differences, both anxiety disorders and mood disorders are real, serious mental health conditions that can cause significant distress and impairment in a person’s life.
The Takeaway
Although anxiety and mood disorders tend to overlap in some areas, in terms of symptoms and underlying causes, they’re two distinct mental health conditions. Nevertheless, both can be extremely debilitating if left untreated. If you think you may have an anxiety or mood disorder, don’t hesitate to reach out to a mental health professional for diagnosis and treatment.