10 types of anxiety: symptoms and differences

10 types of anxiety: symptoms and differences
Anxiety is one of the most common responses in today's society due to the current pace of life and pressures, both external and self-imposed. It is a normal and adaptive response of our body. However, when the duration of this is prolonged over time, it is very frequent or has very high levels of intensity, it affects our health and causes a deterioration in the different areas of our life.

That is why it is one of the reasons why psychological help is used most. Anxiety has various presentations, in fact, there are up to 10 types of anxiety with different symptoms. Do you want to know what types of anxiety there are? Keep reading this Transkerja.com article: 10 types of anxiety: symptoms and differences.

Anxiety symptoms

Although anxiety does not always manifest in the same way and there are many types of anxiety with different symptoms, they all have and share a common symptomatology. This symptomatology is characteristic of anxiety in general and can be grouped into different types of symptoms. The general symptoms of anxiety are:
  • Cognitive and emotional symptoms: worry, negative and intrusive thoughts, irritability, sense of threat and fear, uncertainty and insecurity, attention and concentration difficulties, etc.
  • Physical or physiological symptoms: sweating, palpitations, tremors, breathing difficulties, tachycardia, dry mouth, nausea, dizziness, gastric pain, etc.
  • Motor or behavioral symptoms: escape or avoidance behaviors, motor restlessness (scratching and / or touching repeatedly), crying, becoming paralyzed, impulsive behaviors such as eating, drinking or smoking heavily, etc.

Types of anxiety

According to the classification of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, DSM-5, there are 10 types of anxiety or anxiety disorders. These are the following:
  1. Generalized anxiety disorder.
  2. Social anxiety disorder (social phobia).
  3. Separation anxiety disorder
  4. Agoraphobia.
  5. Panic disorder
  6. Selective mutism.
  7. Specific phobias
  8. Substance / medication induced anxiety disorder.
  9. Anxiety disorder due to another medical condition.
  10. Other specified and unspecified anxiety disorders.
Next, we proceed to explain the 10 causes of anxiety, that is, each type of anxiety and symptoms .

1. Generalized anxiety disorder

Generalized anxiety disorder is the most common and generalized anxiety disorder in the population. It is characterized by the presence of excessive and persistent anxiety and worries , not only in stressful situations, but also in harmless scenarios in which the anxiety response is disproportionate or does not correspond to the objective reality. In generalized anxiety disorder, excessive and systematic concern about day-to-day problems, intolerance to uncertainty and negative anticipation of events is very common. People who suffer from it are not able to control these concerns.
  • Symptoms of generalized anxiety
  • Restlessness
  • Fatigability
  • Concentration problems
  • Muscle tension
  • Irritability
  • Sleeping problems

2. Social anxiety disorder (social phobia)

The second of the types of anxiety is social anxiety disorder, social phobia or social anxiety. In this, anxiety and worry focus on social situations , in which the person experiences excessive and persistent fear of social interactions. The biggest fear in this disorder is to act in a certain way or show anxiety symptoms that are evaluated and negatively assessed by the rest of the people, symptoms such as flushing, sweating, trembling, locking with words or being unable to maintain the look. That is why feelings of shame appear , of fear of being rejected,humiliated or judged. People who suffer this type of anxiety avoid social situations, so there is a serious deterioration in the social area of ​​the person and social isolation, labor difficulties or finding work, as well as they can drink alcohol in excess with the objective of disinhibiting

In the following article you will find tips to overcome social phobia.

3. Separation anxiety disorder

The separation anxiety disorder is excessive anxiety or fear at the thought or experience separation of a person with whom you have an emotionally significant link, also called attachment. Separation anxiety, despite being more frequent in childhood, can also appear in adulthood. People with this type of anxiety experience very intense and constant anxiety at the idea of ​​loss of attachment figure, or also that due to an adverse cause a separation occurs with it. That is why these people resist being at home alone or going out and going to other environments without this attachment figure. A series of physical symptoms such as nausea, headaches or stomach aches are also frequent before the idea of ​​separation or the separation.

4. Agoraphobia

The agoraphobia is characterized by experiencing intense fear in situations such as using public transportation, closed spaces, open spaces , large crowds or being away from home alone or alone. The person avoids these situations before the idea that symptoms and reactions of an anxious type could appear (such as dizziness, fainting, vomiting, etc.) and could not escape without other people noticing these symptoms, which are embarrassing for the person With this kind of anxiety. That is why people with agoraphobia avoid these situations, seek to be accompanied or live with excessive anxiety if they have to face them. If you feel identified with these symptoms, you can perform theagoraphobia test and see a specialist.

5. Panic Disorder

This type of anxiety implies the presence of panic attacks in a recurring and unexpected way. Panic attacks are sudden occurrences of very intense fear or discomfort that reach their maximum intensity in a few minutes, approximately 10. These crises are accompanied by symptoms such as palpitations, dizziness, nausea, suffocation and / or fear of losing control or dying. In this type of anxiety the person has suffered more than one panic attackand he often has them and experiences worry or concern about the idea that another may occur. Avoidance behaviors are also developed in order to avoid these attacks. For example, avoid going to places where you suffered a panic attack or safety behaviors such as seeking to be near the exit in case you had to flee or carry on anxiolytics.

6. Selective mutism

The selective mutism is a type of anxiety whose onset occurs in infancy. It consists of the constant inability to speak in certain circumstances or social situations, despite doing so in others. It can also appear before certain people, usually not belonging to the child's social circle. In those situations in which he is able to communicate, he does so normally and without affecting communication skills.

Generally, people who present this type of anxiety are not able to speak in those contexts in which there is expectation to speak, such as school, generating academic deterioration, as well as social deterioration . Children with selective mutism often use nonverbal means to communicate, using gestures, noises or writing.

7. Specific phobias

A phobia is the irrational and intense fear and anxiety of a specific situation or object, presenting disproportionate and exaggerated responses to the feared stimulus . The person who suffers a phobia can present avoidance behaviors of the phobic stimulus, these can interfere in the daily life of the person, or escape behaviors when exposed to the stimulus. It is common for people to have more than one specific phobia. Phobias are classified into:
  • Phobias to animals.
  • Phobias to the natural environment (heights, water, etc.).
  • Blood-injection-wound phobias (such as needles),
  • Situational phobias (elevator, car, etc.) or others.
  • In the following article you will find Rare phobias types and their meaning .

8. Substance / medication induced anxiety disorder

In this disorder, anxious symptomatology is associated with the use of drugs or medications. This type of anxiety appears during the intoxication or withdrawal of a substance or, on the other hand, by the consumption of medication or modification of its dose.

9. Anxiety disorder due to another medical condition

In this type of anxiety, the origin is in the presence of an organic disease , that is, anxiety is the result of a medical condition. For example, hyperthyroidism causes anxious symptoms.

10. Other specified and unspecified anxiety disorders

It includes those anxiety disorders or types of anxiety that, despite presenting significant symptoms, fail to meet the criteria of any of the disorders or types of anxiety explained in this article. Another specific anxiety disorder refers to that situation in which not all the criteria are met for any of the anxiety disorders, even if they have all the information. However, when it is not possible to conclude what type of anxiety disorder is due to lack of information, it is a non-specific anxiety disorder.