Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) is a constant, exaggerated worry and tension without any apparent reason which last for more than six months affecting 3 to 4% of the U.S. population in a year. A person with GAD always anticipated a disaster or worries excessively about health, money, work, or family problems. Often, however, the source of the worry and tension is not specific, and inhibits a person's ability to get through the day. A person suffering from GAD may experience: inability to fall asleep; trembling or irritability; headaches; sweating or hot flashes; feeling lightheaded or out of breath; feeling tired and the inability to concentrate. GAD affects women more often than men.

Treatment: In general, the symptoms of FAD seem to diminish with age. Successful treatment may include medications and or/cognitive-behavioral therapy and relaxation techniques.

Panic Disorder can cause feelings of terror that strike suddenly and repeatedly without warning. These attacks usually last about 10 minutes, but in some cases they may last up to an hour. They can not be predicted, and many people develop intense anxiety between episodes, worrying about when another attack will strike. In a given year, 1-2% of the U.S. population has panic disorder. Women are twice as likely as men to develop panic disorder. Heredity, other biological factors, stressful life events, and thinking in a way that exaggerated relatively normal bodily reactions in catastrophic events are all believed to play a role in the onset of panic disorder. Symptoms may include: pounding heart; sweating; feeling weak, faint or dizzy; numbness or tingling in hands; feeling flushed or chilled; chest pain or smothering sensations; sense of unreality; fear of impending doom or loss of control; fear of having a heart attack or stroke; fear of "losing one's mind" and fear of dying.

Treatment: Studies have shown that cognitive-behavioral therapy, medication (anti-drepessants and a class of drugs called benzodiazepines) or possibly a combination of the two, helps most people with panic disorders. Significant improvement is usually seen within 6-8 weeks.

Specific or Simple Phobias are intense fears of particular objects or situations that are, in fact, relatively safe. People who suffer from specific phobias are aware that their fear is irrational, but the thought of facing the object or situation causes severe anxiety.

Specific phobias strike more than 1 in 10 people, or approximately 12% of all Americans. They are the most common psychiatric illness in women, and the second most common in men over the age of 25. No one knows what causes them, though they seem to run in families.

Phobias usually begin in adolescence or adulthood. They start suddenly and tend to be more persistent than childhood phobias; only about 20% of adult phobias vanish on their own. When children have specific phobias -- for example, a fear of animals -- those fears usually disappear over time, though they may continue into adulthood. No one knows why they persist in some people and disappear in others.

Examples of specific phobias include: persistent fear of dogs, insects, or snakes; driving a car; heights; tunnel or bridges; thunderstorms and flying.

Treatment: Desensitization or exposure therapy which gradually exposes patients to what frightens them until the fear begins to fade, is one recommended treatment. There is currently no proven drug treatment for agoraphobia, but sometimes certain medications may be prescribed to help reduce anxiety symptoms before the person faces a phobic situation.

Social Phobia is the fear of being humiliated or embarrassed in front of other people. This problem may also be related to feelings of inferiority and low self-esteem and can cause a person to drop out of school, avoid making friends, and remain unemployed.
At least 7.2 million Americans experience clinically significant phobias in a given year, many having social phobia. Occurring in women twice as often as men, although a higher portion of men seek help for this particular disorder. The disorder typically begins in childhood or early adolescence and rarely develops after age 25.

Although this disorder is sometimes mistaken for shyness, it is not the same thing. Shy people do not necessarily avoid them. In contrast, people with social phobia can be at ease with most of the time, except in particular situations.

Researchers are investigating a biochemical basis for the disorder and are exploring idea that heightened sensitivity to disapproval may be physiologically or hormonally based and may be inherited. Other researchers are investigating the environment's influence on the development of social phobia. People with social phobia may acquire their fear from observing the behavior and consequences of others, a process called observational learning or social modeling.

People suffering from social phobia may view small mistakes as large ones; find blushing painfully embarrassing; feel that all eyes are on them; fear speaking in public, dating or talking with persons in authority, using rest rooms or eating out, talking on the phone or writing in front of others.

Treatment: Most people find relief with cognitive=behavioral therapy or medications (antidepressant) or a combination of the two. Therapy may involve learning to view social events differently; exposure to a seemingly threatening social situation so that it becomes easier to face; learning anxiety-reducing techniques, social skills and relaxation techniques.

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder once referred to as shell shock or battle fatigue, is a debilitating condition that follows a terrifying event such as rape, kidnapping, a car wreck, natural disaster, or witnessing a horrible or tragic event. Whatever the source, the person repeatedly re-experiences the event through nightmares or persistent, frightening thoughts and memories. A flashback may cause the person to feel or even act as though the events were recurring. PTSD is diagnosed when symptoms last more than a month.

Symptoms may be mild or severe and may include: sleep problems; depression; feeling detached or numb; being easily startled; loss of interest in things previously enjoyed; trouble feeling affectionate; irritability and feeling aggressive or violent.

At least 4% of U.S. adults (5.7 million people) have PTSD during the course of a year. About 30% of the women who have spent time in war zones experience PTSD. One million war veterans developed PTSD after serving in Vietnam. PTSD has also been detected among veterans of the Persian Gulf War, with some estimates running as high as 8%.

PTSD can develop at any age, including in childhood. Symptoms typically begin within 3 months of a traumatic event, although occasionally they do not begin until years later. Once PTSD occurs, the severity and duration of the illness varies. Some people recover within 6 months, while others suffer much longer.

Treatment: Antidepressants and anxiety reducing medications can ease the symptoms of depression and sleep problems. Cognitive-behavioral therapy is also effective.