Generalized Anxiety refers to intense, excessive, and persistent worry about everyday concerns, such as health, safety, making mistakes, performance at school or at work, the future, or the unknown. Individuals with generalized anxiety tend to think about “What if?” scenarios and worry disproportionately about potential negative outcomes. It is often challenging for them to move on from these thoughts when they arise. Worry can also lead to physical symptoms like muscle tension, trouble concentrating, difficulty sleeping, and being more easily annoyed.
For some teenagers and young adults, social situations generate high anxiety and are endured with distress or, in some cases, avoided completely. Social Anxiety is characterized by a fear of doing something embarrassing or being negatively judged by others. Many individuals experience social anxiety during performance situations, like participating in class, giving presentations, or playing sports. Others experience social anxiety in less structured situations, like starting or joining conversations, hanging out in groups, and being assertive.
Separation Anxiety occurs when an individual fears being away from one’s parents or other loved one. Anxious thoughts focus on harm to oneself or to a loved one when apart. This fear can make it hard to sleep independently, stay home alone, and go places without loved ones. For young adults, separation anxiety can also make it hard to leave home after high school.
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is an anxiety-related disorder. It involves having repetitive thoughts that are hard to get rid of (i.e., obsessions) and is often characterized by doing certain behaviors or rituals intended to make the thought go away or feel less intense (i.e., compulsions). This might look like checking one’s homework over and over again, continuously searching for images online when concerned about a medical condition, or excessive reassurance seeking about an outcome that is highly unlikely.
A Panic Attack is like a sudden wave of extreme worry or fear that comes out of the blue (i.e., in the absence of a feared object or situation) and can feel very uncomfortable. During a panic attack, an individual might experience intense physical sensations, such as having trouble breathing, racing heart, chest pain, nausea, dizziness or they might even feel something terrible is about to happen (e.g., having a heart attack or losing control of their body). Often these attacks peak within a few minutes and last less than ten minutes overall.
Panic Disorder begins when an individual experiences a panic attack out of the blue. This initial panic attack leads to worry about going places or doing certain activities due to fear of having another panic attack. Individuals with Panic Disorder typically avoid engaging in activities that may be more likely to bring on panic attacks such as intense exercise, eating certain foods, and being in extreme temperatures. They may also consistently seek out medical attention to get reassurance that physical symptoms of a panic attack are not indicative of a health problem (e.g., going to the emergency room, calling their doctor).
Depression is characterized by sad mood that lasts for most of the day multiple days in a row. This change in mood may also be accompanied by a loss of interest in activities that used to be enjoyable as well as physical symptoms such as weight loss or gain, sleeping too much or too little, fatigue, or difficulty concentrating and feelings of worthlessness or thoughts of death. Individuals may experience mild depression when these symptoms are present, but do not significantly interfere in their daily activities.
Most people can identify an object that generates mild to moderate levels of anxiety (e.g., snakes, elevators, needles), but the fear does not result in a change to one’s behavior. When an object or situation results in heightened physical arousal, as well as consistent avoidance, it may rise to the level of a Phobia. Generally, the anxiety is out of proportion to the actual danger associated with the trigger. Common phobias include animals (bees, spiders, dogs), natural environments (heights, thunderstorms), medical (blood, injections), situations (planes, trains, tunnels) as well as vomiting and choking.
Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is a complex condition that may take root after someone has endured or witnessed a traumatic event, whether it’s a matter of physical, sexual, or emotional harm. It’s natural to traverse a period of emotional disturbance after such events, but for some, the journey becomes a prolonged struggle with PTSD—a condition that weaves a persistent pattern of intense and debilitating emotional, behavioral, and cognitive symptoms.
Agoraphobia is an anxiety disorder characterized by a fear of a particular place or situation that may be difficult to leave in the event of panic symptoms or discomfort. These places may include open spaces like parks or festival grounds, crowded places like malls or stadiums, and public transportation. Individuals with agoraphobia typically avoid going to these places or entering into situations where they do not have an easy way to escape.
A Life Stressor is a significant life event or experience that can cause stress and discomfort. Some common stressors include major life transitions such as going to college, entering or exiting a committed relationship, moving homes, and starting a family. Often individuals experiencing life stressors and transitions have difficulty adapting to related changes and may benefit from tools to help them cope.
