Here’s a list of the 5 most common types of anxiety disorder. Doctors tend to use these 5 categories to help them in developing guidelines for treatment. I like the list because it keeps things simple and easy to understand. I found this list from the Body & Health section of Canada.com. The Italicized paragraphs after each anxiety type are my comments.

Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) affects about 4% of the population every year. GAD is twice as common in women as in men. GAD usually appears in childhood or adolescence. Worries tend to be about normal things (work, money, chores, etc.), but to an exaggerated degree. In It’s called “generalized” because there’s no particular source of fear. The cause isn’t known, but children of people with GAD are more likely to develop anxiety problems.

Although the cause may be unknown, I do believe that if you look at your genetic chemical predisposition and couple that with your life events and circumstances (triggers) you will be able to identify what is causing this sort of anxiety disorder. I suffered from mismanaged GAD most of my childhood and early adult life, it’s not fun!

Panic attacks and panic disorder: Panic attacks are extremely common – 10% to 20% of the population experience a panic attack at some point in their life. People with phobias may have a panic attack if they encounter the object of their fear. Panic disorder is much less common. It’s recognized as recurring feelings of terror and fear, which often come on unpredictably, without any clear trigger. Most panic attacks last a couple of minutes, but can continue for up to 10 minutes. After a while, fear of panicking becomes a sort of phobia in itself, as the person tries to avoid situations that might provoke one. Panic attacks can begin at any age, but most often begin in young adults.

I experienced my first panic attack at the age of 8. I was at home sitting on my parents recliner when my heart started racing and I felt like I was going to lose control, I had difficulty breathing and felt “out of it”. I literally could see my heart pounding out of my chest, it was so scary. I also would experience panic attacks in social settings ( not large groups, but rather smaller more intimate groups of people of say less than 10 people).

Phobic disorders are irrational, intense fears about a particular object or situation. Phobias are common, affecting more than 1 in 10 people. Some phobias begin in childhood, such as fear of animals, the dark, or of strangers, while others usually appear in adulthood, as in phobias of weather, water, heights, flying, or enclosed places. The inconvenience of a specific phobia depends on how likely you are to encounter the object of your fear. The most debilitating types are agoraphobia and social phobia. Agoraphobia (literally, “fear of the marketplace”) is anxiety about being caught in public situations when panic develops. It can develop after an embarrassing public panic attack. Social phobia may be a general shyness or fear of particular situations like public speaking. It tends to be more common in women but more severe in men.

I just finished doing a search for a list of phobias. Wow, there are literally thousands of known phobias that we as humans suffer from. The list is enormous, everything from the fear of bald people, chins, ice, heat, paper and old people. Instead of listing them in one big index, I’ll try and seek out people who suffer from these phobias and interview them and upload them to the site in the form of podcasts and videos. I may even go over the list and see what phobias I may have and tackled them head on. I know one for sure would be to go scuba diving — I have a hard time breathing through a snorkel…instance panic attack of not being able to breath.

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is equally common among men and women, and affects about 1.6% of the population every year. These people are bothered by recurring images or ideas that are unpleasant (obsessions), or they develop repetitive habits or rituals (compulsions). The images and ideas may be connected to the repetitive habits. For example, people who fear infection may wash their hands constantly, or those who fear burglars may repeatedly check that the door is locked. Sometimes there’s no connection at all between the thoughts and the rituals.

I’m a perfectionist, but not to the point where it has taken over my life. I’m very methodical and I hate when things are confusing and complicated. I like simple. I guess that is why I admire companies like Apple Inc. They make simple look easy.

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and acute stress disorder are the only types of anxiety with a clear cause. Extreme anxiety often appears after a frightening or horrible experience, particularly if injuries or deaths were witnessed. Acute stress disorder comes on quickly after a traumatic event and lasts less than a month. Feelings are often complicated by feelings of guilt, unworthiness, and betrayal in those who have survived a stressful experience but lost loved ones to it. PTSD, a longer-lasting, more severe form of acute stress disorder, is particularly common among war veterans.

I remember going through this type of disorder after my car accident. I was returning home on the highway from a conference in Kingston, Ontario ( about two hours away from my hometown) when I was struck by a tractor-trailer while trying to merge into the lane off the on-ramp. The tractor-trailer tore the whole driver side of the car to shreds and send the car flying, stopping short of hitting a cement wall. Luckily I wasn’t hurt, but I did experience heightened levels of anxiety afterwards. It took me a while before I felt comfortable traveling on the highway beside tractor-trailer, but the fear eventually went away.

Jason Herrington
Hates Being Categorized

When looking at all the various types of phobias and anxiety disorders, they can all be grouped together in four main types or categories.  Doctors typically divide anxiety into these four categories to help them develop guidelines for their treatment.

Take a look at the four main categories that all phobias and anxieties can be grouped in, as this will give you a better understanding of where yours fits in.

Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD)
Generalized Anxiety Disorder tends to affect about 4% of the population every year; however, I would assume that percentage is much higher as worries associated with GAD tend to be about normal things such as money, work, chores, etc., but to an exaggerated degree.

The reason why it is called “generalized” is because there is no particular reason or source for the fear.   You will typically see GAD in childhood  or adolescence, this is when I first experienced it myself.

The cause of GAD is unknown, but because it deals with normal things such as money, work, and chores I’m pressed to believe that it is a learned fear developed from ones environmental surroundings.  This can be confirmed by research that has suggested that children of people with Generalized Anxiety Disorder are more likely to develop anxiety problems. Which was my case, as my mother suffered from depression and anxiety related issues.

Panic Attacks and Panic Disorder
Panic attacks are very common and typically affect 10-20% of the population each year.  People who have phobias may experience a panic attack when confronting such phobia.  For example, someone who may have a fear of public places and who decides to go to the mall, may develop the symptoms associated with heightened anxiety, thus  triggering a potential panic attack.

Panic attacks can be recognized by recurring feelings of terror and fear, which often come about with no clear triggers.  Although it usually is through heightened anxiety and a negative thought process that develops the symptoms which fuels itself into a full blown panic attack.

Most panic attack last typically for a minute or two, but it is not uncommon for them to continue for up to 10 minutes or more.   I have had panic attacks thatlasted for nearly 20 minutes, this was mainly because one panic attack would roll into another, extending the symptoms that much longer.  I still rememeber the time I woke up with difficulty breathing, rushed downstairs to get help from my mother and my father thought I was on drugs or something.  It really is that seriouse, but it doesn’t have to be — it’s an illusion and evil trick your mind likes to play on you.

Some people may even develop a fear of panicking which in turn becomes a form of phobia itself, as the person may try to avoid situations that might provoke one, such as refreaining from going to the movie theater for fear of not being able to breath and developing a panic attack and being publicly embarrassed.

Panic attacks can begin at any age, but most often it begin is young adults.

Phobia Disorders
Phobia disorders are irrational, intense fears about a particular object or situation.  There are well over 500 different types of phobias.  A great list of phobias can be found at The Phobia List.

Phobias aare very common and affect on average 10% of the population.  Some phobias begin in early childhood such as being afraid of animals, the dark, and strangers.  These tend to disappear as the child grows up, but can still be present if the fear has reoccured freqently in the childs early life.  Adults may also develop phobias such as the fear of weather, water, heights, flying, or enclosed spaces.

The inconvenience of a phobia really depends on how often you are likely to come into contact which the object or situation that you fear.

The most exhausting types of phobias are agoraphobia and social phobia.  Agoraphobia when translated from its Greek origin literally means “fear of the marketplace”, it is an anxiety in which one fears having a panic attack in a public situation with no perceived way to escape such as in a locked classroom writing a test or in a public movie theater.  Such a  phobia can sometimes develop after an embarrassing public panic attack or situation.

Social phobia is a general shyness or fear of a particular situation, like public speaking.  But unlike regular shyness which is normal, social phobia is an extreme type fo shyness where you would litterally avoid any such social situation in order to avoid the fear, rather than using that fear to productively to overcome what it is you fear, thus eliminating the fear.

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD)
People who suffer from OCD are typically bothered by recurring images or ideas that are unpleasent (obssessions), or they develop repetitive habits or rituals (compulsions).  The images or ideas can be connected to the repetive habits or compulsion for instance people who fear germs may wash their hands constantly or people who fear that their home may be broken into, may excessvely check that the doors are locked. Sometimes though there is no connection between the thoughts and rituals.

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PSTD) and acute stress disorder
These type of anxieties seem to be the only types with a clear cause.  Extreme symptoms of anxiety tend to appear after a frightening or horrible experiment, particularly if injuries or death were witnessed.

Acute stress disorder usually develops quickly after a traumatic event and will typically last less than a month.  Feelings are often complicated with feelings of guilt, unworthiness, or betrayal especially if those who witnessed such events have survived the stressful event but have lost love ones to it.

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, which is a longer-lasting form of acute stress disorder, is particular common in war veterans.  PSTD was once referred to by the government and media  as “shell shock” or “combat neurosis”, and most recently called “battle fatigue”.  These are all candy coated labels given to a disorder that develops within soldiers after being exposed to the ralities of war.