How do I Know if I Have an Anxiety Disorder?

Anx­i­ety is your body’s nat­ur­al reac­tion to stress­ful and uncer­tain sit­u­a­tions, it is your body telling you to stay alert and pro­tect your­self. Every­body expe­ri­ences some form of every­day anx­i­ety but when it gets out-of-hand you could be suf­fer­ing from anx­i­ety dis­or­der. 3.1% of adults each year will be affect­ed by gen­er­al­ized anx­i­ety dis­or­der. The descrip­tions below will help you dif­fer­en­ti­ate between every­day anx­i­ety and an anx­i­ety disorder.

Every­day Anxiety

• Wor­ry about pay­ing bills, land­ing a job, a roman­tic breakup etc.
• Embar­rass­ment or self-con­scious­ness in awk­ward situations
• Get­ting nerves before a test, pre­sen­ta­tion etc.
• Real­is­tic fears
• Sadness/​anxiety after trau­mat­ic event

Anx­i­ety Disorder

• Con­stant and unsub­stan­ti­at­ed worry
• Avoid­ing social sit­u­a­tions for fear of embar­rass­ment, etc.
• Ran­dom pan­ic attacks, and fear of hav­ing another
• Irra­tional fear that pos­es lit­tle or no threat to life
• Per­form­ing uncon­trol­lable repet­i­tive actions

If you feel that you are suf­fer­ing from an anx­i­ety dis­or­der, please con­tact your pri­ma­ry care physi­cian to dis­cuss your symp­toms. Sched­ule an appoint­ment online.