Anxiety, Anxiety Attacks and Anxiety Disorder Signs and Symptoms

Low level fear and anxiety attacks are normal in response various life’s stimuli. But when are these attacks a sign of too much?

Anxiety can be very useful. It creates alertness and a sense of carefulness. Under normal conditions, it should subside soon after you are no longer in the situation that caused it.

However, if your the anxiety does not go away, and/or it gets worse, you may be suffering from an anxiety disorder.

There are a couple of ways (signs and symptoms) you can check yourself to discover if your anxiety is outside the bounds of norm. For instance;

  • do you check and recheck your actions
  • tightness in your chest and/or nightmares
  • do fear and anxiety creep in for no identifiable reason
  • in a constant state of worry about everyday happenings and/or activities

Any one of symptoms may indicate you are suffering from one of the following anxiety disorders:

  • Generalized Anxiety Disorder ~ excessive anxiety/worry that last for at least six months accompanied by other physical and behavioral problems
  • Panic Disorder ~ sudden, uncontrollable attack of terror accompanied by heart palpitations, dizziness, shortness of breath, and out of control/terribly frightening feeling
  • Social Phobia ~ a persistent fear of one or more situations in which you are exposed to possible scrutiny of others
  • Obsessive Compulsive Disorder ~ repeated, intrusive and unwanted thoughts that cause anxiety that is often accompanied by ritualized behavior for relieving this anxiety
  • Post-traumatic Stress Disorder ~ nightmares, flashbacks and/or unprovoked anger after experiencing a distressing or traumatic event

Too much versus normal anxiety is sometimes difficult to pin down. If you are in doubt, have it checked out.

Self-Help Panic and Anxiety OnLine Resources:

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