Anxiety Disorders

Anxiety disorders represent the most common type of mental disorder in the US and affect more than 20 million Americans. In addition, about 25% of American adults have suffered intense anxiety at some point. The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) has useful data on anxiety disorders in American adults between the ages of 18 and 54. According to NIMH statistics:

About 4 million adult Americans are diagnosed with generalized anxiety disorders each year. Many experts believe anxiety disorder is underdiagnosed and estimate the prevalence to be as high as 10%. Obsessive-compulsive disorder affects over 3 million adults.

Panic disorder affects over 2 million American adults. This anxiety disorder is much higher in adolescence and has been estimated anywhere between 3% and 9% for this group. Panic anxiety disorders tend to peak at 25 years of age. One in three panic sufferers will also develop agoraphobia.

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) occurred in about 4% of the population although other studies have found that 8% of the total adult population will be diagnosed with this anxiety disorder at some point in life. Whereas PTSD is twice as common in women as in men, it is notable that about 30% of Vietnam veterans developed PTSD after the war.

Estimates of the prevalence of social phobia are difficult to obtain, as most people with this anxiety disorder are not diagnosed or treated unless they come in with an additional anxiety disorder. Still, the NIMH studies revealed that over 5 million adults are diagnosed with this anxiety disorder each year.

Anxiety disorders are more common in women than men, and women are twice as often diagnosed with panic disorder, agoraphobia, specific phobias, PTSD, and generalized anxiety disorder. These findings may be due to the tendency for women to seek help more readily for mental health problems. Only obsessive-compulsive disorder and social phobia were found to be equally common in men and women.

Anxiety becomes an anxiety disorder when it seriously impairs your ability to work, love, or play. Excessive anxiety also takes its toll on your body. Some common symptoms of anxiety disorder include exhaustion and fatigue. Anxiety disorders can prevent you from sleeping properly and cause you to avoid everyday errands and responsibilities due to fear of having a panic attack.

If an anxiety disorder is so severe that you have trouble functioning, you may tend to worry more, and a vicious cycle is set in motion. Treatment is necessary to interrupt the cycle, provide hope, and restore functioning.