Anxiety
Depression and anxiety commonly occur together. Not everybody who is anxious is depressed, but most depressed patients have some symptoms of anxiety.
The most common type of phobia is Social Anxiety Disorder (or Social Phobia),closely followed by Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and Generalized Anxiety Disorder. Around one in thirty to fifty people suffer from Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) and one in ten are reported to have a specific phobia.
Current understanding classifies anxiety disorders in 5 main groups:-
Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD):
Involves long-lasting exaggerated and unrealistic worry (over such things as:- health, family safety, money, chance of accidents) accompanied by anxiety symptoms such as trembling, being on edge and body aches.
Panic Disorder:
Attacks of panic that appear to be for no reason involving heart palpitations, chest pain, sweating, trembling and fears of a heart attack, dying or losing control.
Phobias:
Can be specific - the fear of a catagory of objects (eg. dogs, snakes) or generalised - a fear that occurs in many situations (eg. Agoraphobia: the fear of
out of doors or places where relief and / or escape from a panic attack would be difficult and Social Phobia (Social Anxiety Disorder): the fear of situations where we have to do things in front of others and we fear they may judge/ridicule/reject us).
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD):
Is characterized by obsessive thoughts that cause anxiety. This leads to the perfoming of rituals or repetitive routines (compulsions - eg. hand washing) to relieve the anxiety caused by the recurring disturbing, unwanted thoughts (obsessions - eg. fear of being contaminated or contaminating others).
Post Traumatic Stress Disorders (PTSD):
The re-living of an experienced traumatic event through such things as flashbacks or nightmares. This can lead to avoiding similar situations or places, emotional numbing and physical symptoms of anxiety.
Are you depressed?
We all feel fed up sometimes but these feelings usually last for a couple of days or weeks at the most. Perhaps you have been feeling like this for longer.
We have designed a test to give you some indication.
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