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    Anxiety and Panic Disorders Home

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    Anxiety & Panic Disorders Guide

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    • Guide

    Symptoms & Types

    What happens when you have a panic attack? What does generalized anxiety look like? Learn more about the symptoms of anxiety disorders, and about the different types of these disorders.

      1. Signs You Have an Anxiety or Panic Disorder

        Here’s how to tell panic disorder, generalized anxiety disorder and phobias from ordinary fears and anxiety.

      2. What Does a Panic Attack Feel Like?

        Panic attacks involve sudden feelings of terror that strike without warning. People experiencing a panic attack may think they’re having a heart attack, dying or going crazy.

      3. General Anxiety Disorder (GAD)

        Generalized anxiety disorder, or GAD, is characterized by excessive, exaggerated anxiety and worry about everyday life events with no obvious reasons for worry.

      4. Performance Anxiety/Stage Fright

        Commonly called “stage fright,” performance anxiety is the fear of doing something in front of a group of people. Learn strategies for feeling more comfortable ''on stage.”

      5. Social Anxiety Disorder

        Social anxiety disorder, also called social phobia, is an anxiety disorder in which a person has an excessive and unreasonable fear of social situations.

      6. Slideshow: When Fear Becomes Phobia

        More than 19 million Americans have a phobia -- an intense, irrational fear when they face a certain situation, activity, or object.

      7. Dependent Personality Disorder

        People with Dependent Personality Disorder (DPD) become emotionally dependent on other people and spend great effort trying to please others. They tend to display needy, passive, and clinging behavior, and have a fear of separation.

      8. Anxiety and Self-Injury

        People who suffer from obsessive-compulsive disorder, substance abuse, or an eating disorder are also at risk for self-injury.

      9. Anxiety and Trichotillomania

        Hair pulling is a type of impulse-control disorder, and is often linked with depression or anxiety.

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