Anxiety Disorders
Do you know 301 million people in the world were living with an anxiety disorder including 58 million children and adolescents in 2019 (World Health Organization (WHO), 2024)? However, this number has increased significantly (26%) because of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 (WHO, 2024). What about the situation in Canada? The answer is over 5% of the Canadian population are experiencing anxiety disorder. In Canada, generalized anxiety disorder doubled from 2.6% to 5.2% between 2012 and 2022 (Statistics Canada, 2023).
Anxiety disorders are a set of mental health conditions characterized by persistent and excessive fear, worry, and related behavioral disturbances.
Some of the common symptoms of anxiety disorders:
Feeling nervous, panicked, fearful, tense, or restless
Cold or sweaty hands, dry mouth, nausea, numbness, and tingling in hands or feet, and muscle tension
Heart palpitations and shortness of breath.
Weakness or fatigue.
Trembling
Insomnia
Repeated thoughts or flashbacks of traumatic experiences.
Uncontrollable, obsessive thoughts.
Inability to be still and calm.
Ritualistic behaviours, such as washing hands repeatedly.
Trouble concentrating or thinking about anything besides the present worry.
Having gastrointestinal problems such as gas, constipation or diarrhea.
Types of Anxiety Disorders:
There are several types of anxiety disorders that individuals may experience. These include:
Generalized anxiety disorder: This is characterized by excessive worry.
Panic disorder: This is characterized by panic attacks.
Social anxiety disorder: This is characterized by excessive fear and worry in social situations.
Separation anxiety disorder: This is characterized by excessive fear or anxiety about separation from those individuals to whom the person has a deep emotional bond.
Phobias: These are characterized by an extreme and irrational fear about a situation, living creature, place, or object. Sometimes, this fear can be so severe that it shapes our lives, and we avoid the cause of terror altogether.