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Information Resource - Anxiety
What are Anxiety Disorders?
Anxiety disorders
are serious medical illnesses that affect approximately 19
million American adults. These disorders fill people's lives
with overwhelming anxiety and fear. Unlike the relatively
mild, brief anxiety caused by a stressful event such as a
business presentation or a first date, anxiety disorders are
chronic, relentless, and can grow progressively worse if not
treated. There are several different types of anxiety disorders.
Panic Disorder:
Repeated episodes of intense fear that occur often and without
warning. Physical symptoms include heart palpitations, shortness
of breath, chest pain, fear of death and dizziness. Many people
with Panic Disorder develop intense anxiety between episodes,
fearing the next panic attack.
Obsessive-Compulsive
Disorder:Recurrent and unwanted thoughts and rituals
which the person feels they cannot control. Rituals include
excessive hand washing, counting, checking, and cleaning.
Post-Traumatic Stress
Disorder: Persistent symptoms occurring after a traumatic
experience or witnessing a terrifying event such as rape,
war, child abuse, national disasters, etc. Symptoms include
nightmares, flashbacks, a numb feeling, depression, difficulty
sleeping, feeling of anger or irritability and being easily
startled.
Phobias: Two
of the major types of phobias are social phobia and specific phobia. Social
phobia is experienced by an overwhelming and disabling fear
of embarrassment or humiliation in social situations, which
leads to an avoidance of many potentially pleasurable and meaningful
activities. Specific phobia is an extreme, disabling and irrational
fear of something that poses little or no actual danger. This
extreme fear leads to an avoidance of objects and situations
and can lead to unnecessary limits in one's life.
Generalized Anxiety
Disorder: Marked by persistent, excessive or unrealistic
worry that occurs every day or possibly all day. The anxiety
seems impossible to relieve and includes physical symptoms
such as fatigue, trembling, muscle tension, headache or nausea.
If you are suffering
from any of these problems, or know of someone who is, then
feel free to come in or call Muskingum College Counseling Services
at (740) 826-8142 or (740) 826-8091 to schedule an appointment
to sit down and talk about your concerns.
 The OnlineScreening for Depression, Alcohol,
and Eating Disorders
is made available to all Muskingum
College students and is taken anonymously. This screening
is provided so that you may find out - in a few minutes -
whether or not professional consultation might be helpful
to you.
http://www.freedomfromfear.org/aanx.asp
http://www.socialphobia.org/
http://www.anxietynetwork.com/
http://www.campusblues.com/
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