Fear: an emotional response to real or perceived imminent threat
Anxiety: an anticipation of future threat
Avoidance: coping by avoiding the situation that causes fear or worry.
Associated Cognitive Ideation: blowing situations out of proportion, making quick judgments without knowing factual evidence, attributing an external situation to themselves even if there is no relation, extreme thinking (all-or-nothing thinking), negatively labelling themselves based on past situations.
Physical Symptoms: fatigue, headaches/migraines, stomach pains, difficulty sleeping, excessive sweating
Anger, fight-or-flight reactions
Anxiety disorders differ from developmentally normative fear and anxiety by being excessive or persisting beyond developmentally appropriate periods (often lasting 6 months or more).
**Not attributed to physiological effects of substance or another medical condition.
Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD)
Panic Disorder
Separation Anxiety Disorder (SAD)
Phobias
Social Anxiety Disorder
Most anxiety disorders occur in females than in males (approximately 2:1 ratio)
Social Anxiety Disorder, however, has an equal ratio between gender – no prevalent gender difference.