What exactly are anxiety disorders?
Don’t have time to read the full blog post? Scroll down — there’s a “Too Long, Didn’t Read” section at the bottom of the page.
Okay, so you’re a pretty normal person, right? You go to school or work, maybe hit up a bar or a movie theater on the weekend, and enjoy spending time with friends and watching just a bit too much Netflix. Say you meet this new person, and you kind of hit it off. Maybe you’re just friends, maybe not, but either way, you start hanging out with them more and more, and then out of the blue, the conversation gets a little more serious and they tell you they have an anxiety disorder.
What are you even supposed to do with that information? Don’t they have doctors for that now? They have tons of different kinds of medications for this stuff, right? Sometimes, it feels like everyone’s on some kind of pill, and half the time, it’s for something that’s all in their head. Part of you thinks they should just spend more time outside — take a deep breath, walk around, call it a day. The other part of you has a lot of questions.
What even is anxiety, anyway?
Don’t worry, you don’t have to pull out any dusty reference books — I’ve done that for you. According to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, anxiety is “apprehensive expectation.” What does that mean, exactly?
Anxiety is the feeling you have when you’re about to give a big presentation that you only feel half prepared for. It’s the feeling before you have a big test coming up, and honestly you haven’t taken a real test in a long time. It’s nervousness, sure, but it’s also that uncomfortable feeling of not knowing — and of not being able to know — what’s going to happen. It’s the feeling you get when you’re about to go into a really important job interview, when you’re about to open the email or letter that’s going to tell you whether you were accepted into your number one school (or your parents’ number one school, if they’re paying for it), when you’re not sure if your paycheck will cover every single one of your expenses. It’s a lack of control, and it’s normal.
It’s highly unlikely for anyone to go through their entire life and not feel anxiety at some point. But if everyone gets it, then what’s the big deal?
Anxiety disorders are the big deal.
Okay, then what’s an anxiety disorder? Heck, what even is a “disorder”?
Let’s head over to the American Heritage Dictionary. According to that, a disorder, at least in this context, is a “condition characterized by lack of normal functioning of physical or mental processes.” Basically, a disorder is anything going on with your body that shouldn’t be going on with your body. One of the examples they give is a kidney disorder.
So then, is an anxiety disorder something that’s going wrong with someone’s anxiety? Well, basically, yeah — it is. But again, there’s more to it. Here I’m gonna phone a friend: the Anxiety and Depression Association of America (ADAA).
According to the ADAA, someone who has an anxiety disorder experiences excessive “persistent, seemingly uncontrollable and overwhelming” anxiety. And here’s the kicker — there are at least a half-dozen different ways that this excessive anxiety can manifest itself. “Anxiety disorder” is the blanket term; there are many different subcategories, including generalized anxiety disorder, panic disorder/panic attacks, social anxiety disorder, phobias, obsessive-compulsive disorder, posttraumatic stress disorder — the list goes on.
Feeling a little overwhelmed yet? Me too. Let’s just pick one: panic disorder/panic attacks.
What is a panic disorder?
People get diagnosed with a panic disorder if they check “yes” on both of the following experiences:
- They have had more than one panic attack
- They are worried about having another panic attack
The first requirement makes a lot of sense — you can’t have a panic disorder without having had a panic attack. Now, a panic attack is not just when you feel anxious — remember, that’s normal. A panic attack is debilitating. It affects your life. The ADAA has a convenient list of some common symptoms of panic attacks, which include shortness of breath, nausea, dizziness, feelings of unreality — you can read the full list here. People have to experience more than one of these attacks; experiencing just one is not fun, of course, but it’s not exactly evidence of a persistent disorder.
But, why do they have to be worried about having another one? Well, someone can have a single panic attack and then, when it’s done, move on without it severely affecting the rest of their life. Sure, that day will probably be pretty hectic; maybe even that week will be. But then, they are able to move on — it’s not consistently debilitating. However, some people start to experience panic attacks and do worry about having another one. They start to avoid situations in which they have had panic attacks — for example, if they’ve had a panic attack on a train, they might start driving or walking to work. At this point, their panic attacks are affecting how they live their life. This is when they need help, often from a professional psychologist and/or psychiatrist.
Okay, so what do I do with this information?
Think about it, mull it over, maybe acknowledge to yourself that there’s more to anxiety and panic attacks than you initially thought. Then, head over to my next post to find out what a panic attack actually feels like.
And now, a quote:
“Of course it is happening inside your head, Harry, but why on earth should that mean that it is not real?” — Albus Dumbledore (a.k.a. modern fiction-writing queen J. K. Rowling), Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
Yes, an anxiety disorder is happening inside someone’s head, but that doesn’t mean that it’s something they can just turn off. It’s called a disorder for a reason — there’s something wrong that needs to be fixed, and we all know that quick fixes aren’t actually effective. You may not be able to see the disorder like you can see a broken arm, but there are tons of things that can be wrong with someone that you can’t see from the outside. Just because you can’t see it doesn’t mean it isn’t there.
Too Long, Didn’t Read
Did you try really hard to make it to the end, just to realize that this post is longer than you bargained for? Don’t worry, I’ve got you covered. Here’s what I talked about:
People can experience anxiety without having an anxiety disorder, and that’s normal.
Anxiety disorders are when something is wrong with how a person experiences anxiety — there’s something going on in their head that’s making it debilitating.
Panic disorders are what people have when they have multiple panic attacks, and when they’re worried about having another panic attack.
Just because it’s all in someone’s head, doesn’t mean that it isn’t real.
Now, why don’t you head over to my next post to learn more about what a panic attack can actually feel like.