Definition: Anxiety Disorders

Normal anxiety is like normal stress. It is normal to feel anxious when one of your needs has not been met. For example, when a person loses his job, he feels anxious because his need for security is no longer met. Once he finds another job, his anxiety will diminish.

It becomes an anxiety disorder when the anxiety is chronic and limits daily functioning.

There are 8 recognized types of anxiety disorders:

Panic Disorder and Panic Attacks

Agoraphobia

Generalized Anxiety

Social Anxiety or Social Phobia

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

Specific Phobia

Performance Anxiety

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder

It is estimated that 6% of the population suffers from an anxiety disorder. Anxiety and depression impairs the quality of life of two out of three Canadians, whether it's personally or a close relation.