Although there are several different anxiety disorders, one of the most common is obsessive compulsive disorder or OCD. People with OCD can find their lives are revolving around obsessions and compulsions. They struggle with thoughts that they find are very difficult to stop and compulsions that have become habits that they feel they just have to perform. the time that most sufferers use the obsessions and compulsions is when they feel their anxiety is high and they may be going to have a panic attack. this is the way many anxiety sufferers cope with their condition. But this dependency can mean this is a difficult anxiety disorder to overcome.
Almost as common as OCD is an anxiety disorder which we know as social anxiety disorder. Although at first glance this disorder might be mistaken for shyness, it is something completely different. whereas shyness is perfectly normal and really does not stop a person from living a fairly normal life, social anxiety on the other hand is a debilitating mental disorder. Many sufferers find it almost impossible to attend any kind of social gathering and some have even been known to become house-bound such is the fear of meeting people. this unfortunately means a much lower quality of life for any person who suffers from social anxiety.
More and more people these days are struggling with health anxiety. this is an anxiety disorder that is better known by it’s more common name of hypochondria. Health anxiety is a condition that leads the sufferer to believe that the most minor of ailments are actually really serious illnesses. So even the slightest twinge can lead them to imagine the most terrible things. this leads many people to research their symptoms and spend time doing a self diagnosis. all this research on the internet leads them to become more and more anxious, sometimes even convincing themselves they have a life threatening condition. this habit which only leads to increased fear and anxiety is known as cyberchondria.
Agoraphobia is also a common anxiety disorder, although many people fail to realise this. Another misconception about agoraphobia is that it’s simply a fear of leaving your home, but that’s not the case. Agoraphobia would be much better described as the fear of something unpleasant happening when you’re in a place where it would be hard to deal with. In fact, most people with agoraphobia do not fear leaving their home. Instead, they fear that they will have a panic attack whilst out in public, and the embarrassment that an attack in public would cause is what prevents someone with agoraphobia from going out.