978-1-4222-3377-1

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People with GAD often feel embarrassed about their anxiety. This just makes the anxiety even worse. Some people with GAD have felt anxious their whole lives. Other times, GAD develops over time. Many people with GAD come from families in which anxiety is common. Specific Phobias A person with a phobia has many of the same symptoms as a person with GAD—with one big difference. People with GAD worry about all kinds of things. People with a phobia fear one specific thing. For example, a person with arachnophobia will panic at the sight of spiders. A person with claustrophobia

Lots of people might think this jumping spider is pretty creepy, but that’s not a phobia. A fear of spiders has to be very intense

to be considered arachnophobia.