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Symptoms and Treatments of Anxiety Disorders

Which Is It?

Everyday Anxiety

Anxiety Disorder

constant, nagging worry about irrational things that interferes with daily life avoiding social situations if at all possible

worry about actual life events (homework, an argument with a friend, and so on) feeling self-conscious or awkward (meeting new people, giving a presentation) physical symptoms like sweating or butterflies before a big moment realistic fear of dangerous, upsetting, or painful situation feeling upset or having trouble sleeping soon after a terrible event

similar symptoms when there is no big moment

unrealistic fear of situation that doesn’t pose actual danger recurring flashbacks about terrible event that happened some time ago

Source: Adapted from Anxiety and Depression Association of America (ADAA), “Which Is It?,” May 2014, https://www.adaa.org/understanding-anxiety.

When Anxiety Is a Problem

Everyone experiences this kind of irrational anxiety at one time or another. But for most people, these anxieties don’t stick around for very long. An anxious college student might lose sleep during exam week,