Anxiety disorders

Anxiety is an unpleasant complex combination of emotions often accompanied by physical sensations such as heart palpitations (irregular heart beat), nausea, angina (chest pain), shortness of breath, tension headache, and nervousness.

Anxiety disorders affect about 40 million American adults age 18 years and older (about 18%) in a given year. Only about one-third of those suffering from an anxiety disorder receive treatment. Anxiety disorders are reported to cost the United States more than $42 billion a year.

Unlike the relatively mild, brief anxiety that can be caused by a stressful event (such as testing, a job interview, the death of a loved one, or public performance/speaking), anxiety disorders last at least six months and can become worse if not treated.

Anxiety disorders can commonly occur along with other mental or physical illnesses, including alcohol or substance abuse, depression, or bipolar illness, which may mask anxiety symptoms or make them worse.

Individuals with an anxiety disorder are three to five times more likely to go to the doctor and six times more likely to be hospitalized for psychiatric disorders than non-sufferers.

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