• Definition
• Symptoms
• Causes
• Risk factors
• Complications
• Preparing for your appointment
• Tests and diagnosis
• Treatments and drugs
• Lifestyle and home remedies
• Alternative medicine
• Coping and support
• Prevention

Free

E-Newsletters

Subscribe to receive the latest updates on health topics. About our newsletters

• Housecall
• Alzheimer's caregiving
• Living with cancer

close window

About our e-newsletters

• Free e-newsletters
• Mayo Clinic expertise
• We do not share your e-mail address

Housecall, our weekly general-interest e-newsletter, keeps you up to date on a wide variety of health topics with timely, reliable, practical information, recipes, blogs, questions and answers with Mayo Clinic experts and more. Our biweekly topic-specific e-newsletters also include blogs, questions and answers with Mayo Clinic experts, and other useful information that will help you manage your health.

Housecall Archives

• RSS Feeds

close window

Mayo Clinic Housecall

Stay up to date on the latest health information.

What you get

• Free weekly e-newsletter
• Mayo Clinic expertise
• Recipes, tools and other helpful information
• We do not share your e-mail address

• Sign up
• View past issues

Symptoms

Common anxiety symptoms include:

• Feeling apprehensive
• Feeling powerless
• Having a sense of impending danger, panic or doom
• Having an increased heart rate
• Breathing rapidly (hyperventilation)
• Sweating
• Trembling
• Feeling weak or fatigued

Specific anxiety disorders are broken down into several diagnosable mental health conditions:

• Panic attacks can start suddenly and cause apprehension, fear or terror. You may have feelings of impending doom, shortness of breath, heart palpitations or chest pain. You may feel as if you're choking, being smothered or that you're "going crazy."
• Agoraphobia is anxiety about, or avoidance of, places or situations where you might feel trapped or embarrassed to leave if you start to feel panicky.
• Specific phobias are characterized by significant anxiety when you're exposed to a specific object or situation and a desire to avoid it. Phobias provoke panic attacks in some people.
• Social phobias are characterized by significant anxiety provoked by exposure to certain types of social or performance situations and a desire to avoid them.
• Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is characterized by persistent, recurring thoughts, images or impulses (obsessions) or an irresistible desire to perform irrational or seemingly purposeless acts or rituals (compulsions). Often it involves both obsessive and compulsive behavior.
• Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is characterized by the feeling that you are re-experiencing an extremely traumatic event. It causes intense emotions and physical reactions along with a desire to avoid anything that might remind you of the event.
• Acute stress disorder is characterized by symptoms similar to those of post-traumatic stress disorder that occur immediately after an extremely traumatic event.
• Generalized anxiety disorder is characterized by at least six months of persistent and excessive anxiety and worry about small or large concerns. This type of anxiety disorder often begins at an early age. It frequently occurs along with other anxiety disorders or depression.
• Anxiety disorder due to a medical condition is characterized by prominent symptoms of anxiety that are directly caused by a physical health problem.
• Substance-induced anxiety disorder is characterized by prominent symptoms of anxiety that are a direct result of abusing drugs, taking medications or being exposed to a toxic substance.
• Separation anxiety disorder is a childhood disorder characterized by anxiety related to separation from parents or others who have parental roles.
• Anxiety disorder not otherwise specified is a term for prominent anxiety or phobias that do not meet the exact criteria for any of the other anxiety disorders but are significant enough to be distressing and disruptive.

When to see a doctor
See your doctor if:

• You feel like you're worrying too much and it's interfering with your work, relationships or other parts of your life
• You feel depressed, have trouble with alcohol or drug use, or have other mental health concerns along with anxiety
• You think your anxiety could be linked to a physical health problem
• You have suicidal thoughts or behaviors (seek emergency treatment immediately)

Your worries may not go away on their own, and they may actually get worse over time if you don't seek help. See your doctor or a mental health provider before your anxiety gets worse. It may be easier to treat if you address it early.

• See Also

Hand Scheduled
Section Focus
• Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
• Panic attacks and panic disorder
• Generalized anxiety disorder

Related Links
• Adjustment disorders
• Social anxiety disorder (social phobia)
• Phobias
• Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD)

Related Guides
Children
• Separation anxiety

Parent

Check out these best-sellers and special offers on books and newsletters from Mayo Clinic.

• Try Mayo Clinic Health Letter FREE!
• The New Mayo Clinic Cookbook, Second Edition
• Living with chronic pain? Mayo Clinic can help
• The Mayo Clinic Diet — Eat well. Enjoy life. Lose weight.

NEW — Mayo Clinic Healthy Heart for Life!