Anxiety A Type Of Emotional Disorder - 2163 Words

Introduction Anxiety is a type of emotional disorder that affects over 40 million adults in the United States, making it the leading mental illness in the US (www.adaa.org, 2014). Emotional disorders, including anxiety, affected roughly 405,293 school ages individuals during the 2009-2010 school year (Heward, 2013). Anxiety can come in many forms, including generalized anxiety, social anxiety, panic disorders, phobias, obsessive compulsive disorder, and posttraumatic stress disorder. They can lead to eating disorders, selective mutism, depression, sleep disorders, and irritable bowel syndrome. Anxiety disorder is defined as a â€Å"maladaptive emotional state or behaviors caused by excessive and often irrational fears and worries† (Heward,†¦show more content†¦Individuals with generalized anxiety often experience restlessness, loss of sleep, fatigue, inability to concentrate, headaches, nausea, and trembling. Generalized anxiety may cause an inability to make decision s due to the constant worrying that an individual experiences (www.mayoclinic.org, 2014). Generalized anxiety disorder is unique in its characteristics in that â€Å"physiological symptoms are indeed a defining characteristic of (generalized anxiety) rather than other anxiety disorders including social anxiety† (Ollendick, Kim-Spoon, Whitmoore, 2013, p. 457). The characteristics of social anxiety, while similar to those of generalized anxiety, are unique because they are caused primarily by social situations. Behavioral inhibition is a â€Å"specific risk factor for social anxiety† (Ollendick, Kim-Spoon, Whitmoore, 2013, p. 457). Social anxiety is much more than simply shyness. It is a type of phobia, in which the individual affected feels overwhelming fear of social situations and may even avoid socializing all together. This type of anxiety is â€Å"linked to a priori assumption of failure and fear that events would†¦ invite ridicule† (Russel Topham, 20 12, p. 380). While typical peers may experience bouts of anxiety and may avoid certain social or