Fear occurs when the threat is more immediate and easily defined, such as looking over a cliff edge or being attacked by a huge snarling dog. Some degree of anxiety is useful as it improves our performance and helps us deal with the problems at hand.

Anxiety disorders occur when the anxiety becomes so severe and prolonged that they interfere with our ability to cope with day-to-day activities. Anxiety disorders are the most common of all the mental disorders. Many people misunderstand these disorders and think that individuals should be able to overcome the symptoms by sheer willpower. Wishing the symptoms away does not work but treatment can help.

1. Generalised Anxiety Disorder

Generalised anxiety disorder (GAD) is chronic exaggerated worry and tension even when nothing seems to provoke it. People with GAD anticipate disaster, worry excessively about health, money, family or work. They have difficulty relaxing and are unable to shake off their concerns even though they realise that their anxiety is irrational. Their worries are accompanied by physical symptoms especially trembling, twitching, muscle tension,headaches, irritability, sweating or hot flashes.

They may feel lightheaded or out of breath and may feel nauseated or have to go to the bathroom frequently.Usually, the impairment associated with GAD is mild and people with this disorder do not feel too restricted in social settings or on the job. However if severe, GAD can be debilitating, making it difficult to carry out even the most ordinary daily activities.

2. Panic Disorder

People with panic disorder have feelings of terror that strike suddenly and repeatedly with no warning. They cannot predict when an attack will occur and may develop intense anxiety between episodes, worrying when and where the next one will strike. In between attacks, there is a persistent, lingering worry that another attack could come any minute.

When a panic attack strikes, the heart pounds and the sufferer may feel sweaty, faint, weak or dizzy. Their hands may tingle or feel numb and they may feel flushed or chilled. Chest discomfort, smothering sensations, a sense of unreality, fear of impending doom or loss of control may also be present. The sufferer may genuinely believe that he is having a heart attack or stroke, losing his mind, or on the verge of death. While most attacks average a couple of minutes, occasionally they can last for up to ten minutes. In rare cases, they may last an hour or more.

Panic disorder is often accompanied by other conditions such as depression or alcoholism, and may develop into phobias. Some people's lives become greatly restricted. They avoid any situation that would make them feel helpless if a panic attack occurs. When their lives become so restricted by the disorder, which happens in about one-third of people with panic disorders, the condition is called agoraphobia.

3. Phobias

Phobias occur in several forms. Phobias are not just extreme fear; they are irrational fear.If the object of the fear is easy to avoid, people with phobias may not feel the need to seek treatment.

A specific phobia is a fear of a particular object or situation. Many people experience specific intense, irrational fears of certain things or situations e.g. dogs, closed-in places, heights, escalators, tunnels,water, flying and injuries involving blood are a few of the more common ones.

Social phobia is an intense fear of being humiliated in social situations,specifically of embarrassing themselves in front of other people. Small mistakes may seem much more exaggerated than they really are. Blushing itself may seem painfully embarrassing and the sufferer feel as if all eyes are focused on him. Or the fear may be more specific, such as feeling anxious about giving a speech, talking to a boss or other authority figure, or dating. Social phobia disrupts normal life,interfering with career or social relationships.

Agoraphobia, which often accompanies panic disorder, is a fear of being in any situation that might provoke a panic attack, or from which escape might be difficult if one occurred. People with agoraphobia are afraid to travel far from home or go into confined places e.g. trains, elevators, planes for fear of having a panic attack and being unable to flee quickly or get help.