If a person struggling with an anxiety disorder worries excessively about many different things where they are unable to control their worry causing emotional distress and problems with school, relationships or work they probably have generalized anxiety disorder (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). This disorder is prevalent in 0.9% among adolescents and 2.9 % among adults (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). Symptoms include restlessness, fatigue, tense muscles, irritability, difficulty concentrating, and sleep disturbances (American Psychiatric Association, 2013).
A more common anxiety disorder among adolescents is panic disorder. With 2%-3% of the population of adolescents and adults, this disorder is classified by unexpected and recurrent panic attacks that reaches its peak very quickly with symptoms such as sweating, increased heart rate, a choking feeling, dizziness, shaking or a fear of losing control, just to name a few (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). The most common anxiety disorder among adolescents is social anxiety disorder. With approximately 7% of the population having this disorder it is marked with a fear or anxiety about being scrutinized in social interactions by others (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). Additionally, the individual is afraid that their anxiety symptoms will show and they will feel embarrassed or humiliated so they tend to avoid social situations (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). This fear is disproportionate to the sociocultural context and generally lasts for more than 6 months (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). .
Other anxiety disorders worth mentioning are; Specific Phobias, where fear or anxiety is associated with a specific object or situation; Agoraphobia, which is intense fear and anxiety directed toward a range of situations like public transportation, open spaces, enclosed spaces, or anywhere outside the home (American Psychiatric Association, 2013).