Anxiety and panic

Generalized anxiety, panic attacks, social anxiety, health anxiety and other ways fear and worry become hard to manage.

• AnxietyAnxiety is the body's natural alarm system: a mix of worry, tension and physical arousal that prepares you to face a threat. It becomes a problem when it is intense, lasts for weeks or shows up without real danger, and starts to limit your work, sleep or relationships. Anxiety is one of the most treatable mental health concerns, and therapy helps most people feel better.
• Derealization and depersonalizationDerealization is the experience of the world around you seeming unreal, distant, foggy or dreamlike, while depersonalization is feeling detached from your own body, thoughts or emotions. Both are forms of dissociation, are very common during intense anxiety or stress, and usually ease once the underlying cause is addressed.
• Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD)Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) is a mental health condition marked by excessive, persistent worry about everyday matters that is hard to control and lasts for months. Unlike ordinary stress, the worry in GAD spreads from one topic to the next, comes with physical tension and fatigue, and gets in the way of daily life. It is common and very treatable.
• Health anxietyHealth anxiety is a persistent, distressing fear that you have or will develop a serious illness, even when medical checks are reassuring. It used to be called hypochondria, and today clinicians often describe it as illness anxiety disorder. It is common, it is not "all in your head" in a dismissive sense, and it responds well to treatment.
• Nervous breakdownA nervous breakdown is an everyday term, not a medical diagnosis, for a period of intense mental or emotional distress in which a person can no longer cope with normal life. It often follows prolonged stress and may reflect underlying anxiety, depression, burnout or trauma. With support and treatment, recovery is very possible.
• OverthinkingOverthinking is getting stuck in repetitive thoughts about the past, the future or a problem without reaching a useful conclusion. It includes rumination (replaying what went wrong) and worry (rehearsing what could go wrong). Overthinking is not a diagnosis in itself, but it is closely linked to anxiety and depression, and it responds well to specific therapy skills.
• Panic attacksA panic attack is a sudden surge of intense fear or discomfort that peaks within minutes and brings strong physical symptoms, such as a racing heart, shortness of breath, dizziness or a feeling of losing control. Panic attacks are frightening but not dangerous in themselves, and they respond very well to treatment, especially cognitive behavioral therapy.
• Social anxietySocial anxiety is an intense, persistent fear of being judged, embarrassed or rejected in social situations. When that fear is strong enough to make you avoid people, events or everyday tasks, and it lasts for months, mental health professionals call it social anxiety disorder (also known as social phobia). It is common, and it responds well to treatment.
• Somatic symptom disorderSomatic symptom disorder is a condition in which a person has one or more real, distressing physical symptoms, such as pain, fatigue or digestive problems, together with excessive thoughts, feelings and behaviors about those symptoms. The symptoms are not imagined or "fake." What defines the disorder is how much worry and disruption they cause, whether or not a medical explanation is found.