DISCLAIMER: this is not meant to diagnose anyone nor should my book be used to diagnose yourself. If you are worried you may have an anxiety disorder of any kind, please see a mental health professional.
Hypochondria(aka health anxiety)-worry about your health
Frequently check your body for signs of illnesses
Aka for reassurance that you're not ill
Worry that your doctor missed something
Look at health info online
Avoid anything that has to do with serious illnesses
Social anxiety disorder(aka social phobia)
Overwhelming and long lasting fear negative evaluation from others
Symptoms are:
Dreading everyday things such as meeting new people, starting conversations, talking on the phone
Avoiding or worrying about social activities
Always worry about doing something stupid, rude or embarrassing
Find it difficult to do things when others are watching
Fear criticism
Fear of being judged
Avoid eye contact
Low self esteem
Feeling sick
Panic attacks
Sweating
Trembling
Blushing
Heart pounding
There's three types of social anxiety:
Generalized: a worry about several social interactions
Specific: worry about one or two social interactions such as public speaking or talking on the phone.
Unspecified
Separation anxiety disorder -someone is very anxious when separated from an attachment figure such as a parent. They are excessively worried to the point where daily functioning is impacted.
PTSD: post traumatic stress disorder. Happens after expirencing or witnessing a traumatic event. A mild form of PTSD is acute stress disorder, where one experiences symptoms of PTSD after an event. It goes away over time, but if it continues it may be diagnosed as PTSD. People exposed to prolonged trauma such as torture or sexual abuse may have complex PTSD or C-PTSD. The symptoms are all similar. Birth trauma is a type of PTSD that happens when a traumatic event happens during childbirth. Delayed-onset ptsd is when the symptoms emerge more than six months after expirencing the trauma.
Symptoms:
Vivid flashbacks (reliving the trauma):
Intrusive thoughts
Nightmares
Distress when reminded of trauma
Sweating, nausea, pain or trembling
Feeling on edge:
Easily angry or upset
Irritated or aggressive behavior
Hard to concentrate
Easily startled
Self destructive behavior
Avoiding reminders:
Feeling like you have to keep busy
Avoiding anything that reminds you of the trauma
Unable to remember details of what happened
Feeling emotionally or physically numb
Unable to express affection
Using drugs or alcohol to avoid memories
Difficult beliefs:
Feeling like you cant trust anyone
Feeling unsafe
Blaming yourself
Feeling like no one understands
Overwhelming feelings of anger, sadness, guilt or shame
Flashbacks:
Relive what happened or feel like the trauma is happening right now
Seeing full or partial images of what happened
Feeling pain or pressure
Expirencing emotions that you felt when it happened
Triggers: Being triggered is what happens when someone panics when seeing/hearing/feeling/smelling something. In people with phobias, it might be seeing a picture of a spider. In someone with depression or an ED or who self harmed, it might be something like seeing self harm scars, things that promote eating disorders or thinness, or something relating to suicide. In people with PTSD, a Trigger is something that reminds them of their trauma and can cause them to be distressed, panic or have flashbacks. Triggering someone or joking about triggering someone is NOT funny. Being triggered is not funny.
Also! Anyone can have ptsd, not just people in war! PTSD can happen to: victims of abuse, natural disasters, violence, assault, rape, or accidents such as a car crash.
Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD)-when people have unwanted thoughts, images, and feelings that cause intense anxiety (obsessions) that lead to repeating stuff or having "rituals" to temporarily relief the anxiety (compulsions).
Types of obsessions:
Fear of causing harm-that you're gonna hurt someone, or burn down the house, or that you already hurt someone.
Order and symmetry:
Fear that something will happen if you don't arrange things in a certain way.
Contamination:
Worry that you've been contaminated or that you're spreading an illness
Worry that you're sick
Feeling unclean or dirty
Intrusive thoughts:
Sexual thoughts or images
Violent thoughts
Religious thoughts
Intrusive thoughts about relationships
People with intrusive thoughts/obsessions do not act on them, in fact, they feel disturbed and scared when these thoughts happen.
Compulsions: can be physical or mental. Repeating something several times to reduce the anxiety and get rid of the obsession.
Ex: obsession of burning the house down, compulsion could be checking the microwave several times.
Types of compulsions:
Correcting thoughts:
Repetitive thinking to "neutralize" the thought
Counting (can be verbal or in head)
Saying words (verbal or mental)
Reassurance:
Checking mentally to see if the intrusive thoughts actually happened
Checking your body for signs of contamination
Checking to see if your body reacts to the thoughts
Checking if you have locked/turned off/secured things
Rituals:
Over washing your hands or items
Putting things in a certain way
Body focused obsessions:
Focused on breathing, heart beat, swallowing ect
Internal compulsions:
Checking to see how you feel by the thought (does it really disgust you?)
Checking to see how you feel about family and friends
Checking to see if you still have an intrusive thought
Pure-O is a type of OCD where all the obsessions and compulsions are mental.
Generalized anxiety disorder- extremely worried about several things (such as School/work, health, money, or family problems, sports, natural disasters, jobs, being late, completed chores and other responsibilities, ect).
Symptoms:
Worry very much about everyday things
Have trouble controlling the worry
Knowing they worry more than they should
Feeling restless
Having a hard time relaxing
Easily startled
Hard time focusing
Have headaches, stomach pain, or muscle aches
Hard time swallowing
Twitching
Irritability
Sweating
Feeling light headed or out of breath
Going to the bathroom frequently
Muscle tension
Panic disorder- a disorder where panic attacks suddenly happen. You also may fear having one.
Symptoms of a panic attack:
Sense of impending doom or danger
Fear of death
Fear of losing control
Sweating
Shaking
Shortness of breath
Chills
Hot flashes
Nausea
Cramps
Chest pain
Headaches
Dizzy
Numb
Detached from reality
Feeling like it's hard to breathe/like you can't breathe.
Agoraphobia-a fear of places that cause helplessness or panic, or a fear of having a panic attack, enclosed places or leaving the house.
They might not leave home alone. They also fear open spaces, crowds, public transportation, enclosed places. They might avoid doing all of these things.
Anxiety attacks vs a panic attack:
An anxiety attack is provoked by a stressor, where a panic attack happens for no reason at all.
Phobias are also considered anxiety disorders.
Selective mutism-an anxiety disorder where a child is unable to speak in certain places or to certain people. In order to be diagnosed, the child has to be able to speak in some places and go mute in others. It has to last for a month, with that month NOT being the first month of school.
Notes: OCD and PTSD are no longer in the anxiety disorder category of the DSM-5. I'll keep them in this chapter anyways.
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Depression, anxiety, EDs, and other mental health issues.
Non-FictionThis story is about depression disorders, anxiety disorders, eating disorders, personality disorders, other mental illnesses, self harm, suicide, bullying, and the stigma of mental illness. This book was written to help others and educate people. It...
