Anxiety disorders have as their central feature the experience of anxiety symptoms. Anxiety disorders include:
Panic Attack, which consists of the sudden onset of fearfulness or terror, and possibly impending doom. Anxiety symptoms are associated with arousal of the autonomic nervous system and may include a racing heart, hyperventilation, nausea, hot flashes or chills, cold clammy hands, along with a fear of losing emotional control.
Agoraphobia, which consists of experiencing anxiety, or avoiding, exposure to situations where a panic attacks has occurred in the past.
Specific Phobia, which consists of anxiety evoked by exposure to situation or object that has elicited fear in the past, which leads to avoidance behavior.
Social Phobia (Social Anxiety Disorder), which consists of anxiety that is triggered by social and/or performance situations, which leads to avoidance behavior.
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, which consists of obsessions that evoke anxiety and distress, which are followed by compulsive behaviors whose purpose is to attempt to decrease anxiety.
Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, which consists of reexperiencing a traumatic event, experiencing symptoms of autonomic arousal when exposed through imagery or environmental stimuli associated with the traumatic event, and efforts to avoid exposure.
Generalized Anxiety Disorder, whose central symptoms consist of at least six months of excessive worry, but also includes symptoms of autonomic arousal.
Adapted from "Diagnostic And Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition," American Psychiatric Association, 1994.