Introduction to Generalized Anxiety Disorder and Panic Disorder

What you’ll learn to do: describe the features and characteristics of generalized anxiety disorder and panic disorder

A silhouette of a person sitting and looking up at a large, frightening figure.

In this section, you will learn about anxiety disorders, which are a group of disorders in which a person experiences excessive, persistent, and distressing fear and anxiety that interferes with normal functioning. Anxiety disorders can be categorized as generalized anxiety, panic disorder, phobia, agoraphobia, social anxiety, and separation anxiety. Each category of anxiety has its own unique presentation of anxiety through a person’s behavior and set of anxiety symptoms. In this first section, we’ll learn about generalized anxiety disorder (a relatively continuous state of tension, apprehension, and dread) and panic disorder (when a person is suddenly overwhelmed by panic).

Watch It

Anxiety is ever-prevalent in today’s world and often exacerbated by external factors such as the global pandemic during Covid-19. This video from MedCircle provides more information about anxiety, including what it is and what it isn’t.