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Approximately 19.1
million American adults ages 18 to 54, or about 13.3% of people
in this age group in any given year, have an anxiety disorder.
 Anxiety
disorders frequently co-occur with depressive
disorders, eating disorders, or substance abuse.
Many
people suffer from more than one anxiety disorder.
Women
are more likely than men to suffer from anxiety disorders. Approximately
twice as many women as men suffer from panic disorder, post-traumatic
stress disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, agoraphobia,
and specific phobia, though about equal numbers of women and
men have obsessive-compulsive disorder and social phobia.
Anxiety
disorders are the most common mental health problem in the United
States today.
| |
Percent |
Population
Estimate*
(Millions) |
| Any
Anxiety Disorder |
13.3% |
23.4 |
| Panic
Disorder |
1.7% |
2.9 |
|
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder |
2.3% |
4.0 |
|
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder |
3.6% |
6.3 |
| Any
Phobias |
8.0% |
14.1 |
|
Generalized Anxiety Disorder |
2.8% |
4.9 |
| *
Based on 2003 U.S. Census resident population estimate of
176.4 million, age 18-64 |
The
annual cost of anxiety disorders to society is estimated to be
$42.3 Billion. More than half of these costs are due to repeat
use of healthcare services to relieve anxiety related symptoms
that mimic those of other physical conditions. Hence those individuals
who suffer anxiety disorders are all too often misdiagnosed.
Anxiety
disorders are all real medical illnesses and are often related
to the biological makeup and life experiences of the individual,
and they frequently run in families.
Unfortunately, misconceptions about mental illnesses like anxiety
disorders still exist. Because many people believe mental illness
is a sign of personal weakness, the condition is often trivialized
and is left untreated.
It is common for an anxiety disorder to accompany depression,
eating disorders, substance abuse, or another anxiety disorders.
Anxiety disorders can also co-exist with illnesses such as heart
disease, high blood pressure, irritable bowel syndrome, thyroid
conditions, and migraine headaches. In such instances, the accompanying
disorders will also need to be treated.
Agoraphobia involves intense fear and avoidance of any
place or situation where escape might be difficult or help unavailable
in the event of developing sudden panic-like
symptoms. Although the severity of the anxiety and the extent
of avoidance behavior are variable, this is the most incapacitating
of the phobic disorders and some sufferers become completely housebound.
Approximately
3.2 million American adults ages 18 to 54, or about 2.2 percent
of people in this age group in a given year, have agoraphobia.
Sufferers
report a variety of fears including entering shops, crowds,
and public places, or of traveling alone in trains, buses,
or planes.
See more information on Agoraphobia
Avoidant personality disorder, or anxious personality disorder,
is a personality disorder characterized by a pervasive pattern
of social inhibition, feelings of inadequacy, and extreme sensitivity
to negative evaluation.
Avoidant
personality disorder usually is first noticed in early adulthood,
and is associated with perceived or actual rejection by parent
or peers during childhood.
Research
suggests that approximately 10-50% of the people who have
a panic
disorder with agoraphobia
have APD, as well as about 20-40% of the people who have a
social
phobia.
Some
studies report prevalence rates of up to 45% among the people
with a generalized
anxiety disorder and up to 56% of the people with an obsessive-compulsive
disorder.
See more information on Avoidant
Personality Disorder
ADHD,
one of the most common mental disorders in children and adolescents,
affects an estimated 4.1 percent of youths ages 9 to 17 in
a 6-month period.
ADHD
usually becomes evident in preschool or early elementary years.
The disorder frequently persists into adolescence and occasionally
into adulthood.
About
2-3 times more boys than girls are affected.
Body dysmorphic disorder (BDD) is a mental disorder, which involves
a disturbed body image. It is generally diagnosed of those who
are extremely critical of their physique or self image, despite
the fact there may be no noticeable disfigurement or defect.
The
prevalence of BDD is equal in men and women, and causes chronic
social anxiety for those suffering from the disorder.
Phillips
& Menard (2006) found the completed suicide rate in patients
with BDD to be 45 times higher than in the general US population.
This rate is more than double that of those with depression
and three times as high as those with bipolar
disorder.
See more information on Body
Dysmorphic Disorder
The 3 main types of eating disorders are anorexia nervosa, bulimia
nervosa, and binge-eating disorder.
Females
are much more likely than males to develop an eating disorder.
Only an estimated 5-15 percent
of people with anorexia or bulimia and an estimated 35 percent
of those with binge-eating disorder
are male.
In
their lifetime, an estimated 0.5 percent to 3.7 percent of
females suffer from anorexia and an estimated 1.1 percent
to 4.2 percent suffer from bulimia.
Community
surveys have estimated that between 2 percent and 5 percent
of Americans experience binge-eating disorder in a 6-month
period.
The
mortality rate among people with anorexia has been estimated
at 0.56 percent per year, or approximately 5.6 percent per
decade, which is about 12 times higher than the annual death
rate due to all causes of death among females ages 15-24 in
the general population.
The essential feature of GAD is anxiety, which is generalized
and persistent but not restricted to, or even strongly predominating
in, any particular environmental circumstances. As in other anxiety
disorders the dominant symptoms are highly variable, but complaints
of continuous feelings of nervousness, trembling, muscular tension,
sweating, lightheadedness, palpitations, dizziness, and epigastric
discomfort are common.
Approximately
4.0 million American adults ages 18 to 54, or about 2.8 percent
of people in this age group
in a given year, have GAD.
GAD
can begin across the life cycle, though the risk is highest
between childhood and middle age.
GAD
is more common in women, and often related to chronic environmental
stress. Its course is variable
but tends to be fluctuating and chronic.
Sufferers
often express fears that they will (or a relative will) shortly
become ill or have an accident, together
with a variety of other worries.
Hypochondria (or hypochondriasis, sometimes referred to as health
anxiety or health phobia) is a somatoform disorder in which one
has the unfounded belief that one is suffering from a serious
illness.
Advertisements regarding serious illnesses such as cancer
and multiple sclerosis (some of the common diseases hypochondriacs
think they have) often portray these diseases as being random,
obscure and somewhat inevitable making them seem very probable
for the sufferer.
A
majority of people who experience physical pains or anxieties
over non-existent ailments are not actually "faking it",
but rather, experiencing the natural results of other emotional
issues, such as very high
amounts of stress.
See more information on Hypochondria
Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is an anxiety disorder where
the sufferer feels compelled to spend a great deal of time doing
things over and over again such as washing their hands, checking
things, or counting things.
OCD affects men and women equally.
Approximately
3.3 million American adults ages 18 to 54, or about 2.3 percent
of people in this age group in a given year, have OCD.
The
first symptoms of OCD can appear in childhood, adolescence,
or adulthood, but on average, it first shows up in the teens
or early adulthood.
See more information on Obsessive
Compulsive Disorder
Obsessive-compulsive personality disorder (OCPD), or anankastic
personality disorder, is a personality disorder that is characterized
by a general psychological inflexibility, rigid conformity to
rules and procedures, perfectionism, and excessive orderliness.
Obsessive-compulsive
personality disorder is often confused with obsessive-compulsive
disorder (OCD). OCD is ego-dystonic where OCPD is ego-syntonic.
This is to say, those with OCD know their behavior is problematic
where the symptoms of OCPD are part of a person's personality
and are generally unaware of problematic behaviors.
Concluding
a prevalence rate is very difficult because OCPD is ego-syntonic
therefore most people will try to deny that anything is mentally
wrong with them, hence they usually don't even consider seeking
treatment.
See more information on Obsessive
Compulsive Personality Disorder
Panic disorder is an anxiety disorder characterized by unexpected
and repeated episodes of intense fear accompanied by physical
symptoms that may include chest pain, heart palpitations, shortness
of breath, dizziness, or abdominal distress.
These sensations often mimic symptoms of a heart attack or other
life-threatening medical conditions. Left untreated, people with
panic disorder can develop so many phobias about places or situations
where panic attacks
have occurred that they become housebound.
Approximately
2.4 million American adults ages 18 to 54, or about 1.7 percent
of people in this age group in a given year, have panic disorder.
Panic
disorder typically develops in late adolescence or early adulthood.
About
1 in 3 people with panic disorder develop agoraphobia,
a condition in which they become afraid of being in any place
or situation where escape might be difficult or help unavailable
in the event of a panic attack.
See more information on Panic
Disorder
PTSD may develop from a terrifying event or ordeal that a person
has experienced, witnessed or learned about, especially one that
is Life threatening or causes physical harm. This traumatic experience
causes the person to feel intense fear, horror or a sense of helplessness.
The stress caused by trauma can affect all aspects of a person's
life including mental, emotional and physical well being.
During
any given year, 5.2 million Americans will exhibit the symptoms
of PTSD. That's about 3.6 percent of American adults aged 18
to 54.
PTSD
can develop at any age, including childhood.
Nearly
everyone who is exposed to an extremely frightening situation
is affected by the experience. PTSD is diagnosed only if the
symptoms last more than a month.
Alcohol
abuse is the most common symptom of PTSD in men, occurring in
51.9 percent of those with the disorder.
Depression
is the most common symptom among female PTSD sufferers, being
diagnosed in 48.5 percent of cases.
The
overall likelihood of an American developing PTSD is 7.8 percent
for men and 10.4 percent for women.
See more information on PTSD
Separation anxiety disorder (or simply separation anxiety) is
a psychological condition in which an individual has excessive
anxiety regarding separation from home or from people to whom
the individual has a strong emotional attachment (like a mother).
Research
from the National Comorbidity Survey of U.S. households indicates
lifetime prevalence estimates of childhood and adult separation
anxiety disorders were 4.1% and 6.6%, respectively.
Approximately
one-third of the respondents who were classified as childhood
cases (36.1%) had an illness that persisted into adulthood,
although the majority classified as adult cases (77.5%) had
first onset in adulthood.
See more information on Separation
Anxiety Disorder
Social Phobia involves a fear of social situations and
is usually associated with low self-esteem and fear of criticism.
Sufferers may display symptoms of flushing, hand tremor, nausea,
or urgency to urinate which may progress to panic
attacks. Avoidance is often marked, and in extreme cases may
result in virtually complete social isolation.
Approximately
5.3 million American adults ages 18 to 54, or about 3.7 percent
of people in this age group in a given year, have social phobia.
Social
phobia typically begins in childhood or adolescence and are
based around a fear of scrutiny by other people, leading to
avoidance of social situations.
Social
phobias are equally common in men and women.
Individual
fears may be discrete like eating in public places, public
speaking, or encounters with the opposite sex while others
are diffuse, involving almost all social situations outside
the family circle.
See more information on Social
Anxiety Disorder
Somatization disorder occurs when a patient manifests a psychiatric
condition as a physical complaint. One prevalent general etiological
explanation is that internal psychological conflicts are unconsciously
expressed as physical signs.
Somatization
disorder is about two times more common among women than men.
There
is usually co-morbidity with other psychological disorders
particularly mood or anxiety disorders.
According
to the DSM-IV, the disorder has a lifetime prevalence of 0.2%
in males and 0.2% to 2% in females.
Specific Phobia
involves marked and persistent fear and avoidance of a specific
object or situation including heights, flying, darkness, thunder,
closed spaces, using public toilets, dentistry, the sight of blood
or injury, or the fear of exposure to specific diseases. Contact
with the trigger situation can evoke a panic
attack, the seriousness of which depends on how easy it is
for the sufferer to avoid the phobic situation.
Approximately
6.3 million American adults ages 18 to 54, or about 4.4 percent
of people in this age group in a given year, have some type
of specific phobia.
Specific
phobias usually arise in childhood or early adult life and
can persist for decades if they remain untreated.
See more information on Specific
Phobia
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