Anxiety is a normal response to stress and uncertainty, and some level of anxiety can be adaptive and beneficial. Having a busy mind or feeling anxious before an important event does by itself not mean you have a disorder. When fear or worry persists, feels difficult to manage, or starts to cause distress, support can help. This page explains common types and signs of anxiety problems, as well as what is involved in assessment and treatment of these conditions.

What Are Anxiety Disorders?

Anxiety disorders involve fear or worry that persists or feels out of proportion to the situation and causes distress or interferes with daily life. There are several types of common anxiety disorders. These include Generalized Anxiety Disorder (excessive worrying about several areas of life that is difficult to control), Panic Disorder (repeated unexpected panic attacks and concern about further attacks), Social Anxiety Disorder (fear of being judged in social situations), Specific Phobia (intense fear of a particular situation or object, such as flying, heights, animals, receiving an injection, seeing blood), and Agoraphobia (fear of situations where leaving or getting help might feel difficult). Illness Anxiety Disorder is another related condition that involves fear of having or acquiring a serious illness. All anxiety disorders cause significant distress and/or interfere with important aspects of life.

What Are Anxiety Disorder Symptoms?

Anxiety can show up in thoughts, the body, and behaviour. Common signs of anxiety include:

• Worrying frequently about health, family, work, money, or things in the future that might go wrong and finding it difficult to control the work (primary Generalized Anxiety Disorder symptoms)

• Feeling restless, tense, irritable, or unable to relax

• Experiencing a racing heart (heart palpitations), trembling, sweating, nausea, or shortness of breath (common panic attack symptoms)

• Avoiding social situations, travel, activities, or tasks that bring up fear

• Checking, seeking reassurance, or preparing excessively to feel more certain 

• Difficulty concentrating, making decisions, or sleeping because of worry

• Spending considerable time anticipating the next panic attack or feared event

Anxiety symptoms may be persistent across situations or occur primarily in response to specific triggers. The nature, frequency, and intensity of symptoms vary across anxiety disorders. 

Symptoms of anxiety disorders can overlap considerably with those of other mental health conditions and physical health problems. For this reason, a comprehensive assessment needs to consider other possible explanations for anxiety symptoms, including physical health conditions, effects of medication, substance use, and other mental disorders. It is also important not to automatically attribute physical symptoms to anxiety. Symptoms such as severe chest pain or significant difficulty breathing warrant urgent medical assessment, as they may indicate a physical health problem that requires immediate attention.

How Common Are Anxiety Disorders?

Anxiety disorders are among the most common mental health conditions. The World Health Organization estimated that 470 million people worldwide experienced an anxiety disorder in 2023, about 5.8% of the global population. In Canada, a national study estimated found that 7.7% of people met diagnostic criteria for Social Anxiety Disorder and 5.8% met criteria for Generalized Anxiety Disorder. Despite their high prevalence, many people do not receive treatment for anxiety disorders, even though there are effective treatments available.

What Causes Anxiety Disorders?

There is no single cause. Family history, sensitivity to threat, stressful or traumatic experiences, ongoing pressures and life stress, sleep, physical health, and other mental health concerns may all play a role on the development of anxiety problems. Avoidance of feared situations, experiences, and stimuli can bring short-term relief, but make anxiety related to these sources harder to manage over time. 

How Are Anxiety Disorders Assessed and Diagnosed?

A psychological assessment involves understanding a person’s current difficulties and how anxiety is occurring and affecting their life. Assessments typically focus on identifying the triggers for anxiety (when it happens and what is feared), patterns of avoidance, and impacts of anxiety. Because anxiety symptoms can have multiple contributing causes, assessment needs to also consider the potential connections between anxiety and sleep problems, physical health conditions, medications, substance use, and other mental health concerns, such as depression. Standardized self-report questionnaires can help assess the nature and severity of symptoms, support diagnostic clarification, and track changes over time.

What Treatments Work for Anxiety Disorders?

There are evidence-based psychological treatments for all anxiety disorders. Therapy and medication are both options for some people.

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT)

CBT is a well-studied treatment for anxiety disorders and widely considered the gold-standard treatment for anxiety disorders. CBT for anxiety disorders focuses on understanding anxiety-linked patterns between thoughts, physical sensations, and behaviours, and then establishing different ways of responding to anxiety and identified triggers. Therapy may involve:

• Recognizing anxious predictions and responding to them more flexibly

• Reducing avoidance, repeated checking, or reassurance seeking

• Building healthier ways to manage worry and uncertainty

• Gradually and systematically approaching feared situations, experiences, or stimuli 

• Planning how to maintain progress and respond to setbacks

Exposure is a central part of CBT for Special Phobia, Panic Disorder, Social Anxiety Disorder, and Agoraphobia. With a therapist, exposure therapy for anxiety involves collaboratively developing a plan to gradually face your fears. For example, exposure for someone with Social Anxiety Disorder might involve putting oneself in situations where scrutiny by others is possible, whereas Panic Disorder treatment often involves interoceptive exercises to simulate physiological sensations of panic attacks (e.g., spinning in a chair to create dizziness, breathing through a straw to feel breathless). The objective of exposure is to reduce anxiety and avoidance related to feared situations, experiences, or stimuli by experiencing them. Exposure pacing and exercises are individualized to people’s needs and goals. 

Medication

Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) and selective norepinephrine inhibitors (SNRIs) are also effective for treating anxiety disorders. Medications are sometimes used in conjunction with psychological treatments, such as CBT. Benzodiazepines are generally not recommended as a routine long-term treatment anxiety disorders because of risks associated with ongoing use, including tolerance and physical dependence.

What Can Recovery Look Like?

Treatment is not intended to make anxiety disappear from a person’s life completely, especially since some anxiety can be adaptive and beneficial. Instead, recovery may mean spending less time worrying; sleeping better; feeling less afraid of physical symptoms of anxiety; returning to avoided activities; and, importantly, taking part more fully in relationships, work, and other things that matter to you. 

How Can Recovery Paths Psychology Centre Help?

If worry and fear are impacting important parts of your life and you are looking for support on how to manage anxiety, the psychologists at Recovery Paths Psychology Centre can help you understand your anxiety experiences and work with you on a treatment plan that fits your goals. You do not need to know which anxiety disorder, if any, describes your experience before reaching out. Knowing when to seek help for anxiety is important, as getting support early can help prevent symptoms from becoming more severe and potentially requiring a longer course of treatment.

Assessment of anxiety disorders

A psychological assessment to examine your anxiety symptoms, triggers, avoidant behaviours, and their effects on daily life, along with communication of clinical and diagnostic conclusions

CBT

Understanding how anxiety and anxiety disorders work; identifying thinking patterns that lead to and worsen anxiety; cognitively challenging unhelpful thoughts; approaching feared situations, experiences, or stimuli gradually and systematically to reduce anxiety and avoidance; and support for related concerns, such as sleep difficulties, depression, substance use, relational and occupational difficulties, and other issues where relevant

Contact Us to Learn More about the Psychological Services for Anxiety Disorders at Recovery Paths Psychology Centre

Last updated: October 2026