A study done by the Royal College of Psychiatrists of 3000 students in ten UK universities, showed that 17% male and 25% female students in higher education have noticeable levels of sustained anxiety.  Anxiety can be defined as apprehension over an anticipated problem. A small amount of anxiety can be helpful as it helps us notice and plan for future events, enabling us to think through potential problems before they happen and helping people to avoid potentially dangerous situations.  However, large amounts of anxiety are detrimental to mental and psychical health, and anxiety disorders, in which a person experiences high or frequent levels of anxiety and sometimes fear too, are the most common type of mental illness. In general, women are much more likely than men to be diagnosed with an anxiety disorder, except for OCD which is the only anxiety disorder equally common in women and men.

Classification:

There are seven classes of major anxiety disorders:

1. Specific phobia:  fear of objects or situations out of proportion to any real danger (e.g. heights, animals, enclosed spaces)

2. Social phobia: fear of unfamiliar people or social scrutiny.

Although, people with these phobias often recognise their terror as unrealistic, the fearful object or situation is avoided or endured with intense anxiety, producing symptoms so intense that they interfere with daily activities.

3. Panic disorder:  anxiety about recurrent panic attacks; sometimes accompanied by agoraphobia (fear of open spaces) and a fear of being in places where panic attacks could occur. A panic attack is a sudden attack of intense apprehension, terror, and feelings of impending doom, accompanied by symptoms such as heart palpitations, nausea, chest pain, feelings of choking and smothering.

4. Generalised anxiety disorder: uncontrollable worry for at least 6 months.  These worries are similar in focus to those of most people i.e. they worry about relationships, health, finances and daily hassles but they worry excessively about these issues 

5. Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD): experience of obsessions with uncontrollable thoughts, impulses or images and/or compulsions which are repetitive behaviours or mental acts.  People with OCD have intrusive, unwanted thoughts and can feel pressure to engage in rituals to avoid overwhelming levels of anxiety for example compulsively washing their hands to combat the anxiety of being unclean. OCD might focus on many other things, but some examples include fear of doing harm or violence, committing crime, or using sharp objects.

6. Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD): aftermath of a traumatic experience in which the person re-experiences the traumatic event, avoids stimuli associated with the event and experiences increased arousal.

7. Acute stress disorder: symptoms similar to PTSD but occur for less than 4 weeks after the traumatic event.

Treatment:

Only a small proportion of people with anxiety disorders will seek treatment. Psychological treatments often involve a specific set of interventions to challenge the negative beliefs about what will happen when a person faces their fears. Conventional medication treatments may also be used to suppress the symptoms of anxiety; however they are only effective during the time they are taken as most people relapse when the medication is no longer taken.   Two types of treatment are most commonly used which are benzodiazepines (tranquilizers like Valium, Librium and Ativan) and antidepressants (see pages including tricyclic antidepressants and selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors). There are significant side effects to both; benzodiazepines can have cognitive and motor side effects such as memory lapses and difficulty driving, and can be addictive, whilst antidepressants have fewer side effects but, must be prescribed correctly because they can increase anxiety themselves and some people experience effects like jitteriness, weight gain, elevated heart rate and high blood pressure.