What is Anxiety?
In a very general sense, anxiety is a feeling of worry or unease about some sort of imminent and/or uncertain outcome. In a clinical setting, this anxiety is not usually associated with a defined outcome. It becomes an issue when this worry becomes unproductive and mentally and/or physically hindering to the person affected.
There are many different kinds of anxiety disorders, including General Anxiety Disorder, Social Anxiety, Panic Disorder, OCD, PTSD, Separation Anxiety, and Phobias. There is a clear outline of each type of anxiety at Anxiety.org.
More Resources…
- http://www.serene.me.uk/tests/spin.pdf This is a fairly useful site for self-evaluation of social anxiety — a self-test called the Social Phobia Inventory (SPIN).
- http://www.algy.com/anxiety This is tAPir (the Anxiety Panic Internet resource). This is a relatively current and very comprehensive self-help and archive site of anxiety-related information. There is a monthly Internet newspaper – the tAPir Times, which discusses treatment, self-help advice, people’s stories, etc. There are good descriptions of the various types of anxiety disorders as well as interactive bulletin boards, pen pals, and links to related sites.
- http://www.adaa.org This is the website for the Anxiety Disorders Association of America. It is a consumer’s guide to various types of anxiety disorders, treatment, helping a family member, etc. There are also articles, consumer resources, message boards, chat rooms, and even a video by Donny Osmond on social anxiety.
- http://www.trauma-pages.com/ David Baldwin’s Trauma Information Pages focus on emotional trauma and traumatic stress, including PSTD (post-traumatic stress disorder) whether following individual traumatic experiences or a large scale experience.
- http://www.paxil.com/?a=1 Even though this site is sponsored by a pharmaceutical company, it is worth looking at for information on anxiety and depression. The site includes self-tests for Social Anxiety Disorder, Generalized Anxiety Disorder, Panic Disorder and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.
- https://www.anxietybc.com/resources/mindshift-app MindShift is an app designed to help teens and young adults cope with anxiety.