ILLUSTRATION FOR TIME BY BRIAN STAUFFER

Are You Too Anxious?
	Everybody feels a bit of anxiety from time to time, but a clinical anxiety disorder is a different matter. If you suspect you may be suffering from one, you should consult a professional for a diagnosis. The psychological diagnostic manual lists 12 anxiety conditions. Here are the signs of five of the most common ones:
	By Jeffrey Kluger

Posted Sunday, Aug. 18, 2002; 16.38 a.m. BST

PANIC DISORDER | SPECIFIC PHOBIA | OBSESSIVE-COMPULSIVE DISORDER | POST­TRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER | GENERALIZED ANXIETY DISORDER

Panic Disorder
What it is: Recurrent, unexpected attacks of acute anxiety, peaking within 10 minutes. Such panic may occur in a familiar situation, such as a crowded elevator

What it isn't: Occasional episodes of extreme anxiety in response to a real threat

What to look for: Palpitations; chest pains; sweating, chills or hot flushes; trembling; shortness of breath or choking; nausea; light-headedness or feeling of unreality; fear of losing control or dying

Bottom line: Four or more of these symptoms in at least two discrete episodes could spell trouble

Specific Phobia
What it is: Consuming fear of a specific object or situation, often accompanied by extreme anxiety symptoms

What it isn't: Powerful aversion to certain places or things

What to look for:
• Do you come up with elaborate ways to avoid the object or situation?
• Do you dread the next possible encounter?
• Are you aware that the fear is excessive but you are unable to control it?
• Does merely thinking about the thing you fear make you anxious?

Bottom line: Don't worry if you just plain hate, say, snakes or crowds or heights. The key is how powerful your feelings are — and how you handle them

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder
What it is: A preoccupation with specific thoughts, images or impulses, accompanied by elaborate and sometimes bizarre rituals

What it isn't: Fastidious — even idiosyncratic — behavior that does not significantly interfere with your quality of life

What to look for:
• Are the obsessive thoughts persistent and intrusive?
• Do you expend a lot of energy suppressing the thoughts, usually unsuccessfully?
• Are you generally aware that the thoughts are irrational?
• Is the anxiety temporarily eased by a repetitive ritual such as hand washing or a thought ritual such as praying?
• Are the rituals time consuming?

Bottom line: Some researchers question whether OCD is a genuine anxiety disorder. Whatever it is, it does respond to treatment — provided you seek help

Post­Traumatic Stress Disorder
What it is: Repeated, anxious reliving of a horrifying event over an extended period of time

What it isn't:: Anxiety following a trauma that fades steadily over the course of a month or so

What to look for: After witnessing, experiencing or hearing about an event that caused or threatened to cause serious injury, do you:
• Have recurrent recollections or dreams about the experience?
• Feel emotionally or physically as if the event were still occurring?
• Experience intense anxiety when something reminds you of the event?
• Try to avoid thoughts, feelings, activities or places associated with the event?
• Have difficulty recalling details of the event?
• Experience anxiety symptoms such as irritability, jumpiness, difficulty sleeping, feelings of detachment from others, diminished interest in things, feelings that your future is in some way limited?

Bottom line: Sometimes, PTSD will not appear until six months after the event. Seek help whenever symptoms occur

Generalized Anxiety Disorder
What it is: Excessive anxiety or worry, occurring more days than not for six months

What it isn't:: Occasional serious worry that doesn't markedly diminish quality of life

What to look for: Restlessness; difficulty concentrating or sleeping; irritability; fatigue; muscle tension

Bottom line: If you have three or more symptoms for the required six months, the diagnosis may fit

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