Anxiety disorders

Anxiety and fear that last a long time, cannot be controlled and interfere with ordinary life

1. Worry you cannot switch off

   You worry about many things at once: work, family, health, everyday matters — and you cannot turn it off. There can also be “worry about the worry itself.”

2. Panic attack

   Fear comes suddenly and peaks within a few minutes: your heart pounds, you cannot get enough air, and it feels as if you are suffocating, dying or losing control. An attack lasts 5–20 minutes.

3. Anxiety in the body

   Your muscles are tense, you tire quickly, sleep badly, sweat, have a dry mouth and a headache.

4. Avoidance

   You avoid places that are hard to leave or where help may not be available: transport, crowds, leaving home alone. “Safety” habits often appear: a person by your side, a phone, medication carried along.

5. Fear of being judged

   You are very afraid that others will judge or humiliate you, and this fear does not go away. The body responds: you blush, tremble, sweat, your voice shakes.

6. Fear of separation and silence in children

   The child is afraid to be apart from a close person or from home, refuses to sleep away from home, avoids school. Or stays stubbornly silent in some places, such as school, while speaking freely at home.

International Classification of Diseases (ICD-11), section “Anxiety or fear-related disorders”, codes 6B00–6B06

1. 6B00 · Generalised anxiety disorder (GAD)

   Strong anxiety about many things that is hard to calm (“generalised” means “covering many things”). It lasts at least several months and comes with tension, fatigue and disturbed sleep.

2. 6B01 · Panic disorder

   Panic attacks come unexpectedly and recur, and between them the fear that an attack will happen again does not go away.

3. 6B02 · Agoraphobia

   Intense fear of situations that are hard to leave or where help may not be available, and a tendency to avoid them.

4. 6B03 · Specific phobia

   A sharp, irrational fear of a particular object or situation and a tendency to avoid it. The person usually understands that the fear is excessive.

5. 6B04 · Social anxiety disorder

   An intense and persistent fear that others will judge you badly or humiliate you in social situations.

6. 6B05 · Separation anxiety disorder

   An excessive fear, not appropriate for the child’s age, of being apart from a close person (usually a parent) or from home.

7. 6B06 · Selective mutism

   A child consistently stays silent in certain situations, such as school, while speaking normally in others, such as at home.

The signs a doctor uses to make a diagnosis

• Anxiety covers many areas of life, is present most of the time for several months, and you cannot control it.
• Along with the anxiety there is inner tension, quick tiring, difficulty concentrating, irritability, tense muscles or disturbed sleep.
• Anxiety or fear distresses you badly or gets in the way of work, study or relationships.
• You avoid places and situations because you fear another attack.
• Before making a diagnosis, the doctor rules out another cause: the effect of a substance or an illness. For example, the doctor checks the thyroid and the heart and asks about caffeine and stimulants (substances that excite the nervous system).

The basis of treatment is psychotherapy; medication is added when needed

A single session or a monthly package — we choose the format together