"Anxiety disorder" is not one diagnosis. It is a family of them, and each describes a different pattern: what the fear is about, when it shows up and what a person does in response.
This article goes through the seven anxiety disorders as the American Psychiatric Association describes them, how common each is according to the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), and why obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are no longer on the list. It is a description, not a checklist. A diagnosis can only come from a clinician who has assessed you.
What makes anxiety a disorder?
Feeling anxious is not a disorder. The American Psychiatric Association says that for a diagnosis of an anxiety disorder, "the symptoms must be out of proportion to the situation, persistent, and interfere with daily functioning." The diagnoses below differ in what the anxiety centers on.
The names come from DSM-5-TR, the text revision of the Association's diagnostic manual, published in March 2022. How ordinary worry differs from a disorder is covered in anxiety, stress or ordinary worry.
What are the seven anxiety disorders?
These are the American Psychiatric Association's own descriptions, shortened.
- Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD). The Association describes "excessive worry about several everyday situations (e.g., health, finances, work)."
- Panic disorder. The core is "unexpected panic attacks, which consist of sudden episodes of intense fear with physical symptoms such as chest pain, shortness of breath, dizziness, shaking, or heart palpitations." See panic attacks.
- Specific phobias. Defined as "an excessive and persistent fear of a specific object, situation or activity that is generally not harmful." Heights, flying, injections and spiders are examples.
- Agoraphobia. Extreme fear "of situations where escape may be difficult or embarrassing, or help may not be available in the event of panic symptoms." It generally lasts six months or more and involves two or more kinds of situation: public transportation, open spaces, enclosed places, standing in line or in a crowd, and being outside the home alone.
- Social anxiety disorder. Described as "an intense fear of being judged, embarrassed, or rejected in social or performance situations" that lasts at least six months. See social anxiety or shyness.
- Separation anxiety disorder. Described as "an excessive fear about being separated from attachment figures." The Association notes that it "can occur in both children and adults" and persists for at least four weeks in children and six months in adults.
- Selective mutism. Described as "a condition in which a child is unable to speak in certain social situations despite speaking normally in others." It usually begins before age 5.
Chest pain and shortness of breath appear in these descriptions. Never assume they are anxiety. If they are new, severe or unexplained, call 911. Panic is a conclusion reached after a medical evaluation. Physical symptoms of anxiety sets out the American Heart Association's warning signs.
How common is each one?
NIMH publishes figures for five of the seven in U.S. adults. The share of adults who had each disorder in the past year, and at some time in their lives, was:
- Specific phobia: 9.1% in the past year, 12.5% over a lifetime.
- Social anxiety disorder: 7.1% and 12.1%.
- Generalized anxiety disorder: 2.7% and 5.7%.
- Panic disorder: 2.7% and 4.7%.
- Agoraphobia: 0.9% and 1.3%.
These numbers need a caveat. They come from the National Comorbidity Survey Replication, a household survey carried out from 2001 to 2003 that used the older DSM-IV definitions. They are more than 20 years old and are not current-year data.
No verified adult figure was found for separation anxiety disorder or selective mutism. For adolescents, the American Psychiatric Association cites a lifetime figure of 7.6% for separation anxiety disorder.
Common does not mean most disabling. In the same survey, 48.1% of adults who had a specific phobia in the past year had mild impairment, while 44.8% of adults with panic disorder had serious impairment.
Why are OCD and PTSD not on the list?
Because the manual moved them. A 2015 article by Kupfer in Dialogues in Clinical Neuroscience explains that "the DSM-5 chapter on anxiety disorders does not include obsessive-compulsive disorder." It continues: "Nor does the anxiety disorders chapter include post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) or acute stress disorder, which now appear in a new chapter."
So OCD and PTSD each sit in a chapter of their own. The VA's National Center for PTSD describes the same move: PTSD was placed in a new DSM-5 category, Trauma- and Stressor-Related Disorders. DSM-5 was published in 2013. Older statistics still count them as anxiety disorders. NIMH's overall figure for "any anxiety disorder," from the 2001 to 2003 survey, includes both. If your anxiety seems tied to something that happened to you, see anxiety and trauma.
The same article notes one more change: "Panic disorder and agoraphobia are now unlinked in DSM-5." They are separate diagnoses. Illness anxiety disorder, the diagnosis closest to what people call health anxiety, is described by the American Psychiatric Association alongside somatic symptom disorder, not among the seven anxiety disorders. It has an article of its own.
Does it matter which type you have?
It can, mainly for treatment. The American Psychiatric Association calls cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) "a first-line treatment for many anxiety disorders in both children and adults." A clear description of the pattern helps a clinician decide where to start. Types of anxiety therapy covers what has been studied, including where the research is thinner.
Sorting out the type is the clinician's job, not yours. The Association also advises that the first step is often to see your doctor, to rule out medical conditions that may cause similar symptoms.
What if your anxiety does not fit a type?
Then it is still worth taking seriously. You may see pieces of yourself in several descriptions, or in none of them neatly. A diagnosis is a tool for clinicians. It does not measure whether what you feel deserves attention.
Dr. Rabin's anxiety therapy page describes anxiety in everyday terms: worry, perfectionism, a harsh inner critic, avoidance and what is often called high-functioning anxiety. Her approach is psychodynamic, attachment-based, trauma-informed and mindfulness-based. It looks at what drives the anxiety as well as how to respond to it in the moment.
If you are wondering about a specific diagnosis, you can ask on a free consultation of about 15 minutes whether her approach fits what you are dealing with. Request one through the contact page. Do I need therapy for anxiety? may help you decide whether to.
Keep reading
Sources
- American Psychiatric Association, What are Anxiety Disorders? (physician review May 2026)
- Kupfer DJ, Anxiety and DSM-5. Dialogues in Clinical Neuroscience (2015)
- National Institute of Mental Health, Statistics: Generalized Anxiety Disorder
- National Institute of Mental Health, Statistics: Panic Disorder
- National Institute of Mental Health, Statistics: Social Anxiety Disorder
- National Institute of Mental Health, Statistics: Specific Phobia
- National Institute of Mental Health, Statistics: Agoraphobia
- National Institute of Mental Health, Statistics: Any Anxiety Disorder (NCS-R 2001 to 2003)
- U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, National Center for PTSD, PTSD and DSM-5 (last updated September 2026)
- American Psychiatric Association, What is Somatic Symptom Disorder? (physician review July 2024)
Last reviewed October 2026. This guide is general information, not medical advice or a diagnosis. If you are in crisis, call or text 988, or call 911 in an emergency.
