perience dizziness, rapid heart beat, difficulty breathing, blurred vision, and loss of concentration. She
thought she was going to faint. Heather told the people to whom she was showing the property that she
was feeling very ill and had to leave. As Heather drove away the symptoms began to lessen until they
were completely gone within 10 minutes. She did not know what happened and put it out of her mind.
A few days later the same sensations came over her while she was at a theater with a date. Again she
fled the situation, but this time the sensations did not diminish. She had her date take her to an
emergency room. Upon arrival at the hospital the sensations stopped. The physician who examined
Heather told her that she seemed to be suffering from anxiety and suggested she seek psychotherapy.
John is an accountant who began to experience a racing heartbeat while at work one day. He also felt
pain and tightness in his chest, began to have trouble breathing, got dizzy and experienced numbness in
his fingers. He thought he was having a heart attack and asked a coworker to rush him to an emergency
room. The emergency room personnel diagnosed his problem as a panic attack.
Julia was terrified by airplane travel. Just the thought of having to fly would leave her nervous and
uncomfortable. When Julia's mother became seriously ill Julia could not avoid flying from Los Angeles to
Atlanta to see her. During the flight Julia remained extremely nervous and uncomfortable even after she
had her third drink.
Michael characterized himself as very shy. Whenever he was at social gatherings he said very little and
did not stay long. Dating terrified him to the point that he never dated. Michael feared that, on a date, he
might become so nervous that he would say something stupid or become visibly anxious or not be able
to talk at all. He became depressed because he wanted to date but thought he could not.
All of these people share at least one thing: they each have an anxiety disorder. Heather and John ex-
perience what is known as Panic Disorder. Julia's fear of flying is a Specific Phobia (although many fear-
ful flyers actually have Panic Disorder). Michael has a Social Phobia. The latter two phobias do not
include panic attacks but the anxiety is so high that Julia and Michael try to avoid any situations where it
might occur.
Anxiety disorders are divided into several categories:
