Short answers, pulled from the story.
Anxiety disorders are a group of mental disorders in which feelings of anxiety and fear significantly impair a person's social, occupational, and personal functioning. They differ from normal anxiety by being excessive, uncontrollable, and persistent, typically lasting six months or more, rather than being a transient response to a specific stressor.
As of 2010, approximately 273 million people, or 4.5% of the global population, had an anxiety disorder. Anxiety disorders affect nearly 30% of adults at some point in their lives, making them the second most common type of mental disorder worldwide after depressive disorders.
The main types include generalized anxiety disorder, specific phobias, panic disorder, social anxiety disorder, agoraphobia, separation anxiety disorder, and selective mutism. Each has distinct symptoms, triggering events, and diagnostic criteria.
Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is the first-line treatment and the most widely studied form of psychotherapy for anxiety disorders. It shows medium to large benefit effect sizes for generalized anxiety disorder, panic disorder, and social anxiety disorder, with positive effects maintained for at least 12 months. First-line medications are SSRIs or SNRIs.
More than 75% of people with social anxiety disorder experience their first symptoms in childhood or early teenage years. Generalized anxiety disorder in children typically begins around eight to nine years of age. Between 10% and 20% of all children develop a full-fledged anxiety disorder before the age of 18.
Comorbid conditions are common with anxiety disorders. Comorbid depression is seen in 20-70% of those with social anxiety disorder, 50% of those with panic disorder, and 43% of those with generalized anxiety disorder. The 12-month prevalence of alcohol or substance use disorders in those with anxiety disorders is 16.5%.