Pathways Contact PEIA Home Return to Index Anxiety Anxiety is a feeling of dread, fear or distress over a real or imagined threat to your mental or physical well-being. A certain amount of anxiety is normal. It can prompt you to study for a test or alert you to seek safety when you are in physical danger. Side effect of some medications Withdrawal reaction from nicotine, alcohol or drugs or medicines such as sleeping pills Anxiety can even be a symptom of a number of illnesses known as anxiety disorders.
Agoraphobia can occur with or without panic disorder, defined below.
Panic Attacks - Brief periods of acute anxiety that can occur without warning. Symptoms include shortness of breath, chest discomfort, heart palpitations, sweating and choking. A person having a panic attack for the first time may think he or she is having a heart attack. Panic attacks may or may not be associated with agoraphobia. Symptoms include nightmares, flashbacks of the event, excessive alertness and emotional numbness to people and activities.