One example is obsessive thoughts about contamination and the need to be continually washing one's hands. It is thought that this type of anxiety affects 2 to 3 per cent of adults and one third of these may be depressed at the same time. Panic attacks A sudden overwhelming sense of anxiety, fast breathing, shortness of breath, dizziness, palpitations, nausea, diarrhoea etc. Symptoms usually peak within ten minutes and dissipate within minutes. Such attacks are common, affecting one third of adults each year.
Women are two to three times more likely to suffer panic attacks than men.
This accounts for almost 30 per cent of 'psychiatric' consultations in general practice and affects up to 5 per cent of the general population. The disorder can be characterised by general, and often irrational, worries about work, money or health. Or it may present as motor tension, hypervigilance, and somatic symptoms. While most cases are mild, in the more severe cases it can be disabling. Generalised anxiety disorder may also be secondary to other psychiatric disorders such as depression or schizophrenia.