Question 1

How many types of anxiety disorders are there?

Accepted Answer

The DSM-5 (2013) recognizes 7 primary anxiety disorders: Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD), Panic Disorder, Social Anxiety Disorder (Social Phobia), Specific Phobia, Agoraphobia, Separation Anxiety Disorder, and Selective Mutism. Note that the DSM-5 moved OCD (now Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder) and PTSD (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder) to their own separate categories in 2013, so they are no longer classified as anxiety disorders — though they involve significant anxiety symptoms.

Question 2

What is the most common anxiety disorder?

Accepted Answer

Specific phobia is the most prevalent individual anxiety disorder, affecting approximately 9-12% of the general population at some point in their lifetime. However, because specific phobias are often circumscribed (limiting in only one domain), Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) is often described as the most "impairing" common anxiety disorder — affecting 3.1% of the adult population at any given time and causing broad daily impairment across multiple life domains.

Question 3

What is the difference between GAD and other anxiety disorders?

Accepted Answer

GAD is distinguished by its breadth — worry spans multiple life domains (work, health, relationships, finances, the future) and is difficult to control. Other anxiety disorders are more circumscribed: Social anxiety disorder is specific to social evaluation situations; Panic disorder involves recurrent unexpected panic attacks and worry about having more; Specific phobia is limited to one object or situation; Agoraphobia involves fear of places where escape would be difficult. GAD is uniquely pervasive — it does not have a specific trigger, which is what makes it particularly challenging to treat with exposure therapy alone.

Disorder	Prevalence	Hallmark
GAD	3.1% (lifetime 5.7%)	Excessive, uncontrollable worry across multiple domains
Panic	2.7% (lifetime 4.7%)	Recurrent unexpected panic attacks + persistent worry about more attacks
Social	7.1% (most common anxiety disorder in adults)	Marked fear of social situations involving possible scrutiny
Phobia	9.1% (most prevalent individual disorder)	Marked fear of a specific object or situation, disproportionate to actual danger
Agoraphobia	1.7% (lifetime 3.5%)	Fear of situations where escape would be difficult if panic or symptoms occurred
Separation	0.9–1.9% adults (6.7% children)	Excessive fear about separation from attachment figures
Selective Mutism	0.03–1% (primarily childhood)	Consistent failure to speak in specific social situations despite speaking in others

Anxiety disorder types

The 7 DSM-5 anxiety disorders

Each disorder — full breakdown

DSM-5 Diagnostic Criteria

Key facts

Evidence-based treatment

Disorders no longer classified as anxiety

How to tell the types apart

Anxiety disorder types — questions answered

Related guides

More