Anxiety disorders

At a glance

• The commonest mental disorders in Australia: about 17% of people aged 16 to 85 had an anxiety disorder in the past 12 months (ABS National Study of Mental Health and Wellbeing 2020 to 2022). They are more common in women and often coexist with depression and substance use.
• In medical practice they turn up as unexplained symptoms: palpitations, chest pain, breathlessness, dizziness, paraesthesia, abdominal pain.
• Exclude medical mimics and substances before making the diagnosis, especially with onset after 40 or atypical features.