What are anxiety disorders?

I'm never good at explaining what's going on when I'm having anxiety. I usually just say I don't feel well. Then I call my boyfriend, put on some How I Met Your Mother, and sip my chamomile tea till the anxiety goes away. But really what are anxiety disorders? You guys are in luck. I found this infographic provided by Global Medical Education. Otherwise you would have had me stumbling over my words trying to talk about anxiety or panic attacks, or why fruit still freaks me out, and still never learn what anxiety is. 

Oh god that's a tiny picture, here's another link to see it bigger. 

Sheryl, a writer from Mind Body Green defines anxiety eloquently, saying, "Anxiety is a feeling of dread, agitation, or foreboding associated with an unidentified danger that does not exist in the present moment. Unlike fear, which is a feeling of dread or terror caused be a real or present danger, anxiety exists in the mind..." 

Anxiety for me is the little voice inside my head that says "Hey, don't eat that banana. Remember when you thought your tongue was itchy? You could have gotten an anaphylactic reaction from that! I know you know better but you should be terrified anyways. No, don't think about how your doctor said that the possibility of you getting anaphylactic shock is smaller than your chances of getting struck by lightning. Why take the chance? Live on the safe side."
Anxiety for me is being terrified when I'm alone because of the possibility that something could happen to me, and no one is there to save me.
Anxiety for me is a constant nightmare.
All the maybe's, could've, should've, would've's, possibilities, and endless what if's that terrorize my life.

But there's a way out. And that's called recovery. And for all those maybe's, could've, should've, would've's, possibilities, and endless what if's, I have one thing to say:

Through recovery I will gain the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; courage to change the things I can; and wisdom to know the difference. 

And that's also my tip of the day.