Which anxiety disorder is least common in the population?

• A. Specific phobia
• B. PTSD
• C. Panic Disorder
• D. Generalized Anxiety Disorder

Answer: (D)

Understanding how common each anxiety disorder is helps explain why this choice is the least frequent in the general population. Specific phobia tends to be the most common because fears of particular objects or situations—like heights, spiders, or flying—often develop early and can be quite prevalent across ages, sometimes without causing full impairment. PTSD’s prevalence depends on exposure to traumatic events; since not everyone experiences trauma, its overall population rate remains lower, though it can be higher in groups with more trauma exposure. Panic disorder has a moderate prevalence, characterized by recurrent panic attacks and a worry about future attacks, which occurs in a sizable portion but still less than the far-reaching reach of a broad phobia. Generalized anxiety disorder involves chronic, excessive worry across many domains for at least six months and tends to have a smaller share of the population meeting full criteria compared with the others listed, making it the least common among these options.