When does anxiety become a disorder?

Anxiety becomes a disorder when it starts to affect your ability to cope, or your ability to go through your normal activities of daily living, or interact with the world around you in an appropriate way. It also becomes a disorder if the symptoms of anxiety, although you're coping fairly well, are starting to cause you significant distress. There are a lot of really good treatment options for anxiety disorders, including medications and therapy. Please ask your doctor if these are getting out of control.