Anxiety, Obsessive-Compulsive, and Related Disorders
- Anxiety is an emotional response to anticipation of danger, the source of which is largely unknown or unrecognized.
- Anxiety is a necessary force for survival. It is not the same as stress.
- A stressor is an external pressure that is brought to bear on the individual.
- Anxiety is the subjective emotional response to that stressor.
- Anxiety may be distinguished from fear in that anxiety is an emotional process, whereas fear is a cognitive one.
Historical Aspects
- Anxiety was once identified by its physiological symptoms, focusing largely on the cardiovascular system.
- Freud was the first to associate anxiety with neurotic behaviors.
- For many years, anxiety disorders were viewed as purely psychological or purely biological in nature.
Epidemiological Statistics
- Anxiety disorders are the most common of all psychiatric illnesses.
- More common in women than in men
- A familial predisposition probably exists.
- When anxiety is out of proportion to the situation that is creating it
- When anxiety interferes with social, occupational, or other important areas of functioning
