Skip to main content Accessibility help

We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.

Close cookie message
×
Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-fbnjt Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-13T00:50:30.791Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

6 - Anxiety Disorders

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 July 2021

By
Meredith Charney ,
Eric Bui ,
Elizabeth Goetter ,
Carl Salzman ,
John Worthington ,
Luana Marques ,
Jerrold Rosenbaum  and
Naomi Simon
Edited by
Audrey Walker ,
Steven Schlozman  and
Jonathan Alpert
Audrey Walker
Affiliation:
Albert Einstein College of Medicine, New York
Steven Schlozman
Affiliation:
Harvard Medical School
Jonathan Alpert
Affiliation:
Albert Einstein College of Medicine, New York
Get access

Summary

Anxiety is a common human emotion and is experienced by all people at some point in life. It is characterized by a state of apprehension about a perceived threat or potentially dangerous situation. In addition, fear is a negative emotion caused by the belief that someone or something is dangerous, likely to cause pain, or a threat. At mild to moderate levels, anxiety can be adaptive, motivating, and can help improve performance and attention. For example, prior to a significant life event such as an important test or presentation, some individuals may experience anxiety, which could serve as a motivator to work harder and perform better. Similarly, fear can be an adaptive response when one is confronted with a life-threatening situation, and a fight or flight response to danger is present and adaptive across many animal species. However, for some, anxiety or fear may be overwhelming, distressing, and interfere with functioning. This may require a person to seek treatment depending on the level of interference and could also result in the development of a psychiatric condition.

Type
Chapter
Information
Introduction to Psychiatry
Preclinical Foundations and Clinical Essentials
 , pp. 128 - 145
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2021

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

References and Selected Readings

American Psychiatric Association (2000). Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, DSM-IV-TR, 4th edition (text revision). Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Publishing.Google Scholar
American Psychiatric Association (2013). Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th edition. Arlington, VA: American Psychiatric Publishing.Google Scholar
Borkovec, T. D., Newman, M. G., Pincus, A. L., and Lytle, R. (2002). A Component Analysis of Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy for Generalized Anxiety Disorder and the Role of Interpersonal Problems. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 70, 288–298.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Heimberg, R. G., Salzman, D. G., Holt, C. G., and Blendell, K. A. (1993). Cognitive-Behavioral Group Treatment for Social Phobia: Effectiveness at Five-Year Followup. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 17, 325–339.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kessler, R. C., Berglund, P., et al. (2005). Lifetime Prevalence and Age-of-Onset Distributions of DSM-IV Disorders in the National Comorbidity Survey Replication. Archives of General Psychiatry, 62, 593–602.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
McHugh, R. K., Smits, J. A., and Otto, M. W. (2009). Empirically Supported Treatments for Panic Disorder. Psychiatric Clinics of North America, 32, 593–610.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Pollack, M. H., Otto, M. W., Roy-Byrne, P. P., et al. (2008). Novel Treatment Approaches for Refractory Anxiety Disorders. Depression and Anxiety, 25, 467–476.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Stein, M. B., and Steckler, T. (2010). Behavioral Neurobiology of Anxiety and Its Treatment. New York: Springer.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure coreplatform@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×