Anxiety it is a psychic state of apprehension or fear brought on by anticipation of an unpleasant or dangerous situation.
The word "anxiety" comes from Latin anxieties, which means "anguish", "anxiety", from anxius = “disturbed”, “uncomfortable”, de anguere = “squeezing”, “suffocating”.
Anxiety is accompanied by symptoms of tension, in which the anticipated focus of danger can be internal or external.
Considered, to some extent, a natural human reaction, useful to adapt and react to situations of fear or expectation, anxiety becomes pathological when it reaches an extreme value, with a systematic and generalized character, in which it begins to interfere with the healthy functioning of the individual's life.
The most common causes of pathological anxiety are:
- Hyperthyroidism;
- Generalized anxiety;
- Panic attacks;
- Phobias;
- Obsessive-compulsive disorder;
- Post traumatic stress syndrome;
- Depression;
- Psychoses;
- Manic-depressive disorder.
Types of Anxiety
- Generalized anxiety: Excessive and unrealistic preoccupation with routine situations in life, such as employment, health and small everyday problems;
- Phobias: Excessive and irrational fear of an object or situation;
- Panic Disorder: Repeated panic attacks with no apparent cause;
- Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder: Presence of ideas, thoughts, impulsiveness or images, considered invasive and inappropriate and causing anxiety, but the person feels unable to control;
- Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome: Appearance of a set of characteristic symptoms after an extremely stressful and traumatic event.
Anxiety is caused by external events and internal conflicts, that is, of a biological and psychological nature, so there is no single anxiety triggering factor.
The treatment of anxiety should associate the use of psychotropic medications with psychotherapy, in order to treat its biological cause and promote the resolution of psychological conflicts that may be in its origin.