Home > Encyclopedia of Alternative Medicine > Anxiety

Definition

Anxiety is a bodily response to a perceived threat or danger. It is triggered by a combination of biochemical changes in the body, the patient's personal history and memory, and the social situation.

It is important to distinguish between anxiety as a feeling or experience and an anxiety disorder as a psychiatric diagnosis. A person may feel anxious without having an anxiety disorder. Also, a person facing a clear and present danger or a realistic fear is not usually considered to be in a state of anxiety. In addition, anxiety frequently occurs as a symptom in other categories of psychiatric disturbance.

Description

Anxiety is related to fear, but it is not the same thing. Fear is a direct, focused response to a specific event or object of which an individual is consciously aware. Most people will feel fear if someone points a loaded gun at them or if they see a tornado forming on the horizon....