Talk:Anxiety

No Cure

Perhaps somewhere, it should be discussed that anxiety is a natural process, and there isn't a cure for it, only coping.

Stranger & Social Anxiety

The person who wrote that piece clearly lacks knowledge of the fact that social anxieties are not unique to children, let alone just to young children. That is misinformation. 1. It implies such people grow out of it, which we do not. 2. It implies one should ignore it in adults and not treat adults with the same problem as sympathetically as a child under the false belief that adults are magically not allowed to suffer from things like social anxiety, shyness, social phobia, etc. Simply put, one never grows out of these things, one simply learns over time how to get by as best one can with it. Further, there are various kinds of social anxieties besides just strangers and general social anxiety. Another magor one is "love shyness," where one feels especially anxious when around and/or interacting with members of the opposite sex. Further still, this section could include the various causes. Many are afraid of things like rejection or disapproval, and many are High Sensitives and take in excessive data which can cause nervousness as one tries to keep up with the sensory data input. (The latter is the cause of Selective Mutism.) — Preceding unsigned comment added by 174.26.235.132 (talk) 18:55, 9 November 2011 (UTC) (I don't recall my login... Even if I did, I hate that Wikipedia is trying to require logging in. It's not necessary.)

Differentiation between state and trait anxiety

It seems that this article lacks any information on the difference between state and trait anxiety, which, from the articles I'm looking at elsewhere, seems essential to the concept. I'll come back and try to include the information, but if anyone would like to help in the meantime, I would appreciate it. --Natsirtguy (talk) 13:04, 12 January 2008 (UTC)

Merge

I think this article should be mooved to the Anxiety Disorder page and the content currently on that page merged in. The Anxiety page should not just be merged into this one, (1)It doesn't have any meaningful content on its own, and (2)this article is more accurately named the Anxiety Disorder page.

Thoughts from people who have worked on these pages? I haven't worked on either but think something should be done. --Banana04131 03:04, 17 August 2005 (UTC)

Anxiety is a symptom, anxiety disorder is a disorder. You can have anxiety without having an anxiety disorder, though I guess you can't have an anxiety disorder without anxiety. I don't agree that they should be merged in that this page still deserves to exist. Perhaps just some of the content should go to anxiety disorder Alex.tan 14:42, August 17, 2005 (UTC)

Anxiety itself is a complicated concept in psychology and psychiatry. Anxiety in itself is not a psychiatric disorder. Anxiety is one of the basic emotions, and it plays a major role in classical fear conditioning. Debilitating anxiety can be present as a symptom of a mental health disorder (not the least of which are the anxiety disorders), but anxiety is not merely an emotion of abnormal mental processes. When a psychiatrist says someone's problem is anxiety, that is only shorthand for an anxiety disorder (i.e., an overreaction of anxiety; the emotion of anxiety is in disorder for the patient). By and large, this article currently covers anxiety disorders and not the pure emotion; the current contents should be moved to Anxiety disorder and an article dealing with anxiety per se should replace it.--24.217.183.224 08:33, 19 August 2005 (UTC)

A gifted American psychologist said,’ Worry is a spasm of the emotion of mind; The mind catches hold of something and will not let it go.’ It is useless to argue with the mind in this condition. The stronger the will, the more futile the task. One can only gently insinuate something else into its convulsive grasp. And if this something else is rightly chosen, if it is really attended by the illumination of another field of interest, gradually, and often quite swiftly, the old undue grip relaxes and the process of recuperation and repair begins.

The cultivation of a hobby and new forms of interest if therefore a policy of first importance to a public man. But this is not a business that can be undertaken in a day or swiftly improvised by a mere command of the will. The growth of alternative mental interests is a long process. The seeds must be carefully chosen; they must fall on good ground; they must be sedulously tended, if the vivifying fruits are to be a hand when needed.

To be really happy and really safe, one ought to have at least two or there hobbies, and they must all be real. It is no use starting late in life to said:’ I will take an interest in this or that.’ Such an attempt only aggravates the strain of mental effort. A man may acquire great knowledge of topics unconnected with his daily work, and yet hardly get any benefit or relief. It is no use ding what you like; you have got to like what you do. Broadly speaking, human beings may be divided into three classes: those who are toiled to death, those who are worried to death, and those who are bored to death. It is no use offering the manual laborer, tired out with a hard week’s sweat and effort, the chance of playing a game of football or baseball on Saturday afternoon. It is no use inviting the politician or the professional or business man, who has been working or worrying about serious things for six days, to work or worry about trifling things at the week-end.

As for the unfortunate people who can command everything they want, who can gratify every caprice and lay their hands on almost every object of desire – for them a new pleasure, a new excitement is only an additional satiation. In vain they rush frantically round from place to place, trying to escape from avenging boredom by mere clatter and motion. For them discipline in one form or another is the most hopeful path.

It may also be said that rational, industrious, useful human beings are divided into two classes: first, those whose work is work and whose pleasure is pleasure, and secondly, those whose work and pleasure are one. Of these the former are the majority. They have their compensations. The long hours in the office or the factory bring with them as their reward, not only the means of sustenance, but a keen appetite for pleasure even in its simplest and most modest forms. But Eortune’s favored children belong to the second class. Their life is a natural harmony. For them the working hours are never long enough. Each day is a holiday, and ordinary holidays when they come are grudged as enforced interruptions in an absorbing vocation. Yet to both classes the need of an alternative outlook, of a change of atmosphere, of a diversion of effort, is essential. Indeed, it may well be that those whose work is their pleasure are those who most need the means of banishing it at intervals form their minds.

--kaiseralexander (E-mail:chocolate_ye@yahoo.com.cn) File:Yefan 1.jpg 16:15, 14 August 2007 (UTC)

Anxiety is an emotional state. Anxiety disorder is a symptomatic manifestation of that psycho-physiological state. The two are completely different. --EmpacherPuppet 21:45, 15 August 2007 (UTC)

Alternative medicine

Is palliative care really an alternative medicine? Considering one of the oldest, most mainstream centre's in the world, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, has had a Integrative Medicine Service for close to 5 years now. Where do we draw the line between alternative and mainstream medicine? AstroBlue 14:55, 22 Jun 2004 (UTC)

First, palliative care is about complementary medicine rather than alternative medicine. Second, it is 'where do you' draw the line rather than where mainstream medicine draws a line. Clearly many physicians are in favor of it. And, clearly some are not.

This survey exists. It is not hot air. It is reality. It is factual. And, it is the best survey to date. It is also 100% online and in the public domain. -- [[User:Mr-Natural-Health|John Gohde | Talk]] 04:21, 23 Jun 2004 (UTC)

I'm not discounting the validity of the survey (my point was not in regard to the survey at all). I was questioning the semantics of "The strongest connection can be found in complementary medicine which is well known for using palliative care to treat cancer patients. Some research has strongly suggested that treating anxiety in cancer patients improves their quality of life." and putting it under the title of Anxiety and alternative medicine. When palliative care encompasses far more than just previously alternative medicines. A low dose of radiation to the spine of a patient with a cord-compression is seen as palliative care, a visit to a counsellor or psychologist regarding anxiety is considered palliative care. Would you consider them alternative or complementary? And considering mainstream Oncology's mantra has been "holistic care" for a good 10 years now, and "complementary medicine" has been practiced in one of the most conservative and "old school" centres in the world. Can you really put that under the title of alternative medicine? It's complementary medicine at the least, and integrative medicine at the most. AstroBlue 08:16, 23 Jun 2004 (UTC)

LOL! An Alternative Medicine Section is precisely that, a section or portion of the article. -- [[User:Mr-Natural-Health|John Gohde | Talk]] 11:32, 23 Jun 2004 (UTC)

I understand that, again, I wasn't questioning the title of the section. I was questioning the placement of the italicised quote in the section, I think it belongs outside of the alternative medicine section. Because it's not an alternative medicine.

Interpretation of survey percentages

According to the survey itself, "The denominators used in the calculation of percents [in table 3] are the estimated number of adults who used CAM (excluding megavitamin therapy and prayer) within the past 12 months, excluding persons with unknown information about whether CAM was used to treat the specific condition" (footnote, p 9). I believe this means that 4.5 percent of CAM-using adults used CAM to treat anxiety (not "4.9 percent of the population" as currently stated in this article). Any comments before I fix this and other references to this survey?

Since no one has objected, I am going to begin correcting the references to this survey. I will link to this page from the edit summary in case anyone has further comments.

This thing is annoying cuz i look for anxious and i get disorder stuff! 125.253.35.144 08:08, 13 August 2007 (UTC)Gamer Gus

References

Thank you to user 67.125.168.127 for the additions. If you come back to this page, please insert the citations for the references at the bottom of the article. If you are not sure how to format them then just put them in and I will do it. Thanks again. Have you had a look at the other articles leading from here on those disorders? GAD in particular needs a lot of work. --CloudSurfer 05:01, 9 Oct 2004 (UTC)

OCD an anxiety disorder?

Is obsessive-compulsive disorder really considered an anxiety disorder? I realize it often goes with PAD, SAD, et al., due to the often-found seratonin link between them, but I'm not sure OCD should be included here. (If it is, then depression should as well.) --Joe Sewell 16:33, 13 Oct 2004 (UTC)

OCD is currently classified under the DSM as an anxiety disorder. Yes, there is an overlap with depression but for the moment that is how it is generally viewed. I am not familiar with the ICD to tell you how they classify it. --CloudSurfer 10:30, 14 Oct 2004 (UTC)

I are now edumacated (which is the whole point of Wikipedia, isn't it? :) ). Thanks, 'surfer! --Joe Sewell 11:57, 20 Oct 2004 (UTC)

Yes, it is an anxiety disorder. When sufferers do not do the compulsion, they report a feeling of anxiety. Or they use the compulsions to manange anxiety. It's a bit like phobias in a way - sufferers of phobias feel they must get away. --Nervous neuron 05:46, 9 October 2006 (UTC)

From a psychonutritional point of view OCD is part of the complex of anxiety disorders because when you test them with the Medical Test for Hypoglycemia they usually test positive to hypoglycemia. Thus OCD patients tend to be hypoglycemic and therefore tend to overproduce adrenaline. Adrenaline can be considered a focusing hormone, compelling people to focus on something.This is part of being compulsive Jurplesman 05:06, 9 March 2006 (UTC)

It may well not

There is an ongoing controverse in the scientific community about wheter OCD is to be classified as an anxiety.

DSM sais it to be, ICD (by the united nations) sais it does not.

From practice, we have a lot of parallels not only in the feelings of people suffering from OCD and anxiety but in the (possible) medication as well. So we may conclude that there are similar neurochemical processes in those deseases.

There may be a sub-group of anxieties that are quite close to OCD. At least that's what I see in my practice.

Nevertheless, I wouldn't include OCD in the anxieties. Rather create sort of an related-topics-link.

Geraldstiehler 10:49, 24 Nov 2004 (UTC)

Link suggestions

An automated Wikipedia link suggester has some possible wiki link suggestions for the Anxiety article, and they have been placed on this page for your convenience.
Tip: Some people find it helpful if these suggestions are shown on this talk page, rather than on another page. To do this, just add {{User:LinkBot/suggestions/Anxiety}} to this page. — LinkBot 10:39, 17 Dec 2004 (UTC)

External links

The following external links have been removed from the article twice:

• Anxiety-help.com: Topics about curing anxiety and related problems
• Yahoo Anxiety Health Center: Helpful Explantions of anxiety and anxiety treatment

WP:EL tells us the following:

1. Official sites should be added to the page of any organization, person, or other entity that has an official site.
2. Sites that have been cited or used as references in the creation of a text. Intellectual honesty requires that any site actually used as a reference be cited. To fail to do so is plagiarism.
3. If a book or other text that is the subject of an article exists somewhere on the Internet it should be linked to.
4. On articles with multiple Points of View, a link to sites dedicated to each, with a detailed explanation of each link. The number of links dedicated to one POV should not overwhelm the number dedicated to any other. One should attempt to add comments to these links informing the reader of what their POV is.
5. High content pages that contain neutral and accurate material not already in the article. Ideally this content should be integrated into the Wikipedia article at which point the link would remain as a reference.

Information from these sources has been used in the article. Items 2, 3, and 5 apply here. We may wish to move them from external links to references section once more content from them is included. Please do not remove them from the article on the basis that they provide information that should be in the article - that they provide information (whether we use it or not) is exactly why they belong there. Thanks Scott Ritchie 06:49, 22 August 2005 (UTC)

The pages linked are not references. The first link is a sad personal account that is not representative, itself not referenced and full of advertisements. The URL has been designed to attract search engine related traffic. The second link is a portal, again full of advertising. There are much better resources than this.

So 2 does not apply, for 3 better material is available, and 5 does not apply (this is not "high content"). JFW | T@lk 10:47, 22 August 2005 (UTC)

Ok, that makes sense. I didn't really read them yet anyway (though I was planning to do so later if I ever get around to putting content in the article.) For some reason your edit summaries made me think that you were removing them because you didn't think they belonged even though they had info. Scott Ritchie 21:32, 23 August 2005 (UTC)

Definition

I added a definition of anxiety trying to stress the normative side. Please feel free to edit it, especially if the language is faulty (I'm danish)130.225.37.97 08:54, 25 October 2005 (UTC).

Article heavily favors drug treatments

In the treatment section there is one line that mentions CBT. The rest of the section is mostly about drugs. I understand it's perhaps more convenient to pop a pill every day for the rest of your life than to go see a shrink. But is there evidence that drugs are considerably more effective than good CBT? Besides there are other benefits to CBT other than recovery, such as learning life skills. There are also very good cognitive-behavioral programs some people swear by, such as the one from the Midwest Center. The great thing about these programs is that if you need a "tune-up" it's very easy to get one. Neurodivergent 22:48, 6 November 2005 (UTC)

Against plain anxiety talk therapies doesn't do anything. It's different if you have an actual disorder, but for acute anxiety only benzo, barbs, booze will do.--Sinus 22:17, 17 November 2005 (UTC)

Is there a scientific way to determine if you have an "actual" disorder or (I suppose) just a made-up one? NVM, I'll take a shot at fixing the section myself. I should do some research on comparative effectiveness. I don't see any clear indications either way. BTW, CBT and talk therapy are not the same. And there are many different kinds of CBT. For example, there's one type of CBT that seems to be particularly effective in treating depression. Neurodivergent 16:43, 18 November 2005 (UTC)

Therapy is sorta pointless when you have anxiety so bad you can't leave the house. As with depression, most studies indicate that the combination of the two is more effective than either one alone. Think of medication as the anesthetic required for the psychic surgery which is therapy, which can take years. 69.17.124.2 02:13, 18 June 2007 (UTC)

Missing references

This article contains a whole bunch of in-text references that aren't actually in the "References" section. Namely:

• Brawman-Mintzer & Lydiard, 1996, 1997
• American Psychiatric Association (2000)
• Craske, 2000
• Gorman, 2000
• den Boer, 2000
• Margolis & Swartz, 2001
• Gilmartin, 1987
• Rowman & Littlefield, 2003

Here are some guesses:

• Brawman-Mintzer O, Lydiard RB. (1996) Generalized anxiety disorder: Issues in epidemiology. Journal of Clinical Psychiatry 57(suppl 7):3-8.)
• Craske, MG, & Barlow, DH (2000). Mastery of your anxiety and panic, 3rd ed
• Gilmartin, 1987: Brian G. Gilmartin (1987) Shyness & Love: Causes, Consequences, and Treatment

...but I don't know, and it doesn't feel very good to add a bunch of references (to articles and books that I haven't read) when I'm not sure what the original author meant. I guess the best would be to include other references that can actually be confirmed... /Skagedal 21:53, 28 November 2005 (UTC)

Unless of course the persons who added the above references are listening now! :-) /Skagedal 21:58, 28 November 2005 (UTC)

That's what happens when people just cut & paste from anywhere. Your suggestions sound reasonable. JFW | T@lk 01:00, 29 November 2005 (UTC)

Nervousness?

Is nervousness the same thing as anxiety?

I guess someone who is constantly nervous could be said to have generalized anxiety. But there's quite a bit more to anxiety, such as aprehension about an impending doom. Neurodivergent 20:58, 1 December 2005 (UTC)

The Psychonutritional Treatment of Anxiety and Panic Attacks

I'm a little skeptical of this section. I think it's OK to mention legit "alternative" treatments, but they should be clearly labeled as such. Stephen Barrett's Quackwatch has this to say about it:

Today's "fad" diagnoses used to explain various common symptoms are chronic fatigue syndrome, hypoglycemia, food allergies, parasites, "environmental illness," "candidiasis hypersensitivity," "Wilson's Syndrome," "leaky gut syndrome," and "mercury amalgam toxicity." The first four on this list are legitimate conditions that unscientific practitioners overdiagnose. OhNoitsJamie^Talk 05:26, 9 March 2006 (UTC)

Well I happen to be very skeptical Dr Stephen Barrett. As a self-appointed defender of organised conventional medicine in America, he is hardly qualified to talk about alternative medicine. I do agree with him when it come to frauds in medicine and medicne that is not suppoirted by scientifif method.. But even Dr Stephen Barrett has approved hypoglycemia as a legitimate illness!!Jurplesman

Alternative views are allowed, but they must be presented in a neutral point of view. Read more about that on the comments already on your talk page. -- Barrylb 08:54, 9 March 2006 (UTC)

I've moved it here from the article. Even if it is legitimate, it needs a rewrite -- Barrylb 05:36, 9 March 2006 (UTC)

How do you propose to rewrite it???Jurplesman 06:47, 9 March 2006 (UTC)

Since you seem to be new here, I would like to politely ask that you read the links in the welcome message and other messages on your talk page. You will learn more about how to contribute here. -- Barrylb 08:51, 9 March 2006 (UTC)

Hi Barry, I see you too come from ozzie. You did not give a link to "Welcome Page". I thought I read that. I find that the instructions given on the Wikipedia "Help:Editing" extremely cumbersome. It is flooded with links, that leads to other links and then another. You can really get lost. I cannot even print out the "Help:Editing" as part of the information is not printed.

Now that you have taken the article off the main page, when are you going to put it back on again. If somebody is going to edit it I would like it to be somebody with some knowledge of nutritional biochemistry. What is the next procedure?? Who is going to edit it? Jurplesman 01:41, 10 March 2006 (UTC)

I was referring to all the information added to your Talk Page. In particular you should read about "neutral point of view" and "spam" mentioned under the header "Wikipedia's policy on adding links". You should also read about What Wikipedia is not. Regarding editing, I think the best person to edit it would be yourself once you are more familiar with what is appropriate. Sorry if this sounds like hard work but these are the established rules... -- Barrylb 04:30, 10 March 2006 (UTC)

I have rewritten the article with a few more external references and posted it on the main page. I hope it is altight this time. Jurplesman 03:50, 11 March 2006 (UTC)

---

Comment I agree with the move, Barrylb. It doesn't seem appropriate to have such a large portion of the article devoted to the "hypoglycemia is the root of all psychological problems" view, not to mention the promotional aspect of the content and links. OhNoitsJamie^Talk 23:55, 14 March 2006 (UTC)

The faceless troglodites seem to be in control here. I have withdrawn the article altogether.Jurplesman 02:18, 19 March 2006 (UTC)

Useful Link

We have just added article and video content created by key opinion leader Physicians as well as government health organizations and would like to be considered as a useful resource for this page. We are hosting an online symposium on mental health and spirituality and think this would also be a valuable contribution to the community.

Thank you,

Ryan

anxietytreatment com Anxiety Treatment—This unsigned comment was added by Ryanandrew (talk • contribs) .

You've already been blocked once for commercial link spamming. What makes you think this is different? OhNoitsJamie^Talk 00:30, 22 March 2006 (UTC)

Anxiety and Insomnia

I found an article that I found helpful.

Anxiety Insomnia

To whoever wrote this, I need to pass this information along to a co worker, who I'm sure will thank you. FireWeed 01:23, 27 January 2007 (UTC)

As of September 26, 2010, the website is temporarily unavailable. CreativeSoul7981 (talk) 01:43, 27 September 2010 (UTC)

[1]

Negative Ion clothing can effectively resolve anxiety related issue —Preceding unsigned comment added by 67.129.150.10 (talk) 00:11, 12 January 2008 (UTC)

Treatment

the article says "Mainstream treatment for anxiety consists of the prescription of anxiolytic agents and/or referral to a cognitive-behavioral therapist." but as far as I know in most cases SSRIs are used as main stream especially in OCD and GAD. anxiolytic agents are used as the first choice when a patient comes to emergency with an attack. Any Psychiatrists around? neurobio 00:36, 5 June 2006 (UTC)

This needs clarification, OCD is classified as GAD and its treatment is in most cases SSRI used in combination or alone to CBT, on the other hand, when anxiety doesn't appear to have sign of obsessive or compulsive behavior anxiolytic agents are tried, but due to the dependence and the need to increase the dosage, CBT is favoured. But those are not the only treatment, in some cases, when in cases of severe social-phobia, uncontrolable depersonalization/derealization and the patient doesn't respond, atypical anti-psychotics at lower dosage might be tried. Anxiety treatment depending on the severity or the type is a case by case matter, but when taken 'anxiety alone' it is generally known that meanstream treatment includes anxiolytic agents and/or CBT. Fad (ix) 16:30, 6 June 2006 (UTC)

Ringxiety

Is it really appropriate to list ringxiety as a "see also" link? Seems kind of silly to me... -- Tim D 02:26, 13 October 2006 (UTC)

It is intensity of a feeling a negative motivation. Emotional state caused by a situation that is seen as threatening (wood 1998) involves worry that failure might accrue. Negative thoughts we may experience.

What are the signs of anxious performer? Body Mind Shaky, cold, sweaty, heart beats faster, feel sick, feel dizzy, breathing heavy, pacing up and down, butterfly’s, sweaty palms Saying things in your mind like I can’t do it, negative thoughts, frighten, mood swings.

What would you feel like if you had to do the following?

1. A bungee jump: nervous and shaky 2. Playing in front of a large crowd: motivated 3. White water rafting: excited 4. Snow boarding: excited 5. Watching your favourite game play: bored 6. Taking a penalty: nervous 7. Reading in front of the class: bored 8. Playing against someone better than you: scared 9. A minute before the match or a race is about to start: tense 10. Being watched by your parents or a relative: calm 11. A training session: relaxed 12. Taking an important exam: nervous shaky worried adrenalin rush scared heart racing ECT.

A note to the individual who posted a response to the comment above

Please, sign your posts. Also, you might want to read up on some of the formatting rules and tricks specific to Wikipedia. Thanks! --Roman à clef 11:12, 15 January 2007 (UTC)

Two factor theory section needs help

I flagged this part of the article as original research because it's very unclear who the content of the section is being attributed to in the article. Do these words belong to Freud or are they coming from an editor? If it's the former, we need a good citation (did Freud write anything about operant conditioning?), and if it's the latter we need to remove it from the article. --Roman à clef 11:12, 15 January 2007 (UTC)

The only two-factor theory of anxiety that I know of was proposed by Mowrer

(Mowrer, O. H. (1960). Learning theory and behavior. New York: Wiley)

(Mowrer, O. H. (1947). On the dual nature of learning: A re-interpretation of "conditioning" and "problem-solving." Harvard Educational Review, 17, 102-148.)

Adding it in would be certainly helpful. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Eugeneltc (talk • contribs) 22:59, 28 March 2007 (UTC).

Why not just remove this section? It looks like some kid took an intro psych class and thought he'd be cool by putting up "info" onto wiki. It's junk. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 72.130.16.84 (talk) 09:16, 25 October 2007 (UTC)

Test Anxiety

There's a request for an article on stress in school pupils over at Wikipedia:Requested_articles/Natural_Sciences#Physical Chemistry. Now might be a good time to (a) improve this section with some references and (b) link to a more detailed article on the subject - those who are expert in psychology. Sojourner001 18:49, 18 January 2007 (UTC)

This is a very good article

There is room for improvement, but this stands above 90 % of the English language Wikipedia articles. Everybody who contributed owes themselves congratulations. FireWeed 01:24, 27 January 2007 (UTC)

Psychotic Anxiety

Wikipedians, I am being treated for psychotic anxiety, but can find no information on this anywhere on the internet. It is referred to in academic journals, but I have no access to the content. Searches are also complicated by the frequent use of the term "non-psychotic anxiety", which shows up as a hit for "psychotic anxiety". I would really appreciate someone adding information about psychotic anxiety to this article, and also adding information about the use of antipsychotics for treating anxiety (this treatment is becoming more common, even for non-psychotic anxiety, or so I hear). —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 62.195.115.100 (talk) 12:25, 31 March 2007 (UTC).

link suggestion

Hello , Just writing to suggest a useful link www.anxietyaustralia.com.au Anxiety Treatment Australia Information on anxiety disorders, panic attacks, phobias, stress management, insomnia, chronic pain and anxiety59.167.89.244 06:19, 8 June 2007 (UTC)

Maybe split off medical uses of the term?

The concept of anxiety has been around since classical times. It's part of the human condition. The medical conception of it is a fairly new thing. I see that there was a merge request in the past for this and Anxiety disorder. Perhaps all mental health aplications of the term should go there and this article should be more about the expiernced phenomena? I'm a philosophy student with an anxiety disorder. I've got a pretty good understanding of both concepts and don't mean to suggest that one should be favored over the other. The thing Kierkegaard described and the thing described in psychiatric journals may well be two faces of the same coin, but they are very different concepts. I can't remember my password and will make a new login before making any actual changes. 69.17.124.2

Anxiety as an emotion

I've made some bold changes to the article to try to make it more clear this article is about anxiety as an emotion, not a disorder. I've removed the 'treatment' section entirely because emotions do not need treatment (eg we don't have a treatment section in the article on Fear). -- Barrylb 05:06, 1 July 2007 (UTC)

Theories section

Someone really needs to clean up the theories section. It's awful. Freud's idiot ramblings are stated as fact. No biological basis is mentioned. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 69.251.88.4 (talk) 19:20, 18 September 2007 (UTC)

WEED...Are You Kidding Me?

First no source is present second marijuana can cause mental illness so i cant see why it would be here. I want to erase it Kava ok i'll say maybe but most definetly shakey source . Marijuana can cuase axiety in some people .I smoked 4 straight everyday then moved to coke then heroin and heroin works the best but i'm in recovery now on better non-addictive substances.that are not euphoreants and help actual anxiety

Marijuana gives me major anxiety, it should be removed. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.134.69.147 (talk) 16:01, 18 May 2008 (UTC)

Viktor Frankl sentence/paragraph

The second paragraph in the "Existential anxiety" section, starting with "According to Viktor Frankl..." is difficultly worded. I didn't change it because I'm not sure what the writer was trying to say, but perhaps someone with a better idea of what it means can make it more reader-friendly? CyclonePredator (talk) 04:23, 18 July 2008 (UTC)

Anxiety & the Bible

Several New Testament scriptures command Christians not to be anxious, e.g., Philippians 4:6, 1 Peter 5:7, Matthew 6:25-34, & Luke 12:22-26. 207.114.25.241 (talk) 02:48, 13 November 2008 (UTC)

Great because people can generally turn it on and off, just like a light switch. Same thing with fear, depression, love, happiness and an other emotion. I need to tell the part of my brain that makes me anxious to stop, because i am not allowed to be according to the bible. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 75.187.83.247 (talk) 19:06, 12 February 2009 (UTC)

I think that the message of the Bible may be to pray about whatever is causing anxiety. “Cast all your anxiety on him [Christ]” (1 Peter 5:7) Captain Dunsel (talk) 06:17, 13 November 2009 (UTC)

Lack of Anxiety is a condition that s/b referenced

I was watching a show on serial criminals and a psychologist mentioned a condition (the name of which I tried to commit to memory, but alas) a person can have that limits their capacity to experience anxiety. These are people who have limited inhibitions, regrets, or capacity to avoid repeating mistakes. Does anyone know the namw of that condition and shouldn't it be referenced here as an antonym? Thx! Vf1100s (talk) 01:49, 17 December 2008 (UTC)

The psychologist was probably referring to psychopathy, but the link may be too theoretical to discuss here. --Jcbutler (talk) 02:44, 17 December 2008 (UTC)

Genes

Added a section on associated genes, I think that might be useful, albeit the association is of course weak in all the studies, AFAIK. Many gene articles are stubs and have little links so starting such sections could bring more attention, and as the list grows it could be forked into a separate page. Best regards, --CopperKettle 16:26, 11 February 2009 (UTC)

I'm not sure, for as you wrote in the section, "single genes have little effect on complex traits". --Jcbutler (talk) 17:33, 11 February 2009 (UTC)

• Feel free to delete if you consider it a bad contribution. I'm not anxious to keep the section. (0: Just thought it would be useful. --CopperKettle 02:49, 12 February 2009 (UTC)

False claim in the introduction

The introduction reiterates a traditional claim, popular in textbooks, that an essential distinction between anxiety and fear is the presence or absence of identifiable cues. "Anxiety is a generalized mood condition that occurs without an identifiable triggering stimulus. As such, it is distinguished from fear, which occurs in the presence of an external threat." This claim is false on two grounds. First, the not-so-recent behavioral (Wolpe, 1958) and cognitive models (Barlow, 1988) of anxiety acknowledge the presence of identifiable, primarly internal, cues preceding the rise of anxiety. Moreover, when prospectively assessed, panic attacks that seem to occur naturally typically appear to have identifiable precipitants, such as an argument at work or passing a pattern of dark and light while driving. Second, fear does not have necessarily external threat. A fear to die often accompanies painful stimuli.

This does not mean that fear cannot be distinguished from anxiety (albeit such claim has been defended), but it does highlight that simple and easy conceptualisation won't do the job.142.85.5.20 (talk) 16:51, 19 May 2009 (UTC)

It seems to come down to what the word "identifiable" means in this context. Can you come up with a different wording that is more correct without being too complicated for general readers to understand? Looie496 (talk) 17:03, 19 May 2009 (UTC)

I agree with this discussion. The current definition of anxiety provided is incorrect. Anxiety is an emotional reaction consisting of cognitive, physiological, and behavioral responses to a future danger. Fear, on the other hand, consists of similar responses to a present danger. Both emotions function to allow the individual to escape or avoid danger. Numerous researchers and clinicians (e.g. David Barlow, 2000) have made this distinction. Also, the DSM-IV-TR makes clear that anxiety is not a mood condition - it is an emotional response, not a relatively stable condition on the continuum between depression and elation (i.e. mood). —Preceding unsigned comment added by Mtukudzi (talk • contribs) 15:15, 3 June 2009 (UTC)

The wording quoted at the top of this section is due to Jcbutler, who seems now to have retired from wikipedia. The question of an "identifiable" stimulus for anxiety seems to be a somewhat difficult one with perhaps part of the problem being to whom the stimulus is identifiable (usually not the anxious person, it seems). As far as anxiety not being a mood, the language used in the article is "generalized mood" which says, I think, something about the temporality of anxiety. I think the present/future danger information above adds something to the discussion and I have included it in the introduction, with a link to the appropriate reference by Barlow. Note that Barlow also uses the language "mood state" for anxiety. Soiregistered (talk) 06:14, 10 June 2009 (UTC)

On fear vs. anxiety

Note: The criteria names coined below constitute original research, but the support for each do not.

1. Uncertainty distinction criterion

According to Krain et al. (2008) the uncertainty of an event is characteristic to anxiety, but not fear.

When a subject knows what to expect while facing a threat, then she will experience fear, else anxiety due to the suspense.

Support: Krain et al. (2008); Researchers study "anticipatory anxiety" using anticipation paradigms.

2. Temporal distinction criterion

Anxiety is a mood, fear is as an emotion. Both are affective responses.

Mood - a prevailing state of mind or feeling (Oxford English dictionary, OED, 1989)

Emotion - a mental state that is neither cognitive nor volitional (OED, 1989)

Support: According to Chua et al. (1999) fear occurs more rapidly than anxiety.

3. Stimulus criterion

Anxiety is less stimulus-bound than fear (Freud).

Support: Questionable.

The third criterion seems to be based on faulty introspection by psychologists such as Freud. Specific phobia (that involves anxiety) requires a specific object as stimulus. Anxiety is triggered by a cue that refers to a stimulus in anticipatory studies, but the cue is nevertheless stimulus-bound. A cue represents a stimulus, and so perceived fulfil sufficient criteria for stimuli.

To distinguish anxiety from fear either criterion 2 or 3 seem feasible from the above. It is important to distinguish the cue as a cause of anxiety available to perception, versus the stimulus that is not present (but threatens to appear) and associated with negative valence. It all comes down to construct validity and operational definitions.

References

• Chua, P., Krams, M., Toni, I., Passingham, R. E., & Dolan, R. (1999). A functional anatomy of anticipatory anxiety. NeuroImage, 9, 563-572.

• Krain, A. L., Gotimer, K., Hefton, S., Ernst, M., Xavier Castellanos, F., Pine, D. S., et al. (2007). A functional magnetic resonance imaging investigation of uncertainty in adolescents with anxiety disorders. Biological Psychiatry, 63, 563-568.

• Oxford English dictionary (2nd ed.) [Electronic version]. (1989). Oxford University Press. http://dictionary.oed.com

Ostracon (talk) 15:36, 16 November 2009 (UTC)

In a recent review paper about anxiety, by a leading researcher in the field, one reads: "Across mammals, "fear" represents a brain state engaged by acute, immediately present "threats", stimuli that the organism will extend effort to avoid; "anxiety" represents a brain state engaged when encountering sustained cues that more ambiguously predict threat." (Pine, Helfinstein, Bar-Haim, Nelson, and Fox; Challenges in developing novel treatments for childhood disorders: Lessons from research on anxiety. Neuropsychopharmacology, 2009, 34, p.213.

We see that the criteria used to distinguish anxiety from fear by Pine et al. use the first two elements underlined by Ostracon. Following criterion 1, the more ambiguous the threat, the more likely that the organism will experience anxiety instead of plain fear. This ambiguity can relate to the valence of the stimuli (Is this group threatening to me?), to the temporal aspect of the stimuli ("will I encounter the threatening stimuli in the future?"), or to uncertainty ("will I have a good mark?". Moreover (criterion 2), fear generally follows acute stimuli, whereas anxiety generally is engaged after encountering sustained cues.

The traditional distinction (presence or absence of identifiable cues) is generally subsumed by the new definition (present cues tend to be acute and less ambiguous), but the innovative distinction by Pine et al. avoids the counter-examples seen above.Marcus wilby73 (talk) 20:17, 26 November 2009 (UTC)

Anxiety in terms of challenge level and skill level.

Why is the graph of anxiety in terms of challenge level and skill level, and its assiated text, being removed? Dr.enh (talk) 06:07, 8 June 2009 (UTC)

Sorry, you just caught me mid-steam. Guess I should be quicker... Soiregistered (talk) 06:28, 8 June 2009 (UTC)

Anxiety is normal

This discussion is being moved here (where it belongs) from two user talk pages. Context is as follows: a paragraph in the introduction of Anxiety read:

Anxiety is considered to be a normal reaction to stress. It may help a person to deal with a difficult situation, for example at work or at school, by prompting one to cope with it. When anxiety becomes excessive, it may fall under the classification of an anxiety disorder.

The second and third sentences in the paragraph were edited [2] by NeuroBells123, with edit summary "make the sentence balanced (i.e., anxiety is not 100% good as suggested by old sentence)." His edit changed the text to:

Anxiety is considered to be a normal reaction to stress. Adversarial nature of the feeling aside, anxiety might impel a person to deal with a difficult situation, for example at work or at school, by prompting one to cope with it. When anxiety becomes excessive, it falls under the classification of an anxiety disorder.

This edit was reverted [3] by Soiregistered, with the remark "the sentence was better as it was."

The further discussion follows:

In what way was the previous sentence 'better as it was'? - NeuroBells123 (talk) 15:28, 18 August 2009 (UTC)

...your change made confusing and wrong what had been a clear and correct statement. The two uses of "may" in the sentence were correct and were both important; the word "may" means that a given statement is a possibility and not necessity. You might want to look at may and might in the Wiktionary as well as this article from the editors of the NY Times [4] about usage of "may" and "might". Additionally, your usage of "adversarial" was incorrect, so you might want to look also at the definitions of adversarial and adverse. --Soiregistered (talk) 18:36, 18 August 2009 (UTC)

Would this work for you: [quote]"Unpleasant nature of the feeling aside, anxiety may impel a person to deal with a difficult situation, (...)"[endquote]? As mentioned in the edit summary, the main reason is to 'balance' the sentence - anxiety may impel one to deal with difficult situations, but it is not a pleasant feeling. Further, even without anxiety, one can deal with difficult situations. - NeuroBells123 (talk) 03:13, 19 August 2009 (UTC)

Further note that 'impel' is a more accurate/appropriate word to use here than 'help'. Being anxious, one is required/urged/made/pressurized/pushed (in a word - impelled) to deal with a difficult situation. Whereas the word 'help' suggests that - a feeling merely provides the advantageous conditions for a person to deal with certain situation, but he may or may not act according to it (due to conscious choice). - NeuroBells123 (talk) 03:18, 19 August 2009 (UTC)

The subject of the paragraph being discussed is that normal anxiety is, in fact, normal. You seem to be resisting that. The unpleasant nature of anxiety is stated right at the top of the article (in the second sentence) and it doesn't need to be repeated a few sentences later. I would argue that the point of this paragraph is to actually to "balance" the negativity of that earlier statement. For normal anxiety (which, again, is the subject of the paragraph and much of the article; anxiety disorders are not included in this article) the point you make in your comment above at 03:18, that "help" implies that a person may or may not act on their anxiety is, in fact, quite properly what should be the implication. One has the choice of resisting/denying normal anxiety. And although the mechanism by which anxiety "helps" one cope is left unstated, I would argue that that is a virtue, since the pathways by which anxiety helps/prompts/causes/motivates/impels one to cope often are vague. I say leave it at "help" until someone comes along and properly describes the mechanism (and includes a citation!). --Soiregistered (talk) 08:26, 19 August 2009 (UTC)

If you, along with other Wikipedians, do strongly believe that normality balances negativity (as if normality itself is not a negativity), then I have nothing further to say here. So much for the hallowed normality of stressful feelings, I guess. - NeuroBells123 (talk) 16:01, 19 August 2009 (UTC)

I'm in the middle here. "Unpleasant nature of the feeling aside" leads the reader in the wrong direction -- it doesn't belong in this sentence. However, "impel", although it feels a bit awkward, is a better word than "help". Looie496 (talk) 16:54, 19 August 2009 (UTC)

I agree - 'impel' is certainly a better word. However, just as you feel awkward (Perverse; adverse; difficult to handle) about it, impel also suggests that `there is something wrong with anxiety`, whereas anxiety is a very normal feeling. There is nothing wrong with it. Hence, I vote for 'help'. - NeuroBells123 (talk) —Preceding undated comment added 02:44, 20 August 2009 (UTC).

Just to provide further basis for the existing wording, the word "help" originates in the NIMH document which provides the basis for this paragraph (and is referenced at its end). That document states: Anxiety is a normal reaction to stress. It helps one deal with a tense situation in the office, study harder for an exam, keep focused on an important speech. In general, it helps one cope. But when anxiety becomes an excessive, irrational dread of everyday situations, it has become a disabling disorder. That would seem to be even more positive sounding that what presently exists in the article. It doesn't mean that it is right (or wrong) but that indeed is what is says. --Soiregistered (talk) 08:19, 20 August 2009 (UTC)

Rearranged

Rearranged per WP:MEDMOS. It makes it easily to get this article up to WP:GA as it highlights topic areas that may be missed. Doc James (talk · contribs · email) 21:13, 18 May 2010 (UTC)

It doesn't make sense to medicalize this article (per WP:MEDMOS or otherwise). There is a separate article on Anxiety disorder which more properly addresses medical aspects. Your edits consisted of re-labeling, per MEDMOS, the "Varieties" section as "Classification", the "Biological basis" section as "Cause", the "Clinical scales" section as "Diagnosis", and moving the Varieties/Classificaion section to a position right after the introduction. But anxiety is not a disease and hence cannot be "diagnosed". Relabeling the biological basis as "cause" ignores the psychological, philosophical, and sociological aspects. And while I would be interested in seeing a "classification" scheme for anxiety, what is contained in the article is simply a list of some varieties of anxiety and not a classification scheme. Therefore, I have undone your edits. Soiregistered (talk) 18:55, 19 May 2010 (UTC)

It may not be a disease but it is a condition. I felt that these changes gave some structure to this group of articles on similar conditions. Depression is half way along these line [5] Maybe what we need is a disambig page such as found here [6] as you are right this article is about the mood rather than the disease which I thought.--Doc James (talk · contribs · email) 20:09, 19 May 2010 (UTC)

Allergy and Anxiety Symptoms Are Positively Correlated in Patients with Recurrent Mood Disorders Who Are Exposed to Seasonal Peaks of Aeroallergens (PubMed article)

Changes in Severity of Allergy and Anxiety Symptoms Are Positively Correlated in Patients with Recurrent Mood Disorders Who Are Exposed to Seasonal Peaks of Aeroallergens PMID 19430577 [PubMed] PMCID PMC2678838 Free PMC Article

http://ukpmc.ac.uk/articlerender.cgi?tool=pubmed&pubmedid=19430577

"We have recently found a preliminary association between symptoms of upper airway inflammation and depression (23) and between the seasonality of mood and self-reported mood sensitivity to high pollen counts (24). Additionally, in an animal model intended to examine the effects of allergic sensitization to tree pollen on depressive symptoms, we found significant anxiety-like behavior across trials in the sensitized animals following exposure to tree pollen (25). In individuals with allergic sensitization, when mast cell bound IgE antibody is crosslinked by specific allergens, an activating signal is transduced which results in mast cell degranulation and the release of inflammatory mediators and cytokines. Clinical investigation suggests that Th2-type lymphocytes are predominantly activated in allergic diseases. Th2 cells are characterized by their production of IL-4, IL-5, and IL-13.

Cytokines, administered in amounts below the threshold necessary to induce “sickness behaviors,” have been shown to induce anxiety, depression, and cognitive disturbances in healthy subjects (26). An increase in cytokine levels in the blood has been hypothesized as one potential catalyst for the decompensation of depression (27-29). Cytokine-treated patients may also experience an increase in depressive symptoms, including suicidal ideation and attempted suicide (30-33). Even a low dose of cytokine-promoting endotoxins such as lipopolysaccharides (LPS), can trigger depressive symptoms along with anxiety without bringing about other sickness behaviors (26). Certain cytokines released during LPS-induced inflammation are also released during the allergic response. For instance, mast cell degranulation releases TNF-α (34), the administration of which has been shown in animal models to be anxiogenic (33). We have seen that sensitization and subsequent exposure to tree pollen (25) and intranasal LPS administration (35) induce anxiety-like behaviors in sensitized rodents. Additionally, we have reported increased gene expression of cytokines involved with allergic inflammation (36) in the orbital cortex of suicide victims, where histopathological changes in suicide victims have been previously reported (14)."

...

The relationship between anxiety and allergy scores became non-significant when we adjusted for depression scores for covariates. This suggests that the depression and anxiety scores are highly intercorrelated, with anxiety symptoms as a component of the depressive syndrome, or indicative of comorbidity between anxiety and depression. On the other hand, the relationship between depression scores and allergy symptom scores remained significant after adjustment for anxiety symptoms. These data suggest that the relationship between allergic disease and depression is a major phenomenon, and seemingly more robust than the one between allergic disease and measures of anxiety. However, our animal model data point towards a more consistent association between anxiety-like behaviors rather than depressive-like behaviors and with sensitization and exposure to tree pollen allergen (35,52). ... —Preceding unsigned comment added by 66.167.61.217 (talk) 22:25, 23 May 2010 (UTC)

Hypochondria

As a student who had just started drinking, I was suffering palpitations as a result of alcohol withdrawal. I didn't know what it was and palpitations combined with anxiety meant I thought I was dying! I made a right dick of myself in front of a very non-understanding doctor. A better doctor since reassured me.

The link between anxiety and hypochondria should be emphasised. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.172.221.47 (talk) 14:35, 30 May 2010 (UTC)

Question about the DSM-IV

I see that this page has not been updated in a few months, but I was wondering, is any clinical definition included in this article from the DSM-IV? I see sources from psychological journals (which I'm sure cite the DSM-IV), but thought a clinical definition somewhere might be helpful. What do other people think? CreativeSoul7981 (talk) 01:48, 27 September 2010 (UTC)

Your concerns regarding clinical definitions should be directed at the Anxiety disorder article, which covers anxiety as a medical condition, rather than this one. Note as well, however, that inclusion of DSM material into wikipedia has led to WP:COPYVIO issues in the past. Soiregistered (talk) 18:43, 15 November 2010 (UTC)

Link suggestion

I would like to suggest the link http://www.mentalhealthy.co.uk/psychology/anxiety this is a page of non-commercial guides to anxiety, each of which are written by BCP registered psychologist and are free. The website is affiliated with Dr's, psychologists and the mental health charity SANE. I believe this link to be reputable and extremely helpful to those suffering anxiety disorders.78.147.184.36 (talk) 10:58, 21 September 2011 (UTC)

I'd have no problem with this being added. --Manicjedi (talk) 22:11, 9 November 2011 (UTC)

Moving image of anxious person

A person feeling anxiety from too much work

This was added to the lead. I think it's cute. Thoughts. --Anthonyhcole (talk) 07:30, 3 November 2011 (UTC)

I hate moving images of any sort in articles. I can't properly focus attention on text when there is a moving image next to it. Looie496 (talk) 17:02, 3 November 2011 (UTC)

The image itself makes me anxious, even just seeing it out of the corner of my eye. :) DaisySaunders (talk) 19:09, 13 November 2011 (UTC)

Remarkably poor scholarship

This article is not only poorly written, it mixes and matches topics, as well as showing a fundamental lack on understanding on the topic.— Preceding unsigned comment added by 72.44.165.181 (talk) 22:00, 9 November 2011 (UTC)

So... fix it. --Manicjedi (talk) 22:10, 9 November 2011 (UTC)

I agree that it mixes and matches topics. Although it mentions neuroscience, it doesn't take into account that the contributions of neuroscience "tweak" previous understandings of anxiety as held by individual disciplines to the point that a biopsychosocial view offers a way of bringing these understandings together and making more sense of each. This will take a lot of work to improve, but the easiest thing may be to do as others have suggested and shorten this so that it deals only with a definition of the popular term "anxiety" and then re-routes to anxiety disorders for further discussion. DaisySaunders (talk) 19:07, 13 November 2011 (UTC)

I've put up a notice to let people know about the issue. This will need attention from experts on the subject. - M0rphzone (talk) 05:05, 2 April 2012 (UTC)

Great Article.... can you help with similar article?

This is a very well written article that covers the subject well. Would anyone like to help with the Fear of Flying article. It is in sad shape. I tried, but do not have the Wikipedia skills. --Mt6617 (talk) 00:43, 8 February 2012 (UTC)

No this article is far from being well-written... The fear of flying article will need expert help as well. - M0rphzone (talk) 05:08, 2 April 2012 (UTC)