Anxiety and obsessional disorders
In the community, the term ‘anxiety’ is frequently associated with a stressful Western lifestyle and thought of as a modern phenomenon— but this is far from the case. Anxiety disorders were clearly described as early as the writings of Hippocrates, and have been prevalent in literary characterization to the present. Anxiety disorders are the most common type of psychiatric disorder, with one in three people experiencing them during a lifetime. They are characterized by marked, persistent mental and physical symptoms of anxiety, that are not secondary to another disorder and that impact negatively upon the sufferer’s life. Anxiety disorders may be primary psychiatric conditions, or a secondary response to the stress associated with physical illness and its treatment. Many people with anxiety disorders never seek medical attention, but these are commonly seen conditions in both primary and secondary care, and they may present with either mental or physical complaints. Obsessive– compulsive disorder is also considered in this chapter. Its relationship to anxiety disorders is uncertain— classification systems currently separate the two— but there are some important common features. Normal anxiety is the response to threatening situations. Feelings of apprehension are accompanied by physiological changes that prepare for defence or escape (‘fight or flight’), notably increases in heart rate, blood pressure, respiration, and muscle tension. Sympathetic nervous system activity is increased, causing symptoms such as tremor, sweating, polyuria, and diarrhoea. Attention and concentration are focused on the threatening situation. Anxiety is a beneficial response in dangerous situations, and should occur in everyday situations of perceived threat (e.g. examinations). Abnormal anxiety is a response that is similar but out of proportion to the threat and/ or is more prolonged, or occurs when there is no threat. With one exception, the symptoms of anxiety disorders are the same as those of a normal anxiety response. The exception is that the focus of attention is not the external threat (as in the normal response) but the physiological response itself. Thus in abnormal anxiety, attention is focused on a symptom such as increased heart rate. This focus of attention is accompanied by concern about the cause of the symptom.