Chronic Anxiety Disorders: The Phobias

Anxiety was defined in the Acute Anxiety article and will not be dealt with in detail in this one. Remember, however, that it is a physical response mediated, primarily, by the sympathetic branch of the autonomic nervous system and a mental response that is best described as a need to escape, or flee, but without conscious realization of what it is you are escaping from and where you can flee. By definition, the feared stimulus is not identified; if it were, it would be fear and not anxiety.

Sometimes, the response is severe and acute and leads to what is called a panic disorder, previously discussed. Sometimes the anxiety, however, never reaches panic levels, but is present all or much of the time in lower amount. It is still uncomfortable, of course, but it can be and often is lived with. This is a description of what has been called "free floating anxiety." In its undefended form, it is called a generalized anxiety disorder. However, instead of simply feeling the chronic anxiety, many people adopt ways to reduce it. Some of these ways, called defense mechanisms, can be quite effective and not interfere in the normal lives of the people who use tham. Some can be so inefficient and disruptive that they seem to add to the problem overall, but are stubbornly maintained in a rigid fashion. When these mechanisms visibly impair normal functioning, they are diagnosed as anxiety disorders. So, if you have no effective defense mechanisms at all, and experience the anxiety in the 'free floating' form, if that is disruptive, it is called a "Generalized Anxiety Disorder." If you have defenses that may reduce the anxiety, but, themselves, interfere with normal functioning, then it is an anxiety disorder that is specific to the type of inefficient defense that is used.