Anxiety

Definition

Anxiety is the subjective feeling of apprehension, dread, or foreboding ranging from excessive concern about the present or future to feelings of panic, accompanied by a variety of autonomic signs and symptoms, with or without a stressful situation. The focus of anticipated danger may be internal or external. The state of anxiety seems to place the defensive physiological mechanisms in a heightened state of preparedness, thereby facilitating and stimulating the fight-flight response only in case the threatening event occurs. Anxiety is often distinguished from fear in that fear is a more appropriate word to use when threat or danger exists in the real world. Anxiety is more reflective of a threat that is not apparent or imminent in the real world, at least not to an experienced degree.

Amygdala, Pain Processing and Behavior in Animals

Fear and Pain

Pain in the Workplace, Risk Factors for Chronicity, Psychosocial Factors