ABSTRACT
This chapter reviews the evolution of anxiety as a psychological construct and introduces a conceptual frame of reference that identifies the major classes of variables generally considered in anxiety research. Sigmund Freud was the first to attempt a systematic explication of the meaning of anxiety within the context of psychological theory. In 1894, Freud conceptualized anxiety neurosis as a discrete clinical syndrome to be distinguished from neurasthenia and subsequently proposed a critical role for anxiety in the formation of neurotic and psychosomatic disorders. Peter Lang is centrally concerned with understanding the nature and organization of cognitive and physiological responses in fear and anxiety, which he views as complex “conglomerate” concepts. In addition to clarifying the basic nature of anxiety as a complex psychobiological response, investigations of the associative networks that link cognitive and physiological components of anxiety would seem to have extremely important implications for the treatment of patients suffering from anxiety disorders.
