Anxiety

Evidence from neuroscience and emotional information processing, reviewed later in this chapter, demonstrates that anxiety is a naturally occurring entity. Current diagnostic systems embrace the concept of discrete types of anxiety. DSM-IV-TR includes social anxiety disorder, generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), specifi c phobia, panic disorder with or without agoraphobia, obsessivecompulsive disorder (OCD), and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) as primary disorders (First et al, 2002). DSM-5 cleaves off OCD and PTSD as separate entities (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). ICD-10 describes phobic anxiety disorders including social phobias and agoraphobia, specifi c phobias, panic disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, OCD, and reaction to stress disorders such as PTSD (World Health Organization, 1992). Disorders with anxiety at the core appear to include GAD, social anxiety disorder, specifi c phobia, and panic disorder, whereas OCD and PTSD involve components beyond anxiety, such as compulsive behavior with OCD, and re-experiencing a traumatic event with PTSD (American Psychiatric Association, 2013; First et al, 2002; World Health Organization, 1992).