ABSTRACT

Anxiety and mood disorders are fundamentally emotional disorders. This chapter presents, in summary form, a new model based in part on the accumulated wisdom of emotion theory including new and exciting developments in the area of cognitive science and explains the nature of panic and anxiety. Within the anxiety disorders, the most profound development in terms of its impact on research and clinical practice has been the emergence of the phenomenon of panic. The chapter reviews depression, taking into account evidence for the very close connection of anxiety and depression and looks at other closely related emotions and emotional disorders that have received somewhat less attention. Most emotion theorists who speak to the issue have concluded that anxiety is a construct that clearly differs from related emotions such as anger and fear. It is also well-known that anxiety distributes as a trait and is expressed more or less by most individuals under certain situations.