Chapter 7.Anxiety Disorders
Sections
Excerpt
Anxiety disorders are among the most common psychiatric conditions worldwide, and are a leading cause of distress and impairment. The word anxiety refers to the presence of fear or apprehension that is out of proportion to the situation. Anxiety was considered to play an important role in several conditions identified in the nineteenth century. Da Costa described the “irritable heart syndrome,” characterized by chest pain, palpitations, and dizziness, a disorder thought due to a functional cardiac disturbance. He described the syndrome in a Civil War veteran, and later it was variously referred to as soldier’s heart, effort syndrome, or neurocirculatory asthenia.
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