Psychotherapeutic Management of the Severely Anxious Patient

Anxiety is viewed as a psychophysiological reaction to an unmastered inner danger that threatens the ego defenses. Severe anxiety is seen as part of an anxiety neurosis. The full-blown phenomenon, i.e., a panic state, cannot be sustained for any length of time by the individual. The panic will either be made to subside by mastering it or it will produce further damage to ego defenses and trigger more serious psychopathological symptoms in an attempt to at least partially deal with the conflicts. The author discusses the problems and offers psychotherapeutic techniques. The types of problems facing the individual in life-crisis situations form part of the discussion.