Anxiety can be a normal response to stress, but it can become a pathologic disorder when it is excessive and uncontrollable, requires no specific external stimulus to elicit, and manifests a wide range of physical and psychological symptoms as well as changes in behavior and cognition. Anxiety is considered a normal response to stimuli when it helps the individual, for example, deal with a tense situation in the office, study harder for an exam, or stay focused on an important speech. In general, anxiety can help one cope with a stressful situation, but when it becomes an excessive, irrational dread of everyday situations, it becomes a disabling disorder (National Institute of Mental Health [NIMH], 2016).
Anxiety disorders are serious medical conditions that affect approximately 19 million American adults. Anxiety disorders cause overwhelming, even debilitating, worry, apprehension, and fear. If left untreated, these disorders can become life threatening (NIMH, 2016).
Anxiety disorders are the third most common mental disorder, after depression and substance abuse. Almost one-third of the total mental health care costs in the United States are spent on treatments for individuals with anxiety disorders (Lake, 2007).
Anxiety disorders appear to be caused by an interaction between biopsychosocial factors, including genetic vulnerability, which interact with situations, stressors, or traumas that can result in clinically significant anxiety syndromes. Genetic factors significantly influence the risk for many anxiety disorders. Environmental factors, such as early childhood trauma, can also contribute to the risk for anxiety disorders that develop later in life (Medscape, 2016).