Via practica 1/2022

Diagnosis and treatment of anxiety disorders – focused on treatment by general practitioner

Anxiety disorders are a group of mental disorders in which anxiety is the dominant symptom. They are characterized by paroxysmal or continuously fluctuating states in which physical and mental symptoms of anxiety or fear occur without being linked to some real danger. According to classical european psychopathology, fear has its object (one knows what is afraid of), while anxiety does not have an object (one has a feeling of fear, but one does not know what is afraid of). The problem begins where anxiety or fear occurs too often, lasts too long, and the intensity is too large for the situation that triggered it, or they occur in inappropriate situations. In these cases, they adversely affect an individual's life, reduce his or her quality of life, limit his ability to work, and disrupt social relationships.

Keywords: anxiety, phobia, antidepressants, anxiolytics, psychotherapy