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In this chapter, the author explored anxiety disorders, critically examining the complexities and challenges inherent in defining and diagnosing it.
Beginning with a distinction between healthy and clinical anxiety, the chapter explains the common types of anxiety disorders, stating their key characteristics and prevalence. It then explores the major explanatory paradigms that inform studies on anxiety. Evidence from this section demonstrated the need for a holistic analysis and picture of anxiety that draws on and integrates the ideas stipulated in the two major paradigms discussed.
Finally, the chapter explores the difficulties in conceptualizing mental and physical illness as mutually exclusive, opposing categories by examining more closely the symptoms that typically characterize anxiety disorders. It is concluded that somatic symptoms are as important as psychological symptoms to understanding anxiety disorders. This outcome not only critiques the treatment of mental and physical illness as binary categories, but emphasizes the importance of a multidimensional approach to health; clearly, a recurring theme in this chapter.