| dc.description.abstract | Anxiety is an intriguing anomaly of the human body. Without a defined mechanism or set manner of quantifying its magnitude, anxiety and its related disorders provide an intriguing venue for investigation. This paper seeks to define the physiological stress response and take a deeper look into anxiety through analyses of the major anxiety disorders: GAD, phobias, OCD, PTSD, and social anxiety disorder. While much of anxiety is characterized as a physiological response to stressors, what is not necessarily taken into account is the psychological and sociological pressures of life that can be attributed to the manifestation of an anxiety disorder. Additionally one’s lifestyle, family history, and background also play a marginal role in the development of an anxiety disorder. Following the trend of variation, it can be seen that there are a multitude of ways to treat anxiety - whether it be medically, pharmaceutically, therapy, or even an animal - and the type of treatment that works is subjective to the patient. In essence, anxiety affects every in different ways to different extents. Overall, an argument can be made for understanding anxiety as a lifestyle - not just as a response to physiological stress or a psychological condition. | |
