Pathogenesis of Anxiety Disorders Anxiety Disorders: A maladaptive emotional state causing fear, worry, and excessive stress, characterized by: - Physiological arousal - Unpleasant tension - Sense of foreboding or apprehension • Female gender (may be related to hormonal factors, less internal locus of control, greater reporting rates) • Genetics (Positive family history) • Other biological theories (under investigation) • Predisposition to anxiety: Imbalance and/or abnormal functioning of norepinephrine, serotonin, dopamine, and gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) #Anxiety #Disorders #Pathophysiology #diagnosis #psychiatry
