| anxiety | <psychology> The unpleasant emotional state consisting of psychophysiological responses to anticipation of unreal or imagined danger, ostensibly resulting from unrecognised intrapsychic conflict. Physiological concomitants include increased heart rate, altered respiration rate, sweating, trembling, weakness and fatigue, psychological concomitants include feelings of impending danger, powerlessness, apprehension and tension. (18 Nov 1997) |
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| anxiety attack | An acute episode of anxiety. (05 Mar 2000) |
| anxiety disorders | Disorders in which anxiety (persistent feelings of apprehension, tension, or uneasiness) is the predominant disturbance. (12 Dec 1998) |
| anxiety dream | A dream (or nightmare) in which morbid fear and anxiety form an important part. (05 Mar 2000) |
| anxiety hysteria | Hysteria characterised by manifest anxiety. (05 Mar 2000) |
| anxiety neurosis | Chronic abnormal distress and worry to the point of panic followed by a tendency to avoid or run from the feared situation, associated with overaction of the sympathetic nervous system. (05 Mar 2000) |
| anxiety reaction | A sudden bout of anxiety that is often accompanied by the features of hyperventilation (tingling around mouth and in fingertips, rapid breathing, faintness or fainting). (27 Sep 1997) |
| anxiety syndrome | <syndrome> The constellation of autonomic nervous system signs and symptoms accompanying the apprehension of danger and dread. See: anxiety. (05 Mar 2000) |
| anxiety tension state | A milder form of an anxiety disorder. See: anxiety disorders. (05 Mar 2000) |
| anxiety, castration | Anxiety due to fantasied injuries to or loss of the genitals. (12 Dec 1998) |
| anxiety, separation | Anxiety experienced by an individual upon separation from a person or object of particular significance to him. (12 Dec 1998) |
| anti-anxiety agents | Agents that alleviate anxiety, tension, and neurotic symptoms, promote sedation, and have a calming effect without affecting clarity of consciousness or neurologic conditions. Some are also effective as anticonvulsants, muscle relaxants, or anaesthesia adjuvants. Adrenergic beta-antagonists are commonly used in the symptomatic treatment of anxiety but are not included here. Substances with a benzodiazepine ring structure widely used to treat anxiety and neuroses. Drugs in this class also generally have sedative or weak hypnotic properties and may be effective as muscle relaxants, anticonvulsants, and anaesthesia adjuvants. (12 Dec 1998) |
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| manifest anxiety scale | True-false questionnaire made up of items believed to indicate anxiety, in which the subject answers verbally the statement that describes him. (12 Dec 1998) |
| generalised anxiety disorder | Chronic, repeated episodes of anxiety reactions; a psychological disorder in which anxiety or morbid fear and dread accompanied by autonomic changes are prominent features. See: anxiety. (05 Mar 2000) |
| castration anxiety | A child's fear of injury to the genitals by the parent of the same sex as punishment for unconcious guilt over oedipal feelings, fantasied loss of the penis by a female or fear of its actual loss by a male, unconscious fear of injury from those in authority. Synonym: castration anxiety. (05 Mar 2000) |
| separation anxiety | A child's apprehension or fear associated with removal from or loss of a parent or significant other. (05 Mar 2000) |
| separation anxiety disorder | A mental disorder occurring in childhood characterised by excessive anxiety when the child is separated from someone to whom the child is attached, usually a parent. (05 Mar 2000) |
| situation anxiety | Anxiety related to current life problems. (05 Mar 2000) |
| noetic anxiety | In existential psychotherapy, anxiety caused by confusion or loss of meaning in life. (05 Mar 2000) |
| dental anxiety | <psychology> Abnormal fear or dread of visiting the dentist for preventive care or therapy and unwarranted anxiety over dental procedures. (12 Dec 1998) |
| test anxiety scale | A self-reporting test consisting of items concerning fear and worry about taking tests and physiological activity, such as heart rate, sweating, etc., before, during, and after tests. (12 Dec 1998) |
| free-floating anxiety | In psychoanalysis, a pervasive unrealistic expectation unattached to a clearly formulated concept or object of fear; observed particularly in anxiety neurosis and may be seen in some cases of latent schizophrenia. (05 Mar 2000) |