Private psychiatric practice
with Cabinet for psychotherapy
Dr. Sandic
Tel.: ++ 387 33 645 112
Anxiety
Pathological neurotic anxiety
Data provided by N. Cameron (1963) in „Personality Development and Psychopathology: A Dynamic Approach" on this issue are, in general, interesting. Cameron noted that anxiety was to be considered pathological in adults when „there is no adequate confirmation for it, when it is of an exaggerated intensity or way prolonged, or when it provokes defensive maneuvers that severely interfere with daily life efficiency of a person.". he further wrote: "Anxiety is pathological when it represents a tension that demands momentarily diffuse hyperactivity, what is a regression to the infantile situation, or when it results is insufficient control of aggressive or sexual behavior, thus disturbing interpersonal relationships. Anxiety is also pathological when it employs excessive repression, so that a person looses the capacity for spontaneous behavior and becomes generally inhibited, careful or apathetic".
This quality of anxiety is marked by its irrationality. Person is not in a position to identify the underlying cause. Overwhelmed by feeling of inner tension, a part of it gets discarded through the somatic manifestations (irregular heart beats, shivering of hands and legs, dizziness, problems with vision – especially sensing as if there was something foggy in front of the eyes, gastric pain etc.) As those manifestations actually represent an attempt to reduce the tension, each combination of deliberate activation of muscular system together with involuntary activation of vegetative nervous apparatus, can be caught up in this neurotic behavioral pattern. Thus perceiving the changes that take part on the body level a person gets caught by panic (so called 'secondary anxiety' according to N. Cameron). This is how a vicious circle is created. Overwhelmed by fear whose reason is beyond comprehension, this person often seeks help from general practitioner, internal medicine specialists, the ambulance etc.
According to psychodynamic theory pathological anxiety is caused by the breakthrough of the incestuous drives from Id, and observed by Ego as anxiety. It is the essence, common nucleus, of all neurotic disorders. Depending on how a certain person will attempt to master the pathological anxiety, that is which ego defense mechanism are to be employed, different clinical picture of a neurotic disorder is to be expressed.
Normal anxiety
Pathological neurotic anxiety
Hypotheses about the genesis of anxiety disorders
Psychological hypotheses