Editing Anxiety (section)

==Anxiety vs. fear==
Anxiety is distinguished from [[fear]], which is an appropriate cognitive and emotional response to a perceived [[threat]].<ref>[[Andreas Dorschel]], ''Furcht und Angst.'' In: Dietmar Goltschnigg (ed.), ''Angst. Lähmender Stillstand und Motor des Fortschritts.'' Stauffenburg, Tübingen 2012, pp. 49–54</ref> Anxiety is related to the specific behaviors of [[fight-or-flight response]]s, defensive behavior or escape.<ref>{{cite journal |vauthors=Heeren A |title=On the distinction between fear and anxiety in a (post)pandemic world: a commentary on Schimmenti et al. (2020) |journal=Clinical Neuropsychiatry |year=2020 |pages=189–191 |volume=17 |issue=3 |pmid=34908991 |pmc=8629083 |doi=10.36131/cnfioritieditore20200307 |url=https://www.clinicalneuropsychiatry.org/download/on-the-distinction-between-fear-and-anxiety-in-a-postpandemic-world-a-commentary-on-schimmenti-et-al-2020/ |access-date=2020-12-13 |archive-date=2021-12-16 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211216235415/https://www.clinicalneuropsychiatry.org/download/on-the-distinction-between-fear-and-anxiety-in-a-postpandemic-world-a-commentary-on-schimmenti-et-al-2020/ |url-status=live }}</ref> There is a false presumption that often circulates that anxiety only occurs in situations perceived as uncontrollable or unavoidable, but this is not always so.<ref>{{cite book|title=Handbook of emotions| vauthors = Öhman A |publisher=The Guilford Press |year=2000 |isbn=978-1-57230-529-8| veditors = Lewis M, Haviland-Jones JM |location=New York|pages=[https://archive.org/details/handbookofemotio0000unse/page/573 573–93] |chapter=Fear and anxiety: Evolutionary, cognitive, and clinical perspectives |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/handbookofemotio0000unse/page/573}}</ref> [[David H. Barlow|David Barlow]] defines anxiety as "a future-oriented mood state in which one is not ready or prepared to attempt to [[Coping (psychology)|cope]] with upcoming negative events,"<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Barlow DH | title = Unraveling the mysteries of anxiety and its disorders from the perspective of emotion theory | journal = The American Psychologist | volume = 55 | issue = 11 | pages = 1247–1263 | date = November 2000 | pmid = 11280938 | doi = 10.1037/0003-066X.55.11.1247 }}</ref> and that it is a distinction between future and present dangers which divides anxiety and fear. Another description of anxiety is agony, dread, terror, or even apprehension.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Iacovou S |year=2011 |title=What is the difference between existential anxiety and so called neurotic anxiety? 'The sine qua non of true vitality' an examination of the difference between existential anxiety and neurotic anxiety |journal=Existential Analysis |volume=22 |issue=2 |id={{Gale|A288874227}} }}</ref> In [[positive psychology]], anxiety is described as the mental state that results from a difficult challenge for which the subject has insufficient [[Coping (psychology)|coping]] skills.<ref name = "Chand_2022" /><ref>{{cite book|title=Finding Flow |url=https://archive.org/details/findingflowpsych00csik|url-access=registration| vauthors=Csíkszentmihályi M |year=1997 |publisher=Basic Books |isbn=978-0-465-04513-6 |author-link=Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi}}{{Page needed|date=May 2013}}</ref>

Fear and anxiety can be differentiated into four domains: (1) duration of emotional experience, (2) temporal focus, (3) specificity of the threat, and (4) motivated direction. Fear is short-lived, present-focused, geared towards a specific threat, and facilitating escape from threat. On the other hand, anxiety is long-acting, future-focused, broadly focused towards a diffuse threat, and promoting excessive caution while approaching a potential threat and interferes with constructive coping.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Sylvers P, Lilienfeld SO, LaPrairie JL | title = Differences between trait fear and trait anxiety: implications for psychopathology | journal = Clinical Psychology Review | volume = 31 | issue = 1 | pages = 122–137 | date = February 2011 | pmid = 20817337 | doi = 10.1016/j.cpr.2010.08.004 }}</ref>

[[Joseph E. LeDoux]] and [[Lisa Feldman Barrett]] have both sought to separate automatic threat responses from additional associated cognitive activity within anxiety.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://brainworldmagazine.com/on-fear-emotions-and-memory-an-interview-with-dr-joseph-ledoux/|title=On Fear, Emotions, and Memory: An Interview with Dr. Joseph LeDoux|vauthors=Emory M|date=June 7, 2018|website=Brain World|language=en-US|access-date=September 11, 2019|archive-date=April 22, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210422224955/https://brainworldmagazine.com/on-fear-emotions-and-memory-an-interview-with-dr-joseph-ledoux/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Barrett LF | title = The theory of constructed emotion: an active inference account of interoception and categorization | journal = Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience | volume = 12 | issue = 1 | pages = 1–23 | date = January 2017 | pmid = 27798257 | pmc = 5390700 | doi = 10.1093/scan/nsw154 }}</ref>