Anatomy of anxiety. A physician's overview.

This article has stressed the complexity of anxiety that is reflected not only in the definition, but in the duality of symptomatology, the almost endless list of conditions and situations in which it may be found, and the etiologic uncertainty of the primary anxiety disorders. Despite the ubiquitous nature of anxiety, an approach to the assessment, differential diagnosis, and management has been outlined that is applicable to the individual patient with anxiety who might present for outpatient dental anesthesia.