THE IGNORED ONE!

Anxiety disorders which is still a stigma due to unawareness are the most frequent psychiatric disorders. It is associated with negative emotions when thinking about future and feeling of distress which activates the self-defense, physiologically it is important in preparing for the possibly dangerous situations.

It is the social stigma which hinders the needed from seeking help and fight all alone. If any events or situations provoke anxiety in individuals affected pathologically, the individual would express inadequate reactions to it and sometimes it results in panicking which makes the individual to not seek the situation which arose it, this is called as agoraphobia.

The symptoms of anxiety are categorized under-obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), social phobia, specific phobia, generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), panic disorder (PD), posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and agoraphobia.

Anxiety is commonly developed in adolescence and young adulthood which is the phase of transition and has a prevalence of 5% to 19%. Especially women are more susceptible to anxiety disorders than men. Another interesting fact is that the relationship between parental anxiety disorders (maternal) and anxiety disorder in children. Parents who were prone to anxiety prenatally increased the risk of anxiety disorder development in children proving that it is familial.

Limbic system processes emotional functions. Amygdala which is a part of the limbic system, processes external salient emotional stimuli and decides appropriate behavioral responses. Amygdala is responsible for the expression of fear and aggression, species specific defense behavior and also formation and retrieval of emotional and fear-related memories. Amygdala is susceptible to increase in size especially the right amygdala volume (AGV) among the individuals with affective problems, anxiety disorder, depression and aggression. Studies show that maternal increase in cortisol levels especially in the early trimester has shown increased AGV in children and more prevalent in females. The discretion between males and females reminds of another fact that escapable stress does not protect females from the inescapable stress.