GC: n

S: HLN – https://www.healthline.com/health/anxiety (last access: 7 November 2020 ); NHS – https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/generalised-anxiety-disorder/ (last access: 7 November 2020).

N: 1. 1520s, “apprehension caused by danger, misfortune, or error, uneasiness of mind respecting some uncertainty, a restless dread of some evil” from Latin anxietatem (nominative anxietas) “anguish, anxiety, solicitude,” noun of quality anxius “uneasy, troubled in mind).
2. Anxiety, a feeling of dread, fear, or apprehension, often with no clear justification. Anxiety is distinguished from fear because the latter arises in response to a clear and actual danger, such as one affecting a person’s physical safety. Anxiety, by contrast, arises in response to apparently innocuous situations or is the product of subjective, internal emotional conflicts the causes of which may not be apparent to the person himself. Some anxiety inevitably arises in the course of daily life and is considered normal. But persistent, intense, chronic, or recurring anxiety not justified in response to real-life stresses is usually regarded as a sign of an emotional disorder. When such an anxiety is unreasonably evoked by a specific situation or object, it is known as a phobia. A diffuse or persistent anxiety associated with no particular cause or mental concern is called general, or free-floating, anxiety.
3. People with anxiety disorders usually have recurring intrusive thoughts or concerns. They may avoid certain situations out of worry. They may also have physical symptoms such as sweating, trembling, dizziness or a rapid heartbeat.

S: 1. OED – https://www.etymonline.com/word/anxiety (last access: 7 November 2020). 2. EncBrit – https://www.britannica.com/science/anxiety (last access: 7 November 2020). 3. APA – https://www.apa.org/topics/anxiety (last access: 7 November 2020).

SYN:
S:

CR: agoraphobia, blennophobia, claustrophobia, disorder, mental health, nervous breakdown, phobia.