We must differentiate anxiety from that
which is experienced as an appropriate
response to a life situation. If, while you are on
a safari, a lion wanders into your tent, fear is a
highly appropriate and adaptive response.
Intense, disabling fear in the absence of a lion
is not adaptive. The anxiety disorder interferes
with a person’s natural and beneficial adaptive
responses, and this interference can happen
in varying degrees from mild to incapacitating.
This article will describe six common
types of anxiety disorder.