Psychological disorders
Locker 36 concluded that psychological disorders relate to the development of dental
anxiety in a population of young adults. Psychological disorders have also been seen
to be associated with high levels of dental anxiety among young adults, and
specifically related to the maintenance of dental anxiety over time 39. The two most
common forms of psychological distress, in severe forms diagnosed as psychiatric
disorders, are anxiety and depression 63. Anxiety is closely linked to the expectation
of suffering from adverse events and is about emotional effects, responses to feared
threats or disasters 4. Depression refers to a state of low mood and aversion to activity
that can affect a person’s thoughts, behaviour, feelings and sense of well-being. A
person with depressed mood can feel empty, sad, hopeless or helpless. Depressed
mood could make a person lose interest in activities that were once pleasurable or in
oneself 7