title: Anxiety: its nature and treatment.
abstract: Anxiety is an unpleasant, diffuse emotion, directed towards the future and associated with feelings of threat to the individual. Clinical anxiety occurs when a patient suffers from anxiety which is more frequent, more severe or more persistent than he is used to and can tolerate. Almost a third of the adult population will admit to some symptoms of anxiety. Drug therapy, in particular the benzodiazepines, is the mainstay of treatment, but care must be taken to avoid overprescription.
mesh_terms: D000319:Adrenergic beta-Antagonists / Q000627:therapeutic use; D014151:Anti-Anxiety Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D001007:Anxiety / Q000187:drug effects; D001569:Benzodiazepines; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D006801:Humans; D010698:Phobic Disorders; D011612:Psychosurgery; D011613:Psychotherapy; D012063:Relaxation; D013315:Stress, Psychological; D006113:United Kingdom
chemical_list: D000319:Adrenergic beta-Antagonists; D014151:Anti-Anxiety Agents; D001569:Benzodiazepines