Most people in my age group, 18 to early 20s, have experienced some type of anxiety whether it be test anxiety, general anxiety disorder, or something more severe. Anxiety has become a common diagnostic, but are we able to to tell through behavior whether it's actually anxiety or just fear causing us to feel and act a certain way? Dr. Fanselow explains in his paper, "Neurobehavioral perspectives on the distinction between fear and anxiety", that most neurobehavioral models of fear and anxiety cannot be amply differentiated between the two when identifying certain behaviors. This means that they cannot find distinct behaviors that allow them to be separated into either fear or anxiety.
In Psychology Today, Dr. Shahram Heshmat writes that behaviors of fear are responses of running away from the problem, hiding from the fear-causing stimulus, and acting in the interest of self-preservation. He states that these behaviors happen due to some sort of stimuli that causes this fear. The article highlights that anxiety is different because it does not need a stimulus to cause it. However, Dr. Heshmat does not distinguish any different behaviors anxiety causes that fear does not. He expands upon what causes each one and how they differ, but does not and makes me believe that he could not find any differences in the way the two states cause behavioral differences.
In the American Journal of Psychology, Dr. Joseph E. LeDoux and Dr. Daniel S. Pine write a journal article titled "Using Neuroscience to Help Understand Fear and Anxiety: A Two-System Framework". They state that extensive research has been done on separating the brain's reactions to fear and anxiety. However, they explain that this information is not able to be brought over to the clinical side and suggest a two-tier system that would allow it to transform clinical understanding of the signs that allow one to tell fear and anxiety apart. The first tier is the idea of trying to understand the behaviors when one responds to the feeling of fear and anxiety as well as examining the actual changes in responses of the brain and body. Then the second tier would be recording responses of individuals when they are experiencing feelings of anxiety and fear. The authors says researchers need to follow this system because the present process of understanding fear and anxiety disorders has inhibited treatment plans such as new drugs to treat certain illness as well as different therapies that could help.
Through the accompany articles, it is clear that more research needs to be done to figure out the different behaviors of fear and anxiety so that people can be treated more effectively. With more and more people including the younger generations being diagnosed with anxiety disorders at an alarming rate, more research needs to be done in clinical settings so that better treatment plans can be created. The scientific community has a better understanding of what causes these states in the brain and what structures controls each and the connections they have, but more of an understanding of the responses of each is required so that society can effectively cut down on the number of people being misdiagnosed or stuck with a mediocre treatment.
Works Cited
Heshmat, Shahram. “Anxiety vs. Fear.” Psychology Today, Sussex Publishers, 3 Dec.
2018, www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/science-choice/201812/anxiety-vs-fear.
LeDoux, Joseph E., and Daniel S. Pine. “Using Neuroscience to Help Understand Fear
and Anxiety: A Two-System Framework.” American Journal of Psychiatry, 9 Sept. 2016,
ajp.psychiatryonline.org/doi/10.1176/appi.ajp.2016.16030353.
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