Current concept of anxiety: implications from Darwin to the DSM-V for the diagnosis of generalized anxiety disorder

Abstract

This article proposes a revision of the historical evolution of the concepts of generalized anxiety disorder (GAD). Currently, Darwin’s evolutionary theory is the hegemonic paradigm for modern science and influences research on mental disorders. Throughout the 20th Century, the editions of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM; American Psychiatric Association) have changed the diagnostic criteria for GAD, reflecting the prevailing psychiatric understanding of this disorder. The prevalence and symptoms of major depression and GAD show the fragility of the categorical conception of these conditions. Differences in cultural views towards anxiety disorders also suggest that anxiety cannot have a uniform definition. This article provides contributions for reflecting future guidelines concerning the diagnostic criteria for GAD in DSM-V.

Keywords::

• anxiety disorders
• classification
• diagnostic criteria
• future diagnostic
• generalized anxiety disorder
• history
• overanxious disorder

Financial & competing interests disclosure

This study was supported by the National Institute for Translational Medicine (INCT-TM) and the the Brazilian Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq). The authors have no other relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript apart from those disclosed.

Writing assistance, provided by the American Journal Experts, was utilized in the production of this manuscript.