Anxiety, an endemic emotion from evolutionary, cognitive, psychiatric and philosophical perspectives

Anxiety is not merely a word we use when something worries or overwhelms us; it is a complex phenomenon studied from multiple perspectives within the broad field of behavioural sciences. This paper considers anxiety as a disorder to be endemic, particularly among specific groups such as healthcare personnel. Most approaches agree that the way we experience anxiety is closely tied to our personal history, how we interpret what we perceive, and the expectations we hold for the future, along with the confidence we place in our ability to cope with everyday life. This paper reviews four theoretical proposals that seek to give meaning to this experience. We begin with evolutionary theory, followed by the cognitive model of psychology, the psychiatric approach, and the philosophical representational theory.