Anxiety Analysis

Anxiety Disorder

Craig Marshall

PSY/450

September 24, 2012

Stefanie Krasner

Anxiety Disorder

The relativism of cultural factors offer perspective toward the severity of an anxiety disorder. The symptoms of anxiety vary from one culture to the next and the ability to understand the differences provide a comprehensive differentiation that justifies the behavior. The importance of relative perspective affords the opportunity to locate a baseline within a culture that will allow the identification of phenomena. The Universalist perspective offers the similarity between physiological aspects that suggest absolutes within psychopathology from all cultures. The greatest margin lies within the explanation or justification of the symptoms and not the symptoms alone. The comprehension of cultural differences combined with the subtle difference within terminologies affords a logical person the opportunity to navigate the possibilities of a psychopathological disorder.

Definition

Definitions of disorders require key elements and triggers associated with each symptom to accurately provide a diagnosis. Anxiety is no different in this regard due to the possible interpretations of the multiple cultural spectrums. Hansell and Damour (2008) define anxiety as, “an unpleasant emotion characterized by a general sense of danger, dread, and physiological arousal” (p. 115). As a definition such as this holds a solid foundation, the cross-cultural aspect requires a detailed analysis of the symptoms. A comparison of the central and peripheral symptoms offers perspective to differentiate the universals from the cultural specific disorders. The similarities within central symptoms of anxiety are observed in the physical attributes of muscle tension, loss of attention, or fatigue (Shiraev & Levy, 2010). The peripheral symptoms become vague as the cultural impact on an individual causes unfamiliar idioms and disassociated priorities with the...