Cognition and anxiety: the cognitive effects of anti-anxiety medication

There does not appear to be a single hypothesis or theory which can adequately explain the aetiology of anxiety, although there is no shortage of contenders. Neurochemical, existential, sociogenic, familial, pathological, psychodynamic and behavioural explanations have all been offered as putative reasons for the psychological disorder, which in its various representations (panic disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, phobias, post-traumatic stress disorder, generalized anxiety disorders, etc.) can affect up to 20% of the population on a lifetime basis (1). Notwithstanding the variety of theories and the diversity of presentation of anxiety disorders, it would appear that cognitive dysfunction of one sort or another is a characteristic feature of anxiety in all its manifestations. Indeed, it is possible to argue that a cognitive impairment is the primary presenting feature of pathological anxiety, with the characteristic syndrome of somatic symptoms as secondary or necessary consequences of such cognitive disorder.