Understanding the source of child anxiety is important. Some fears may be easily soothed; others, such as fears of bullying, may require adult intervention.
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We manage our fear of death by creating a sense of permanence and meaning in life. But for some people, death anxiety results in pathological coping mechanisms, such as being afraid of spiders.
A diagnostic label such as borderline personality disorder, with its stigma and propensity to invalidate the person’s suffering, clearly has many negative impacts.
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Diagnostic labels usually describe symptoms, attempt to answer the question of what is wrong, and lead to a treatment plan. But “borderline personality disorder” fails on all three counts.
Drug-based therapies for anxiety disorders work on roughly half of those affected and treated.
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Most of us are intimately familiar with anxiety. We experience it as we walk towards the room to where our job interview is held, when we stand up to give a speech at our best friend’s wedding, or when…
Professor of Psychological Sciences, School of Psychological Sciences, Australian College of Applied Psychology and Honorary Assoc Prof with the Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Sydney