As you might imagine, mankind has been anxious as long as mankind has been in existence. The actual word anxiety has as its root angst, German for fear. The word panic stems from the Greek myth of Pan, the god of fertility and the fields who struck intense, irrational fear into the hearts of travelers in desolate areas.

Our anxiety system has been intrinsic to our fight-or-flight survival system, using the oldest of nerves (the nose) as a key scout and showing wiring to the evolutionarily oldest parts of the brain. Multiple recorded episodes of anxiety exist, going back to ancient African tribes, the pygmies of Polynesia, or Native American tribes. Historically, common explanations for anxiety included possession of the body by evil spirits, violation of a cultural taboo, or the loss of the soul.

Cure has existed for each of these ailments via exorcism (i.e., removal of the evil spirit), shamanism (i.e., using a healer to restore the lost soul by finding it and returning it to the body), or confession of the taboo violation. In the early 20th century, Freud piggybacked his theories on many of these ideas and used the hypnosis technique from Jean-Martin Charcot to, in turn, pioneer psychoanalysis as a technique and school of thought. Freud’s psychoanalysis serves as the basic forerunner of all modern psychotherapy.

Today, theories of anxiety range from neurobiological to sociological to psychological, and in many of our present treatments, the principles used throughout the history of mankind in the treatment of anxiety still apply. For example, any reasonable psychotherapy restores hope, is done by a socially sanctioned healer, involves some theory of mind, and involves a regular long-term relationship between a healer and the patient.

These techniques go back to shamans of the caveman and the ancient Greeks’ use of theater or temples and philosophy as vehicles to provide relief from anxiety. Living in the 21st century, we have benefited enormously from the input of rational science and its scientific method (as well as psychopharmacology) as tools; however, many of the techniques that we use to navigate anxiety have been tried and proven to be true over the history of mankind.

Terms:

 Hypnosis – a form of therapy in which a therapist induces a patient into an enhanced state of relaxation, possibly allowing for deeper memories or feelings to surface.

Psychoanalysis – a form of intensive psychotherapy, usually 4-5 times per week, conducted with the patient lying on the couch, facing away from the analyst.

Psychopharmacotherapy – the use of medication, prescribed by psychiatrists, to treat mental illness.