4. 5 ORGANIC ANXIETY DISORDER
Anxiety has been associated with
neurological disorders like stroke, Parkinson’s disease, multiple
sclerosis, epilepsy and post-traumatic encephalopathy; cardiopulmonary
diseases like angina, cardiac arrhythmias and congestive cardiac failure;
endocrinopathies like hyperthyroidism, hypoglycemia and
phaeochromocytoma; gastrointestinal disorders like peptic ulcer and
gastrointestinal reflux, deficiency states of Vitamins B12, B6 or Niacin;
and infectious diseases like mononucleosis, tuberculosis and cerebral
malaria. Medications associated with anxiety include levodopa, tricyclic
antidepressants, bupropion, fluoxetine, isoniazid and thyroid hormones
(Cummings and Mega, 2003). Post-stroke anxiety is more likely to occur
with left anterior cortical lesions (Starkstein and Robinson, 1993). A
relationship has been found between anxiety or panic and temporal lobe
lesions, predominantly those affecting right-sided structures (Capwell and
Carter, 1991). |
