Vol 5 n° 3 - Anxiety II
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ear Colleagues, This is the second issue of Dialogues in Clinical Neuroscience to be devoted to the theme of anxiety disorders (see Dialogues in Clinical Neuroscience, 2002,Volume 4, No. 3). Historically, different schools of psychiatry have approached anxiety disorders with dif- ferent and somewhat opposing models. These models can now be grouped into a global approach that covers psychological, biological, and pathophysiological aspects. In line with the format of our journal, we have once again decided to explore the many facets of psychiatric syndromes. The pathophysiology of anxiety disorders is specific in the sense that different mechanisms underlie different clinical syndromes and because there is known to be an anxiety-related increase in the arousal and activation of stress-responsive brain systems. Thus, the question of the unitary or multiple nature of anxiety disorders is raised, as it has been for psychotic or mood disorders.This question is particularly relevant for obses- sive-compulsive spectrum disorders. Research into anxiety and anxiety disorders has recently been oriented toward mechanisms and genes that might be protective.Thus, psychological and biological studies are no longer focused exclusively on the dysfunctional aspects of the brain; they now address how the brain works, in order to generate resistance to failures and disorders.The papers on resilience are illustrations of this innovative direction in neuroscience, ie, iden- tifying how we are naturally protected from illness and how we can become healthy again. These results leave little doubt that new ideas and techniques are increasing our understanding of anxiety disorders and lead to innovations in therapy and prevention. We  would  like  to  end  with  the  announcement  of  the  Dialogues  in  Clinical Neuroscience website, which is now available online at www.dialogues-cns.org. You are most welcome to visit our site to browse the themes covered in previous and future issues, and consult previous volumes. Yours sincerely, Jean-Paul Macher, MD Marc-Antoine Crocq, MD E d i t o r i a l D 2 0 1