Related Experiment Video
Updated: Mar 24, 2026

Using the Threat Probability Task to Assess Anxiety and Fear During Uncertain and Certain Threat
Published on: September 12, 2014
Galen's Anxious Patients: Lypē as Anxiety Disorder
Abstract:
Galen describes a syndrome he associates with an emotion called lypē, with specific symptoms and a course that may lead to humoral imbalance, disease, and death. Lypē is an emotion that encompasses distress at a loss, as the death of a close friend or the destruction of one's books by fire; but Galen also associates it with chronic worry about a future threat, and a physiology between the emotions of worry and fear (that is, 'anxiety'). Lypē can cause a progressive syndrome characterised by insomnia, fever, pallor, and weight loss that can kill patients or degenerate into psychotic illness. This syndrome can be described in modern terms as an anxiety disorder.
Related Concept Videos
Anxiety: Overview
Individuals with anxiety often experience a range of physical and emotional symptoms, including sweating, trembling, tachycardia, and disturbances in sleep patterns. These symptoms vary in intensity and frequency but are generally disruptive and distressing.
Generalized Anxiety Disorder
Anxiolytic Drugs: Overview
Primary Types of Anxiolytic Drugs
1. Benzodiazepines:
Benzodiazepines bind to the GABA-A receptor in the brain, enhancing GABA's interaction. This action reduces neurotransmission, effectively blocking anxiety-associated limbic...
Social Anxiety Disorder
Panic Disorder
Anxiolytic Drugs: Benzodiazepines and Buspirone

