Development of the concept of anxiety

An interesting model in the conceptualization of anxiety--the cognitive dissonance theory--is summarized. Cognitive dissonance is a state where two mutually incompatible realities exist simultaneously, and it is associated with clinical anxiety in man. Anxiety is as distinctive a state cognitively, as it is emotionally and bodily. The clinical symptom most characteristic of anxiety is obsessional checking. The septo-hippocampal system, 'an organ of hesitation and doubt', is probably the neural substrate for Freud's repetition compulsion. It has the task of monitoring ongoing activities, comparing achieved with desired goals, registering discrepancies, dissonances and the threats of dissonances, and bringing ongoing activities to a halt when such registrations occur.