Anxiety in a broader sense is a person's automatic response to the experience of danger, in which a feeling of fear and anxiety prevails, accompanied by signs of hyperactivity of the autonomic nervous system. A distinction should be made between common anxiety in everyday life and clinically significant anxiety that can be diagnosed as a mental or anxiety disorder. Anxiety disorders are mental disorders in which anxiety is so strong and long-lasting that it limits the psychological and social functioning of sufferers. Characteristics of anxiety disorders are sudden onset, subjective feelings of anxiety, fear and excessive worry, relatively preserved working ability and recognition of pathological thoughts with preserved reality testing. The diagnosis of a specific anxiety disorder is made on the basis of anamnestic data and instruments (scales) for the assessment of anxiety disorders. The treatment and health care of patients depends on the degree, duration and individual assessment of how much anxiety affects a person's quality of life.