However, in order to do so, these models will have to be permanently confronted with clinical practice, and also understood and discussed by clinicians. This is an absolute prerequisite for a successful translational

approach. Anxiety and its disorders Anxiety is usually described as “a psychological, physiological, and behavioral state induced in animals and humans by a threat to well-being or survival, either actual or potential.”10 It is characterized by increased arousal, expectancy, autonomic and neuroendocrine activation, and specific behavior patterns, often with a behavioral transition from ongoing behaviors (eg, exploration, Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical feeding) to an escape (eg, flight) or other defensive behaviors. The function of these changes is to facilitate coping with an adverse or Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical unexpected situation. However, if the adaptive function of anxiety is not successful, anxiety can become a pathological state, which may later on interfere with the ability to cope with various challenges or stressful events in daily life, Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical and even alter body condition. Pathological anxiety can also be a consequence of predisposing factors (or traits), which result from numerous gene-environment interactions during development (particularly during the perinatal period),

and experience (life events). Conceptually, it is important Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical to distinguish fear, which is a response to an immediate, real danger, from anxiety, which is a response to threat, ie, a potential danger.10 Threat and coping strategies

The term “coping” refers to physiological, psychological, and behavioral responses aimed at avoiding harm or distress, is conceptually more or less equivalent to “defense mechanisms,” and applies to both humans and animals.11 , 12 Coping mechanisms are clearly important for health and disease; a proper, successful coping strategy decreases the impact of stress and protects the organism from Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical its longterm consequences. It is more and more evident that vulnerability to stress-induced diseases is highly individual and may in nearly part depend on coping styles. A coping style can be defined as: “[...] a coherent set of behavioural and physiological stress responses which is consistent over time and which is characteristic to a certain group of individuals.” 11 Coping styles are more or less comparable to “temperament” or “personality” traits in humans, and form the basis of individual differences, which are essential to maintain the species’ (or population’s) adaptive capacity under changing environmental conditions.13 The genetic, epigenetic, and learned GDC-0994 ic50 aspects of individual coping style are still a matter of debate.