Biomodulators of Anxiety

Anxiety is a feeling of unease which everyone feels at some points in their lives. Anxiety becomes a disorder when the symptoms become chronic and interfere daily lives, including behavioral patterns and adaptations. Anxiety disorders come in many forms - Generalized Anxiety Disorder, Panic and Post-traumatic Stress disorders, Obsessive Compulsive Disorders, Social Anxiety Disorders and various Phobias. The state of anxiety is modulated by a multifarious and complex series of biomodulators of the categories, neurotransmitters, peptides and hormones comprising serotonin, norepinephrine, Gamma-Aminobutyric acid (GABA), cortisol, Corticotropin Releasing Factor (CRF), Acetylcholine and many more. The article reviews the anxiogenic and/or anxiolytic functions of selected biomodulators in maintaining anxiety related behaviours.