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Anxiety and Victor Frankenstein

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Anxiety and Victor Frankenstein
Hailey Aversa
Period 2
5/20/13
Research Paper

Anxiety Disorder is a condition that is diagnosed as the disability to cope with any form of stress. Since it is one of the most common disorders in the U.S., there are a large amount of people that have and will need to control this illness. As one of the many people in the world, Victor, the main character in Frankenstein by Mary Shelly, had such a severe case of anxiety that he was almost driven to insanity. During the story, you follow his battle with this disorder. He had a constant obsession with trying to get away from the creature, and was overly stressed about this monster that he had created that ultimately he couldn’t deal with his actual problem at hand. Anxiety disorder is extremely difficult to deal with, but if the proper steps are taken, it is treatable.

This illness was first recognized by Sigmund Freud in the early 1900’s but was only diagnosed as a diagnostic entity in 1980 (Overview of Generalized Anxiety Disorder, Snow). Freud found the illness while he was working with a companion, Wilhelm Fliess, at the very start of his psychoanalytic work, which is discovering repressed conflict inside the head (enotes.com). This discovery the two made has explained the feelings that many people feel on a daily basis.

There are an abundance of symptoms associated with Anxiety Disorder. Though the most common effects are insomnia, appetite changes, depression, and a feeling of being unsettled or disconnected. Insomnia is a disorder that makes it difficult to fall asleep or to stay asleep after falling asleep (Medical-Dictionary.com). One appetite change issue can include overeating, also known as bingeing. Since those diagnosed with this disorder can get easily stressed, many just eat to hide their pain or nervousness. This also applies when people under-eat. Their fears can get in their way of their appetite. Depression and Anxiety often go hand in hand (ADAA.org). Many people

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