In this issue, psychiatrists, scientists and people with lived experience answer the questions we want answered about fear and anxiety disorders.
Contents
‘You can overcome fear’
Damiaan Denys is a philosopher and works as a psychiatrist in the psychiatry department of Amsterdam UMC, where he treats anxiety disorders and researches new forms of therapy, such as Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS). To what extent do we need fear in our lives? Can we identify it in the brain? Are women more likely to be afraid than men? Nine questions for Damiaan Denys.
‘An anxiety and obsessive-compulsive disorder is exhausting’
Karin Uijtdewillegen has suffered from an anxiety and obsessive-compulsive disorder for years. Her last resort was Deep Brain Stimulation. Electrical impulses are intended to make things calmer in her head.
‘An anxiety disorder is often a chronic illness’
Prof. Brenda Penninx, professor of psychiatric epidemiology at Amsterdam UMC, researches anxiety disorders. ‘Fear is a normal emotion, but with an anxiety disorder you are excessively afraid of situations that are not actually dangerous. As a result, you can no longer function properly in daily life, for example because you no longer dare to go outside.’
Real emotions in virtual reality
People with psychosis are often suspicious and afraid. Psychiatrist Wim Veling is researching, with the support of the Dutch Brain Foundation, whether psychosis can also be treated with virtual reality (VR). The initial findings appear encouraging.
Scientists’ dreams for the future
Scientists always continue to dream about their own areas of research. Each edition of Brain Magazine features the dreams for the future of various scientists and their research. The dreams for the future in the November 2019 issue of Brain Magazine belong to scientists Damiaan Denys, Brenda Penninx, Wim Veling and Marie-José van Tol.
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