[Anxiety and anxiety disorders--differential diagnosis, etiology and medico-legal assessment].

Psychiatric disorders including anxiety disorders, are becoming more and more important in medico-legal assessment. Anxiety disorders are frequent in the general population. However, they may not be reliably diagnosed even by psychiatric experts because the disorders' symptoms may fail to manifest themselves during the examination. Functional impairments related to anxiety disorders are similarly problematic to assess. Finally, given the existence of effective therapies, it is hard to explain why patients with anxiety disorders have to be assessed at all. This report discusses the various and quite heterogeneous concepts associated with the word "anxiety". Anxiety disorder as a disease is differentiated from anxiety as a physiological emotion. Evidence concerning the etiology of anxiety disorders is compiled and strategies for medico-legal assessment, including the efficacy of therapies, are presented.