How anxiety became a catchall for every unpleasant emotion

Here’s how to understand the difference between everyday anxiety and an anxiety disorder.

When you run a therapy practice called the Center for Anxiety, as David H. Rosmarin does, you encounter a breadth of anxiety-related experiences. Sometimes, after talking with new patients, Rosmarin will determine their distress may not be related — or solely related — to anxiety at all.

Because anxiety intersects with so many other aspects of mental health, like depression and substance abuse...