Anxiety can be described as an archaic emotion pertaining to human life. Its manifestations are subject to cultural and social, as well as to familial influences. In our days, an increasing general anxiety is met by a widespread tendency to repress it. Open and repressed forms of anxiety are present in every psychiatric disturbance and illness, but are also part of socially accepted “normality”. Psychodynamically, all forms of pathological anxiety are linked to early neglect and traumatisation and are always accompanied by inner loneliness and contact disturbance. The association of anxiety and aggression and its implication for treatment are discussed.