anxiety reaction

noun

: reaction to a feared situation or object in which various manifestations of anxiety (as shortness of breath, abdominal pain, increased heart rate, or irritability) are prominent

Once an anxiety reaction has been precipitated in an anxiety-prone individual, an interesting question has to do with what factors actually maintain the anxiety and associated responses.

—Robert A. Ditomasso and Elizabeth A. Gosch, Anxiety Disorders: A Practitioner's Guide to Comparative Treatments