2,550 persons from a geographically delimited area in Sweden were examined and described by a team of 4 psychiatrists in 1947. Mental disorders, personality traits, social factors etc. were recorded for all but 1% of the population. Irrespective of domicile the same persons were examined in the same way first 10, then another 15 years later. The incidence of ‘Anxiety’ up to 60 years of age was 9.9% in men and 19.7% in women. The majority of both sexes had their first episode as young adults or in the younger middle age (30–39 years). Among men with a ‘severe and medium’ impairment, the cumulative probability of disease was higher in the 15-year period 1957–1972 than in the 10-year perio