DUI DEFENSE ANXIETY PHYSIOLOGY AND ANATOMY: MARYLAND DUI DEFENSE ATTORNEY

www.charlesjeromeware.com.  " Here to make a difference."  DUI defense attorney Charles Jerome Ware is ranked among the best drunk driving defense lawyers in Maryland as well as in the United States.  For an initial courtesy consultation, contact him at (410) 720-6129 or (410) 730-5016, or email Attorney Ware at charlesjeromeware@msn.com.

                                       ANXIETY

ANXIETY is a psychological response to stressors that have both physiological and psychological components. The behavioral reactions to anxiety are influenced by psychosocial-cultural factors ( gender, age, race, color, ethnicity, employment, religion, nationality, immigration status, et al.), basic personality development, past experiences ( with law enforcement, other authority figures, et al.), cultural and religious values,  and even economic status, among other things such as, of course, anatomical, medical and health-related experiences.

                            ANXIETY  AND  THE  DUI  STOP

While mild anxiety may result in increased alertness, anxiety can --- and frequently does --- increase to a stage where the subjects (our clients) can suffer from the recognized psychological signs of anxiety such as decreased attention span, decreased ability to follow directions, increase in the number of questions asked, and the need to seek reassurance.  Many who suffer from severe stress response may actually exhibit immobility.  These are the very symptoms that may cause a person who is not under the influence of alcohol to perform poorly on the standardized alcohol field sobriety tests; in stark contradiction to police officers' frequent standard testimony that DUI defense clients were " not acting normally", " wanted to fight", were " uncooperative", " could not follow instructions", etc., etc., etc.

Alcohol is frequently not the cause of such behavior by the suspect, but instead the suspect's autonomic nervous system response to the anxiety directly resulting from the stop by the police officer and the suspect's understandable and reasonable fear of the resulting circumstances ( be the known or unknown).