Prosecution calls for Oscar Pistorius to have month of psychiatric tests

Prosecutors will apply to have Oscar Pistorius committed for one month of mental evaluations after a psychiatrist told his murder trial the Paralympian suffered from an "anxiety disorder".

Prosecutor Gerrie Nel argued the sprinter should go to a facility for 30 days to test a defence psychiatrist's claim that the condition may have had an impact on his state of mind before he shot and killed his girlfriend, allegedly believing she was an intruder.

Opening the eighth week of evidence yesterday, defence lawyer Barry Roux called forensic psychiatrist Meryll Vorster to testify about the athlete's feelings of vulnerability.

"It is my opinion, my lady, that Mr Pistorius has an anxiety disorder," said Vorster, recounting stressful factors in the Paralympic gold medallist's life.

"If he was afraid that there was an intruder, then certainly having a generalised anxiety disorder would have affected the way he reacted to that fear," she added.

During two months of trial, the defence has sought to portray Pistorius, 27, as almost manically obsessed with safety after a difficult childhood and in the face of high crime levels in South Africa.