Acute Medicine | Palliative care | Assessment and management of anxiety

Assessment and management of anxiety
Session overview
Description
This session gives a framework for recognising and managing anxiety in patients with advanced disease.

This session was reviewed by Felicity Wood and last updated in May 2023.

Learning objectives
By the end of this session you will be able to:

• describe the common pattern of symptoms found with an anxiety disorder, and what other information aids diagnosis
• recognise the main psychiatric, iatrogenic and organic causes of anxiety, as well as the patient's existential concerns about the illness
• list the range of interventions that can be offered to alleviate anxiety, taking into account the preferences of the patient
• describe a practical, incremental approach to the management of anxiety

In patients with advanced illness, concerns about dependency, body image, life and death are common. Feelings of anxiety may be occasional and self-limiting for some, but for others can cause considerable psychological distress, and adversely impact upon many aspects of daily life, including symptom control.

As with depressed mood, anxiety disorders are common in patients with advanced disease but are under-recognised and under-treated.

In this session you are given a framework for assessing and managing anxiety in patients at the end of their life. You will learn how to recognise anxiety, the disorders which might present, and its common causes.