Anxiety related to medical disease

The presentations and treatment of anxiety as 1) a reaction to catastrophic illness, 2) an intrinsic symptom of a physical disorder, and 3) part of a chronic disease are reviewed. Educative and supportive psychotherapy in group settings is recommended, accompanied when indicated by the judicious short-term use of antidepressants or antianxiety agents such as the benzodiazepines or the new nonbenzodiazepine anxiolytics.