[Recognizing anxiety and successful treatment]

It is an important task of the family doctor (general practitioner) to recognise anxiety disorders and treat them successfully. Patients and their relatives must be informed about the available effective treatment possibilities and about the right moment for their application in an individual patient. In difficult cases the family doctor can consult a psychiatrist. Based on the incidence of anxiety disorders it is not possible to send each patient to a psychiatrist for treatment. In many cases this is not necessary, a consilium or a telephone discussion is sufficient.