Overview Clinical challenges in the diagnosis and treatment of anxiety are abundant in the general hospital setting: discerning normal from pathologic anxiety, differentiating medical from psychiatric causes, and choosing effective therapeutic approaches. In addition to a knowledge of medical and psychiatric differential diagnoses, the clinician may rely on a variety of strategies and interventions that involve pharmacologic, cognitive-behavioral, interpersonal, and psychodynamic skills. The ubiquity of anxiety and the non-specific nature of anxiety symptoms can confound the care of the patient. Pathologic anxiety symptoms and behavior may be attributed to other physical causes or, when viewed as “only anxiety,” may be prematurely dismissed as insignificant. Anxiety refers to a state of anticipation of alarming future events, whereas fear is a result of perceived imminent threat.1 The former is the same distressing experience of dread and foreboding as the latter, except that it derive...