Facilitating treatment of anxiety disorders in patients with comorbid medical illness.

Anxiety is a universal human response that usually is adaptive, allowing one to prepare for a perceived threat. This can be a normal coping mechanism when dealing with a medical illness that may require hospitalization, surgery, or painful procedures. It becomes maladaptive when it is persistent and leads to panic attacks, severe physical symptoms, and impairment in functioning. Most of these patients are treated by primary care providers who frequently fail to adequately recognize and treat anxiety disorders in their patients. This leads to increased health care costs and chronic disability. To reach this under-served group of patients, mental health practitioners need to collaborate with their primary care colleagues to provide screening tools and education on diagnosis and effective treatment of these disorders.