ABSTRACT
Many patients with life threatening diseases understandably experience anxiety. Anxiety is experienced at some time by most persons, and can be a natural response to the dying process. It becomes problematic when the anxiety is greater than would be construed as a normal response to illness, based on intensity, duration, or dysfunction. Such anxiety is classified as pathological. 1 Impending death may not be the most frequent source of anxiety in cancer patients who may have a range of concerns causing anxiety. 2 These may include adequate pain control, isolation from loved ones, and the needs of their surviving family members. Clinicians' willingness to discuss such issues often lessen anxiety.
