ABSTRACT
Life-threatening illness creates an uncertain future that causes anxiety that may increase as the illness progresses. Anxiety in turn makes it more difficult for the patient to cope with suffering. Anxiety is common in advanced disease, but is missed in more than half of patients, or not recorded in medical notes. Features of anxiety are apprehensive expectation, vigilance and scanning, motor tension and autonomic hyperactivity. In advanced disease, anxiety is often associated with depression. Anxiety state has a persistent, dominating and intrusive quality accompanied by anxiety-related symptoms for at least two weeks. Drug-induced restlessness can mimic the motor tension aspects of anxiety, but patients may deny any severe anxiety. Enabling a person to express their feelings and giving the information they need do much to ease anxiety. As anxiety worsens, the individual becomes increasingly distracted from daily activities.
