ABSTRACT
Anxiety, a common problem encountered in psychiatric emergency services, is defined as an unpleasant emotional state consisting of psychophysiological responses to the anticipation of real or imagined danger. There is a need for the emergency clinician or psychiatrist to liaison with physicians and cardiologists for optimal clinical care. A patient suffering from anxiety could present to the emergency clinician with a wide variety of symptoms, ranging from somatic symptoms to severe agitation. A significant proportion of patients with anxiety symptoms seek treatment in general hospital settings. Panic disorder is characterized by the recurrent occurrence of panic attacks that are marked by severe anxiety and which are not restricted to any particular situation or set of circumstances and are, therefore, unpredictable. Social anxiety disorder, also known as social phobia, is one of the most common psychiatric disorders. Its onset is usually during childhood or adolescence. The clinical picture of Obsessive—Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is characterized by obsessions and compulsions.
