Anxiety, panic and phobias. Patients in severe pain are anxious and agitated, and anxiety can potentiate pain. To adequately manage pain, the patient's anxiety must be treated. Sepsis and electrolyte abnormalities can also cause anxiety symptoms. Sudden anxiety with chest pain or respiratory distress may suggest a pulmonary embolism.
Many drugs can precipitate anxiety in the persons who are ill.
For example, coriticosteriods can produce motor restlessness, agitation, and mania as well as depression and thoughts of suicide. Bronchodilators and B-adrenergic receptor stimulants used for chronic respiratory conditions can cause anxiety, irritability, and tremulousness. Akathisia, motor restlessness accompanied by subjective feelings of distress, is a side effect of neuroleptic drugs, which are commonly used for control of emesis. Withdrawal from narcotics, benzodiazepines, barbiturates, nicotine, and alcohol can result in anxiety, agitation, and behaviors that may be problematic for the patient who is in active treatment. Certain tumor sites can produce symptoms that resemble anxiety disorders.