Anxiety disorders in primary care

This chapter examines anxiety in the primary care (PC) context, focusing on anxiety disorders (ADs). It examines how ADs present to PC, their prevalence, their treatment, and special issues relating to ADs. PC settings contain primary care physicians (PCPs), also referred to as general medical practitioners (GPs), and a range of other medical and allied health professionals that offer services, including psychologists, physiotherapists, social workers, and nurses. GPs need to assess directly for an AD and differentiate anxiety symptoms from physical disorders and other phenomena. Evidence‐based treatments for ADs exist, with cognitive‐behavior therapy (CBT) considered the gold standard. CBT can easily be incorporated into PC either via direct GP involvement, referral to specialists, or via a range of modalities including technology‐based strategies. Interestingly, a recent report indicated that anti‐anxiety and antidepressant usage decreased with mental health reform that increases access to CBT for ADs in PC.