anxiety may present to the emergency room with symptoms
they believe to be life-threatening, such as shortness of
breath, hyperventilation, or chest pain. The medical practitioner
must first rule out any physical conditions before diagnosing
the patient with anxiety or a panic attack, and pay
close attention to the continued health of the fetus at any
such visit. The current level of anxiety must be assessed (i.e.,
mild, moderate, severe, or panic), and it must be determined
whether the patient is at risk for self-harm or suicide. It is
important to ask the patient what events are occurring in her
life that might be a cause of anxiety, and various assessment
tools are available for gauging levels of anxiety (Halter et al.,
2010).