[Dyspnoea and Anxiety].

Any acute state of dyspnoea will lead to feelings of insecurity and anxiety. In this context the paper elucidates the conceptual horizon of anxiety, stretching from its status as «normal», essential element of conditio humana, to representing a symptom of another (somatic or mental) illness and to constituting a psychiatric disorder of its own. In any case of acute dyspnoea it is important to «normalize» the patient's anxiety, i.