Chapter Introduction

Anxiety in the MRI environment is a huge problem that contributes not only to making our job as technologists more difficult but, more importantly, it interferes with patient care and may delay medical treatment. Likewise, anxiety is the number one reason MRI exams are canceled or terminated prematurely, which ultimately increases healthcare costs through financial losses for imaging departments and patients alike. This topic is so significant that a substantial amount of research has explored the incidence of anxiety during MRI exams on a national and global scale. This chapter presents a general overview and defines anxiety and general anxiety disorder (GAD), and the physiology of anxiety. The common anxiety disorders seen in the MRI environment, including their symptoms and physiology, will also be discussed.