I had the great pleasure last week of presenting my thoughts on the subject of “Anxiety in the Workplace” at a meeting of the Occupational Health Nurses (Southern Section) of the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) in Cork. The question I addressed is how should the medical practitioner in the organisation best confront anxiety when it is presented by the patient in the consultation room. We talked about the key links between personality traits and anxiety disorder, and the importance of distinguishing between ‘dispositional’ and ‘situational’ anxiety. It was great to consider this important issue with this highly experienced group of practitioners.