Anxiety disorders and somatoform disorders are frequent differential diagnoses in patients with cardiac and chest complaints. They can also additionally occur in patients with an organic heart disease. If left untreated, they are prone to become chronic, thus leading to deterioration in the quality of life and bringing about considerable costs through increased utilization of health services. In order to prevent the complaints becoming chronic, rather than only being informed of the negative findings of the exclusion diagnostics, the patient should be provided with a plausible explanatory model of his or her complaints, from which behavioral recommendations can be derived. As effective treatment methods, cognitive behavioral therapy, aerobic training and antidepressant medication are available.