Depression and anxiety are frequent, but under-diagnosed and under-treated psychiatric disorders in palliative care patients; assessment and early detection are therefore most crucial. This session addresses the obstacles hampering the recognition of depression and anxiety in palliative care (I); different aspects of screening, assessment and diagnosis (II), as well as the use of different psychometric tools (III) will also be discussed. Differential diagnoses and keys to distinguish between normal reactions to a life threatening disease (IV) and most relevant elements of communication (V) will be presented. A large part of the session will be reserved for questions from the audience.