Globus hystericus can be a small component of a larger set of symptoms that psychiatrists call generalized anxiety disorder, which may require psychiatric treatment or anti-anxiety drugs.

After ruling out physical ailments that can cause the feeling of a lump in the throat, like throat cancer or esophageal reflux, in which some stomach contents are released upward, doctors call the condition globus hystericus.

As he writes in the sequence "Globus Hystericus": "That left me feeling in on it, chosen, a real fun-time guy, / albeit somewhat sleep-deprived; detail-oriented, modern, / yes, but also dubious, maudlin, bedridden, speechless."

Globus pharyngis (also known as globus sensation, globus or, somewhat outdatedly, globus hystericus, commonly referred to as having a "lump in one's throat"), is the persistent sensation of having phlegm, a pill or some other sort of obstruction in the throat when there is none.