Panic Disorder and Pregnancy: Challenges of Caring for Mother and Child

Panic disorder (PD) is a common psychiatric illness that can have a chronic, relapsing course. Epidemiological data has documented a lifetime prevalence of 0.4% to 3.5%, and the illness usually begins during early to middle adulthood with a female to male preponderance (Weissman et al., 1997). Other data have shown that after remission of panic symptoms, women may be more likely than men to experience recurrence of panic attacks (Yonkers et al., 1998).