BACKGROUND Panic disorder is a common and severe psychiatric disorder. The estimated current prevalence rate for panic disorder is 1% to 2% of the adult population. Panic disorder is commonly accompanied by major depression, substance use disorders, and other anxiety disorders. Female gender, low socioeconomic status, and anxious childhood temperament are common risk factors for panic disorder....

Panic attacks are discrete episodes of intense fear or discomfort accompanied by symptoms such as palpitations, shortness of breath, sweating, trembling, derealization and a fear of losing control or dying. Although panic attacks are required for a diagnosis of panic disorder, they also occur in association with a host of other disorders listed in the 5h version of the diagnostic and statistica...

The present study examined the contribution of three main cognitive factors (i.e., anxiety sensitivity, catastrophic misinterpretations of bodily symptoms, and panic self-efficacy) in predicting panic disorder (PD) severity in a sample of patients with a principal diagnosis of panic disorder. It was hypothesized that anxiety sensitivity (AS), catastrophic misinterpretation of bodily sensations,...

OBJECTIVE The authors examined the effect of panic provocation on the subsequent development of panic attacks and panic disorder in nonclinical subjects with no history of spontaneous panic. METHOD Sixty-two subjects who had completed a study examining fearful responses to a single vital capacity inhalation of 35% CO2 were reevaluated 1 year following the challenge test. RESULTS Challenge-i...

BACKGROUND The clinical presentation of panic disorder and panic attack overlaps many symptoms typically experienced in coronary heart disease (CHD). Etiological links between panic disorder and CHD are controversial and remain largely tenuous. This systematic review aims to pool together data regarding panic disorder with respect to incident CHD or myocardial infarction. METHODS/DESIGN Elect...

Panic disorder is a common psychiatric disorder characterized by recurrent anxiety attacks and anticipatory anxiety. Due to the severity of the symptoms of the panic attacks and the frequent additional occurrence of agoraphobia, panic disorder is an often debilitating disease. Elevation of central serotonin levels by drugs such as clomipramine represents one of the most effective treatment opti...

the aim of this study was to compare the level of anxiety and depression in patients admitted to surgery or internal departments. the study was carried out on 359 hospitalized patients over the age of 18 years and designed as a cross sectional survey. participants were recruited from internal medicine and surgery departments of khatam al anbia hospital, tehran, iran. information was collected u...

OBJECTIVE The authors examined the distribution of catechol O-methyltransferase (COMT) genotypes in patients with panic disorder as well as the relationship between a COMT polymorphism and the clinical characteristics of these patients. METHOD Fifty-one patients with panic disorder and 45 healthy comparison subjects were tested for a genetic polymorphism of COMT. Clinical variables were asses...

BACKGROUND The purpose of this systematic review was to identify characteristics of the chest pain associated with the presence of panic disorder, to determine the strength of the association between panic disorder and coronary artery disease (CAD), and to determine the association between panic disorder and known cardiovascular risk factors. METHODS Potential studies were identified via comp...