In cognitive theory it is hypothesized that panic attacks are provoked by catastrophic misinterpretations of bodily sensations. The aim of the present study was to investigate the ability of associated word pairs referring to catastrophic thinking (e.g. palpitations-heart attack) in producing panic attacks. Patients with PD (n = 20), patients with mixed anxiety disorders (n = 20), and a healthy...

OBJECTIVE To determine the association between respiratory disease and panic attacks among adults in the US population. METHOD Data were drawn from the Midlife Development in the United States Survey (n = 3,032), a representative sample of adults aged 25 to 74 years. Multivariate logistic regression analyses were used to determine the relationship between self-reported respiratory and other l...

OBJECTIVE The goal of this study was to determine the prevalence of DSM-III-R panic disorder and to describe its correlates. METHOD The study was part of the National Comorbidity Survey, the first psychiatric epidemiologic survey of the entire U.S. population and the first to use DSM-III-R criteria for diagnosis. The 8,098 survey respondents, aged 15-54 years, were given the Composite Interna...

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 exp...

PURPOSE Previous studies of the association between hypertension and panic disorder were uncontrolled or involved small numbers of patients. PATIENTS AND METHODS We compared the prevalence of panic disorder and panic attacks in 351 patients with documented hypertension who were randomly selected from all hypertensive patients registered in one primary care practice with age- and gender-matche...

OBJECTIVES To (1) identify aspects that defined the self-perceived worst panic attack, (2) determine how subjects with panic attacks perceive symptoms compared with control subjects, and (3) determine the role of symptom perceptions in seeking care for the worst panic attack. DESIGN Cross-sectional survey. SETTING Community-based. PATIENTS OR OTHER PARTICIPANTS Ninety-seven subjects with ...

Changes in Fingure-Pulse Volume (FPV) during CO(2) inhalation were studied in patients diagnosed as having Anxiety disorder with history of panic attacks. Waxing and Waning of the FPV was observed in all the cases after CO(2) inhalation, and this pattern was significantly intensified during panic attacks during the study. The significance and the mechanism underlying the same is discussed.

A cause-and-effect relation between panic attacks and agoraphobia is an accepted concept. It is believed that, left unchecked, a subgroup of patients with panic attacks will consistently develop agoraphobia. However, to date, there are no means for early identification of this at-risk group. This study analyzed patients with panic attacks and phobic avoidance behaviors by using population-based...

BACKGROUND Panic disorder is one of the anxiety disorders, and anxiety is associated with some locomotor activity changes such as "restlessness". However, there have been few studies on locomotor activity in panic disorder using actigraphy, although many studies on other psychiatric disorders have been reported using actigraphy. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to investigate the rel...