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Panic DisorderAka: Panic Attack

Epidemiology
1. Lifetime Prevalence: 1 to 3%
2. Age of onset: 20 to 25 years old
3. Women affected more often than men
Types of Panic Attack
1. Avoidance behaviors
  1. Panic disorder with Agoraphobia
  2. Panic disorder without Agoraphobia
2. Trigger
  1. Spontaneous Panic Attack
    1. Unidentifiable trigger
  2. Situational Panic Attack
    1. Social Phobia
    2. Fear of flying
    3. Stage fright
    4. Fear of animals, insects or snakes
Diagnosis of Panic Disorder
1. See Panic Disorder Diagnosis
Symptoms and Signs
1. See Panic Symptoms
Associated Symptoms and Conditions
1. Headache
2. Diarrhea
3. Insomnia
4. Hand coldness
5. Chronic Fatigue
6. Suicidal Ideation
7. Alcohol Abuse or Drug Abuse
Differential Diagnosis
1. See Anxiety Secondary Causes
Comorbid conditions
1. Major Depression
2. Interpersonal conflict
Management
1. See Panic Management
Prognosis
1. Recurs in 30-90% of patients within 1 year
References
1. APA (1994) DSM IV, APA, p. 395
2. Starr (November, 1998) Patient Care
3. Katerndahl (1997) Postgrad Med 101(1):147
4. Katerndahl (1996) J Fam Pract 43(3):275
5. Rubin (1996) Phys Sportsmed 24(12):54
6. Saeed (1998) Am Fam Physician 57(10):2405
7. Weinstein (1995) Am Fam Physician 52(7):2055

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This page was written by Scott Moses, MD. This page was last revised before 5/10/08, prior to consistent tracking of revision date. This page was last published on 5/10/2008. Please send comments and questions to the editor. Contact information may be found on the page About the Family Practice Notebook. These pages are best viewed with Microsoft Internet Explorer 6.0.