Panic Disorder and Agoraphobia
Clinical Description
- Unexpected panic attacks
- Anxiety, worry, or fear of another attack
- Persists for 1 month or more
- Agoraphobia
- Fear or avoidance of situations/events
- Concern about being unable to escape or get help in the event of panic symptoms or other unpleasant physical symptoms (e.g., incontinence, vomiting, falling)
- Avoidance can be persistent
- Use and abuse of drugs and alcohol
- Interoceptive avoidance
- Statistics
- 2.7% (year)
- 4.7% (life)
- Female: male = 2:1
- Acute onset, most common in young adulthood (e.g. ages 20-24)
Special populations
- Children
- Hyperventilation is a common symptom
- Earlier cognitive development > fewer cognitive symptoms (e.g. less fear of dying)
- Elderly
- Health focus is more common
- Changes in prevalence – decreases with age
Diagnostic Criteria for Panic Disorder
- Recurrent unexpected panic attaches
- At least one attach has been followed by significant worry or maladaptive change in behavior
- Not attributable to substance use
- Not better explained by another mental disorder
Diagnostic Criteria for Agoraphobia
- Marked fear/anxiety for two or more: public transportation, open spaces, enclosed spaces, standing in line, being outside the home alone
- Avoids these situations
- Situations always provoke fear
- Anxiety not proportional to real danger
- Significant distress
- Anxiety is excessive
- Not better explained by another mental disorder
Gender and Culture
- Social/gender roles
- ~75% of those with agoraphobia are female
- Cultural factors
- Similar prevalence rates across cultures
- Variable symptom expression
- Somatic symptoms more emphasized than emotional symptoms in developing countries
Nocturnal Panic
- 60% with panic disorder experience nocturnal attacks
- Occur in non-REM sleep
- Occur during delta/slow wave sleep
- Caused by deep relaxation,
- Sensations of “letting go” are anxiety provoking to people with panic attacks
- Sleep terrors
- Isolated sleep paralysis
Causes of Nocturnal Panic
- Generalized biological vulnerability
- Cues get associated with situations
- Generalized psychological vulnerability
- Anxiety about future attacks
- Hypervigilance
- Increase interoceptive awareness
Panic Treatment
- Medications
- Multiple systems affected by medication
- serotonergic
- noradrenergic
- GABA
- Benzodiazepines (e.g. Ativan)
- SSRIs (e.g., Prozac and Paxil)
- High relapse rates after discontinuation of medication
- Psychological intervention
- Exposure-based
- Reality testing
- Relaxation and breathing skills
- Example: Panic control treatment (PCT)
- Exposure to interoceptive cues
- Cognitive therapy
- Relaxation/breathing
- Combined psychological and drug treatments
- No better than CBT or drugs alone
- CBT = better long term