[Panic disorder]

Abstract

The recent publication of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, third edition (D.S.M-III) has provided the basis for the separate diagnostic entity of panic disorder. A panic attack is characterized by the abrupt onset of apprehension or fear accompanied by symptoms such as dyspnea, palpitation, chest discomfort, dizziness, sweating, feeling of unreality, and fear of dying. Panic disorder, defined as four panic attacks in a four week period, has a lifetime prevalence of 1 to 2 percent of the general population. In these patients, panic disorders can be provoked by pharmacological challenge with sodium lactate, yohimbine, caffeine and carbon dioxide inhalation. Recently, the relationship between panic disorder and depression became a subject of investigation from various points of view.