TY - JOUR
T1 - Association of panic disorder with a history of traumatic suffocation
AU - Bouwer, Colin
AU - Stein, Dan J.
PY - 1997
Y1 - 1997
N2 - Objective: An important recent hypothesis suggests that panic disorder results from a false suffocation alarm. However, the association of panic disorder with a history of traumatic suffocation experiences (e.g., near- drowning and near-choking) has not been well studied. This study examined whether a history of traumatic suffocation might be more common in patients with panic disorder who have predominantly respiratory symptoms. Method: Patients with panic disorder (N= 176) and psychiatric comparison subjects (N=60) were questioned about a history of traumatic suffocation experiences. The panic disorder patients were classified as having predominantly respiratory, cardiovascular, occulovestibular, or gastrointestinal symptoms in order to determine a possible association between traumatic suffocation and symptom subtype. Results: The frequency of traumatic suffocation was significantly higher among the panic disorder patients (19.3%) than among the comparison subjects (6.7%). Within the panic disorder group, patients with a history of traumatic suffocation were significantly more likely to exhibit predominantly respiratory symptoms and nocturnal panic attacks, while patients without such a history were significantly more likely to have predominantly cardiovascular symptoms, occulovestibular symptoms, and agoraphobia. Conclusions: There may be a specific association between panic disorder and a history of traumatic suffocation, and such a history in turn appears associated with predominantly respiratory symptoms and nocturnal panic attacks. Although additional studies are needed to confirm these data, a history of traumatic suffocation might be hypothesized to play a role in the etiology of panic disorder in some patients and may provide a useful window on understanding the psychobiology of this disorder.
AB - Objective: An important recent hypothesis suggests that panic disorder results from a false suffocation alarm. However, the association of panic disorder with a history of traumatic suffocation experiences (e.g., near- drowning and near-choking) has not been well studied. This study examined whether a history of traumatic suffocation might be more common in patients with panic disorder who have predominantly respiratory symptoms. Method: Patients with panic disorder (N= 176) and psychiatric comparison subjects (N=60) were questioned about a history of traumatic suffocation experiences. The panic disorder patients were classified as having predominantly respiratory, cardiovascular, occulovestibular, or gastrointestinal symptoms in order to determine a possible association between traumatic suffocation and symptom subtype. Results: The frequency of traumatic suffocation was significantly higher among the panic disorder patients (19.3%) than among the comparison subjects (6.7%). Within the panic disorder group, patients with a history of traumatic suffocation were significantly more likely to exhibit predominantly respiratory symptoms and nocturnal panic attacks, while patients without such a history were significantly more likely to have predominantly cardiovascular symptoms, occulovestibular symptoms, and agoraphobia. Conclusions: There may be a specific association between panic disorder and a history of traumatic suffocation, and such a history in turn appears associated with predominantly respiratory symptoms and nocturnal panic attacks. Although additional studies are needed to confirm these data, a history of traumatic suffocation might be hypothesized to play a role in the etiology of panic disorder in some patients and may provide a useful window on understanding the psychobiology of this disorder.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=0030735229&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1176/ajp.154.11.1566
DO - 10.1176/ajp.154.11.1566
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:0030735229
SN - 0002-953X
VL - 154
SP - 1566
EP - 1570
JO - American Journal of Psychiatry
JF - American Journal of Psychiatry
IS - 11
ER -